The Projector #97: A Slightly Belated Newsletter About Labor Day and Food (Patreon)

by Keith Phipps

There’s a great book to be written someday about the way film has influenced cuisine and vice versa. There’s real power there, like the way a single line in Sideways sent merlot sales into the toilet. Since I’ve lived in Chicago, I’ve seen a couple of restaurants recreate the climactic timpano from Big Night, but I think that film’s more lasting legacy has been felt in its championing of the traditional Italian restaurant in America. Beyond that, it’s hard to watch something like Like Water for Chocolate and not want to at least taste what’s on screen, if not make it yourself.

I think I’ve only tried once, however. Back in the days of The Dissolve, the Chicago office of The Dissolve had a chili-making contest. The date of the contest fell close to the release of the not widely loved Jason Reitman film Labor Day starring Josh Brolin as an escaped fugitive and Kate Winslet as the hostage who falls in love with him. It is not a very good movie, and there’s a pie-making scene that made it semi-infamous at the time (even if the pie looked pretty good). But there was also an intriguing scene involving chili that basically laid out the recipe on the screen. So, as part of Pitchfork’s movie site, I decided to recreate it.

Here’s what intrigued me: the recipe involved cooking chili using coffee, a technique I’d never encountered before. I like chili and coffee...  but could they work together? I'd never heard of such a combination, but apparently, it’s a thing people do (maybe more in Texas than anywhere else?). It turned out… fine. I’ve had better chili. I’ve made better chili. I think it landed in fourth place out of six in the voting, though I liked some of the chili that finished below mine better. But while I haven’t tried it since, I’m glad I tried it once. And I don’t know that I would have known about it were it not for Labor Day.

So I’m looking for stories — and recipes. What have you tried to make, inspired by a movie? How did it turn out? And do you have any recipes you could share? Let’s get cooking! If I get enough good recipes and stories, I’ll devote a column to them.

Otherwise, send us any thoughts on our new episodes on Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Reminiscence. And we have a special bonus episode dropping soon—not to give you any more work, but I want to use it to compile some of the best movies that aren’t on streaming, with a special focus on those out-of-print or never release on DVD and Blu-ray. If you’ve got ideas, let us know.

Finally, here’s a list of articles you might enjoy.

• At The Cut, filmmaker Isabel Sandoval — her very good most recent feature Lingua Franca is on Netflix — writes in praise of sensual cinema.

• For GQ, Keith Phipps writes a post-Shang Chi guide to catching up with the great Tony Leung.

• Finally, this weekend marked the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. At the New York Times, Jason Bailey offers an appreciation of Spike Lee’s 25th Hour. Elsewhere, the Times’ podcast The Daily breaks down the history of the film responsible for spreading 9/11 conspiracy theories. And at Defector, Brian Feldman investigates a long-claimed connection between 9/11 and the Dana Carvey film Master of Disguise.