Monday, August 10, 2009

Julie & Julia - Movie & Book Review

Julie & Julia (Movie)
Movie Released - August 2009 (in Canada)
Writer & Director - Nora Ephron

Julie & Julia. (Book)
by Julie Powell - This is the real Julie Powell
Little, Brown & Company
September 2006



I read this book sometime earlier this yer - I think after my food challenge ended. Because someone wrote a review for the challenge on the last day. So I never got to review it.

Today I went to see to see the movie of the same name - Julie & Julia. It was wonderful, charming and excellent. I really enjoyed it.

It was funny - Watching Julie Powell learning how to cook lobsters was hilarious.
And it was sad as well - we see Julia Child's husband Paul, being interrogated under Senator McCarthy's witch hunts of the early 1950s.

The movie is based in TWO books. Julie Powells book based on her Julie & Julia Project blog.
Also based on Julia Child's memoir, MY LIFE IN FRANCE, which she wrote with her grand nephew Alex Prud'homme.

Julia Child died in Santa Barbara, California August 13, 2004. Thats 5 years ago this Wednesday. She was born in Pasadena in 1913 as Julia McWilliams.

So if Julia was an American - why did she always speak with a fake french accent. Meryl Streep does it as well. If I didn't know that Meryl Streep speaks perfectly good American English, anyone would have though she was a french born person, speaking english with a foreign accent. Does anyone know why Julia always spoke in a fake french accent?

And one last comment. It was fun seeing Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci together again - playing completely different characters than they did in the movie - The Devils Wears Prada. This is what acting is really about, Playing different characters and making them believeable.

Anyway, if you love cooking - and even of you dont - you have to see this movie. It's all about marriage and life and love and laughter.

Julie & Julia movies at Yahoo

Julie & Julia official website

6 comments:

Fine Life Folk said...

I've only recently got fond of eating out on a budget. And I'm blogging about it these days. The movie is interesting in that cooking and eating is part of our daily lives. I hope they show it here in Manila.

Susan said...

I just reviewed this movie too - I loved it also! I didn't even think about her accent, though. Because Stanley Tucci doesn't have one. And her sister...but they did sound different from her. Good pick-up, Bibliohistoria!

I haven't read Julia Powell's book so I can't compare it to the movie. Did you like her book? YOu don't say....And have you got a Julia Child cookbook, or does this make you want to try French cooking?

Francesca Thomas said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Francesca Thomas said...

Yes I Did like Julie Powells Book. sorry I should have said that I liked it.

And NO I do not have a Julia childs cookbook. I am not a cook. I love the microwave. The only cookbbok I have is the Edmonds microwave cookbook from NZ - which I got ages ago long before I came to Canada.

But I do LOVE the french culture. Anything out there about France or Paris, I will read or watch.

Matt Gorden said...

People just going to this movie to see the fantastic Meryl Streep act are going to be happy to learn it's also a great movie that's very well written and well directed and Stanley Tucci and Amy Adams are fantastic in it as well.

Anonymous said...

I think that Julia used the French accent because her husband loved it. She picked it up from living in France with him for about 10 years. She never had any boyfriends before meeting Paul and was madly in love with him. I have all of her cookbooks and most are autographed by both Julia and Paul. When she autographed her Baking with Julia book I told her that I learned how to cook from watching her shows on Public TV. She just beamed for a long time. I have all of the DVDs from The French Chef series as well as Cooking with Julia and Jaques.