Julie & Julia

Source: SonyPictures.com

On Saturday Julia and I checked out Julie & Julia from the Provo Library.  Julia's a big fan of Julia Child (the Julia in the title) and of good food.  She recommended the movie.

The movie has two parallel storylines.  The first is the life of chef Julia Child.  She and her husband live in Paris in the 50s, when Julia begins learning to cook.  She attends a French cooking class, teaches a cooking class, and, finally, she publishes a cookbook, which is apparently very well-known in the cooking world.

The second story is Julia Powell's.  She lives in New York with her husband in the early 2000s.  She is frustrated with her job and life in general.  Cooking is her release when she comes home from work.  So she decides to do a blog to give her life more purpose.  Her goal is to do all 524 recipes in Julia Child's famous cookbook in only 365 days.

The movie cuts back and forth between the two stories showing the parallels.  It's a good mix of drama, romance, and comedy.  I enjoyed watching it.  There's an f-word later in the movie, but there isn't too much objectionable material.  It inspired me to want to do something cool!  And to learn how to cook.

Midnight in Paris (2011)

This movie stars Owen Wilson and Rachel McAdams.  It was recommended to me by a friend back in Provo.  Owen Wilson and Rachel McAdams are engaged and vacationing in Paris, France.  Owen Wilson's character, a writer, is a bit of a romantic, and longs to live the Parisian dream--walking the streets, sitting in streetside cafes, writing his novels.  One night, he gets in a strange taxi and travels back to Paris in the 1920s.

Content:
There wasn't much objectionable content.  It's rated PG-13 for "some sexual references and smoking."  There's a lot of alcohol consumption as well.  But it is quite clean, especially compared to other PG-13 movies.  You see Rachel McAdams' character in a towel, but she's pretty well-covered, and it's not intended to be a "sexy" scene.  The filmmakers probably could have included quite a bit of objectionable material, and I'm glad they didn't.

My Thoughts:
It was an interesting movie, and it has a "moral of the story," which I must admit I'm a fan of.  So this movie falls somewhere between "merely entertaining" and "high-quality film" on my personal hierarchy.  I liked the message of the film: being happy with where you are in life and not longing to be somewhere else.  President Uchtdorf has expressed similar ideas in the past.  He taught us not to wait for our "golden ticket" in life, and not to wait on the road to Damascus.

The movie is also pretty, as it all takes place in Paris.  And some of it takes place in the past, so it's fun to see the different costumes and things.  Overall, I liked it.  Though I don't think I will be putting it on my list of favorites, I think it is a good, family-friendly film that could prompt some good discussion afterwards (one of my favorite parts of watching movies).

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2013)

Image Source: Wikipedia

Starring;
Chris Pine*, Keira Knightley, Kenneth Branagh, Kevin Costner
*So we know Rebekah wants to see it.

Rating:
PG-13 for sequences of violence and intense action, and brief strong language.
There's some knife fighting that's a little gruesome.  Lots of gun violence, but not too much blood shown.  As far as language goes, there is one f-word near the beginning/middle of the movie.  Bad language didn't seem very prevalent throughout the movie though.  Ms. Knightley, after exiting the shower, sports a towel for a short bit in one scene.  There's also a flashback to two of the characters laying in bed next to each other (covered by sheets).

The violence is basically necessary to the film--it is an action movie.  And I think the violence isn't over-the-top.  There's basically no objectionable content, as far as sex/nudity goes.  The biggest downer was the f-bomb.  Unfortunately, it's difficult to find a PG-13 movie these days that doesn't use include one.

My Impression:
I was expecting this film to be a stereotypical action flick, and it surprised me a little bit.  It certainly isn't revolutionary, but it was different enough to set itself apart.  Jack Ryan isn't a James Bond--he's a financial analyst with a Ph.D. in economics.  That makes him more accessible as a character.  He seems more real.  I liked the story, and I think I may check out some other Jack Ryan movies, or maybe even read some of the books.  The movie was clearly meant to entertain--it's not one of those "make you think" movies--but it does the job well.  I would recommend this movie, but let me know what you think!