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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 ›

One variation on the self-centered-person-with-child film that actually works is About a Boy, based on the Nick Hornby novel. And there are tons of TV shows about this, like My Two Dads and A Family Affair.
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This weekend, I plan to buy The Best of Paolo Conte CD. Why? Because he's got this fantastic craggy (like "Tom Waits" as the Amazon review says) voice that sounds wonderful over the jazzy sort of bossa nova rhythms...bosso pop-like. His song, "Via Con Me," was featured prominently in the film, Mostly Martha, and when the song was played yesterday, I immediately went to Google to find out who sang it. more ›

If you're an intense professional in a movie or sitcom, watch out. Because a relative will die, leaving to you care for their children (via some tragic incident). But at least comic antics will ensue. Last week, Kate Hudson agreed to star in a movie called Raising Helen, about a rising professional who suddenly inherits her sister's three children, when her sister dies. Today, it was announced that Lori Loughlin would star in a WB showabout a woman who inherits her sister's kids after the sister dies. Hmm. One of the best comedies on air now, The Bernie Mac Show, is about a man who takes care of his sister's three kids, because his sister is a crack addict. Other movies with a similar theme: Mostly Martha (sister dies, intense chef inherits her niece), Baby Boom (distant relatives die, leaving intense career woman to inherit baby girl), Evening Star (daughter dies, leaving intense grandmother to inherit three children), and countless others. more ›