Bon Appetit!
August 3rd – August 9th
Julie & Julia- I had a really good time with this one. While a lot of critics have decried the Julie Powell half of the story in hopes for more Julia Child, I have to say that I think both halves work well together. Sure, it’s not a perfect movie. And Julie Powell (Amy Adams, as cute as ever) is certainly no Julia Child (Meryl Streep, amazing once again). And Adams is certainly no Streep. But I did like the Julie half of the story. Julia Child was very much bigger than life. The Julie portion of the story acted as sort of a bridge to that largeness. Maybe it was the blogging thing, or having also felt rudderless, but I found that storyline compelling. There was a normalcy there that made me appreciate the Julia Child half of the story even more. Sure, a script could have been written that focused entirely on Julia Child. Maybe it would have been a better movie. In the absence of that movie, I really liked this one.
At any rate, it certainly made me hungry. As it happened, we hit a few bookstores after the movie and finally ended up with our own copy of Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking. And last night’s dinner came out of the book–Carbonnade a la Flamande. Yum.
The Hurt Locker- I quite expect this one to be among the ten nominees for a Best Picture Oscar when awards season rolls around. I also wouldn’t be surprised, or at all disappointed, if Jeremy Renner gets a Best Actor Nomination. And Kathryn Bigelow is deserving of accolades as well.
The action elements are very competently executed. It doesn’t ever seem to be trying to glamourize war through beautiful explosions. Nor does it ever seem to be trying to politicize war through pedantic exposition. Without being too glitzy or wordy, it reveals quite a bit about the American war effort and our relationship with it.
Before Sunset – This one comes nine years after the first movie, Before Sunrise. I saw that one for the first time a couple of weeks ago and I wasn’t too crazy about it. But this one I really liked. The first one seemed too rambling, too idealistic, and too naive. This one was more mature, more rooted, and more compelling. As Sarah suggested to me, it would have been a different experience had we seen Before Sunrise back in 1995. Likely, we were rambling, idealistic, and naive back then as well. Perhaps it would have worked better for me back in that moment in time. Also, in the coincidence-spotting department, this was the second movie in 24-hours to feature Paris and specifically the bookstore Shakespeare & Company (which also made an appearance in Julie & Julia).
