Meryl Streep IS Julia Child

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I want to see this film but it looks like it will have too much blogging and not enough Julia Child.

I know they feel they have to hang these things on some contemporary theme and we couldn't possibly want to go and see a film just about Julia Child.

well it's based on a blog and a book, so there's your answer

Anyone seen this yet?

woah! what is it called?
that resemblance is crazy!

i liked this a lot... meryl is awesome amy adams is cute as a button

it has no real story to speak of tho and that causes problems some times.

but it is mostly quite charming.

Julie & Julia.

Interview with Streep, Adams, and (ugh) Nora Ephron, the director.

Julia Child's legacy (and a lot of other stuff, including the state of American cooking since the 1950s and the Food Network) are covered in this really interesting NY Times article by Michael Pollan: Out of the Kitchen, Onto the Couch (Been browsing cooking blogs lately)

i'm waiting for Hipster Runoff: The Movie before i see a movie about a blog

or a movie about some guy who actually ate too many shrimp

has there ever been a good movie that featured blogging as a significant plot element?

blog wars

so excited

blog wars isn't a real movie :(

"Psycho Killer" is used surprisingly well in this movie.

seriously?

it's the kind of straight-up literal use of a song to illustrate a joke that i kinda hate tbh

A.O. Scott really likes RoboStreep and Tucci

As does Ms. Streep. By now this actress has exhausted every superlative that exists and to suggest that she has outdone herself is only to say that she’s done it again. Her performance goes beyond physical imitation, though she has the rounded shoulders and the fluting voice down perfectly.

Often when gifted actors impersonate real, familiar people, they overshadow the originals, so that, for example, you can’t think of Ray Charles without seeing Jamie Foxx, or Truman Capote without envisioning Philip Seymour Hoffman. But Ms. Streep’s incarnation of Julia Child has the opposite effect, making the real Julia, who died in 2004, more vivid, more alive, than ever.

In Mr. Tucci Ms. Streep finds, as in “The Devil Wears Prada,” a perfect foil. Like the character he plays, he is gallant and self-assured and able to assert a strong sense of his own presence even as he happily cedes the center of attention. Together, their mastery of the art is so perfect that even quiet, transitional scenes between them are delightful. (And when Jane Lynch shows up as Dorothy, Julia’s sister, the delight ascends to an almost indecent level of giddiness).

If only Mr. Tucci and Ms. Streep were in every movie, I thought to myself at one point, as, in a state of rapture, I watched them sit still on a couch looking off into space.

We're off to see this, wish us luck, USA.

congrats!

i liked this a lot... meryl is awesome amy adams is cute as a button

it has no real story to speak of tho and that causes problems some times.

but it is mostly quite charming.

yes. mostly i just want julia child's life.

ao on point. man streep is awesome in this. so lovable.

This was huge fun. The final scene pre-credits with Streep and Tucci was just so joyous it brought me near tears.

I thought the Simply Orange juice that Julie Powell had was anachronistic product placement (which I hate), but Wiki says it was introduced in 2001, so no gripe there.

If I were Eric Powell (real life), I would be pissed, unless he really does eat like a fucking caveman.

i am really turned off by the blogger thing in this film, and i don't usually like nora ephron's stuff (my girlfriend and lots of other folks seem to hate her with a passion, actually), but someone i am really looking forward to this. why?

im waiting for the Adams-free edit.

I just said something similar over on FB!

that guy ws cute in that woody allen movie, woulda picked him over deranged spaniards any day btw

I kinda love Amy Adams, but whatevs. Was planning to go see it later this afternoon, but we'll see how busy I get.

matos otm

That's a good review. The Julia half was such a treat that it's taking me a day or so to disentangle it from the other half, which M.M. skewers and grills very nicely.

I thought the Simply Orange juice that Julie Powell had was anachronistic product placement (which I hate), but Wiki says it was introduced in 2001, so no gripe there.

In (500) Days of Summer, Zooey Deschanel's character quotes a line from Belle & Sebastian's "Boy with the Arab Strap" in her 1998 yearbook, except the album wasn't released until September 1998, so unless "1998" means the 1998-99 school year, that's a mistake. Schooled!

FACED

In (500) Days of Summer, Zooey Deschanel's character quotes a line from Belle & Sebastian's "Boy with the Arab Strap" in her 1998 yearbook, except the album wasn't released until September 1998, so unless "1998" means the 1998-99 school year, that's a mistake. Schooled!

i think the producers need to offer a public retraction

the julia part was so rad! but the rest was pretty boring, and amy adams has a terrible haircut and wardrobe

red carpet clip with real life julie powell saying its a movie about two inspirational women made me gag

adams is ridic good in this to be able to make her terrible character seem at all likeable

i wanna see this movie but in my eccentric little universe john candy IS julia child

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_AxikaaVnbMg/R9H1cpDekJI/AAAAAAAAAlU/4ZtgU3gXB3E/s400/SCTV-0837.JPG

But Adams doesn't make her seem likable at all!

i gave in and saw this today. the julie character was so fucking whiny and awful. i liked adams' haircut and i think she did what she could with the roll. i lovved the julia parts, though. it was definitely a 'feel good' movie, and not entirely deep, but i thought it was a lot of fun.

*with the role.

Since they never cleared it up, I guess Julia went to her grave hating Julie?

Worth the matinee price to hear one phrase in particular from Streep (and to know that Julia once said it herself).

yeah, i wondered about that, too.

the whole thing just made me want to come home and cook, mostly.

I didn't think Julie came off nearly as hateable as Matos/etc. argue - that part didn't have enough story to it, but she was just a narcissistic late-20s liberal arts grad. She may, in fact, be reading ILX right now. Julie's half would be tough to pull off - if you focus too much on cooking as craft/art you're repeating Julia's part (when Julie clearly is no Julia), and if you expand the relationship you're going to have to make it really long or sacrifice cooking entirely. Whether Ephron failed to convey Powell's joy in cooking or whether there was no joy to start with, it's impossible for me to judge.

They should have just done a Julia bio.

yeah, i wanted to see julia do tv! especially after hearing a re-air of an interview from years ago about the early days of television cooking (little to no editing, anything goes!).

I didn't think Julie came off nearly as hateable as Matos/etc. argue - that part didn't have enough story to it, but she was just a narcissistic late-20s liberal arts grad. She may, in fact, be reading ILX right now. Julie's half would be tough to pull off - if you focus too much on cooking as craft/art you're repeating Julia's part (when Julie clearly is no Julia), and if you expand the relationship you're going to have to make it really long or sacrifice cooking entirely. Whether Ephron failed to convey Powell's joy in cooking or whether there was no joy to start with, it's impossible for me to judge.

exactly how i felt. and yeah, it made me want to go home and whip up some leeks vinagrette and lamb shanks or something (but gah not with so much butter!)

cant believe u liked the haircut txa

This was kind of like watching a fun biopic about Julia Child on TV and then switching at every commercial break to some shitty movie.

fwiw, I thought the actor playing the husband managed to take what I think was written as a pretty likeable character and make him seem douchey. Don't know if that improved the movie or not.

can't argue w/ Hurting.

the julie character was so fucking whiny and awful.

ie a Nora Ephron heroine! I do still like Amy Adams despite it.

Enjoyed Streep but prefer Aykroyd (and Uncle Floyd).

fwiw, I thought the actor playing the husband managed to take what I think was written as a pretty likeable character and make him seem douchey. Don't know if that improved the movie or not.

― the kid is crying because did sharks died? (Hurting 2), Monday, August 24, 2009 9:26 AM (4 months ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

fully agree. seemed kinda... snivelling?

tucci was awesome tho.

seriously tho it seemed like they were straining soooo hard for a story, any kind of story, in the 2005 part of the movie. to the point where they have that ridiculous fight.

Read online that one cheated on the other - I think Julie - but that didn't make it into the movie!

Watched this again last night, put on a pearl necklace for Christmas today.. then unwrapped a BEAUTIFUL pearl necklace from my fiancé, it evoked that scene perfectly!

this is the kind of movie that someone w/ fcp needs to make a "fan edit" of and just remove the whole amy adams part

lol pearl necklace

stanley tucci + meryl streep are so awesome together. more pls

the julie character was so fucking whiny and awful.

i know! i read the book first and she was more angry and funny. did a lot of throwing things and constantly swearing throughout, which frankly i liked because that's how i am! i felt like they removed a lot of her personality to make her seem more sweet and feminine or something.

I tried to read the book and thought she was pretty dang annoying there as well

stanley tucci + meryl streep are so awesome together. more pls

^^^^ You don't have to defend this movie to aver that he's done wonders towards loosening her up.

well, if you thought she was annoying, maybe you are just not a moody 25 year old woman.

maria u r awesome btw!

In the theater I hope "Julia hates me!" provoked a group "YAY JULIA"

i know! i read the book first and she was more angry and funny. did a lot of throwing things and constantly swearing throughout, which frankly i liked because that's how i am! i felt like they removed a lot of her personality to make her seem more sweet and feminine or something.

Haha this was a problem while she was touring, doing readings and signings for her first book, FYI!! Because she kept doing readings at major chain bookstores that were attended by, like, suburban ladies' book groups and people who admire Julia Child. And there's your drama-queen, foul-mouthed, alcoholic heroine allowed to speak in public....

she shoulda been played by Tilda Swinton.

Read online that one cheated on the other - I think Julie - but that didn't make it into the movie!

To be fair the affair was not in the book, I think it is in her new book. But it sounds awful so it's not like I'm going to read it.

if this movie had been all julia i would def watch again.
yeah, like slocki said, where was the actual story in julie's story - painful. or maybe the contrast btwn the two was just too extreme. whatever, every time it cut back to julie i was like oh fuck off - being 'reflective' doesn't make self-centred whining any better. writers.

i mean,
lol writers.

I had some problems with the Julia Child story too - a little light on tension. She sets out to accomplish something and she accomplishes it, with only a few minor bumps in the road and her husband gazing on adoringly the whole way.

can't argue w/ Hurting.

― Rage, Resentment, Spleen (Dr Morbius), Friday, December 25, 2009 1:00 PM Bookmark

A new day? Friends?

Hurting your posts have never stuck in my craw, I think I only fight with you when I fight w/ everybody!

It's been a few months since I saw this (with the wife). I am not a big Streep fan, but I thought she made the movie watchable, largely because JC was such a great character to play and there would be so much source material for an actor to study, but I give Streep credit; not many actors could have stepped into Child's character so well.

Tucci did a workmanlike job with a part that had very little to work with: The Loving Husband.

All I could think of while watching Amy Adams flail around with the truly horrid part she was handed was, hmmmmm, this Julie woman could not possibly look anything like Amy Adams in real life. A svelte, pert-nosed, frailish-looking dollface, hopelessly devoted to cooking with multiple pounds of butter?? Tell me another one, bucko.

i think tucci did an exceptional job with a workmanlike part.

Tucci did a workmanlike job with a part that had very little to work with: The Loving Nora Ephron Fantasy Husband.

This was promoted heavily in the shops just prior to Mothers Day (UK), with a recipe book.

Just saw it last night, and yeah.

Charles Taylor lets'er rip:

She began as a dull barometer of respectable taste, like NPR, conferring a veneer of civility and culture on those who like that sort of thing. Then she moved on to Great Lady poses, roles that made her the heir apparent to that paragon of boring American acting Helen Hayes. Now, she has entered the Sacred Monster stage. Streep now provides a higher-brow version of the kind of bald scenery chewing that Joan Crawford and Susan Hayward specialized in. But unlike those paragons of masochism, Streep doesn’t suffer or go nuts. Rather, Streep has managed to channel the tastelessness of her showboating grotesquerie into middlebrow vehicles like Doubt and August, which come to the screen with the cachet of acclaimed stage shows, or the Margaret Thatcher biopic The Iron Lady, whose cachet is political and historical. No one need be embarrassed watching a Streep performance—though, by God, she should be.

https://lareviewofbooks.org/essay/meryl-streeps-hunger-games#

Iron Lady was the one B.S. middlebrow movie from this entire late period she couldn't transcend. Without a doubt her worst performance in ages.

having seen both Doubt and Osage on Broadway, I'd say she didn't transcend them, but dragged em down to her level.

You should know.

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