Julie and Julia

I'm going to go and read Mom's post about this movie as soon as I'm done writing this. Mom told me on the phone she really liked the film, and she told me that Pop even went to see it by himself that's how highly she recommended it. Now everyone knows that I am a true Julia Child aficionado, so if anyone is qualified to review this movie it must be me. Maybe I knew this before and I had forgotten, but I was pleasantly suprised to see when the film opened that it was directed by Nora Ephron. She was perfect for this film, and did an excellent job telling a story in an interesting way that didn't feel contrived or distracting. It wasn't a biography either, yet a sweet, inspirational tale of the way lives are connected, and the ways people impact each other without realizing it. The four main characters were all well cast, the modern Julie (played by Amy Adams) and her husband fit well together. There is a definite hint of "You've Got Mail" in their modern, New York lifestyle, but I'm saying that as a good thing. Of course the reason I went to this movie was for Julia, and boy did Meryl Streep deliver. She was that kind of incredible where you're not watching her at all, you're watching Julia Child. It makes me wonder if she believes that she is Julia Child, because I can't imagine it not getting cofusing at some point. It wasn't just here voice, or the way she looks, rather it was everything. Her laugh, her body language and her personality. Even the aspects that I have no way of knowing thier accuracy are just so convincing the way Streep performs. And then there was Stanley Tucci, who delivers an outstanding performance as Julia's husband. I like how he takes this on as a supporting role and does just that, supports his wife, emotionally, with advice, with strenght and with love. This is just a great film, any way you look at it. Probably my favorite film this year, and I wouldn't be suprised if Streep and Tucci get nods around Oscar time.

The Informant

I like Steven Soderberg movies and I like Matt Damon movies. I even like when Steven Soderberg makes a movie with Matt Damon in it. I wanted to like this movie, but I just can't. This was a funny, quirky, original movie. The problem is that it only had one joke and it kept on repeating the same joke over and over again for two hours. I laughed at first. I even laughed an hour and forty-five minutes into it, but I left the theater feeling as though they were mostly wasted laughs. Now I recently watched "Step Brothers" on Netflix. Each and every laugh in that film was wasted, and the movie was really rotten. Here in "The Informant" there was good, pointed, thoughtful writing. There was great acting on Damon's part, he really filled in the character. The actress who played his wife (Melanie Lynskey) did an excellent job in a thankless role, and in my opinion actually made the movie twice as interesting. Unfortunately two times one is only two, and I was looking for more.