Serious Chocolate: Scrumptious Movies to Watch on Christmas Day

An Oompa Loompa from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. [Photograph: Melody Kramer]

My family celebrates Christmas the way most Jewish families do: by going to the movies to see a film and then coming home to eat a ton of Chinese food. Over the years, I've seen everything from Jumanji to Michael to Rocky V—but sadly, none of these movies featured even a hint of chocolate.

For this week's Serious Chocolate, I thought I'd round up three of my favorite chocolate-themed movies to watch on Christmas Day or at some point in the future. Enjoy, and Happy Whatever-You-Celebrate!

Chocolat

I'm pretty sure my knees weakened while watching Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp on screen in Lasse Hallstrom's film—and it had nothing to do with their budding romance. Hallstrom's lingering shots of chocolate syrup and truffles and brownies made it abundantly clear that there were two love interests in the movie: Binoche and the treats that she baked. If there's a moral in this movie, it's simply to enjoy the little things in life—including chocolate.

Forrest Gump

People will tell you Forrest Gump is a coming of age story set in the latter half of the 20th century. These people are wrong: Forrest Gump is about chocolate. Or more specifically, chocolate that doesn't come in a Whitman Sampler Box (which lets you know exactly what you're gonna get....). Forrest bonds with random strangers on his bench by offering them a morsel—perhaps a metaphor for the entire film.

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971)

When I was little, I would pretend to be Augustus Gloop. Gloop, after all, was the first Golden Ticket winner—and the one who went up the chocolate river chute (and got stuck). From the opening credits where we see chocolate folded into layers of velvety goodness to Willy Wonka's crazy chocolate lake, Charlie is as close to a G-rated chocolate porn as we're gonna get.

Are there any chocolate (or sweets) movies that you really enjoy?

Images: Chocolat, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, and Forrest Gump on Wikipedia

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