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The good folks at The Spotted Pig are ringing in the Year of the Pig with, you guessed it, a pig roast. 314 W. 11th Street at Greenwich. Call 212-620-0393 for details. more ›

Foodies attack the silver screen! In today's Times Arts & Leisure section, the long history and current feast of food in film is given another look. Would there have even been a Big Night if not for the food? In the coming months, Russell Crowe, the first person we think of when the phrase "good taste" coming up, will star as a man who inherits a vineyard and Nora Ephron is working on an adaptation of Julie & Julia, the Julie Powell book that came from her blog. Fast Food Nation has been filmed, too, and, there will be acompetitive eating movie, All You Can Eat, to add some low-to-middle-brow enjoyment to all the wineries and roux. more ›

The blog Muckracked noticed that the old space where the restaurant Hue used to be was taken over as a restaurant movie set for the Scott Hicks-directed adaptation of the German film, Mostly Martha. Gothamist loved Mostly Martha (uptight German chef becomes guardian of surly niece while dealing with maverick Italian chef at her work), so we've been following news of the adaptation for a while (at one point, Big Chill director Lawrence Kasdan had rights to remake the movie). Anyway, the new version will star Catherine Zeta-Jones, as a chef at "22 Bleecker," and we can only imagine that Aaron Eckhart is the new, unconventional chef who melts her heart. Zeta-Jones actually went undercover at Fiamma as a waitress and even garnished dishes to prep for the role, so we expect some gorgeous food photography (Hicks did direct Snow Falling on Cedars, which was lovely to look at, if a terrible movie). more ›

The reviews are out, and Chris Rock is getting a mixed bag of feedback for his duties as the MC of the Oscars. The NY Daily News' David Bianculli says he wasn't edgy or funny enough, Variety says his opening monologue was great (subscription required), the Hollywood Reporter says that Rock wasn't on a roll, and the Washington Post's Tom Shales says Rock was strangely lame and mean-spirited. Gothamist wonders if there's a generational divide between the reviewers, because we thought Rock was the best thing about the Oscars. It's like some of these reviewers weren't familiar with Rock's material before. At least Tim Robbins (left, photo AP), whom Chris Rock made fun of, could take a joke ... we think. As for the show, sure, it seemed to move quickly and was "well-produced," and, yes, we were happy certain people won, but since there wasn't much enthusiasm for any one nominee, the whole show was boring. And Gothamist doesn't care what Gil Cates's "producer's blog" says! more ›

Movies that make you hungry: Big Night, Eat Drink Man Woman, Babette's Feast, Like Water for Chocolate.
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Omnium Gatherum, the new play at the Variety Arts Theater in the East Village, gets a write-up in the Times. However, in the food section, because the play centers around a lavish meal. And in a brilliant marriage between art and edible art, the play's publicist and its designer David Rockwell struck upon the idea of nearby chefs supplying the food - Alfred Portale of Gotham Bar and Grill will finish up his rotation, and Bobby Flay is next up, then David Walzog of Strip House. The lines in the play that concern food change with the new menus, and the chefs keep the actors food issues in mind, since it's 90 minutes of Method eating. more ›