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Films:

Film: “Up in the Air” Nominated for:

• Performance by an actor in a leading role (George Clooney)
• Performance by an actress in a supporting role (Vera Farmiga)
• Performance by an actress in a supporting role (Anna Kendrick)
• Achievement in directing (Jason Reitman)
• Best motion picture of the year
• Adapted screenplay

Film: Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire Nominated for:

• Performance by an actress in a leading role (Gabourey Sidibe)
• Performance by an actress in a supporting role (Mo’Nique)
• Achievement in directing (Lee Daniels)
• Best motion picture of the year
• Adapted screenplay

Film: Julie & Julia Nominated for:

• Performance by an actress in a leading role (Meryl Streep)

Film: Sherlock Holmes Nominated for:

• Achievement in art direction
• Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)

J’Adore everything Parisian. The architecture, the style, the language; everything about The City of Light is so glamorous.

I’ve always fantasized about living in Paris. I dream about scribbling in a leather-bound journal in a small coffee shop, sitting at a small table by myself creating a new piece of writing.

I have visited Paris once. But only for one day. While staying in London, my grandmother and I decided to take the chunnel to Paris. We had lunch in the Eiffel Tower and roamed the Louvre. I would love to visit the beautiful city again. I would love to visit the shops and interact with the French.

Problem is: I can’t speak French. I took French throughout elementary school, for a year in high school, and attended a course at a local college. I have always wanted to speak French, and perhaps one day I will, but for now the only useful French I know is “Je ne comprends pas.”

What sparked this blog entry on why I adore France is an article by Rita Silvan in an oh-so-French issue of Elle Canada. In the article, the Editor-in-Chief writes about travelling to a beautiful townhouse by the Mediterranean in France to learn French. Her attempt is certainly relatable as a Canadian who can’t seem to catch on.

This issue of Elle Canada is filled with lots of France-based articles, including an interview with Audrey Tautou, famous for her work in Amelie and the star of Coco Avant Chanel. In the film, Tautou plays icon Coco Chanel before she started the fashion house. I cannot wait for the little black dresses, strings of pearls and my precious Paris.

I have yet to watch Coco Avant Chanel, but I’m a fan of biopics, especially those set in Paris. Fans of the French should view Julie & Julia, which features Paris in the 1940s. Click here for my review of the film.

But there are many films that feature the beautiful city. One of my favourites is The Devil Wears Prada. Although the Meryl Streep/Anne Hathaway flick only features The City of Light for a fleeting moment, Paris is held up on a pedestal in the film…and I love that. Or perhaps I just love Meryl Streep, as she is also in Julie & Julia. Nonetheless, The Devil Wears Prada is a fantastic film, and Anne Hathaway portrays perfectly the dilemma with visiting Paris: there’s never enough time!

I would love to one day be typing this blog in Paris. Swishing on a dash of red lipstick and ordering an espresso as I type my adventures of being a Canadian expatriate. But, alas, there are magazines, novels, films, music and art to open my eyes to the French culture. Perhaps I’ll see Coco Avant Chanel this weekend? Joie de vivre!

First up to bat is Judd Apatow’s Funny People. Starring Adam Sandler and Seth Rogen, the film centres around a man trying to make it in the comedy biz who becomes the assistant to George Simmons, who is basically Adam Sandler with a different name sans wife and child. Critics thought it was thought-provoking, and Rolling Stone claimed it was Sandler’s best performance yet. Whaa???? While Sandler was good, he was certainly better in Reign Over Me if you like his more serious side. Me? I think, like most Sandler fans, I prefer his goofier roles like Sonny Koufax in Big Daddy, Bobby Boucher in The Waterboy, or his pièce de résistance, in my opinion, Happy Gilmore in Happy Gilmore. I didn’t come to Funny People thinking Sandler would play his typical goof in need of anger management classes, I was well aware that Apatow created a dark comedy, but the lengthy movie just wasn’t comedic enough. The video clip in the film’s opening showcasing a young Sandler making prank calls was great, as was the short clips of his idiotic box office hit films, but other than that, Sandler was George Simmons. A middle-aged comic who just wasn’t that funny anymore. Which is why his acting skills are top-notch, because I believe Sandler still has it, this just wasn’t his film, it was Seth Rogen’s. Unfortunately, Rogen and his odd laugh weren’t very funny either, and Aubrey Plaza’s stand-up bit stole the show (“If I wrote a rap song I’d say, ‘boy, take that coat off. I’m cold as shit.”) Overall, the movie was “meh.” It wasn’t good, but it wasn’t bad either. It should be noted, however, that Jason Schwartzman not only acted in Funny People as the egotistical star of Yo, Teach, but collaberated with Michael Andrews on original music. I’m a fan of Schwartzman’s “Coconut Records,” so I was happy to see him further pursuing his music endeavers.

Here’s one of my favourite Coconut Records recording, “Microphone.” Hope you enjoy it as much as I do. His voice is a little Beatles-esque.

Time for one more clip? Here’s a preview for Funny People.

And now for my take on Nora Ephron’s film Julie & Julia. Going with the trend of Film Critics International Opposite Day, I LOVED this film! Every review I read said it was terrible, but, Meryl Streep was good, as per usual. Watch it just to see Streep’s terrific impersonation of Julia Child, other than that, the movie basically sucked. Oh yeah, and CBS’s Sunday Morning added that it was poorly edited as well, jumping from ’40s France to 2002 Queens. Ouch. Well, you know what? I whole-heartedly disagree. No, this film isn’t a masterpiece and surely won’t recieve an Oscar-nomination for cinematography, but it was an excellent, feel-good film. Meryl Streep was amazing, as the critics’ said, and despite the fact that nothing sad, bad, terrible, or anything else of that nature happened to Child during her stay in France, every line brought a tear to my eye because Streep was just so endearing. I actually felt for Julia. Having never watched her cooking show, let alone even attempted a recipe in Mastering the Art of French Cooking, I didn’t think I’d care that much for the Julia Child portion of the film. But, on the contrary, I found myself wanting more. Streep’s flutter of the paper heart when her dear husband Paul toasts her, competetively chopping onions in the kitchen so the men in her cooking class would feel she deserved to be there, and crying tears of jealously “happiness” when her sister becomes pregnant, all make Meryl Streep’s Julia a heart-warming woman who is just so gosh-darn endearing. And Stanley Tucci, the unsung hero of the film, is remarkable as Paul Child, a man who was thrilled for his wife’s accomplishments without an inch of jealousy. As for Amy Adam’s Julie Powell, she was perfect as well. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I’ve read the novel Julie & Julia written by Powell herself, and I felt like her marriage to “Saint Eric” was portrayed accurately to the book. One particular scene I am fond of is when Eric gives Julie a string of pearls for her 30th birthday (of which she dressed as Julia Child.) “Just like Julia’s” says Julie in amazement./”Except I’m sure her’s are the real deal,” responds Eric. To me, Julie & Julia is a movie where, for once, the wife isn’t a heartless bitch trying to control her husband and manipulating her way to the top of the career ladder. Both Julie and Julia were housewives who adored their husbands and were adored in return.

Click here for the Julie & Julia trailer.

So there you have it. Sometimes critics can’t always critique what you will or will not enjoy. And either can I- so see for yourself what you like. Maybe you’ll agree with me, maybe you won’t, but maybe, next time, I won’t be so quick to judge a movie based on its review.