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The best menu for the best picture

By Michele Kayal, Associated Press

Cooler weather — and a cold economy — mean it's time for movie night on the couch. But popcorn doesn't have to be your only culinary option. Television shows have suggested food and movie pairings for years, and it's an easy idea to bring into your own kitchen. To help you stage a homebound Hollywood bash, we've asked chefs and food personalities to team each Oscar-winning best picture from the past eight years.

'NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN' (2007)

Watch: Josh Brolin and Javier Bardem chase each other through the West Texas desert over drug money as Sheriff Tommy Lee Jones stands by helplessly.

Eat: Bloody Mary gazpacho, a chilled roasted tomato and vegetable soup splashed with vodka, Worcestershire and Tabasco sauce, then sprinkled with chopped celery leaves. "The chilled soup represents the cold-hearted, emotionless killer that is Javier Bardem's character," says Danny Boome, host of the Food Network's Rescue Chef.

'THE DEPARTED' (2006)

Watch: Police and Irish mobsters (headed by Jack Nicholson) tangle in South Boston. As a bonus, Martin Sheen's character takes a header off a building.

Eat: Steak tips with hot pickled cherry peppers and A1 Steak Sauce, thick french fries and a Budweiser. "There's a bar on every corner in South Boston, and that's what they serve," says lifelong Boston resident and award-winning chef Barbara Lynch.

'CRASH' (2005)

Watch: Collisions, carjackings and chaos connect more than a dozen characters in a 36-hour span.

Eat: A "double-double" burger — double meat, double cheese — from the iconic In-N-Out Burger. If you can't make it to Los Angeles, go to McDonald's or make your own. Wash it down with a chocolate milkshake.

'MILLION DOLLAR BABY' (2004)

Watch: Aging trainer Clint Eastwood reluctantly makes a boxer out of Hilary Swank, an Ozarks refugee who says boxing is the only thing between her and a trailer park with "a deep fryer and some Oreos."

Eat: Yup. They're great. Dip Oreos in funnel cake batter, then drop them in the fryer. Eat while hot.

'THE LORD OF THE RINGS: RETURN OF THE KING' (2003)

Watch: Hobbits Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) travel to Mount Doom with weird creature Gollum to destroy a ring and save Middle Earth.

Eat: Hobbits eat multiple breakfasts, so set out a buffet of pancakes, eggs, toast, oatmeal, muffins.

'CHICAGO' (2002)

Watch: Richard Gere, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Renée Zellweger sing and dance through celebrity, scandal, prison and the Jazz Age in the Windy City.

Eat: A Chicago Red Hot on a poppy-seed bun with yellow mustard, a good sprinkle of celery salt and "salad on top" — tomato wedges, green relish, pickle spear, "sport" peppers and chopped onion.

'A BEAUTIFUL MIND' (2001)

Watch: Russell Crowe plays Nobel laureate John Forbes Nash, whose gift for mathematics is overshadowed by paranoid delusions of Cold War-style spying.

Eat: A 5-pound bone-in pork loin. Roast for 15 minutes at 450 degrees, then cut the heat to 250 degrees for about an hour or until it hits 160 degrees. Serve with roasted potatoes for true 1960s comfort food.

'GLADIATOR' (2000)

Watch: Russell Crowe battles bad guys in the Colosseum in the service of the Emperor.

Eat: Gladiator's Caesar Salad, a la Aimie's Dinner & Movie in Glens Falls, N.Y. Theater co-owner Sandy Metivier thinks a massive Caesar (and its nod to the Roman emperor) is a good fit.