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julie/julia

i just got home from seeing julie/julia and wanted to say that i absolutely loved it. meryl streep positively channeled julia child, but she was so funny that the audience laughed and laughed the whole time she was onscreen. and the food porn! yow! it was exceedlingly entertaining. i can't recommend it highly enough. but i couldn't find ed! where were you? which scene were you in?

41 Comments:

I saw this today with two friends and we all loved it. I totally enjoyed Meryl Streep as Julia and Stanley Tucci as Paul Child. They were delightful. The food was to drool over and we were all starving by the time it was over. The audience was totally into this movie and laughed a lot. Julie's character was a little OCD and her husband really was a saint!

I didn't see Ed either ~ don't remember anyone in a hat, but that's just me... thinking about all that beautiful food.

Charlie Rose interviewed Meryl Streep and Nora Ephron last night. With clips. Worth catching.

Just saw it last night two with husband, mom, aunt, and uncle. All loved it. But, I did forget to look for Ed!

Saw it yesterday afternoon - even the early show got crowded here in ATL - and it was excellent. J/J joins the ranks of the best foodie movies as far as I'm concerned.

Seeing tomorrow...report back. Can't wait!

I don't plan on seeing it but I am really glad it's doing well. I'm not into dramas or comedies unless someone drags me to see one. I don't see my husband doing this. :P The only reason I even saw Tampopo was because the xbf made me watch it - it's one of my top 20 movie favorites. The mention of food porn is pulling at me though...

I saw it yesterday - lots of food and cooking, but not so much eating...
And the eating is the best part! Nice Tarte Tatin though.

@PeanutButter--I thought there was a lot of eating and drinking. My mouth watered as Julie crunches on sauteed cucumbers and declares them a revelation. I thought crumbs would come flying out of Julia's mouth as she and Paul discuss what she would do with her time in France. I'm on a wine and gimlet kick right now from all the drinking...was it just me?

I loved the movie. Loved Meryl Streep as Julia Child. Her laughter and joy are infectious.

I just saw j&j a few hours ago. I have to say, in all the times I've gotten truly excited to go see a movie, this was the first time I've been been so thouroughly entertained, expectations marvelously exceeded, and left completely void of disappointments. It was a beautiful movie! It instills such inspiration to a home cook. I wanted to race home and prepare the "beuf bordingnon"(i know, i butchered the spelling) instead of the salisbury steak I promised my husband.

Go see this movie, Its such a joy to watch! I know why star wars finatics get so cult-like about seeing the films repeatedly now, I want to go back and see J&J over and over again. This will be a foodie cult-classic for sure.

I loved it, but I wish the whole movie had been about Julia. Not that Julie wasn't an interesting character, but Julia Child was really what carried the movie through, and I would have loved to see what happened after she got her book published, when she was on TV, etc. Meryl Streep was absolutely unbelievably wonderful! Great food staging, too. I loved it!!

I live in the UK and am waiting for it to come out here as I've heard so many great things about it from this site! Plus, I've always been a sucker for cinematic food porn.

The only thing which has made me feel slightly sad in all of the reports I've read about the movie is that Julie only undertook the Julia project because she wanted a successful blog and book deal. It kind of takes something away from the idea that she really loved cooking and just wanted to do it for the hell of it. But perhaps I'm just being churlish!

I would love to see a movie about Julie Child (and starring Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci!) but I don't know how I feed about the overall premise of the movie. I echo Misscay's post: It doesn't strike me as very genuine. The reviews I have read found that Meryl Streep's portrayal of Julia is fantastic, so I would likely see the film for this reason. But in all fairness to "Julie," I may read the book (there's a book, right?)

The book...meh.

I am in the background in the scene in which Amy Adams is buying the beef to make beef bourgignon for the first time. If you look closely you will see the back of my head. I am wearing a cap.

Loved it! After a very short while, I realized that every time Julia/Meryl was on screen, I had stopped eating my movie food (sorry, it's an important movie theater ritual for me, and I pretended Julia would understand), but stopped eating it not because it was crappy movie food. No, it was because I couldn't stop smiling. You can't smile and eat at the same time, it turns out. But the oddest thing imagineable is that *while* smiling, I also found myself also leaking tears. Okay, crying. And believe me, I am not a cryer. In four months of chemotherapy I think I cried just once. Okay, downer note. But the point is, the movie moved me deeply. Go see it!

I saw it and remembered to look for Ed. It's really short, but you can see from the cap that it's him.

I thought it was very well done -- the parallels that they drew were really great, and Meryl Streep really shined. As did Stanley Tucci, I absolutely loved them together.

This is the kind of movie that leaves you really inspired to create something, anything.

i really enjoyed the movie but it ended rather abruptly


And can anyone explain to me how/why Julia HATED Julie? It kind of ruined it for me

Halfway through the movie I leaned over to my boyfriend and whispered, "I'm going to go home and cook the S#@T out of some beouf bourginon." I think he got a boner.

@foodieteen: why did Julia HATE Julie? Right? Never was explained. How sexy was Stanley Tucci's portrayal of Julia's hubby?? Funniest moment for me was when my daughter, didi on this sight, asked me why their cosmos looked like mountain dew. Gimlets anyone??

Great, great movie!

Julia didn't HATE Julie: she thought the whole premise was disrespectful. Remember, at the time, she was pretty old and probably cranky!

Ummm, makes sense. Still, great movie.
Girls nite this weekend. Didi wants me to serve mountain dew cosmos in honor of Julia and Julie> not sure how to respond!

Saw it this evening, and have to say that 1) I really enjoyed it, but 2) if they made this movie solely about Julia Child and nixed the Julie part I would have been totally OK with that. (I enjoyed Julie, but Julia is WAY more interesting of a story)

I saw it last night. The Julia parts are wonderful, the Julie parts are mediocre at best. Julie's character is pretty tough to take, there were definitely moments I wanted to smack her around a bit. But Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci were amazing. As other have said, I would have been very happy if the movie was only about Julia. This is the first time I have ever thought this, but the movie was MUCH better than the book. Probably because the book was about the needlessly melodramatic, bratty, self-centered Julie, while the movie was mostly about Julia.

I loved the whole movie. I was concerned about the Julie part because all the critics kept whining about it, but I thought the movie as a whole was AWESOME. I'm truly inspired in so many ways. (I get that way with food, fashion and dance movies.) I'm now rereading the Julia Child's book My Life In France with renewed interest. AND I just bought a present for my sis-in-law to reference. I'm sure she'll be reading this and can guess what I bought her, but I felt it necessary after watching this movie with her...

Yeah, it wasn't that she hated Julie it was that she thought the project was frivolous -ie not a serious cooking endeavor. If you think about it, the project wasn't really about taking a serious stab at french cooking it was about finding some direction in her life/giving her life one stable element. I loved the book and the movie but I think that that is a fair assessment.

I reviewed the movie on my FB page. Not sure about proper protocol here as "this is food related but am I self-linking...?" To avoid impropriety, I'll post the review here. If you'd like to comment on my FB page, navigate to my FB page by searching "chiffonade."

As a dedicated, proud foodie who watched The Fench Chef, Julia and Company, Julia and MORE Company, Julia Child's Kitchen, Baking with Julia and just about every other media vehicle she's ever created - I am for this movie, what I'd like to call "an educated audience."

J/J is the very intricate combining of two true stories. The stories of the culinary legend as played by Meryl Streep and the young blogger (Amy Adams) "tag team" throughout the movie to demonstrate how cooking and food changed both of their lives. I had heard rumors of the Julie Powell portion of the story "bogging down" or "cluttering" the Julia Child portion - but this only happens if the viewer is seeking "The Life Story of Julia Child" Which this movie is not; so don't go expecting that.

If you want to witness the affect Julia Child had on one particular young woman who felt she was floundering and seeking her own personal power - You will be absolutely delighted. If you seek a full-on Julia Child biography, you will experience Julia Interruptus.

The movie ends as Mastering The Art of French Cooking is first published by Knopf and Julia is absolutely ecstatic. The Julie Powell story line ends as Powell completes her final dish from Mastering, the media discovers her blog and the book offers begin, via more than 60 messages left on her answering machine.

I went into the theatre armed with the knowledge that this was NOT a "Julia Child" movie - and I'm glad I did. I thoroughly enjoyed Julie & Julia at face value. I would, however, love to see a spinoff/sequel of the continuation of the Julia Child portion of the movie. We never got to appreciate how Paul supported Julia's career once his OSS/CIA position ended. He made rolling pins for her, he designed her kitchen with high countertops to accommodate her towering height. He worked tirelessly on several of her PBS series and he was always her biggest cheerleader.

J/J demonstrated how Julia Child became the icon whose memory we love and treasure. The Powell portion of the movie was uplifting because as she became more accomplished in the kitchen, you can't help but be proud of her. Frankly, I could kick myself for not coming up with the idea of blogging my way through a difficult cookbook but I applaud her for having the imagination to give birth to the idea. Aside from a few extra inches around the waistline, it looked like a fun project.

If you're a foodie, go see the movie. As long as you approach it with the understanding that it's not a Julia Child biography, you should leave the theatre with a sense of satisfaction that a person like Julia lived, proud of your own accomplishments at cutting board and stove - and a distinct craving for French food.

Just got back from a week at the cottage so am planning to see the movie as soon as I finish washing the mountain of towels, sheets and dirty clothes! One thing I have wondered, though, is how they could make Meryl Streep look tall - was this aspect handled well in the movie? I am sure Meryl is a small person in reality - how did they make her look so tall?

she's five six. i met her once, for about three tenths of a second. they hired a lot of really short actors to do the paris marketing scenes, and i don't know how they managed the rest. they must have dug trenches or something!

I saw the movie this weekend. I agree with most comments... I really enjoyed the movie. The Julia parts were incredible the Julie parts were okay. Stanley Tucchi was wonderful as Paul and Meryl was a triumph as Julia.

The chopped onion scene was absolutely hilarious!!!

I too was disappointed in Julia's reaction and thought that part should have been eliminated or changed to make it more charitable toward Julia, who as we know was 90 years old at that time.

I also think the film is sort of an expose of the narcissism of today's 20 somethings. Everyone (mostly women) has to have a blog. They sit with their faces in a computer hours each day updating their FB, MS, and blogs. I know one girl who has uploaded 24,000 pictures onto her FB page, and she's only 20 years old! All this to the exclusion of real life relationships. Julie's husband is indeed a saint. I'm sure many marriages have failed because of the compulsion to blog and form "communities" with complete strangers they have never and will never meet. Join a club, athletic gym, church. Look into someone's eyes when you LOL, and reap the joy.

I don't know why Julia's age has anything to do with her dislike of Julie Powell's blog. I can see why any artist/creator would feel (regardless of age) if someone took her work and sort of bastardized it (laced with four-letter expletives). I've read Julie Powell's book about the project and I'm a bit inclined to agree with Julia Child, on her main objection. After finishing the book, I'm left with the impression that Julie Powell created this challenge because she was bored with her life (and a bit lost, but isn't your 20's called the "lost decade" for a reason?). Not because she wanted to understand Julia's joy and passion of French cuisine. If I was Julia, I would be a bit miffed too. Julie Powell laments that Julia Child did not understand her blog and her intent. It would also seem that Julie Powell did not understand the Julia's book at all either. I did enjoy Julie's book (especially the part about the Bitch Rice) and am totally looking forward to the food porn of the movie.

ehh - it wasn't that great of movie. admit it. it was kind of boring. . . .

Loved the movie.

I would just like people to remember that back when Julie started her blog (2002??) blogging wasn't as huge as it is today. And there weren't all that many food blogs going around (not like today where, guilty as charged, it seems like everyone has one). I doubt Julia had any real knowledge of what Julie was doing or why she was doing it. And realize it's a MOVIE, which means some things about Julie are in there for "cinematic license".

I don't think those that came up with the movie originally (putting the two books together) realized what a jewel they had in Meryl playing Julia, otherwise I'm sure they would have done a movie about Julia alone.

The movie was cute. Still waiting for a Julia Child movie though, that tells more about her.

Amy Adams made the Julie character as likeable as she possibly could. I went home and read part of the real blog after the movie, and had no problem at all seeing why Julia didn't care for it. And no desire to read the rest of the blog, or the book, or her other book for that matter (Julie that is).

Still - Meryl did a good job as Julia, although I think the real Julia is a bit less whimsical.

I did go out and buy Mastering the Art of French Cooking directly afterward, came home and read part of it and fell completely in love. I've already made beef bourguignon (spelling is probably wrong) and it was divine.

So we saw the movie on Sunday. It was good, but I found it wasn't really as deep as I was expecting. But reading the posts above, helps me reframe my thoughts. I think I was looking for more indepth on Julia Childs, but then again that wasn't the whole intent of the show. Julie's character was fun to watch as I've got friends who fit the persona, so it was easy to identify with her. Julia's character has led me to dig personally deeper into her persona and cooking. I actually do remember seeing her on TV in the 60's.

For movies where Food was as much an attention getter as the characters I rate it really high. The other thing I enjoyed was the scene transitions between Julie and Julia (modern day to the 50's).

Overall, I'll buy the DVD when it comes out. Will watch it a few more times, knowing that I'll end up feeling pretty good since it's not violent.

I'll probably go to see this again with one of my friends and then in September, when I go to visit my sister in D.C. Watching Julia and Paul together is such a joy. And, I have to agree that the competitive onion chopping scene is laugh-out-loud funny. Also, notice that Julia is always wearing '40's high, platform shoes.

I am going to steal this premise as my own. We are going to call it Jerzee and _______. I will cook someone's recipes and fill in funny anecdotes when I blog about it. Oh wait, I do that all the time but right here on SE.
Can someone from Julie's publisher drop me an email?
Of course a movie about Julia is interesting. But I am in the nay camp (reserving the art/film thing for when I see it) I also think it is disrespectful to write a book about blogging about someone who finds you disrespectful. It is jonsing off someone else's talent. So having said that you can find me on facebook....HAHA

@AnnieNT: "I don't know why Julia's age has anything to do with her dislike of Julie Powell's blog."

Most 90 year olds I have known are impatient and ornery. And deservedly so, they have lived 90 years. I am thinking, why the hell didn't these producers and screenplay writers do a documentary movie about Julia's whole life with Meryl Streep in the lead? I think we would have all loved that much more. The movie is cheapened and disrespectfull of Julia's life with the final scene of her rejection of Julie. So says me and most I have talked to that flocked to the movie, only to be disappointed in the portrayal of Julia. Now it's too late to do the movie correctly.

...did I just read the proclamation that women are more narcissistic than men? Ugh, come ON.

@chiff: Just read your review. Excellent explanation on expectations, which is, to me, a major reason why movies do well or poorly when people walk out of the theater. I'll wait to see it when it airs on tv. Thanks. :)

Saw the movie on Sunday. Loved it and I have to agree, I longed for more scenes of Julia's life in Paris and with Paul. What an adorable couple. Meryl Streep is amazing. I knew she was a great actress and have always enjoyed her movies, but she is so incredible in this movie, it's just takes your breath away. As for the ending, I really didn't think that Julia's apparent dislike of Julie's blog detracted from the movie, but then I had known beforehand about this little issue.

Funny but true side note: I went to this movie with a friend of mine who use to live in the Santa Barbara area, close to where Julia retired. My friend's husband was a photographer for a small newspaper and he was sent to take pictures of Julia's 90th birthday celebration and he agreed that Julia Child was a "pill". Apparently, she did not want to be interviewed nor did she want to have her photo taken. I think his word for her was "crotchetty" (sp?). But I still love her and her cooking.

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