RichC2

Red Dragon?

It's White Lotus in horror-comedy wrappings.

Why So Blu?

The first thing that came to mind while watching The Menu - I was reminded of Noma, the #1 ranked fine dining restaurant in the world, based out of Copenhagen. Well, they're shutting down the restaurant but keeping the lab open:

‘It just doesn’t work.’ The world’s best restaurant is shutting down as its owner calls the modern fine dining model ‘unsustainable’

https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/j...190717289.html


"Hearty food breeds hearty people. Haute cuisine breeds degenerates."

Crocker Jarmen

I put this on for my parents last night, and they found it delightful, laughing all the way through it. I enjoyed it more than when I saw it in the theatre. When it was over, I asked them how they'd describe it, and my mother said, "Very black comedy."

Noonan

Agree. I was expecting something much more interesting based on comments here and other places. Fun movie but I won’t remember much about it in a couple months and probably won’t revisit it. The story made no sense, even for a satire. I kept expecting something more shocking to happen but it never came. I’d give it a 7/10 only because of Finnes. Without his performance, it’s a 5 or 6 at best, IMO.

IBJoel

https://letterboxd.com/davechen/film/the-menu-2022/
Interesting, very short review that sees the film as an allegory for art in general and specifically filmmaking

Paff

Oscars don't distinguish comedy from drama like the Golden Globes do, so it doesn't matter.

dex14

My friend watched this the other day and sent me a text:
"The Menu suuuuuucked"
"Huge nuts"
"That shoulda been a course"

I don't agree, but it made me laugh.

rexinnih

OK just saw this. Good but had that suspension of disbelief factor going strong. Put up a fight sheeple.

GatorDeb

I was surprised after watching this that the protagonist wasn't his daughter because everything was screaming that. As I was watching I took it as a given.

johnnysd

I suspected he knew someone very much like her, possibly even his real daughter.

People say that this wouldn't be that great without Fiennes or Taylor-Joy but it DID have both of them and it elevated it quite a bit.

I thought it was quite good satire and maybe not as far off of reality as it would first seem.

I have randomly watched a few Bob Ross Joy of Painting videos lately and it struck me how far "art" including gourmet dining has devolved over the last 30 years. Here you have a guy so in love with painting that he finds a way to paint in a way that showcases his art but brings it down to a level where everyone can enjoy and using his methods actually participate in. Obviously he also did it for money but he truly got joy from sharing it. Then you think of where "chefs" are today where they are revered almost like gods and what they produce is so esoteric it has value to almost no one. Of course the more on point example would be Julia Child and how she was perceived and acted, and how she brought gourmet food to everyone compared to elitist chef "auteurs" like Ramsey and Collichio and the like.

Dan

I mean... Ramsay may be elitist in the way his own restaurants are run (I have no idea. Never been to one, and don't know what kind of range in menu his establishments all offer) but one look at his YouTube channel and he seems to genuinely enjoy making good, easy cooking accessible to everyone. Maybe he's changed.
Plus his appearances on Hot Ones are both great. He talks shit about some haute cuisine stuff.

He even has a


Recipe from six months ago.

GoldenJCJ

This movie was about as subtle as a sledgehammer but damned if I didn’t still enjoy it quite a bit.

I’m really starting to become a fan of Anya Taylor-Joy and as much as I was hoping she’d go full-on ass kicker mode à la Ready or Not, it was still a mostly satisfying conclusion.