HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO EAT A FILM ?

If you’re a wanna-be film geek (like myself) then you must try one of the unique Eat the Film evenings at the Roxy Cinema in Miramar, Wellington.

It’a an immersive movie experience where you eat a 7 course meal while you watch a movie classic. My first Eat The Film experience was the screening of the 1982 classic horror flick ‘THE THING’ directed by John Carpenter and starring Kurt Russell.

I initally thought THE THING was an action thriller but soon realised once I read the film blurb that it was actually a horror / monster film filled with blood, guts and a gruesome amount of gore.

Let’s just say the prospect of eating food while watching a gory monster-horror film on the big screen upset my stomach a little bit.  But that was all part of the fun. Plus as a film geek wanna-be I had never seen this film before and heard so much about it…I had to see it. The eerie soundtrack from Ennio Morricone. The direction of John Carpenter. The tough-guy performance of a young (and well bearded) Kurt Russell. A great ensemble of actors (Richard Dysart, A Wilford Brimley, Richard Masur, Charles Hallahan and Keith David). The great practical special effects by Stan Winston…these were the reasons why I wanted to see it.

I guess I just had to stomach through the eating part.

So, as the theatre lights dimmed and the opening credits came up – I got myself ready for this rather weird and unique movie/food immersive experience.

The opening scene – served with CHILLI DOG with J&B Ketchup

The film is set in Antarctica – and we first see a lone dog running away from a Helicopter. Yet the people in the Helicopter are shooting at the dog. The bizzare opening scene sets the whole mysterious tone of the film – and we get to eat a nice chilli hot dog with sauce to warm ourselves to the task.

So far, so good.

That’s until we get to the…

Forensic Scene: served with the ‘SMOKED SWEDE’ Blood Pudding with Crispy Skins.

Ewww.

Watching this scene made my stomach squirm as the waiters came over to serve us with the ‘Smoked Swede’ with Blood Pudding and Crispy skins – which tasted great, but watching the body of the Swedish guy (get it? – smoked swede) mutate into a dog like-alien creature before blowing up into a hideous-looking bloody mess caused a little bit of concern to the taste buds.

The forensic scene was really gruesome, but also hilarious –  as we started to eat our meal. There were sounds of laughter from the audience, and I laughed even more when I heard the ‘cracking’ of bones in the scene alongside the crunching sound of people eating the crispy skins. Crunch Crunch! 

Remember that TV show The Fear Factor when you had to eat weird stuff like insects etc? This felt similar.

Apparently this scene made the actors so sick to their stomachs because it looked so real. It all looked real to me as I slurped on the gooey blood pudding. But despite all that –  it tasted great!

So as the film went on, we were served with: Scorched Iceberg with Prosciutto and Goats Cheese Snow, flame grilled ribs with poached tongue & orange ash.

Dessert was a Bomb Antarctica (Baked Alaska) Hokey Pokey & Brandied Boysenberries.

Oh, and let’s not forget the cocktails. One was called the “Voodoo Bullshit” cocktail (relates to the particular scene) which was peach syrup, bitters, earl grey tea and bourbon with a bit smoking dry ice for that added frozen look, and a “Copper in the Blood” cocktail  – which was a cocktail in a petri dish  – raspberry jelly with carbonated crystals & mandarin dust, and to top it off you had a syringe with prosecco which you’d inject into the dish. I definitely enjoyed that!

The thinking behind making such a weird cocktail was totally in sync with what you were watching on screen – so big ups to award-winning bartender extraordinaire Ray Leota for creating such great thematic drinks.

Overall the food was delicious despite the queasy blood and gore on the big screen, and I finally got to see ‘The Thing’ which is a brilliant film – Kurt Russell totally rocks in his role, the acting ensemble is second to none, the eerie music by Ennio Morricone is so good it was used by Quentin Tarrantino for ‘The Hateful Eight’  and the special effects still look as hideous today.

I thoroughly enjoyed the immersive eating experience.

Now let’s eat some Blade Runner.

Now that I had my first ‘taste’ of eating a film (even if it was gory and grotesque) I was looking forward to the next Eat the Film screening which was the classic sci-fi film, ‘Blade Runner’.

I was already conjuring up what types of food would be served during the screening of the sci-fi classic. I was thinking it would be an asian-style take – and noodles would definitely be involved.

Starting with a glow-in-the-dark cocktail drink which flickered red and blue lights (somewhat irritating when the lights went down and lights kept on flashing underneath the seats), were served with fascinating dishes, if only I could turn on the lights and see what I was actually eating! I guess that’s why they give you the menu beforehand. Here’s some pics from the Coco at the Roxy instagram page below and you get a taste of the Blade Runner menu:

I thought the price was expensive at $65 a pop – but you do get three cocktails (created and prepared by award-winning bartender Ray Leota) with a 4 course meal – plus a classic film on the big screen.

So on the whole, it was well worth it.

So big ups to Roxy Cinemas and the team at Coco at the Roxy (a special mention to Head Chef Nic Spicer and Cocktail maker Ray Leota) for a unique event. Look forward to the next movie culinary delight.

END

Check out their page: https://www.roxycinema.co.nz/eat-the-film

A big THANK YOU to the Coco at the Roxy for using their Instagram pictures.