Blogging and Cooking in the Movies

With the extra time on Christmas Eve we watched a movie. We wanted one that was entertaining and wasn't some BIG, HEAVY movie. Julie and Julia fit the bill. (Tomatometer: 75%; IMDB.)

Two words best describe it: Meryl Streep! What a joy to watch her act, this time in the persona of Julia Child as the story of Child in France is set against Julie who blogs about cooking through Julia's recipes. Streep no doubt will be nominated for some Academy Award again. She deserves it.

It is also a good movie. Well done, interesting, and well constructed and directed. It is based on two books and two true stories. The parallel story-telling allows for some interesting connections although they are not as central to the story as one might assume. Each has its own charm and characterizations and the links are built around writing more than cooking. Julie is less certain of herself than Julia whose ego and bombastic personality takes over the screen as it did when she was on PBS a generation and more ago.

As a blogger I found the blogging section only somewhat interesting. I was more entranced by the cooking Julie did. At one point it made me think about what it would be like to go take a real cooking course at a community ed program. Since I am already having enough trouble losing weight that idea didn't stay alive for long. But for me it was the excitement of cooking that both Julie and Julia lived that attracted me.

Overall it was a fun evening with good acting and directing. (Stanley Tucci as Julia's husband is just right for the role.) The story hung together and was never dull. Who would have thought a movie about blogging, cooking, and writing a book could do all that?