On Wed, 28 Nov 2012 04:59:33 -0800 (PST),
wrote:

>Hi! I'm new here.
>
>I've been advised (on rec.arts.past.movies, where I posted it
>first,) to post this here, where I "would probably get a
>very different response."
>
>So, here goes:
>
>This film was discussed [many times on various newsgroups].
>
>The thing is, I only recently saw the film on TV, and am now
>reading "My Life in France".
>
>I rather liked the "Julie" actress Amy Adams, I think she's
>sweet. I loathed the way Meryl Streep played Julia Child -
>not knowing anything about Child, I still thought Streep
>ridiculous.
>
>In an interview, Streep admits she based her interpretation
>more on an impersonation played by an actor in drag on
>"Saturday Night Live" than on any film footage of Julia
>Child - with the exception of one TV cookery scene where
>she imitates Child like a parrot.
>
>I was astounded that Streep - who usually does such intense
>research - went around booming and billowing like a drag
>queen, and all because Child was 6 foot 3 /1m90 tall and
>no Barbie doll. Today I watched J&J dubbed into French, and
>it was even worse - the French actress dubbing Streep spoke
>as if completely drunk.
>
>The idea that a girl can become famous by writing a blog is
>no longer true; maybe back then when no-body did it, but
>now there are more blogs than blades of grass in a meadow,
>and nobody reads them. The idea of cooking one's way
>through a cookbook and writing about it is amusing, however,
>and the fact that Julie Powell framed her cooking anecdotes
>with material from her personal life is normal, for a writer.
>(Okay, haven't read HER book yet!)
>
>As for "My Life in France" by J.C. - I love it. She mentions
>peach trees in the mist - I leap out of the bus, rush
>into a store and buy a can of peaches, and boy, did they
>taste good.
>
>She mentions leaping out of bed at 6.30, and later on drinking
>coffee with a croissant - I rush into a store and buy a
>croissant, and boy did it taste good with my coffee next
>day. (Forget the leaping out of bed at 6.30, though!)
>
>She mentions boeuf bourgignon - I rush into a store, buy
>some meat, cut it into cubes, cook it with onions and
>veg and sauce - not bourgignon, but, boy, did it taste
>good.
>
>And of course, Julia Child liked cats.
>And, as you can see here, so do I:
>http://roundtablespage.tvheaven.com/photo.html
>
>So while I disliked Streep in J&J, it introduced me
>to Julia Child, for which I am grateful.
>
>Although I doubt I'm ever going to use "3/4 of a pound
>of butter" for a sauce.


I tend to agree with you - you make some good points.
Despite that, I basically enjoyed the movie, even though I found
Streep to be a bit over the top.

You should seriously consider checking out Mastering
the Art of French Cooking Vols 1&2 - I've found they're the only
cookbooks that I ever need to refer to.

BTW... time to lose your fear of saturated fats