Daily Loaf

Why would I, a straight man, review a collection of essays about women’s sex lives, and more importantly, why would I choose to do so on my honeymoon? Either I’m a caring husband searching for insight into pleasing my new wife, or I’m a calculating bastard researching ways to maneuver through discreet affairs. Whatever the case, I started Behind the Bedroom Door, expecting a series of romantic comedy plot lines: a torrent of quirky yet troubled sexual encounters redeemed by a meaningful relationship still in its honeymoon phase. After all, who’d write an essay about their lukewarm sex life when their current partner was sure to read it (coincidentally my marital sex life is like the opening night of a Cirque Du Soleil performance). Read the rest of this entry »

With just one word — “Butter!” — she’s got you.

Meryl Streep slathers so much salacious joie de vivre onto that one line reading early in Julie & Julia that we know we’re in for a glorious ride.

If only.

Because, unfortunately, this movie is not just about Julia Child, godmother of French cooking in America, TV legend (via PBS and Dan Aykroyd) and all-around great dame. It’s about Julia and Julie: Julie Powell, office drone, who in 2003 embarked on the seemingly quixotic task of cooking every recipe in Child’s classic cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and writing a blog about it.

Nora Ephron’s screenplay is, as the tagline announces, “based on two true stories”: Child’s autobiographical saga of her own introduction to French cuisine, My Life in France, and Powell’s best-selling book (based on her Salon blog), Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen. And while the real Julie Powell seems, from her writing, to be as gutsy and iconoclastic as the woman who inspired her, Amy Adams’ performance in the role is all twinkle and pout — and pretty soon just a distraction from what we really want to see: more Meryl.

After the break: More on Julie & Julia, plus video of Meryl Streep, Dan Aykroyd and Julia Child as… Julia Child.

Read the rest of this entry »

So, one day young New York wage slave Julie Powell decides that she’s going to cook all 524 recipes in Julia Child’s classic tome Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume 1. In one year. And, of course, she’s going to blog the whole thing.

Soon enough, national attention for the Julia & Julia Project came knocking at her door. After newspaper, magazine and television appearances, publishers starting throwing book deals her way, the holy grail of all food bloggers.

But a movie? Is there any cooking blogger out there who harbors even the remotest dreams that the kitchen lives that they portray on the interweb could be turned into a movie?

Julie & Julia’s release date is scheduled for August 7. Scripted and directed by Nora Ephron. Starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams. Sheesh, now thousands of food bloggers will have even loftier dreams to be shattered.

New trailer for Julia & Julia after the break: Read the rest of this entry »