Movies at the Mall

Have you heard of the new Julie & Julia movie? It's "based on two true stories" - the making of Julia Child in the 1940's, and the present time, year-long blog experiment of Julie Powell as she commits to cooking all 542 recipes in Julia's cook book.

The movie doesn't technically release until this Friday, but Cristin came upon four free movie passes to the pre-screening of the film. It was definitely an occasion that called for a girls' night out at the mall! Heather, Emily and I joined her, last night, at Opry Mills. We spent some time playing in Forever21 before dining lavishly in the food court. Once we were finished eating our various meals, we headed straight into the cinema (with only a short break to pine over the new New Moon poster).

Let me just say, that I loved the movie. Way more than I anticipated. Meryl Streep as Julia Child was hilarious! It was weird to see Amy Adams with short hair, but she played the role perfectly. There were a few curse words (and one F-word) that clearly earned the PG-13 rating, but it was wonderful.

Watching Julia Child learn to cook was amusing. (Heather and I could hardly keep from giggling to ourselves as she so resembled our father-in-law's spot on impression of her!) The idea that even Julia Child had to start somewhere regarding her cooking is very encouraging to kitchen-haters like myself.

The blog references regarding Current Day Julie were completely relatable! Well, for those of us who blog, at least. She frequently mentioned longing for comments from readers and cheered out loud at work when she got her first one. I totally know that feeling. As a blog writer, you wonder if anybody ever actually reads your blog, and each comment feels like a nice, warm, hand-written letter in the mailbox.

(Ahem. If you're reading this, leave a comment - even if it's just to say, "Hey, I read this." I'll get all giddy over it. I promise.)

There was also a nice love story (well, two) of healthy, happy, married couples. It was oh-so-nice to see husbands and wives loving, encouraging, and supporting each other. Great change from the norm.

I really do recommend the movie to anybody who likes blogs (which you do, since you're reading this), likes to cook, likes Julia Child, or Meryl Streep or Amy Adams, or just comedy in general. (They indulge you as Julie and her husband joyfully watch Dan Akroyd's classic Julia Child skit from SNL.)

Evenings with the girls are always fun, especially when we're at the mall or watching a great chick flick together. Combine those two activities, and make the movie a free, sneak preview, and you've got a pretty great night on your hands! Thanks, Cristin, for making it happen!