Get Out of the Norm

Meryl Streep and Amy Adams star in the movie Julie and Julia. It is the latest script written by Nora Ephron.  I took a front row seat on opening day.  I love to cook myself and was looking forward to learning more about Julia Child.  Of course, Meryl was magnificant as Julia and we were captivated while she was on screen.  Her accent, look and vibrant love for cooking were inspiring as was her marriage to Paul Child, played by Stanely Tucci.  Amy Adams was not so fortunate.  Her character lacked the charisma Julia did and I found myself bored early on.  The movie could have been more interesting and done just as well only focusing on Julia Child. Most of of my generation have certainly heard of Julia but were unaware of her biography.  I brought my 19 year old daughter along because she had never heard of her.  I figured she was a role model worth knowing.  She lead an interesting life and didn’t even start cooking until after she was 40.  That was inspiring to a 48 year old facing empty nest syndrome!  Meanwhile, Stanely Tucci held his own along side Meryl.  Julia’s whit and charm melted even the french.  Her determination and ability to laugh at mistakes made cooks everywhere ready to tackle a harder recipe. 

The character Julie was also inspired by Julia and decided to cook her way through Juila’s “Master french cooking” cook book.  She was unfulfilled in her dead end job and had quit writing which was her true passion.  She decided to make all 547 recipies of Julia’s in one year.  She blogs the experience; thus, getting back to writing.  Her husband supports in the beginning but becomes irratated with all her self involvement.  Her mother, performance only by phone by Mary Kay Place, is a riot.  Overeall though, Julie can not captivate the way Julia can. 

Although I enjoy Nora’s writing, there were some inconsistencies.  Perhaps it was for laughs,  but Julie’s best friend tells her she is a bitch. That really was not Julie’s character.  Also, Julia was charaterized as this generous over the top individual, yet we are informed she is neither impressed nor interested in Julie’s attempt to cook her recipes and blog the experience.  That was inconsistent with her character and ended the movie for me on a bad note.  On a personal note, I did not appreciate the standard liberal knock at Republicans pointed in one scene.  It was unessassary and not funny.  Most of the audience didn’t laugh and Nora only showed her political bias.  Hollywood should recognize Republicans are half of the population and we pay for movie tickets too!

Overall I give this movie a 7.  Most performances are strong.  The movie was a little long mostly when Julie was on screen.  The food looked delicious and made me apprecaite a good dish even more.  I left the theatre hungry salivating for some of that French Stew.  There were a couple of morals but the one I left with as most important was you can never use too much butter! 

I am not a big fan of the bachelor shows but the new installment is called More to Love. We see big size women competeing for a big sized man. I was really glad we were finally going to see some larger women on the screen looking for true love. In support, I decided to watch it. Thus far, it has been disappointing. Instead of seeing empowered women who love and accept themsleves we see mostly insecure girls, a lot of crying and the hoping someone else will accept them so they can feel better about themselves. Here is a clue you need to love and accept yourself first!

I used to diet on 1500 calories, worked out like a mad woman and would lose a large amount of weight. Ineveitably, I would gain it back. In my 40’s after a serious illness, I gained a ton of weight. NO matter how I tried to diet, I just could not do it. I then found the group overcoming overeating. This was the beginning of my healing. It is an excellent thought system and I urge everyone to check it out. I don’t agree with every single thing they recommend but it really turned the tide for me. God being the Great King He is, He knew I needed another healing not a weight loss. So, my 40’s was about me learning to love myself as is. Also, learning to deal with my food addictions like binging. Instead of hiding my food, I brought it out in the open. You should have seen my husband’s face the first time I drug out a whole cake and started eating! It was a hoot and soo liberating. No more hiding my secret addiction. I don’t eat whole cakes anymore and that was part of my healing. This love for myself became the real me not one contigent on my numbers.

My personal goal is doing portions, keeping up with my excercise and not using food to fill up my void. Do I fall from this direction yea I sure do. More often then not though I stay on it. If I lose weight great, if I don’t I won’t lose sleep over it. I don’t have any health problems so my curves are not a health threat. Government is trying to create this idea that all those with any fat on them pose health problems. It is a load of crap. There are many curvy women who have perfect heatlh stats and dont’ need to lose weight for health. I am not suggesting if you are morbidly obese you should not lose weight. What I am saying is we must work on the inside before we see something different on the outside. I am also saying we are all indviduals built differently. We are not all one size nor are we suppose to be!

We have been brainwashed in this society and told if we don’t look like hollywood beauties we are ugly. I argue you are not allowed to feel good about yourself if you are large in this country. It is better to be a smoker or hooked on heroine then be heavy. Look at Anna Nicole Smith. This society is obsessed by size. . More to Love has missed the point. I want to see large women in charge. I want to see us women loving ourselves as we are right now. This journey is personal but we also have some things in common.

We should be willing to change the climate in this country about size. Instead of feeling bad about who we are, we need to say no to the outrageous bias. I make no apologies for who I am and yes I feel good just like this. I am healthy and I am no size 2. There are many of us curvey women that are doing just fine. I was hoping More to Love would show that side of the story. Instead we see a lot of 20 something women who are unhappy with their size and they lack acceptance of self and project that on to society.

Well it finally came out on DVD, and I couldn’t wait to see it. This was one of my favorite shows until the last season. I think the last season lost some of its realism giving Sam cancer and having Carri run off to Paris with the Russian. I still loved it but the end was anti-climatic. Hearing all the buzz about the movie, I was expecting to be entertained. Boy, was I disappointed!

I hated this movie. About a 1/3rd way through as Carri was rushing to her wedding I was shaking my head saying, “this is just bad!” Where did my beloved characters go? Had they been snatched by the Steppford wives?!

We catch up with Carri, Samantha, Miranda, Charlotte, Steve and Mr. Big 5 years later. None of these characters resembled the ones I remember. Maybe Charlotte was the closest but her story line was so Cinderella it was hard to take seriously.

Here we find Carrie and Big living together, but still unsure of who they are as a couple. This is more like 1st season with Big still not sure at the final hour of decision. He leaves her at the alter but the acting and belief factor are just soo bad we know it is scripted! We are suppose to believe that one negative comment made the night before by Miranda has put Mr. Big into a tail spin of doubt. NO WAY! Big was always his own man no matter how stupid his mistakes were. He would have never been put off by one of Carrie’s friends comments. JUST RIDICULOUS!

Then we find that Sam has moved to California and given her whole life up for this guy Smith. He is never home, she gets no sex anymore and her day is surronded by creating his career. NO WAY! Samantha would have never left New York and she would have never lost herself in a man. On top of that, Smith is a total different character. He lacks any interest in Sam and his sparkle is totally gone! We are suppose to believe he doesn’t want sex but Sam is dying for it. Come on! He is still in his prime and if anyone wouldn’t be wanting sex it would Samantha. Let’s remember she had cancer and chemo. That would have put her into early and a long winded menopause. Her story line could have been soo good and soo funny! Kim Catrell is a wonderful comedic actress. So much could have been done around her menopause and not wanting sex. Instead, it was this watered down story of how she left her life for her man. OH, PLEASE!

Then we have Steve and Miranda. We come to find out Steve has cheated on her because she doesn’t want sex. NO WAY! Steve would never cheat on Miranda, now she might cheat on him. A more true story line would have centered around her career and her never being home. She could be living the high life at dinners with men and perhaps her slipping away. Meanwhile, Steve is at home being Mr. Mom. The story line was sloppy and not true to who these two people were.

Then we have Charlotte basically a barbie. What else can one say?! There was no substance to the story.

Was this movie made just for the sake of making a movie? When you would watch an episode, you were always left with several different emotions. There was always some deep meaning to the story line, comedic timing, girl banter and bonding. All of this was lacking in this movie. This movie was more of a tradjedy then a comedy and that was never what Sex in the City was! These women are soo talented as are the men and they were wasted in this feel bad film. Mostly it lacked the bond and the girl’s continued banter. They all seemed lost, depressed and unfulfilled. Even their friendships seemed dull.

This movie gets a thumbs down from me. If I had seen it in the theatre, I would have said wait for the DVD or maybe just skip it all together. Now I need a sequeal to get this bad taste out of my mouth! Michael Patrick you need to get back to the typewriter and remember who your characters really were!

Big Dawg Lenny

L’Iceberg gets 4 dawgs I loved this movie!!! It is subtitled and I believe it is french. It is the story about a woman who gets locked in the meat freezer at work. Well, her whole family does not even notice she is gone. She is beside herself at this realization. So, she leaves on a trip. She gets on a bus with a bunch of towns people who welcome her in. She finds a man with a sail boat and they create a bond. They are on a mission to find something specific. I don’t want to give it away.

I never knew the french were soo funny! Well, I really laughed at this movie and was entertained. I loved the story, the performances and the some what slapstic nature of it. I encourage everyone to get it. It is off beat and just what the doctor ordered.

Happy movie goer this time round, Big Dawg Lenny