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Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer

Ravioli. Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, 1986, directed and co-written by John McNaughton, starring Michael Rooker, Tom Towles, and Tracy Arnold.

The Best Man

The Best Man, 1964, directed by Franklin J. Schaffner, screenplay by Gore Vidal based on his 1960 play of the same title. Starring Henry Fonda, Cliff Robertson, Lee Tracy, Edie Adams, Margaret Leighton, Ann Sothern, Shelley Berman, Gene Raymond and Kevin McCarthy.  A great story by Gore Vidal is brought to life by the cast's excellent performances. So many favorite actors from that era, including Shelley Berman who performed a spot-on character role.

Birds of Passage

Lasagna. Birds of Passage, 2018, directed by Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra, starring Carmiña Martínez, José Acosta, Natalia Reyes, Jhon Narváez, Greider Meza. Jose Vicente Cotes and Juan Bautista. Also, a short subject: Punch Drunks, 1934, directed by Lou Breslow, starring The Three Stooges. In 2002 Punch Drunks became the first and only Stooge film to be selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". And it's a lot of fun to watch.

The Last Rites of Joe May

Cavatappi pasta with Alfredo sauce, braised beef and mushrooms. Who comes up with these pasta specials? The Last Rites of Joe May, 2011, written and directed by Joe Maggio, starring Dennis Farina, Jamie Anne Allman, Ian Barford, Meredith Droeger, Chelcie Ross and Gary Cole. I wanted to watch a Dennis Farina movie. This came up in my search. I had never heard of it. Not completely successful, but it was great to watch Dennis Farina performing his role on location in Chicago, his hometown.

Klute

Lasagna. Klute, 1971, directed by Alan J. Pakula, starring Jane Fonda, Donald Sutherland, Charles Cioffi, Nathan George, Dorothy Tristan, Roy Scheider, and Rita Gam.

The Science of Sleep

Spaghetti and braised beef. The Science of Sleep, 2006, written and directed by Michel Gondry, starring Gael García Bernal, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Miou-Miou and Alain Chabat.

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

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Macaroni and cheese with sliced tomatoes. Peach pie and coffee. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, 2004, written by Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach, directed by Wes Anderson, starring Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Cate Blanchett, Willem Dafoe, Michael Gambon, Jeff Goldblum, Anjelica Huston, and Bud Cort.  

Some Like It Hot

Spaghetti and meatballs. Some Like It Hot, 1959, directed and co-written by Billy Wilder, starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon.

Babette's Feast

Chicken Parmesan. Babette's Feast, 1987, directed by Gabriel Axel, starring Stéphane Audran, Birgitte Federspiel, and Bodil Kjer.

Sullivan's Travels

Spaghetti and meatballs. Sullivan's Travels, 1941, written and directed by Preston Sturges, starring Joel McCrea and Veronica Lake.

Night Moves and The Last Seduction and His Kind of Woman

Spaghetti and meatballs. Double feature: Night Moves, 1975, directed by Arthur Penn, starring Gene Hackman, Jennifer Warren, Susan Clark, Melanie Griffith and James Woods.   The Last Seduction, 1994, directed by John Dahl, starring Linda Fiorentino, Peter Berg, and Bill Pullman.   Triple feature: His Kind of Woman, directed by John Farrow - or maybe Richard Fleischer, possibly Howard Hughes, starring Robert Mitchum, Jane Russell, Vincent Price, Jim Backus and Raymond Burr. Price played one entire scene holding a raw duck. Raymond Burr played an Italian mobster. Howard Hughes insisted on rewrites which led to reshoots and extended production time past one year. Price threw a party on the one year anniversary. Mitchum was said to be so fed up that, during the penultimate fight scene, he really punched the stuntmen. They don't make pictures like that anymore.

The Vast of Night

Lasagna. The Vast of Night, 2019, directed by Andrew Patterson, starring Sierra McCormick and Jake Horowitz.

The Girl on the Bridge

Chicken and spaghetti. The Girl on the Bridge, 1999, directed by Patrice Leconte, starring Daniel Auteuil and Vanessa Paradis.

Blade Runner

Spaghetti and meatballs. Blade Runner, 1982, directed by Ridley Scott, screenplay by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples, starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, and Edward James Olmos.

The China Syndrome

Spaghetti and Meatballs from Strada. The China Syndrome, 1979, directed by James Bridges, starring Jane Fonda, Jack Lemmon and Michael Douglas. And Wilford Brimley.

The Maltese Falcon

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Spaghetti and meatballs. The Maltese Falcon, 1941, directed by John Huston, starring Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet and Elisha Cook Jr. Special aftershow performance by the Mad City Ski Team.  

Whiplash

Lasagna. Whiplash, 2014, directed by Damien Chazelle, starring Miles Teller, J. K. Simmons, Paul Reiser, and Melissa Benoist.

C.R.A.Z.Y.

Lasagna. C.R.A.Z.Y., 2005, directed by Jean-Marc Vallée, written by Jean-Marc Vallée and François Boulay, starring Marc-André Grondin, Pierre-Luc Brillant, Michel Côté and Danielle Proulx.

The Royal Tenenbaums

Lasagna The Royal Tenenbaums, 2001, directed by Wes Anderson, written by Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson, starring Danny Glover, Gene Hackman, Anjelica Huston, Bill Murray, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ben Stiller, Luke Wilson, and Owen Wilson.

Red Rocket

Lasagna Red Rocket, 2021, directed by Sean Baker, written by Sean Baker and Chris Bergoch, starring Simon Rex, Bree Elrod, and Suzanna Son.

Creem: America's Only Rock 'n' Roll Magazine

Lasagna Creem: America's Only Rock 'n' Roll Magazine, 2019, a documentary directed by Scott Crawford, written by Scott Crawford Jaan Uhelszki, produced by JJ Kramer. Really, scores of people worked - beginning with a Kickstarter - to bring this documentary to the screen. Rolling Stone was San Francisco. Creem was Detroit. See what I'm saying?

High and Low

Lasagna Al Forno High and Low (Japanese: 天国と地獄), 1963, directed by Akira Kurosawa, starring Toshiro Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai, Kyōko Kagawa, Tatsuya Mihashi, Kenjiro Ishiyama, Isao Kimura, Takeshi Katō, Yutaka Sada, and Tsutomu Yamazaki.

Go

Spaghetti and meatballs from Strada at the University of Wisconsin Union. Go, 1999, written by John August, directed by Doug Liman, starring William Fichtner, Katie Holmes, Jay Mohr, Sarah Polley, and Scott Wolf.

Atlantic City

Spaghetti and meatballs from Strada at the University of Wisconsin Union. Atlantic City, 1980, directed by Louis Malle, screenplay by John Guare, starring Burt Lancaster, Susan Sarandon, Kate Reid, Michel Piccoli, Robert Joy, Hollis McLaren, and Al Waxman.

Enchanted

Spaghetti and meatballs from Strada at the University of Wisconsin Union. Enchanted, 2007, directed by Kevin Lima, written by Bill Kelly, starring Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, James Marsden, Timothy Spall, Idina Menzel and Susan Sarandon, narrated by Julie Andrews. There are so many great comedic takes in this movie, all without being the least bit mean.

Anatomy of a Murder

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 Lasagne Alla Bolognese from Osteria Papavero. Anatomy of a Murder, 1959, directed by Otto Preminger, starring James Stewart, Lee Remick, Ben Gazzara, Eve Arden, George C. Scott, Arthur O'Connell and Joseph N. Welch.  

Double Feature: Tick, Tick... Boom! and Topsy-Turvy

Lasagna from Whole Foods. Tick, Tick... Boom!, 2021, directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Written by Steven Levenson, based on the stage musical of the same name by Jonathan Larson. Starring Andrew Garfield, Robin de Jesús, Alexandra Shipp, Joshua Henry, Judith Light, and Vanessa Hudgens. This story about creating musical theater reminded me of another film in that genre, so I also watched ... Topsy-Turvy, 1999, written and directed by Mike Leigh, starring Jim Broadbent as W. S. Gilbert and Allan Corduner as Sir Arthur Sullivan, along with Timothy Spall, Lesley Manville and Ron Cook. The story concerns the 15-month period in 1884 and 1885 leading up to the premiere of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado.

American Fiction

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Lasagna from Gino's Italian Deli American Fiction, 2023, written and directed by Cord Jefferson, starring Jeffrey Wright, Tracee Ellis Ross, Issa Rae, Sterling K. Brown, John Ortiz, Erika Alexander, Leslie Uggams, Adam Brody and Keith David. Abstract cubist (?) spaghetti and meatballs. This is an AI generated image.

Ferrari

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Spaghetti and meatballs from Strada at the University of Wisconsin Union. Ferrari, 2023, directed by Michael Mann, starring Adam Driver and Penélope Cruz.  

Predator

Spaghetti and meatballs from Strada at the University of Wisconsin Union. Predator, 1987, directed by John McTiernan and written by brothers Jim and John Thomas. Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Jesse Ventura and other Hollywood musclemen.