MOVIE REVIEW
“JULIA”
Rated PG-13. At Landmark Kendall Square and Embassy Cinema.
Grade: A-
For those of us who grew up watching Julia Child, whose distinctive voice, hearty laugh, culinary mastery and unabashed love of French cooking made her a TV icon, “Julia” is a wonderful film about a woman who changed the way women were seen on television and the way Americans thought about food.
Beginning with an early segment from her groundbreaking WGBH-TV cooking program, we see Julia beside a line-up of chickens, whom she names after their use: Miss Fryer, Miss Broiler, Miss Roaster, etc. Child was a playful character. But she was also demanding, scientifically precise in her recipes and a great teacher. Her book “Mastering the Art of French Cooking,” which she co-wrote with two French colleagues, was published in 1961 by Knopf (Houghton Mifflin rejected it). It was a sensation and a revelation. Child became a celebrity on her first book tour.
Co-directors Julia Cohen (“RBG”) and Betsy West (“RBG”) dive deep into the meaning of Child’s career as an author, a cook, a beloved TV personality, a pioneering woman who broke barriers and inspired a generation of chefs, many of them women breaking into a male-dominated profession. Her show “The French Chef” on WGBH-TV began in 1963 after she made an omelet live on a WGBH-TV book review program, and the station received many calls about the event. “The French Chef” ran for 10 years with her signing off every show with a jaunty, “Bon appetit.”
Even if you weren’t a cook, she was fun to watch. Her enthusiasm was infectious. Her expertise was dazzling. Even her mistakes were entertaining and informative. Child turned French cooking into an attainable, edible and drinkable art form. Cohen and West have assembled a terrific film out of archival material, still photos (including a naughty, youthful nude) and interviews with friends, colleagues such as Jose Andres and Jacques Pepin and family, including Child’s niece Philadelphia Cousins.
The film takes us from Child’s conservative roots in Pasadena, Calif., to her life in the People’s Republic of Cambridge. In Ceylon, Child meets her future husband and life-long partner Paul Cushing Child, a polymath. They both worked for the Office of Strategic Services during WWII and then were assigned to Paris.
This is where Child met and fell in love with French cooking, first in the form of a perfectly sauteed fillet of sole. Child enrolled in the Cordon Bleu cooking school and was the only woman in her class full of U.S. GIs.
We see bits of letters in captions and a sonnet written by Paul for his Julia. Paul gave up his career to focus on his wife’s. He was content to be second cannon to her howitzer. She would be on the cover of People and Time magazines. When PBS misguidedly canceled her show, she became a regular on “Good Morning America” and appeared on such programs as “The Tonight Show” and “The Merv Griffin Show,” publicizing her latest book and giving cooking demonstrations. Dan Ayroyd mimicked her memorably on “Saturday Night Live” to the delight of the live audience.
She was diagnosed with breast cancer and had a mastectomy. She kept going. Nouvelle cuisine threatened to make Child obsolete, but it didn’t happen. As she aged, she became a saintly figure in the world of cooking.
Produced by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer, “Julia” is a fitting tribute to a major American cultural phenomenon. After watching “Julia,” do yourself a favor and watch Nora Ephron’s delightful 2009 comedy/biopic “Julie & Julia” with Meryl Streep and Amy Adams. Then, do your friends and family a favor and make Julia Child’s boeuf bourguignon. Bon appetit.
During the pandemic, watching movies is a favorite choice for many people to spend their time. If you are getting bored with the romantic genre and predictable storylines, you can watch the best films of this year.
Watching movies is sometimes an option for some people.
Of course the reasons vary according to the needs of each person.
In this digital era, there are many conveniences, especially for big screen movie lovers.
This convenience is proven by not having to come to the cinema to just watch your favorite movie, for example.
But you just have to sit back and open your gadget, then all the services according to your needs are available on it, including the movie site you want to search for.
The following is a list of watching movies online for free. Read more below and enjoy your free time with the best films of the year:
Elkxrtuk teljes film online
Elkxrtuk teljes film
Besides being able to be watched streaming, the collection of films above can be downloaded for later viewing, both on cellphones and television.
https://cdsc.libraries.wsu.edu/scalar/the-story-of-looking-is-a-moving-and-personal-essay-film-from-mark-cousins/index?t=1637302850044
https://caramellaapp.com/frenzinaomi/KzMXTrz6A/unthe-princess-switch-3-review-meow-it-s-fiona-s-turntitl
https://filmzie.blog.fc2.com/blog-entry-6.html