Oscars are coming, but Valentines first. Cook some Child!
12.02.10
Child, not Children, you sick bastard, anyway…
Oscars are coming and, duh, Meryl Streep is deservedly, I think, nom-ed for an umpteenth time (but then Julia Child was such a character, Dan Aykroyd may have done as fine a job on SNL pouring his life blood forth in a rendition of The French Chef). Well in case you missed it, there’s a halfway dumb 2009 movie called Julie and Julia about a blogger who sets out to take a year (exact) to make all of Child’s recipes (450 or something?) from Mastering the art of French Cooking, and blog about it. She, Julie, lives in Queens (poor thing), in a 900 square ft. apartment, with a douchey attaché guy who never stops eating (and talking, inanely, with his mouth wide open); she also works in a horrible cubicle for a ground zero redevelopment group, in customer service, fielding complaints of course.
As grimed down for the recession as J & J might seem after recent years’ flicks set in NYC (i.e. like Sex and the City) the second portion of this foody romcom, breaded neatly together like Challah, is a boring story (imagine someone filming me writing this…and heck I just made an omelette too! But then l also don’t constantly talk with my mouth open like Mr. attaché dude, apparently someone making this film…the producers I hope, not director Nora Ephron, thought this was very interesting, or sexy? dunno.) ….sorry, am rambling…. a boring story which always cuts and alludes to Julia’s, played by Streep, which is totally interesting, if unfortunately halfway studied. And Streep is good, but Julia is better. So, master The Art of French Cooking for Valentines, that is if you can get to the bookstore and the market through all the snow. -CM