Exposés turn a revealing lens on two of your favorite topics

You’re holding this issue of Sauce Magazine because, chances are, you’re a fan of food.

You’re reading this column because you’re a fan of movies. (Or me, but I don’t want to assume too much.)

Food and movies. They’re consumables that you gobble up routinely, probably with little thought to what’s involved in bringing them to your favorite restaurant or cinema. This month, two films give you a peek at each process. But let me warn you in advance: Some of what you see and hear will be difficult to watch, swallow or rationalize. Truth can be graphic, and it can be stupid.

The first offering is “Fast Food Nation,” a unique dramatization of the controversial nonfiction book by Eric Schlosser. In the original 2001 work, Schlosser traced the rise of fast food from its humble beginning as a commuter convenience in southern California to its current status as an integral part of American – and even
global – culture.

Along the way, he exposed all the unpleasantries that hide between those sesame seed buns, including unimaginable animal cruelty, slaughterhouses staffed with illegal immigrants and gut-wrenching revelations about sanitation.

The theatrical version doesn’t pull any punches, either, but rather than a by-the-book documentary, Schlosser and co-writer and director Richard Linklater have adapted it into a loose narrative.

Don Henderson (Greg Kinnear) is a corporate executive at a fast-food chain. When contaminated meat is found in the chain’s top-selling sandwich, he’s dispatched to find out why. He takes Schlosser’s trip himself, from the squalid animal feed lots (if you think fast food is bad, wait till you hear what the cows eat) to the spotless chemical labs where the flavor of everything on the menu is created in test tubes.

Schlosser’s thorough research for his book makes it difficult to argue with what’s presented in the film. But Linklater’s fictionalization is uneven at times, flicking between different characters’ stories, rather than sticking with one perspective, and he constantly fights the subject’s natural tendency to slip into documentary. But it’s still an eye-popping look at an industry which has pervaded the world. “Super Size Me” showed us just how bad fast food can be for our bodies; “Fast Food Nation” shows us just how bad it can be for society.

Protecting that same society from potentially distasteful film fare is the duty of the Motion Picture Association of America’s super-secret review board, which unwittingly becomes the star of “This Film Is Not Yet Rated.” Nothing has been fictionalized here; “Not Yet Rated” is director Kirby Dick’s determined investigation of why movies are rated the way they are.

With the help of a mother-and-daughter team of private investigators, Dick seeks to pull back the curtain that hides the MPAA, which has slapped almost every theatrical film since 1968 with a rating code (G, PG, R, etc.).

In the course of the documentary he asks questions most movie buffs have probably considered at some point: Why do sex and nudity garner a tougher rating than violence? How many f-bombs does it take to boost a movie from PG-13 to R? Why are movies rated NC-17 released only by independent studios? The answer to all of these questions is the same: “It depends.” The exceedingly arbitrary nature of the MPAA’s proceedings suggests a ratings board without clear standards; they are literally making it up as they go along.

Dick – whose own filmography is decidedly “quirky,” to put it politely – interviews similarly controversial directors like Kevin Smith, John Waters and Kimberly Peirce to get the stories of their struggles with the MPAA. Then as icing on the cake, he submits a cut of “Not Yet Rated” itself, only to have it slapped with the damnable NC-17. The final release of the film, presented here, has been given additional edits. (Since the final cut was not submitted to the board, the movie is honestly titled.)

Watching “Fast Food Nation” will almost certainly put you off your feed for a few hours. Certainly it should keep you out of the drive-thru on the way home. But “Fast Food Nation” and “This Film is Not Yet Rated” are the kind of thoughtful, debate-provoking movies that demand a comfortable booth and a steady flow of libations afterward. The best such venue in the area is Dressel’s Pub in the Central West End.

Get a group of opinionated friends together, go watch one (or both) movies, then settle in with a vegetarian Welsh shepherd’s pie, a large order of chips and a pint of Felinfoel. Dressel’s has always prided itself on fresh-over-fast food and an unexpurgated dedication to the best of the arts – a fitting combination with this double feature.