I saw the movie first, and then had to read the book. The movie Julie and Julia tells the true story of a temp-turned-blogger-turned-best-seller-writer, and was just too good to end with the credits. So, for my birthday my hubs gave me the book and Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" (MTAOFC), quite an imposing tome, too. (I have yet to try cooking with this food bible, but maybe I'll try making something fancy for our anniversary)

Julie Powell seems like the ordinary girl stuck in a rut working as a temp secretary for an agency in charge of selecting the design for the memorial after the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York. She longs to have a passion for something, a clear direction for her life since she married and moved to a small, cramped apartment in Long Island with her devoted - and very patient - husband Eric. Julie's friends have power jobs, and her mother is on her case about never finishing anything when she picks up her mom's MTAOFC during a visit to her hometown in Texas. She 'borrows' the book, takes it back to her oppressive apartment and peruses the pages one fateful evening as she's having another existential meltdown with her husband. Eric suggests she start a blog where she can put her talents as a writer to work. But, what to write about? The brainstorming gives way to The Project: Cooking 524 recipes in 365 days from Julia Child's epic cooking guide. (Click link for the actual blog).

And so it begins. The blog starts off slowly, but then garners enough readers that Julie feels indebted to them and has to finish this project no matter what. This is where the meat of the book is; she encounters unexpected obstacles, frustrations, cooking disasters and challenges that she wants to give up on the project which was taking over her life.

Have you de-boned a duck before? How about boiled live Lobster after working eight hours? Neither have I, and I have no intentions of doing any of this. Why, for heavens sake, when I can buy these animals cooked and seasoned?

Page after page of her trails and tribulations with cooking and her personal life, start to get attention from 'foodies'  and the 'bleeders' as she calls them. Soon, Julie gets noticed for being very open and explicitly descriptive about her encounters with uncoagulated aspic and her marital problems as she tries to stick to her goal of cooking while keeping her marriage together.

The book and the movie are also a delicious tribute to the one and only Julia Child who, in real life, was not amused by Julie's 'Project' or her writing (a few too many expletives, perhaps?), as much as Julia wanted Madam Child's approval. Never the less, Julie gets recognition for own merits, and her story is now out for all of us to enjoy.

I highly recommend both the movie and the book to anyone who is looking for direction, inspiration or confirmation to keep at this thing called a purposeful life. You never know what you'll learn in the process like Julie did; she discovered she had the internal fortitude to grab a knife, stab an innocent animal, dismember it, gut it, cook it and eat it. Then, write about it while having dessert...

Hooray for Hollywood! The score for three movies I watched with my family over the Holidays is a 10!!

Having the opportunity to catch up on a lot of movie going experiences was pure joy, especially when the offerings are of the quality I witnessed in The Blind Side, Invictus and Sherlock Holmes. Though we usually flock to the Cineplex for mindless paid entertainment, these three movies gave us more bang for our typically squandered-on-crap-movie buck.

THE BLIND SIDE

Audience: Middle School

MPAA Rating: Rated PG-13 for one scene involving brief violence, drug and sexual refrences.

Based on sport novelist Michel Lewis' book "The Blind Side", the true story about how the Baltimore Raven's offensive lineman Michael Oher made it through the apparently insurmountable obstacles stacked against him,  the movie is a gem of a life changing story and an example of compassionate-person-turned-hero story. The film doesn't rely on sap to pull at our heart strings either. 

A homeless black kid is taken in and later adopted by the very wealthy and very white Touhy family, and the parents do this  in spite of having two children of their own, a pre-teen son and a teenage daughter about the same age as "Big Mike",  without giving it a second thought or charity-work feel to their benevolent actions. I'm not going to retell the details of the movie, but Oher's tale of rags to athletic fame is a great film kids should watch with their parents because I think there are a few valuable lessons to discuss afterward.

First, compassion and grounding.  Our kids today enjoy so many spoils it's ridiculous. We parents self-indulge them for the smallest reasons, and then are disappointed when our offspring don't seem to grasp the impact becoming productive, compassionate members of society can have on others. This movie, if watched together and later discussed, can be an eye opener for those who have a life of privilege and lack the connection with the unequal reality others live.

The other reason to watch this film is to see a depiction of how hard work in school and athletics might affect your future college athlete. Not every kid is born with 'Big Mike's' attributes, but a few get to be in his same position should a college athletic scholarship be the goal. The real-life-to-movie depiction of what high school athletes go through is a good lesson about how much talent vs. drive is needed to make it in the big leagues - in this case the Big Ten. (Before watching this movie, I registered my aspiring golfer with the N.C.A.A., but had no idea how grueling and competitive this side of youth sports can be!)

The Blind Side is a splendid feel-good movie for  the Holidays!

INVICTUS

Audience: Middle School

MPAA Rating: PG-13 for strong language

Invictus is the title of a Victorian poem by William Ernest Henley which Mandala would find refuge in while in jail, and serves as the title for this great movie. The film not only offers a very brief history lesson about apartheid and Nelson Mandala's (played by Morgan Freeman) journey to become President of his country after 27 seven years of incarceration, it also gives us a glimpse into the character of a leader  and the Rugby teams' captain (Matt Damon), a leader in the making. 

Leaving the movie's political view aside, the sports theme could be reduced to a micro situation where inspiration for young leaders can be found. There are good lessons in this story about how a national sport, the 1995 Rugby World Cup, united a country in the process of eliminating the barriers years of segregation had divided. But, more importantly the lessons about the charisma, responsibility and nerve it takes to be a leader can be applied to many situations including teens at the high school level who sometimes need inspiration or affirmation about why  there's a need for leaders - even at their age.  

Parents, though the movie does a good enough job of showing Mandala's situation before he became President,  you might have to explain the pre-existing situation of apartheid in South Africa so the kids can understand the hate that was behind the importance of the Springbok's win.

SHERLOCK HOLMES

Audience:	Middle School
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, some startling images and a scene of suggestive material

Sherlock Holmes was pure delight for the senses. Action, scenery, costumes, adventure, and wit all in one extra-long movie left us wanting more - and the ending indicates there will be a sequel in the future.  This movie might be too violent for the little ones, but teens will enjoy the action sequences, London's gray and 'Goth' like sets, and the humorous exchanges between Watson (Jude Law) and Holmes (Robert Downy Jr.), although adapting the ear to both actors' heavy British accents may take a few minutes.

I hope 2010 will bring us more quality films for families who are always looking for activities to do with their older teens, and can enjoy together.

Every parent knows that when kids reach the teen years, time with them becomes more valuable and so do the lessons we can impart. Hopefully, we take full advantage of these precious moments to do this any way we can. Last week-end was no exception for me. Before I was finished slurping the foam off my Eggnog Latte, my scheming teen had already perused the newspaper and found a movie and a piece of interesting 'fashion' information she immediately shared with me.

"Mom, it's going to be Mother-Daughter day today, OK?" announced my 14 year-old securing our 'date' so I wouldn't come up with an excuse to take off with my husband or a girlfriend--though it's usually the other way around. I really enjoy our days together because my 'fashionista' manages to teach ME something new at every outing. From the 'cool' movies to fashion trends, she's on top of it and, though I hate to admit this, has saved me from myself and my choice of apparel purchases more than a couple of times (What do you mean I can't wear shorts and Uggs? It's practically our beach town's uniform!).

"What a relief!" she confidently muttered to herself as she read about a French member of Parliament wanting to put warning labels on retouched fashion magazine photos. Valerie Boyer is a mother of two teenage daughters and is aware of the body image problems our 'normal-looking' girls face in today's body-conscious society. Apparently, she wants magazines to let readers to know, especially young teenage girls, that the images on the photo spreads they see are not 'true' to life. Needless to say, the relief was actually mine. For a change, someone other than myself was telling my daughter she is not fat and that magazine photos are not reality.

After talking this over for a bit, she told me the title of the movie we were going to go watch, An Education. I asked if she new what this film was about and she simply answered, "It's filmed in London and Paris, and the outfits look beautiful".

OK, sounds good. I can sit through that.

An hour and forty five minutes later, we very contentedly walked out of the cinema and I congratulated her on an excellent film choice. I also told her I really appreciated the movie's message and how tastefully and realistically it was delivered. In fact, I thought this movie should be required viewing for teen girls. Period.

A small-town teenage girl with hopes of making it to Oxford University is suddenly swept off her feet by an older dotting man who takes her on lavish trips, expensive dinners and clubs. She drops out of school when the man gives her an engagement ring, and her goals of an education are suddenly replaced by dreams of a home, family and a lifestyle she'd never thought she could have--only to find out the man in question is married. In one fell swoop, her fantasy life vanishes and she's left with nothing. In typical teen-rebel behavior, she had gone against the advise of the adults around her, and found herself looking to get back on track encountering closed doors at every step, except for one teacher who helped her regain control of her studies. She finishes school and gets accepted to Oxford. Happy ending.

So, "What did you like best about the movie", I curiously asked my observant teen expecting her to tell me about the point of the film and maybe reminisce a little about having visited all the cities the movie was filmed in this past summer.

"Oh, everything! The clothes, the furniture, the time period. Everything except the message."

"Why?" I asked a bit surprised. 

"I wasn't paying that much attention to it. I was too distracted by the whole 'feeling' of the movie. I wonder if that was how they behaved back in the old days."

I went over the mess the protagonist had gotten herself into, explained it to her, and then got confirming feedback from my attentive young listener.

"Oh, yeah. She was stupid for doing that. I'll never do that."

I hope so, I thought.

We walked into the coffee shop at the corner, bought some hot chocolate, and quite out of the blue she then asked, "Were you alive in the movie's time period?"

After taking a quick mental survey of the movie's era, I realized the 'old days' now included me. In spite of this, I proudly replied, "Of course I was. This movie was set in the 60's. It's not THAT long ago."

I watched "Julie and Julia" with my daughter on Sunday (the boys were next door at "Bastards" which my 17 year-old was watching for the third time), and it was pure delight for the senses! The movie presents the true parallel stories of Julia Child and Julie Powell, the latter a blogger in real life who GETS a life, literally, from challenging herself to cook the entire Julia Child "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" recipe book, 521 recipes in 365 days, and keeps a blog about her trials and tribulations while completing her project. This film is nothing short of delicious!

Since we just got back from Europe (I'll post about this soon!), watching a movie filmed in Paris was exactly what we were after to continue savoring our overseas experiences. Meryl Streep never disappoints, and delivers a memorable performance including the distinct voice of the iconic cook, the low pitched tone I remember hearing coming from the only TV set in my childhood home.

Amy Adams plays the up-to-now little-known Powell, who captivated her blog readers, back in 2005 when blogs were taking off as virtual diaries, with posts peppered with her life and cooking toils. Her blog followers grew by leaps and bounds, and caught the attention of the right reporter who did a feature on her for the New York Times. Julie Powell's blog was turned into a book, and now a movie.

A blogger's dream!

You can read about the Julie/Julia Project at Julie Powell's blog. She has a new blog now which is still active, and you can read her entries which are exactly like the ones portrayed in the movie: simple, real, daily and witty.

I give it        out of 5!

Go see the movie. And let me know if you come back home and cook Bruschetta ... I did!