An American woman is stranded in Tokyo after breaking up with her boyfriend. Searching for direction in life, she trains to be a râmen chef under a tyrannical Japanese master.
On a quiet street in Helsinki, Sachie has opened a diner featuring rice balls. For a month she has no customers. Then, in short order, she has her first customer, meets Midori, a gangly Japanese tourist, and invites her to stay with her.
When Johnny is released from prison following a forgery charge, he quickly lands a job as a short-order cook at a New York diner. Following a brief fling with waitress Cora, Frankie develops an attraction for Cora's friend and fellow waitress Frankie. While Frankie resists Johnny's charms initially, she eventually relents when her best friend, Tim, persuades her to give Johnny a chance.
Master chef Kate Armstrong runs her life and her kitchen with intimidating intensity. However, a recipe for disaster may be in the works when she becomes the guardian of her young niece while crossing forks with the brash sous-chef who just joined her staff. Though romance blooms in the face of rivalry, Kate needs to look outside the kitchen to find true happiness.
When the manager of an Italian restaurant chain wins the opportunity to attend the franchise’s educational immersion program in Italy, what she thought would be a romantic getaway devolves into chaos and catastrophe.
Martha is a single woman who lives for one passion: cooking. The head chef at a chic restaurant, Martha has no time for anything - or anyone - else. But Martha's solitary life is shaken when a fateful accident brings her sister's eight-year-old daughter, Lina, to her doorstep.
Diego is a gay but closeted Hispanic chef living in East Los Angeles who works in the restaurant operated by his grandmother. Frustrated by the secretive lifestyle he shares with his similarly closeted lover, Pablo, Diego finds himself attracted to Wesley, one of the openly gay Caucasian men he feels are gentrifying his neighborhood. Their relationship pushes Diego to consider the possibility of a life he had never imagined.
Brash, loudmouthed and opportunistic, Kikujiro is the unlikely companion for Masao who is determined to see the mother he has never met. The two begin a series of adventures which soon turns out to be a whimsical journey of laughter and tears with a wide array of surprises and unique characters along the way.
A spell of time in the life of a family in rural Tochigi prefecture. Yoshiko is not an ordinary housewife, instead working on an animated film project. Uncle Ayano, a successful music producer, is looking to get his head together after living in Tokyo. Meanwhile, Sachiko is concerned with why she seems to be followed by a giant version of herself. As the lazy days pass by, each member of the family is followed in a series of episodic vignettes.
Toshiro Mifune swaggers and snarls to brilliant comic effect in Kurosawa's tightly paced, beautifully composed "Sanjuro." In this companion piece and sequel to "Yojimbo," jaded samurai Sanjuro helps an idealistic group of young warriors weed out their clan's evil influences, and in the process turns their image of a proper samurai on its ear.
Only three days before their high school festival, guitarist Kei, drummer Kyoko, and bassist Nozomi are forced to recruit a new lead vocalist for their band. They choose Korean exchange student Son, though her comprehension of Japanese is a bit rough! It's a race against time as the group struggles to learn three tunes for the festival's rock concert—including a classic '80s punk-pop song by the Japanese group The Blue Hearts called "Linda Linda".
Hatori Matsuzaki is a female high school student. She has a crush on her childhood friend Rita Terasaka and believes he will eventually choose her as her heroine, but Rita Terasaka begins dating Miho Adachi. Meanwhile, the most popular male student, Kosuke Hiromitsu takes an interest in Hatori Matsuzaki.
Leaving her provincial home, teenage Mutsuko arrives in Tokyo by train to take a job in a major automotive company but finds that she is employed by a small auto repair shop owned by Norifumi Suzuki. Suzuki's hair-trigger temper is held somewhat in check by the motherly instincts of his wife, Tomoe, and his young son Ippei immediately bonds with Mutsuko as if she were his older sister. The Suzuki shop lies almost in the shadow of the Tokyo Tower as it rises steadily above the skyline during construction in 1958.
The discovery that she has a terminal illness prompts introverted department store saleswoman Georgia Byrd to reflect on what she realizes has been an overly cautious life. With weeks to live, she withdraws her life savings, sells all her possessions and jets off to Europe where she lives it up at a posh hotel. Upbeat and passionate, Georgia charms everybody she meets, including renowned Chef Didier. The only one missing from her new life is her longtime crush Sean Matthews.
Two spoiled Beverly Hills sisters who have been left penniless after their father's sudden death are forced to move in with their estranged aunt in East Los Angeles.
A retired and widowed Chinese master chef Chu and his family live in modern day Taipei, Taiwan. He lives with his three attractive daughters, all of whom are unattached. Soon, each of the daughters encounter new men in their lives. When these new relationships blossom, stereotypes are broken and the living situation within the family changes.
Young Nigel Slater has big culinary aspirations, even though all his mother knows how to make is toast. When his mother dies, relations grow strained between Nigel and his father, especially when he remarries a woman who wins his heart with a lemon meringue pie. Nigel enters culinary school, starts working in a pub, and finds himself competing with his stepmother - both in the kitchen and for his father's attention.
Swedish efficiency researchers come to Norway for a study of Norwegian men, to optimize their use of their kitchen. Folke Nilsson (Tomas Norström) is assigned to study the habits of Isak Bjørvik (Joachim Calmeyer). By the rules of the research institute, Folke has to sit on an umpire's chair in Isak's kitchen and observe him from there, but never talk to him. Isak stops using his kitchen and observes Folke through a hole in the ceiling instead. However, the two lonely men slowly overcome the initial post-war Norwegian-Swede distrust and become friends.
Rob Haley, an up-and-coming chef and restaurateur in London, is grief-stricken when he loses his wife. With encouragement from his infamous friend and real life TV Chef Gordon Ramsay, Rob decides to spice up his life by turning a run-down country pub into a gourmet restaurant. His food catches the eye - and taste buds - of beautiful American food critic Kate Templeton and they soon both write a recipe for love that leaves both their hearts - and their stomachs - in full.
Daphne is a young woman negotiating the tricky business of modern life. Caught in the daily rush of her restaurant job and a nightlife kaleidoscope of new faces, she is witty, funny, the life of the party. Too busy to realise that deep down she is not happy. When she saves the life of a shopkeeper stabbed in a failed robbery, the impenetrable armour she wears to protect herself begins to crack, and Daphne is forced to confront the inevitability of a much-needed change in her life.
When Carly and Jason, exact opposites, compete on a famed cooking show for the chance at their own restaurant, what will matter more – their culinary careers or their potential love?
A deliciously romantic coming together of Gulrez “Gullu” Qadir a Hyderabadi shoe-sales girl disillusioned with love because of her encounters with dowry-seeking men; and Tariq “Taru” Haidar a Lucknawi cook who can charm anybody with the aroma and flavours of his biryani and kebabs.
Optimistic and cheerful TV producer, Kelly, doesn’t have time for love. Bad boy celebrity chef, Stephen, doesn’t have time for anything besides cooking. Fun with a side of love ensues as Kelly and Stephen are paired on a children's cooking show.
Gia Summers is ready to start again with a promising new job, a new lakeside neighborhood, and a brand new home! After moving in, Gia soon forms an unexpected friendship with her next door neighbor, firefighter and single dad Jim Dunlap, whose love for barbecuing is equalled only by Gia's passion for cooking.
Eight London couples try to deal with their relationships in different ways. Their tryst with love makes them discover how complicated relationships can be.
Viktor Navorski is a man without a country; his plane took off just as a coup d'etat exploded in his homeland, leaving it in shambles, and now he's stranded at Kennedy Airport, where he's holding a passport that nobody recognizes. While quarantined in the transit lounge until authorities can figure out what to do with him, Viktor simply goes on living – and courts romance with a beautiful flight attendant.
September of 1944, a few days before Finland went out of the Second World War. A chained to a rock Finnish sniper-kamikadze Veikko managed to set himself free. Ivan, a captain of the Soviet Army, arrested by the Front Secret Police 'Smersh', has a narrow escape. They are soldiers of the two enemy armies. A Lapp woman Anni gives a shelter to both of them at her farm. For Anni they are not enemies, but just men.
Samba migrated to France 10 years ago from Senegal, and has since been plugging away at various lowly jobs. Alice is a senior executive who has recently undergone a burnout. Both struggle to get out of their dead-end lives. Samba's willing to do whatever it takes to get working papers, while Alice tries to get her life back on track until fate draws them together.
Upon his release from a mental hospital following a nervous breakdown, the directionless Anthony joins his friend Dignan, who seems far less sane than the former. Dignan has hatched a harebrained scheme for an as-yet-unspecified crime spree that somehow involves his former boss, the (supposedly) legendary Mr. Henry.
After living 45 years in Germany, the Turkish Hüseyin Yilmaz, seventy, announces to his family that he has bought a house in Turkey and they should return to make the necessary reforms. The idea is unwelcome and causes very heated discussions. In addition, Canan, a granddaughter of Hüseyin, announces she is pregnant and the father is her English boyfriend, and no one knew anything.
The mysterious arrival of a foreigner to a small village in a Mediterranean island, awake the sudden interest from a diverse group of residents, who will appear unexpectedly in the stranger's life, believing that he's going to reopen an old shop. In contrast, the real intentions of the stranger are hidden behind an old Polaroid photo, which has led him to that place in search of answers.
Carmy, a young fine-dining chef, comes home to Chicago to run his family sandwich shop. As he fights to transform the shop and himself, he works alongside a rough-around-the-edges crew that ultimately reveal themselves as his chosen family.
Loving but irresponsible dad Daniel Hillard, estranged from his exasperated spouse, is crushed by a court order allowing only weekly visits with his kids. When Daniel learns his ex needs a housekeeper, he gets the job -- disguised as a British nanny. Soon he becomes not only his children's best pal but the kind of parent he should have been from the start.
After losing the woman of his dreams, Anderson is convinced he'll never fall in love again. But at the urging of his best friend, he spontaneously proposes to a dissatisfied waitress named Katie and an innocent dare evolves into the kind of love that both have been looking for all along.
During their travel from Chicago to New York, Harry and Sally debate whether or not sex ruins a friendship between a man and a woman. Eleven years later, and they're still no closer to finding the answer.
Melvin Udall, a cranky, bigoted, obsessive-compulsive writer of romantic fiction, is rude to everyone he meets, including his gay neighbor, Simon. After Simon is hospitalized, Melvin finds his life turned upside down when he has to look after Simon's dog. In addition, Carol, the only waitress at the local diner who will tolerate him, must leave work to care for her sick son, making it impossible for Melvin to eat breakfast.
Kindhearted Griffin Keyes is one of the best-loved caretakers at the Franklin Park Zoo, but he's more comfortable with the animals than with females of his own species as proven by his failed marriage proposal to the self-absorbed Stephanie several years ago. The animals have listened to Griffin pine over her for years and, after she reappears in his life, they decide to help Griffin rekindle the relationship and become the alpha male she wants him to be. They inadvertently reveal their secret ability to talk and, after Griffin's initial shock, teach him the rules of courtship, animal-style. Surprisingly, the animals' advice really works and Griffin is about to get everything he's ever dreamed of--or is he?
Exactly one year after Tom meets Violet, he surprises her with a wedding ring. By all accounts, Tom and Violet are destined for their happily ever after. However, this engaged couple just keep getting tripped up on the long walk down the aisle.
A young Greek woman falls in love with a non-Greek and struggles to get her family to accept him while she comes to terms with her heritage and cultural identity.
France, 1789 - just before the Revolution. When talented chef Manceron is dismissed from his prestigious position by the Duke of Chamfort, he loses the taste for cooking. But when he meets the mysterious Louise, together they decide to create the very first restaurant in France.
Cathy is a sous-chef wanting to open a restaurant. With financial difficulties, Cathy accepts a job at a shelter for young migrants. At first she hates the job then her passion for cuisine starts to change children's lives.
When Steve Coogan is asked by The Observer to tour the country's finest restaurants, he envisions it as the perfect getaway with his beautiful girlfriend. But, when she backs out on him, he has no one to accompany him but his best friend and source of eternal aggravation, Rob Brydon.
Bryan, an unassuming pet photographer has action and adventure thrust upon him when he is forced to wed Masha, a Croatian crime lord's daughter, and she is subsequently kidnapped while on their honeymoon in a tropical paradise.
Reunited after 15 years, famous chef Sasha and hometown musician Marcus feel the old sparks of attraction but struggle to adapt to each other's worlds.
Sloan is beautiful, stylish, and on the fast track to success at her public relations firm. After her client Caitlin ends up in a coma and becomes her own personal ghost of Christmas past, present, and future; she finds out first hand that her unethical ways needs to change and reuniting with a past jilted lover may be the answer.
Three smart and sexy friends, Andrea, Lauren and Emily, are fed up with being played by the men in their lives. To prove that all men are predictable and easily seduced, this hot trio decides to play by a new set of rules. They enter into a wild game of seduction to convince one lucky man that he's living the dream... but what the girls don't realize is their mark is on to their game and he's got a few plays of his own. Can the girls win? Or, will this player's double play end their game?
Headly, a 15-year-old teenager, thinks her mother has mourned her father's death long enough, so she decides to find her a new husband by the end of the summer.
André, 19, lives in Porto Alegre, Brazil, and works as a photocopier operator. He likes to see his neighbor Sílvia with a pair of binoculars. She works selling clothes. Becoming attracted to her, he tries to get nearer, and goes to her shop to buy something, but finds out that he can't afford it. So he puts the photocopier to other uses, and begins to envisage fishy schemes to earn some money.
When a producer refuses to cut Massimo and his band a record unless they hire an "ethnic" singer to spice up the act, he tries to seduce Jing, a Chinese girl with a beautiful voice disinterested in both him and rock, to get her on board. She pretends to cave in in order to escape an arranged marriage, but in the weeks preceding the concert the two begin to grow closer, complicating the secretly fake nature of their relationship.
Emily has just been dumped by her girlfriend, kicked out of her apartment, and fired from her job. Her best friend hooks her up with a new gig: personal assistant to a dominatrix. But when Emily falls for her new boss -- and her new boss's boyfriend -- she must decide what risks are worth taking for love. 2 in the Bush is an unconventional romantic comedy about dungeons, a fish named Archimedes, and the many forms that love takes.