Episode 139 - Simply Irresistible

[Cameron H. 23786]

Another thing that bothered me about the end... When SMG's food is killing it at the fancy restaurant and a customer comes up to SPF and his boss, he congratulates the original chef for his work having no idea he upped and quit earlier in the day, AND NEITHER SPF OR HIS BOSS SAYING ANYTHING!!! They don't correct him or nothing. You'd think this would cause some conflict later but, nope. Just another loose thread that goes nowhere.

 

"Just gonna thro my magical food making ex under the bus cause the dumb broad made me float a little. You know, cause it's a romance!"

 

Welcome to the boards! I'm really liking what you're bringing to the table!

 

 

Hot. As long as there's no slobbering.

 

It's been a long time since I'd read "Like Water for Chocolate" and read its adaptation, but I vaguely remember the book and the movie being, ahem, absorbing.

 

I think "Simply Irresistible" came at the tail end of the trend where filmmakers explored the sensuality in food in movies like "Tampopo", "Chocolat", "Woman on Top" and of couse "LWfC".

 

 

Yay! Auden's back!

 

[FisterRoboto 7499]

 

Welcome to the boards! I'm really liking what you're bringing to the table!

You never tell me you like what I bring to the table anymore.

 

WHAT'S HAPPENING TO US, CAMERON?!

[Let'sAllGoToTheWindow! 75]

in all seriousness, from Cameron H, I appreciate that.

 

But I don't wanna be some homewrecker so I'll just take some magical floating cannoli's and be on my way.

 

EDIT: my back up joke was, "Well, Fister, where have you been getting your magical crabs from lately?"

[Auden 1809]

Awww, thanks Cameron! It's summer so I have a lighter workload.

[JoeApel 2]

According to IMDB, the original title was Vanilla FOG not Vanilla Frog as Paul said in the podcast... STILL, this makes no sense whatsoever!

 

Also, I'm surprised you guys didn't talk about the music at all. To me it NEVER seemed to fit the moment in the scene and overall, all songs made me feel really uneasy for some reason. The songs all felt like a definite after thought and a way for the studio to figure out a way to make money off the soundtrack, when they realize the movie was such a huge turd.

 

Strange movie...An appropriate title may have been Strange Magic, which another terrible film produced by George Lucas made 15 years later

 

LOVE THE PODCAST!!!!!

[HotSaucerman 2051]

Whoever wrote Jeffrey Wright's IMDb bio must have also wrote Patty Clarkson's: "This remarkable, one-of-a-kind actress has, since the early 1990s, intrigued film and TV audiences with her glowing, yet careworn eccentricity and old world-styled glamour. Very much in demand these days as a character player, Patricia Clarkson nevertheless continues to avoid the temptation of money-making mainstream filming while reaping kudos and acting awards in out-of-the-way projects."

[Let'sAllGoToTheWindow! 75]

According to IMDB, the original title was Vanilla FOG not Vanilla Frog as Paul said in the podcast... STILL, this makes no sense whatsoever!

 

Also, I'm surprised you guys didn't talk about the music at all. To me it NEVER seemed to fit the moment in the scene and overall, all songs made me feel really uneasy for some reason. The songs all felt like a definite after thought and a way for the studio to figure out a way to make money off the soundtrack, when they realize the movie was such a huge turd.

 

Strange movie...An appropriate title may have been Strange Magic, which another terrible film produced by George Lucas made 15 years later

 

LOVE THE PODCAST!!!!!

 

I also thought the music was odd. An awkward mixed bag of late nineties alt rock and late 80's sax. Freakin weird.

[JoelSchlosberg 352]

Also, I'm surprised you guys didn't talk about the music at all. To me it NEVER seemed to fit the moment in the scene and overall, all songs made me feel really uneasy for some reason. The songs all felt like a definite after thought and a way for the studio to figure out a way to make money off the soundtrack, when they realize the movie was such a huge turd.

 

I thought it might be just me, but I found the music really umpleasant. It is not that the songs are terrible but the way they are used. The music relentlessly calls attention to itself in a gratingly distracting way, like it's constantly elbowing the viewer saying "I'm so cute! Aren't I?"

[tomspanks 9039]

I don't understand SMG's plan. What is her mission? She saved her restaurant from going out of business and like 2 days later, she goes to cook at Jonathan's. Her dinner at Jonathan's was an obvious success - the nytimes critics were for sure going to write a glowing review - so what happens the next night? Does she go back to her mother's restaurant and risk getting SPF in trouble? How is he supposed to find another head chef with a magic crab at short notice? Or does she try to advance her culinary career by jumping ship to Jonathan's, where she is likely to become a Michelin starred chef? Why stop there? With the magic crab, couldn't she take over the world?

[taylor anne photo 11311]

Forum poll:

 

Sucking on fingers: hot or gross? Go!

GROSS!

 

I had to turn away from the screen because I do NOT enjoy that!

[Let'sAllGoToTheWindow! 75]

I don't understand SMG's plan. What is her mission? She saved her restaurant from going out of business and like 2 days later, she goes to cook at Jonathan's. Her dinner at Jonathan's was an obvious success - the nytimes critics were for sure going to write a glowing review - so what happens the next night? Does she go back to her mother's restaurant and risk getting SPF in trouble? How is he supposed to find another head chef with a magic crab at short notice? Or does she try to advance her culinary career by jumping ship to Jonathan's, where she is likely to become a Michelin starred chef? Why stop there? With the magic crab, couldn't she take over the world?

 

That's the thing, nobody knows she was cooking anyway cause her shitty boyfriend gave her credit away to the chef who quit.

As for her plan, simple.

 

Step 1: Magic Food!

Step 2:

Step 3: Profit!

[DanEngler 5249]

Personally I thought all the cuisines looked quite elegant, but laughed my ass off that the very last meal we are presented.

 

And a whole vanilla bean, which hasn't been split and scraped to remove the seeds (where most of the flavor lives), and which clearly wasn't used in the crème anglaise (or whatever-the-fuck that sauce is supposed to be.) That spun sugar Trump wig is period-appropriate, though.

[taylor anne photo 11311]

Eh I just decided to make a new post and not edit my old one

 

My thoughts on the magic in this movie and love and SPF freaking out about all of it are as such - I think him freaking out is the most relatable thing about this movie. They meet after the magic has entered her life. Dan Akroyd points him out to her and then the crab literally leads her to him. So their meet cute has already been affected by magic. From that point to the point that they say they love each other has been all completely filled with magic. Plus they've gone on maybe 3 dates by that point? Which I guess they just did because of his love chart?

 

How do we know they are actually in love? Every time we see any trace of it it's after something magical has happened, and in my opinion it never looks like love but rather more like lust. They make themselves horny from her food but I never actually see them do anything that's a result of pure undeniable love. This is why, in my opinion, Nolan seems like the more attractive option. They have compatible personalities and have known each other for forever. I do love seeing a healthy male/female platonic relationship being represented, especially one from the 90s, but this doesn't show a healthy romantic one at the same time. Like so many of us have even said, as soon as she meets SPF the topic of every conversation she has with Nolan from that point forward is about this stupid rich guy from Uptown. It's ruining her relationship with everyone else.

 

That doesn't seem like love to me. That seems more like lust driven infatuation, and there's nothing in this movie to tell me otherwise.

 

I give them 3-6 months.

 

Oh and then when we see SPF later freaking out about the magic he talks about the removal of his free will WHICH IS SO ACCURATE! Did he ever get to make the choice in having feelings for her?! Like that would freak the FUCK out of me if I suddenly thought everything in my head was planted against my will! He also even later says he doesn't even like desert! Nothing about this dude is who he actually is which basically shows me they are not even in love. I think that even though Tom never ate the food at the opening of the restaurant he was already infected with the magic and still couldn't properly make that decision himself. And it's the same thing Jonathan should be asking about Patricia Clarkson cause she definitely drugged him with that eclair!

[EllenM 943]

I would marry Jason. His delight when both Paul and Jensen went off simultaneously was magic. I also thought he was going to say "Get in my belly" at first and loved the Love Guru call back. Mariska Hargitay everyone!

 

On a completely different note, JUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNE! So happy she's in this one, and I can't wait to hear what she had to say about the wardrobe in this movie. I feel like 2/3 of my notes were stuff like, "This is the most 90s outfit I've ever seen" and "No wait, this one is more 90s."

 

June was bringing the heat today. As an avid listener of Bitch Sesh: A Real Housewives Breakdown Show, all I could hear were references to the Bravo Universe

 

She called the restaurant "Southern Charm" and her confession about posting on a RHOC blog once...it moved me.

 

I also loved when she questioned her own decision-making when she realized her hormones may have created a sexy scene in the movie.

 

Forum poll:

 

Sucking on fingers: hot or gross? Go!

To experience it? I'm all in

 

To watch someone else do it? As Jason would say, "GROSS, won't see!"

[Cameron H. 23786]

 

You never tell me you like what I bring to the table anymore.

 

WHAT'S HAPPENING TO US, CAMERON?!

 

The fact that you even have to ask should tell you all you need to know...

 

 

 

[Jamie Power 224]

The fact that you even have to ask should tell you all you need to know...

 

 

 

This is more moving than the romance in Simply Irresistible.

[GiveMeYourBaby 102]

but gastropods aren't crustaceans :/

 

This is about belief not your big-city so called "science" and "mollusk taxonomy."

[NathanGordon 1096]

 

I also thought the music was odd. An awkward mixed bag of late nineties alt rock and late 80's sax. Freakin weird.

It was very "We want it to sound like Lisa Loeb or Sixpence None The Richer, but cheaper."

[taylor anne photo 11311]

It was very "We want it to sound like Lisa Loeb or Sixpence None The Richer, but cheaper."

Lisa Loeb but always mumbling and off-key

[PlanBFromOuterSpace 3138]

It seems that all the "Jacob's Ladder" references in rapid succession awoke me from my slumber.

 

Like the Phoenix from the ashes.

 

Like Mario Van Peebles from that cave or whatever in Highlander 3.

 

WHAT YEAR IS IT?!

[PlanBFromOuterSpace 3138]

Guys... Guys.

 

I'm new here. Been lurking for years and come close to joining with a couple films that were just too insane not to want to join the discussion here.... but this did it. This movie did it, you guys!

 

I kept reading the string of tv show theme songs in the minisode thread, enjoying every one of them, but I couldn't help but wonder why near NOBODY was talking about this movie.

 

As somebody already posted, like the best HDTGM films, I was legit yelling WTF 5 mins in, and every 5 mins after that.

It's Insane.

I'm sorry, but longtime lurkers/first time commenters are only allowed to reveal themselves if they're going to complain about the audio from the live episodes.

 

I DON'T MAKE THE RULES!

[ChunkStyle 1160]

 

Maybe fouling Jordan was a legitimate option as a Knick, sadly. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but back then, I think if you were fouled outside the 3 point line, you only got to shoot 2 free throws. So if Jordan sets up to shoot a 3 pointer, foul him and you take the 2 point loss instead of 3?

 

Wow. I know Knicks fans have been down but I didn't know it was so bad you'd strategize a way to lose by less.

 

I thought it was always 3 free throws for fouling a 3-point shooter? But I could definitely be wrong. As long of a google search as I was willing to commit to (less time than it took type this) said the NCAA added the 3rd free throw in 1990 but no mention of if the NBA ever made a change there.

[RyanSz 3140]

Maybe the creators of the FANTASTIC comic book series from Image, Southern Cross, are huge fans of this movie? I mean, I know they are metalheads as well, but that goes hand-in-hand with SMG magical romantic comedies, right?

 

I love Becky Cloonan's work and can't wait for the second volume of this along with the next volume of Gotham Academy and the first volume of The Punisher.

 

As for this movie, I am glad that I didn't have to buy this movie because my mom owns it on DVD because she fucking loves this movie for some reason. This came out at a time when the trend for a few years seemed to be magical realism in romance movies like Serendipity (2001) and Life Or Something Like it, and none of them really worked because as we saw in Winter's Tale if you can't pull off the magic in the plot, it completely falls apart.

 

Also, the fucking crabs were attached to strings.

[JoelSchlosberg 352]

Obviously, this movie exists in the same cinematic universe as The Devil's Advocate, wherein Satan grooms Keanu Reeves to sire the Antichrist. The crab is a red herring; Sarah Michelle Gellar has possessed latent Slayer cooking powers all along*, but her talent must be fostered by Heaven as Armageddon approaches. The final battle for the souls of mankind comes down to Kevin Lomax Jr.'s greasy silver-tongued lawyering versus Amanda Shelton's earnest lovecraft.

 

* Inherited from her mother, whose family has been trying to raise Heaven's champion for 70 YEARS

 

Or the other late-'90s movie of devilish machinations in New York City on the brink of the millennium, End of Days.

[taylor anne photo 11311]

Remember when you could hear Tom say, "We'll never get a taxi here" and then they immediately got one that was about to drive off?