Tuesday 1 December 2009

J & J

No, I did not manage to bake or even cook since my last blog post. Yet, this post is some what related to cooking.

Ever since the children came along, I hardly have chance to catch any movies at the cinema. To me, Spiderman, Batman Forever, Star Wars, and even Narnia don't count. I consider myself to be a very lucky person to be able to go on movie marathons whenever we went on holidays. Despite being coop up in a cabin high up in the sky, I got my fair share of movie-indulgence, having watched some good movies, be it action-packed thrillers or romantic comedies. I even managed to catch a few good Japanese movies, like the 'The Professor and His Beloved Equations' and 'Kabei - My Mother'. Although they are not blockbusters but these are the kind of films which will give me lasting impressions, I will still be able to remember the stories years later.

This time I saw "Julie and Julia".

I only got to know Julia Child when I first attempted to make a sponge cake. In fact it was through this video clip of Alice Medrich's Chocolate Genoise Cake that I first saw Julia Child on video. Then I spotted her book "Baking with Julia", written by Dorie Greenspan, sitting on the library book shelf. No, I didn't borrow the book. Back then, when I was so new in baking and cooking, I was rather intimidated by the sheer volume of the book. I left Julia Child sitting at the back of my mind since then.

Early this year, I saw segments of the movie trailer on the 'Entertainment Tonight'...while commuting on a public bus. It was interesting to know that they are going to make a movie about Julia Child, and Meryl Streep, who happens to be one of my few favourite actress of all times, would be taking on the role as Julia. I told myself I should really make an effort to go watch the movie when it opens in the theater.

When the movie was finally released in Singapore in October, I did contemplate whether it would be feasible for me to go catch it during the short 2 hours of my free time. Well, too many things happened, and my movie-outing didn't work out. I could only satisfy myself by reading the movie reviews by the local papers. It was only then that I learned that this movie is not just about Julia...there is this other lady, Julie Powell who started a project to challenge herself to cook 524 recipes from Julia's first cookbook in 365 days, and, blog about it. How interesting!

I am glad I was able to watch this movie eventually! I enjoyed every bits of it, especially whenever Meryl Streep appeared on the tiny screen in front of my seat. I think it was because of her that I tend to like the Julia-side of the story line. The Julie-side of the story did strike a chord though...especially the blogging part...when she received her first ever comment, and about her wondering whether anyone out there actually reads her blog. I have had the exact same sentiment when I first started this blog. At a certain point in time, Julie suffered for her blog, resulting several meltdowns along the way. I hope I will never ever land myself in the same frustrated situation. I would rather control my blog than to let it control my life.

If you like cooking and blogging just like me (and you don't have to be a fan of Meryl Streep your know), I hope you have already seen this wonderful movie, otherwise I wish you will be able to get to watch it somehow...



12 comments:

faithy said...

i'm totally with you on this! I watched Julia & Julia and i loved it! :) But i am a fan of Meryl Streep to begin with..lol! After watching the movie, i planned to cook Julia Child's famous beef bourguignon for Christmas! LOL! Throughout the movie, they keep mentioning this and it just looked so delicious that i have to try making it even if it means 3-4 hrs in the oven! :D

Kitchen Corner said...

I watched this "Julie and Julia" on my way to holiday last month too! I was very touched by this movie and really want to watch it again. You've a nice trip!

Mrs Multitasker said...

Ooh you will LOVE the book. Even better than the movie! And it was what inspired me to systematically get through the recipes in one of my Harumi cookbooks... (not all, but hopefully most; and I don't cook from it everyday - just a few dishes every weekend). We just got through week 9...

Pei-Lin said...

Yup, I watched the movie with my family friends (i.e. my "American sister") and her friend while still in the U.S. I was SOOO touched by the story!!! Julie sort of reminded me of my obsessive-compulsive cooking, baking behavior ... PLUS, my constant blogging LOL!!! Of course, I can also perfectly understand with the ongoing weight gain LOL!! But, Julie didn't look plumpier in the movie at all after days of cooking, eating & blogging!! Wish I could be like that hahahaha ...

I remember as I was watching and after watching the movie, I kept telling myself, "Man, I can really relate myself to Julie!" Wish I can be as successful as she is someday ... I guess most of us food bloggers who cook & bake can really relate to Julie ... Definitely a good one to watch!

Thanks for sharing! I think I'll also talk about it later on mine, too, as I'm feeling so much resonance in my mind now!

Love,
Pei-Lin =)

quizzine said...

Movies seem such a distant thing now, after my 2 year old boy came along. Would very much like to watch J&J, and probably have to make do with DVD ;-)

Anonymous said...

HHB, Hope all is well with you and your family. I had been your silence follower for quite sometime now. From someone who had no ideals how bake and has no experience of baking. I was really into baking for a couple of months this year... in my 40 years life, I had never bake or cook so many things in such short period of time. Then I am also not sure how it start I just stop baking totally. I guess the main reason is too much stuff on my mind for my work. Instead I read about baking for now. I hope I will pick it up again. Saw Julie & Julia too. Some inspired by the show, I wanted to made beef bourguignon too. Got my recipe from the net... just need to find time to shop for the ingredient and time do it.

Angie Chan said...

Julie and Julia is definitely one of my favorite films of this year! I was lucky and managed to see a preview screening before it was opened to the public.

Glad to see you recommending it - it's definitely one to watch :D

Mamabliss said...

Yes, I've watched it (twice onboard to and fro my recent trip overseas) and love every bit of it too... and indeed, the part about blogging and cooking really did inspire me so much that it drove me to purchase the Mastering the Art of French Cooking...

I am also very tempted to attempt the 524 recipes in 365 days albeit I lack the courage...for the fear that the blog might consume me that I'd be controlled by it... nevertheless, thanks for sharing your thoughts about the movie and blogging here... I just might blog about my experience in watching the movie on my blog too :)

cheers!
Mamabliss (http://mamabliss.blogspot.com)

Pity said...

thaks for the revies, cant wait to watch it, cheers from london

Honeyboy said...

Wow, all the good reviews of J & J. Same like quizzine , I have a 2 year old boy too. Going to cinemas it's been like a decade ago! like most of you gals here, I only cathed some of the movies while travelling on the plane... When I first came to know about this movie, I told myself I will wanna watch it. As I havr just started my food blog, I too very much wanna know how was Julia's experience! I have both her Mastering the Art of French Cooking books. They both do look very intimidating. I used to travel to US few times a year, and often get to watch her show, that's where I started my interest of baking bread. Her bread are really good... I enjoyed every bit of her programmes.


www.cosybake.blogspot.com

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Honeyboy, you have a wonderful blog-full of bread recipes, will love to try some of your recipes when I get home :)

Anonymous said...

Hi HHB,

Thanks for dropping by my blog! I'm so glad you like them...:) They are the extracts from all the Japanese recipe books that I have. However, after I've done with all those which I think it's the best from the books. I will surely try out others and share with everyone. HOpe to see your new post ya! Enjoy your holidays!

Honeyboy/Cosy Bake.