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Best Dinner Table Scenes

post #1 of 48
2/18/11 at 8:59pm
Thread Starter 

There are a lot of these. A long time ago on another forum we came up with a pretty good list and ever since, I haven't been able to not make a mental note when I see one in a film that I think would be a  good candidate for the list. I have sadly forgotten a lot of these (my mental notes often deteriorate rather quickly) and know that lot of the knowledgeable folks here could come up with some great ones.

 

Basically, it's any scene in a film that takes place around a dinner table. Usually there are multiple characters present and some sort of awkward hilarity is taking place. Sometimes something horrifying. Lots of times there are family members present and the dynamics involved add to the humor. If you've ever been a guest at someone else's family dinner, it is like getting a glimpse into their own private little world, like a scientist observing a species in its natural habitat. Here are a couple of the more obvious ones off of the top of my head.

 

I Heart Huckabees...I don't get Mark Wahlberg's bit a lot of times, but he is one of the best things about this somewhat forgettable movie and sells it in this scene that takes place around....a dinner table.

 

 

Wedding Crashers....Lots of good things going on here: Vince Vaughn getting a hand job under the table, some old broad railing on Eleanor Roosevelt's lesbianism, Christopher Walken.

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post #2 of 48
2/18/11 at 9:08pm

The ones that come immediately to mind are Goodfellas and Kill Bill.  There's no food consumed at that point in Kill Bill, but the domesticity of the chairs and table are essential to the scene.

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post #3 of 48
2/18/11 at 10:17pm

Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

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post #4 of 48
2/18/11 at 10:26pm

So many great moments from Inglorious Basterds happen around tables!

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post #5 of 48
2/18/11 at 11:00pm

American Beauty and the asparagus on the wall.

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post #6 of 48
2/18/11 at 11:28pm

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom for the win, please. 

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post #7 of 48
2/19/11 at 12:54am

Dead Alive and Our Hospitality were the first two to come to my mind. So I guess I like scenes where there's something else going on that someone's trying to hide.

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post #8 of 48
2/19/11 at 1:20am

UNTOUCHABLES (1987)

 

De Niro w/ a baseball bat.  Game over.

 

BOOTY CALL (1997)

 

Jamie Foxx under the table w/ a dog licking his ass.  Game over 2.

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post #9 of 48
2/19/11 at 2:22am

BUFFALO 66 has a really fun one. So does MEET THE PARENTS. 

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post #10 of 48
2/19/11 at 7:30am

Clue.

 

"I believe in life after death. Now that he's dead, I have a life."

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post #11 of 48
2/19/11 at 8:06am

"Alien" - I love the camaraderie and naturalness of the dinner table scenes. That kind of thing was missing in the sequels. Probably my favourite line in the movie is Yaphet Kotto's line about how he'd rather be eating something else. Then he looks at Veronica Cartwright and she's actually amused. Lovely. And of course, poor John Hurt's dinner table mishap is awesome no matter how many times I see it.

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post #12 of 48
2/19/11 at 9:47am

Thanksgiving dinner with Al Pacino is a hoot in Scent of a Woman. Even though it ends on an awkward note, it's good awkward. "His name is Charles!"

 

Sarah Jessica Parker at Christmas dinner in The Family Stone, however, is bad awkward, as she starts grilling the gay brother about the ethics of gay couples adopting, followed by Craig T. Nelson's eruption of pater righteousness! 

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post #13 of 48
2/19/11 at 9:59am

A no-brainer.

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post #14 of 48
2/19/11 at 10:00am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Patrick Ripoll View Post

A no-brainer.



Inconceivable! 

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post #15 of 48
2/19/11 at 10:15am
Nothing but Trouble. A dick-nosed Dan Aykroyd shoving a sick-ass foot long stadium dog in his mouth.

Also, pickle-shooting condiment train.
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post #16 of 48
2/19/11 at 10:24am

The 3 that came to my mind were DEAD ALIVE, AMERICAN BEAUTY...

 

and (don't make fun of me) WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING. Something about the multiple incongruous conversations remind me of my family and crack me up.

"... beef and Nazis... John Wayne was tall... Dustin Hoffman was 5'6"... would you wanna see Dustin Hoffman save the Alamo... these mashed potatoes are so creamy... Caesar Romero was tall... Caesar Romero was not Spanish..."

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post #17 of 48
2/19/11 at 10:47am

I'm gonna go ahead and say this.

 

Not a dinner table scene per se, but the dinner and the eating and the music requestedwith his food is probably the pinnacle of Denethor's pure brazen motherfuckery.

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post #18 of 48
2/19/11 at 11:30am
07-07-20_Mr_Creosote.jpg
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post #19 of 48
2/19/11 at 11:58am

Well, alright then.

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post #20 of 48
2/19/11 at 2:04pm

PUNISHER: WAR ZONE (2008)

 

It doesn't get any better.  Baddies get their due.

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post #21 of 48
2/19/11 at 8:05pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by DARKMITE8 View Post

 

and (don't make fun of me) WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING. Something about the multiple incongruous conversations remind me of my family and crack me up.

"... beef and Nazis... John Wayne was tall... Dustin Hoffman was 5'6"... would you wanna see Dustin Hoffman save the Alamo... these mashed potatoes are so creamy... Caesar Romero was tall... Caesar Romero was not Spanish..."


Darkmite, I love that movie. If it means turning in my man card, so be it. I don't claim it's any good, but it has a lot of great lines, and Bullock is at the height of her appeal in it.

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post #22 of 48
2/19/11 at 8:25pm

Now you don't have to watch the rest of FROM PARIS WITH LOVE

 

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post #23 of 48
2/19/11 at 8:42pm

Damn.  JT straight thuggn' on people.  I've yet to see this.  I may have to rent it.

 

Speaking of dinner table scenes:

 

 

It's a fan re-edit - but you get the idea.

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post #24 of 48
2/19/11 at 9:51pm

When Harry Met Sally, OK so it's in a Diner but that scene is one of the best dinner table conversations in a film.

 

But The Sword and The Sorcerer's Dinner Table/Crucifixion wins.

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post #25 of 48
2/19/11 at 10:57pm

 

Dexter Season 4. "We appreciate you, Arthur," and it's aftermath.

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post #26 of 48
2/20/11 at 12:08am

Please, nobody see From Paris with Love. It's really terrible. Possibly the worst movie I saw last year.

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post #27 of 48
2/20/11 at 3:09am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ken Savage View Post

 

But The Sword and The Sorcerer's Dinner Table/Crucifixion wins.


Ken has a point. It's jaw-droppingly awesome-bad.

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post #28 of 48
2/20/11 at 11:09am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Naisu Baddi View Post

"Alien" - I love the camaraderie and naturalness of the dinner table scenes. That kind of thing was missing in the sequels.



 What about the dinner scene at the start of Aliens where Bishop does the knife trick on Hudson's hand? I thought there was plenty of camaraderie between the Marines in the film and they felt like they'd known each other for years.

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post #29 of 48
2/21/11 at 12:38am

I haven't seen it for years but I remember busting my intestines open cracking up at Michael Caine and Steve Martin's hijinks in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.

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post #30 of 48
2/21/11 at 8:27am

I'm gonna use this thread to air a personal pet peeve: PEOPLE IN MOVIES WHO DON'T EAT THE FOOD IN FRONT OF THEM. Just drives me crazy. Seems like most directors would rather their characters smoke cigarettes than eat food they've prepared or ordered.

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post #31 of 48
2/21/11 at 8:29am

And how has no one mentioned Big Night?

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post #32 of 48
2/22/11 at 4:22am

Or THE AVIATOR?

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post #33 of 48
2/22/11 at 1:54pm

Or National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.

 

Ok, so maybe that's not on the same quality level, but memorable nonetheless.

 

"...the blessing!!!"

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post #34 of 48
2/22/11 at 6:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris Allen View Post

Or National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.

 

Ok, so maybe that's not on the same quality level, but memorable nonetheless.

 

"...the blessing!!!"

Continuing with the Christmas dinner theme, the one in The Ref

 

"Your husband ain't dead lady, HE'S HIDING."
 

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post #35 of 48
2/22/11 at 7:16pm

Technically, they're always eating breakfast, but the Citizen Kane dinner table montage deserves a mention

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post #36 of 48
2/26/11 at 10:41am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jacob Singer View Post

I'm gonna use this thread to air a personal pet peeve: PEOPLE IN MOVIES WHO DON'T EAT THE FOOD IN FRONT OF THEM. Just drives me crazy. Seems like most directors would rather their characters smoke cigarettes than eat food they've prepared or ordered.



This is one of mine as well also, but it seems like I notice breakfast the most. It's usually the mom making the type of breakfast that I probably only see once a month: bacon, eggs, some kind of thing you put syrup on. Usually there's orange juice in a freakin' carafe! Then, the kids or husband sit down while a fresh plate is served to them, they say a few lines of dialogue, take maybe a bite, then dart out the door.

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post #37 of 48
2/26/11 at 1:01pm

The lunch scene in There Will Be Blood is so awesome.

 

"Excuse me, gentlemen. Excuse him, gentlemen."

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post #38 of 48
2/26/11 at 1:59pm

I'll throw my hat in for the funniest.

 

For me it has to be Talladega Nights.

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post #39 of 48
2/26/11 at 2:05pm

That reminds me, my favourite dinner table scene of all time: Dinner For One.

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post #40 of 48
3/20/11 at 8:49pm

Brothers.  Little Isabelle, her pissy face, and that damn balloon.  "Couldn't you just stay DEAD?!  You're just mad 'cause Mom would rather sleep with Uncle Tommy than you!  Mom and Uncle Tommy have sex all the time!!!!"

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post #41 of 48
3/21/11 at 10:56am

Mother Fucking Charlie Bronson

 

 

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post #42 of 48
3/21/11 at 12:24pm

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post #43 of 48
3/21/11 at 5:36pm

The stepmother in A Tale of Two Sisters kills me in this conversation scene. Then crazy shit happens.

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post #44 of 48
3/23/11 at 12:05pm

RUSHMORE...

 

"O, R they?" and Murray's subsequent (well, almost) spit-take, etc. Amazing.

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post #45 of 48
3/23/11 at 3:07pm

Altman's POPEYE... The sailor tries to sit down for dinner with the Oyls. By the time he's found a spot during the family's character intros and ensuing argument/s, the family has all stormed away, leaving Popeye with no company and no dinner.

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post #46 of 48
3/23/11 at 5:40pm

UNBREAKABLE... "No shooting friends, Joseph"

 

And I love the scene already mentioned from THE AVIATOR... Marty really does a good job of making the viewer feel both lost and irritated, just as Howard obviously does.

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post #47 of 48
3/27/11 at 3:58pm

Pacino and De Niro in Heat. Yes, I know its only coffee in a diner but that is an epic scene from an absoultely epic film. Film students should be forced to watch this to see how a scene should be directed with just incredible dialogue.

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post #48 of 48
3/27/11 at 4:34pm

'Black Rain', when Sato comes into the restaurant and gets the first counterfeit plate.

'The Ref', when Caroline explains St. Lucia

'The Godfather', when Michael has a nice Italian meal and excuses himself to go to the bathroom.

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