Loved this one too!

I saw yet another great movie last night - Julie & Julia. Love love LOVED it!

The premise of the movie is pretty simple, but it gave a surprising amount of insight into the life of Julia Child: her previous employment, her loving husband, their world travels, and her comical but aggressive performance at Le Cordon Bleu. The scenes in Paris are simply delightful. It's unoccupied Paris after the fall of the Nazis, with its old cars, flowers in windows, outdoor markets, wine, cigarettes and lilting accordion music.

There are a few great performances by the actors in this movie. I won't say Amy Adams was one of them. But this is not really her fault. After watching the scenes rotate between romantic 1950s Paris with a culinary legend, and cynical post-9/11 Queens with a frustrated, impotent secretary who doesn't have much personality, you just yearn for more Julia, more Paris, more giggling and whisking. In Amy Adams' defense, though, that was the character of Julie. By definition she was kind of lost and had no real calling or talent, and when the movie tries to parallel the two women, as the story calls for, you might find yourself just impatiently sitting through the scenes, waiting for the next time Meryl graces the silver screen.

And, really, we all know Meryl Streep can do drama. She is a living legend. But who knew she could be so devastatingly funny? Meryl is more Julia Child than the real Julia, if that's possible. The way she walks, holds a basket in the crook of an elbow, gesticulates with a knife, kisses her husband, shuffles down the street... she becomes another person.

And that voice! Probably just second behind her food, Julia Child's voice was truly famous. She had an oddly high-pitched, yet resounding, rounded voice that sounded vaguely British, yet American, and drew out vowels and had an infectious laugh. And Meryl did it. She did it in a more lively, laughable way than I could have imagined.

There is also a lot of unexpected tenderness between Julia and her husband Paul, played by Stanley Tucci, who is also wonderful. Stanley showed how much Paul loved his goofy, talented, freakishly tall wife, and their many scenes together are magical, even more so than in The Devil Wears Prada.

Another film I highly recommend, this one will not only make you feel great, but also wish for a doting husband (if you don't have one), and make you want to Master the Art of French Cooking.

And eat.

Hayley

Loved it!

I just came back from seeing (500) Days of Summer, and I am already planning to go again.

The cast is small, but excellent. The male lead, Tom, you might remember from the similarly romantic and unlucky-in-love Cameron from 10 Things I Hate About You (which I watched last night!). The female lead, Summer, is the uniquely pretty Zooey Deschanel. There is also a minor character played buy the guy in Sex & the City who lies to Miranda about being a doctor, while she is lying about being a stewardess.

Anyway...! I won't give away too much about the story, but the good things are:

• It's not overly sappy.
• It's actually quite funny.
  
• It's quirky, but not in a trying-too-hard kind of way.
• The ending is unexpected but sentimental.

Plus, Miss Deschanel's wardrobe and hair are divine, and Tom has a baby face full of optimism, even when he's down. Go see it!

Revolutionary Road

Caution: Spoilers ahead...

If you don't care about spoilers since you don't plan on seeing this film, please stop reading right now, go to fandango.com and get tickets for the next showing. In fact, the theater closest to me has one starting in ten. And it has some fabulous retro fashion. Go.

Revolutionary Road is a movie that intrigued me at first because of its two phenomenal stars, two of my favorite thespians and some of the best actors of our generation, Kate and Leo. It is based on the novel by Richard Yates, in which Frank and April Wheeler fall into a classic New York cliche: they are young single city kids who meet at a party in a friend's crowded pre-war apartment. They fall in love, get married, and promptly move to the Connecticut suburbs after their first baby is born. Frank continues work at a faceless, generic office building in Manhattan and screws a secretary after lunch martinis, and April stays home planting flowers, chain smoking and taking care of the kids and house.

Frank and April fall out of love, probably for a combination of reasons: a lack of lifelong compatibility, Frank's lack of drive to pursue any sort of passion, April's striking boredom with her suburban cell, and the presence of two children it seems neither of them wanted in the first place. "We had a second child to prove the first one wasn't an accident. Do you really want another child, Frank?"

April comes up with an exodus plan as a last-ditch effort to create some action and extraordinary change for the family: move to Paris, where April will work as a secretary and Frank will finally have the time to figure out not only what he wants, but who he is. All the neighbors and coworkers are stunned by this plan, except Kathy Bates' psych ward-bound son, John. As a tried-and-true literary and cinematic device, John seems to be the only person on Revolutionary Road speaking actual truth.

After two quick rolls in the hay (or should we say... roll in the Buick and bump on the linoleum countertop - the first with her neighbor and the second with Frank), April finds out she is pregnant, and at her suggestion of an abortion, Frank says "any sane woman would never think of such a thing." The Paris plan has fallen through, though Crazy John is quick to ask, "What? They don't have babies in Europe?"

There are points of such vile insults and heartless accusations between Frank and April that I was amazed neither one killed the other. It's a disturbing and shocking display of what happened to a couple that used to be charmingly in love. I was stunned by April's indifference to Frank's affair, and Frank's casual manner with which he told her he "had a girl a couple times." Is it possible for two people in love to grow that far apart, so violently and in what was likely less than 10 years? What circumstances could cause two people to sleep with others for revenge, go running into the woods out of a desperate desire for escaping their own house, to tell each other "fuck who you like"?


The story ends tragically... I don't want to totally give it away, but April's attempt at escape from normalcy was her demise. The film's last scene shows Frank watching the children on swings in a city park. It appears he can't watch them without thinking of April, and no doubt does he have remorse for how their love story spiraled into a mean-spirited power play and how her .

What did I get out of Revolutionary Road? Like Sam Mendes' other great film, American Beauty, which also chronicled white-bread suburbia, Revolutionary Road makes me cringe at the idea of marriage while also making me vow to never waste another day making decisions because they are comfortable. Most of all, it makes me wonder why we create conventions for ourselves to follow, whether we want to or not?

If Frank and April wanted to raise children in the city... why not? They wanted to move to Paris... why not? Lester Burnham sold his Camry for a vintage Firebird... why not? Why is it seemingly unacceptable to stray from a certain formula with life? Why do we feel obliged to sign a piece of paper that legally binds us to another person for life, then propagate the species in a split ranch, a comfortable distance from the noise and dirt of the big city? Why do we fear discomfort in taking on a different lifestyle?

Don't get me wrong - my parents are pretty happily married, and my youth in suburban Connecticut was enjoyable. I turned out pretty normal. And I value my family so completely that I have a hard time imagining that I won't have one of my own someday. And I admire happily married couples so much, for their passion and hard work. But why does everyone have to try to change themselves to try to fit into that plan? Like Carrie Bradshaw asked once: "Do we really want marriage and houses and babies? Or, are we just programmed?"

Even if you think my musings are pure drivel, I implore you to see Revolutionary Road. The acting is impeccable. Kate and Leo achieve character development that is so deep and complex, I want to see the film again to try to figure them out more. The Wheelers' neighbor Millie is so unfailingly conventional and upbeat that you know she has to be on antidepressants; the realtor's whackjob son steals each scene he appears in, and even Frank's other woman and equally empty cube-mates contribute to the feeling of entrapment and boredom. I also want to buy the book so I can delve further into the story.

What's the point? I'm not sure there's only one. Surely we're supposed to do what makes us happy, regardless of social opinion. Surely we shouldn't bring children into a turbulent household which is brimming with resentment. Surely we shouldn't be afraid to take chances and think outside the cubicle. But the question remains: Are we brave enough to do that?

Beauty Inspiration: Rose Byrne

After a quick trip to imdb.com, I learned that Rose Byrne plays one of my favorite characters, le Duchesse de Polignac, in one of my favorite movies, Marie Antoinette. I completely envy this woman of her cheekbones, bedroom eyes, lustrous brown locks and knockout figure. Her contagious laughter, lilting Aussie accent and amazing bone structure make her more than beautiful, but as the Queen says, "She's fun. She makes me laugh."

"You won't switch brands of cold cream without asking me, but you applied to law school?"

There is a magical moment during "The Devil Wears Prada": a montage of scenes of Andrea (pronounced ahn-DRAY-uh) post-Runway-makeover walking to work. I am utterly hypnotized by the six amazing looks in this segment. Each one is classy, expensive, and impossibly chic. To a runway-apropos soundtrack of Madonna, our newly minted fashion plate trots through Manhattan looking the epitome of style and grace. Every time I see it, I am floored. And to make it even more delicious, the cinematographer only allowed us maximum 3.5sec on each outfit - just enough time to ogle, take a mental note on accessories, and wish you had the ensemble, before a bus passed before the screen and another five-figure outfit was unveiled to delight your fashion palate.


There are some movies I love for comedy ("Swingers"), some for deep thinking ("Gone With the Wind"), some for out-of-control, over-the-top romance set to a pop mashup soundtrack ("Moulin Rouge"). Then there are movies I love at a new level, because of the delightful costumes the lucky actresses get to wear.

"Mona Lisa Smile," in my opinion, was very underrated, but combines a little comedy, some feminism, a love story and the heroic teacher character with some lovely 1950s style. Dated though pin curls may be, the tweed polo coats, full skirts, twinsets and ubiquitous pearls make me yearn for the days when people dressed for class, dinner, travel... and really dressed. Not like the way college students dress these days....


Not to mention the Harvard Spring Fling scene is so well-shot, with lovely formal dresses and the perfect male a capella choir. So here are some action shots from one of my favorite films for fashion, and enjoy the lack of Julia Roberts. Her character was too artistic for silly things like saddle shoes.











Cheers,
Hayley