Who's in It: Edward Espe Brown
The Basics: You know you were feeling restless, a nagging void gnawing at your soul, not satisfied by normal movies. You were thinking, When — WHEN — will they make a movie about Zen priest, cook and bestselling food author Edward Espe Brown? Make that sweet day come soon, O Goddess!" Anyway, here it is, about a guy who used to be a jerk, and now he's really nice thanks to becoming a Buddhist. He makes everyone eat organic foods that look pretty delicious and probably keep your colon nice and clean. Occasionally, he sounds like a hippie. OK, actually, he sounds like a hippie a lot.
What's the Deal? What's really nice about this is how it's one more post-Super Size Me volley from the land of more conscious eating, sort of a more verbal companion piece to a really under-seen documentary that came out earlier this year called Our Daily Bread. Anyway, when you live in a really rich country, it's easy to stop thinking about food and where it comes from. It's also easier to discard it because you've taken more than you need. That's one of Brown's lessons here, and the film shows it in action by taking a sidetracking subplot about a homeless woman who lives on dumpster-diving and fruit-tree gleaning.
What Will You Learn?"When you wash the rice, wash the rice, when you cut the carrots, cut the carrots, when you stir the soup, stir the soup." I know, it sounds dumb. But I know for a fact that when I make risotto for friends (yes, I really do this, and I'm amazing at it), it takes, like, 30 minutes of constant stirring over the stove, and I go into a nice little drug-free trance. And after about three of those minutes, it's like you're asleep standing up, and when you're done, you feel really good about life. I know, it still sounds dumb. But you should try it.
But These Other Cooks Are Still More Fun to Watch: Nigella Lawson for the voluptuousness and Paula Dean for the butter.