Julie & Julia

Rating: PG-13

Movie Release Date: August 7, 2009

DVD Release Date: December 8, 2009

Plot 411: Two women learn lessons about life and find themselves through a love for cooking.

Review: This film, starring Meryl Streep as Julia Child and Amy Adams as Julie Powell, tells the story of two women who find themselves through cooking. In parallel stories, we watch as Julia and her husband Paul (Stanley Tucci) accquaint themselves with Paris just as Julie and her husband Eric (Chris Messina) also move into a new place. The women's lives mimic one another despite the decades of time that separate them. In Paris, Julia enrolls in the famous Cordon Bleu Academy after trying several other hobbies that fall flat. Here she truly enjoys herself and her enthusiasm is incredibly palpable through Streep's performance. It is here that she unites her love for eating and French food. Shortly thereafter she meets two women who are writing a cookbook and the three friends collaborate on the project. Sixty years later, Julie is on the verge of her 30th birthday and decides to take on a project of her own by cooking all of Julia Child's Mastering The Art Of French Cooking in 365 days. She starts a blog to document her food journey but ends up really uncovering many truths about life. Throughout the film I found myself really enjoying the Julia segments and wanting to know more about her life. Julia, via Streep's performance, was so alive and almost larger than life (metaphorically and literally speaking). For a woman of those times, she was really something. The Julie plot line was just mediocre at best. I mean I love Amy Adams, but somehow I just couldn't get into her little mid-life crisis and meltdowns.

Watch It: For Streep's amazing performance. She completely embodied the character of Julia Child and looked like she was having fun while doing it.

Skip It: For the rather "blah" plot of Julie Powell. While I definitely think her Julie/Julia Project was a massive undertaking, it didn't seem to translate well to film.

Evening

Rating: PG-13

Movie Release Date: June 29, 2007

DVD Release Date: September 25, 2007

Plot 411: A woman on her death bed remembers her life and the choices she made in it.

Review: Whoa, this movie was really heavy and covered all kinds of themes. I wasn't really prepared for it when I popped it in yet soon found myself totally engrossed in it. The film was about a woman named Ann - as an old woman on her death bed and a young woman at the start of her life. Through memories and flashbacks, the audience sees different aspects of her life and the choices she made. Some of those choices were made methodically. Other choices were left up to chance. The movie dealt with first loves, lost loves and one true love. It reflected upon aging, family and mother-daughter relationships. It covered parenting and the fears parents have about messing up their kids' lives. It talked about the mystery of life and how we are shown a path that we either take or don't. It depicted the societal pressures of the rich and the ways in which children who are born into that environment deal with their struggles. There were so many life lessons to be told in this film and the cast was really awesome. Young Ann is played by Claire Danes, who I think did a pretty good job. The older Ann was played by Vanessa Redgrave, who put in an awesome performance. Ann's grown children were played by Toni Collette and Natasha Richardson (Redgrave's real daughter). Ann's best friend Lila was played by Mamie Gummer and Meryl Streep, who are real life mother and daughter. Glenn Close, Hugh Dancy and Patrick Wilson also play prominent roles.

Watch It: If you're ready for a quietly powerful character drama about life and th outcome of your choices. It'll make you look at your life a little more intently.

Skip It: If you've got a big day ahead of you that wouldn't do well with puffy eyes.

How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days

Rating: PG-13

Movie Release Date: February 7, 2003

DVD Release Date: July 1, 2003

Plot 411: A journalist goes undercover as the worst girlfriend in the world to write a column with steps for getting rid of your dude.

Review: This is undoubtably my favorite Kate Hudson flick. Hudson plays Andie, a budding magazine writer with dreams of covering hard news one day. Until then, she is stuck with writing a "How To" column. In her most recent assignment, she must go undercover and commit all the crazy girlfriend acts that many women do in a relationship, such as intruding on poker night, becoming overly possessive and sharing secrets with the guy's mom. She will use her experiences to fuel her article. Ad executive Ben (Matthew McConaughey), in an effort to win an account that would normally be handled by his co-workers Judy and Judy, boasts that he can make any woman fall in love with him. The Judys set him up with Andie and sit back to watch a disaster in the making. Hudson and McConaughey have great chemistry together and create memorable scenes during which you'll find yourself laughing at the absurdity. You grow to love them and root for them to work out despite all the underhanded things they do to each another. Some of the best lines in the movie come from supporting actors Adam Goldberg and Thomas Lennon, who play Ben's co-workers and overall cheerleaders. Bebe Neuwirth also does a great job at portraying Andie's editor. She carries herself in the same manner as Meryl Streep did in The Devil Wears Prada, but Neuwirth doesn't have as much of a bite.

Watch It: For what I assume is the first game of Bullshit (the card game) ever filmed.

Skip It: If McConaughey's machismo annoys you as this is an integral part of his character in this movie.

Mamma Mia!

Rating: PG-13

Movie Release Date: July 18, 2008

DVD Release Date: December 16, 2008

Plot 411: Before Sophie can get married, she must find out which one of three men is her father so she invites them all.

Review: When this film came out, I watched it in the theaters because it just happened to be playing when we showed up. Admittedly, I enjoyed it a lot more than I anticipated, so after watching the musical I decided to re-watch the film and compare. On this second viewing, I was still amazed at how wonderful Meryl Streep is and how great she looks. Boy, can she dance and sing. As always, Christine Baranski's voice is great. Too bad she didn't have more solos. Among the "dads" were Colin Firth, Pierce Brosnan and Stellan Skarsgard. Firth has a nice little solo and does well. Brosnan - as I remembered and which was confirmed just now - really, really sucked. He's atrocious yet has several solos. The irony of it all! Skarsgard doesn't really sing. (They cut his scene but it's in the deleted scenes.) A major character in the film is Greece itself. The white buildings against the blue water and sky is beautiful. Again, just like in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, the scenery makes me yearn to go to Greece. It just seems so magical on film. And how could I not mention the other character - ABBA's music? The music fit perfectly with the plot in both the musical and the film.

Watch It: For a feel-good mother/daughter and BFF movie set in a great background with pop tunes drifting through.

Skip It: If a bit of singing and dancing is too much, because this movie has A LOT of it.

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