the one where i watch julie and julia...
the one where i watch julie and julia...
i watched the previews, and i thought the movie looked okay, it was not at the top of my priority list.
i wasn't really a big fan of julia... the most i knew of her was from the saturday night live skit, and the occasional time i would catch her on pbs while i was home sick. now, don't hate me when i say this... but, i mostly just thought she was a huge, old woman, who talked funny, and kind of knew how to cook. i said don't hate me...
but my mother in law miz boo said it was her favorite movie of the year... so i bumped it up in my netflix queue. (she also happened to write about julie and julia today, pure coincidence... i was planning this for the last 2 days... it just so happens that we share a mind, and a heart. well, she is a much better woman than i will ever be, but we are kind of the same...) so sorry i am a copycat donna... love you.
sunday morning patrick and matthew made their way downstairs (to our newly finished basement, and our even newer tv) to watch football... i have been so over football for about 2 months, so i put in julie and julia upstairs, grabbed a blanket and pillow and settled into our borrowed couch (we moved our furniture downstairs to the new basement, stephen and holly were gracious enough to let us borrow their basement couch for our now barren living room)
but this movie is about women, relationships, the search to find yourself, the quest to fill your life. this move is about relationships that cross the span of time, relationships that were built without ever even meeting. it is about the search to find yourself, and the journey in which you reach the destination. this movie moved me, it touched me, it hit me at my core.
it is the story about julia child, her life. and it is a life i found more relatable than i thought i would. a woman who in her thirties, still was not sure where her passion laid. a woman who decided to learn how to cook, because she loved food. a woman, who worked for years and years to accomplish her goal of publishing a cookbook. a woman who loved life, loved her husband, loved her family, and found herself through cooking at an age beyond where most people find their dreams. she was humorous, and loving, dignified, and silly. she inspired. people loved julia, and she loved them.
it is the story of julie powell, her quest to find her lost self. she finds herself hating her job, hating her friends, hating her tiny kitchen, and wondering what happened to her dream of being a writer, wondering where she went, how she got so lost. with the great encouragement of her husband, she decides to start a blog. she decides to start a blog so she can write, and so she can find herself again. she gives herself a task with a deadline. cook all the way through julia childs cookbook, "Mastering the Art of French Cooking". she uses food and writing to find herself. and this is the story of her journey.
i was so touched by both story lines.
i found a new love for julia child, i want to read "My Life in France", i want to understand her relationship with her husband, and the journey she took. i was so touched by the relationships she had. i cried when she met her long time pen pal, i balled when she got the letter that her sister was pregnant seeing the pain her face. i was awed by her love for for people, her love for france. i was bewitched by her larger than life personality in her 6'2" frame. i loved that at the age of 36 she realized she wanted to cook french food, she realized what her passion truly was. i can relate with that.
julie powell started a blog so she could write, so she could find herself. that is the same reason i started this blog. she realized she was stuck at a job she didn't like, watching her life go by, and she decided to do something about it. it was painful, and it cost her relationships, and she fought with her husband, and felt inadequate. the journey was hard, and she didnt think she would make it, she is a self declared quitter. but she did make it. she conquered the challenge, she found herself, and she got a book deal in the midst of it. i cried and cried and felt her pain, and felt her joy in every scene.
this movie is one for the ages, it instantly became one of my favorite movies. both julia childs, and julie powells books were put on my short list. and i will be buying this movie sometime in the next 2 weeks. because i am just dying to watch it over and over again.
i read julie powells book before seeing the movie and it made me really not like the movie. but when i rewatched it i liked it better. i just didn't like how they made it all happy and fluffy compared to her book.
ReplyDeleteI like happy and fluffy.
ReplyDeleteMelinda,
I am so delighted that you loved the movie.
You expressed so well lots of the reasons that I love this movie.
Julia can be by our sides like some....
great. big. good. fairy.
She inspired me with her joy....and I loved that she was so determined.
She was the queen of the late bloomers :o)
Wait...so you're telling us you don't like your job? That is news to me...
ReplyDeleteI watched this movie last weekend. I loved it for many of the same reasons you did, and now I want to read her book too. It wasn't a movie I wanted to see, but so many people said they loved it, so I figured I'd watch it. I'm so glad I did. I'll be buying it too.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy reading your blog. You are a very good writer!
Hope you have a great day!
~Alice
shelby, i went in to it blind, that may have helped. people like happy and fluffy... it sells.
ReplyDeletedonna, i think meryl deserves the oscar. hands down.
jesse, yes. it's true. shh don't tell.
alice, thanks for stoppign by, and leaving a comment! YOU have a great day!
I just watched Julie & Julia this weekend for the first time and loved it also. I appreciate how honest she was about being lost and finding her way - something I can definitely relate to! I heard the book was good but very different... I'm curious what you'll think of it when do you do read it. Let us know!
ReplyDelete