an american in paris

Yesterday I went to a free sneak preview showing of Nora Ephron's Julie & Julia, which will be released Aug. 7. Based on the true life stories of Julia Child (Meryl Streep), the beloved cook (and spy?!) who wrote the 734-page book Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and Julie Powell (Amy Adams), the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation employee turned blogger turned writer, the film weaves together Child's memoir My Life in France with the creation and carry-through of the Julie/Julia Project.

It's no secret that the real star of the movie is the food (even The New York Times wrote about it in its article "Film Food, Ready for Its 'Bon Appetit'"), but Streep is pretty flawless herself as the eccentric, larger-than-life, and lovable chef. Both her and Adams, who sports an androgynous haircut in place of her normal red waves, pass the hardest test of playing a real person: believability, although both women do seem to have unnaturally perfect marriages and Adams appears to have an unnaturally fast metabolism given all the butter she claims to use. While the film drags on a bit towards the end, making it seem longer than the 123 minutes it actually is, for the most part the plot is engaging, the writing entertaining, and the comedic timing on point (but what else would you expect from the director of When Harry Met Sally and You've Got Mail?).

The only downside: a strong craving for rich French food immediately following viewing.

seasons of love

Yesterday I attended a free preview screening of 500 Days of Summer, which will be released in theaters July 17. Directed by Marc Webb, the film stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt (the guy who wasn't Heath Ledger in 10 Things I Hate About You) opposite Zooey Deschanel (the perennial "quirky girl" and one-half of the band She & Him). With the tagline "Boy meets girl. Boy falls in love. Girl doesn't," which sums up the plot of the movie surprisingly accurately, this romantic dramedy is the anti-love story (or a "realistic and modern" love story, depending on which way you want to look at it), whose endearing characters are perfectly packaged in clever filming, flawless comedic timing, and witty script writing. Plus, Gordon-Levitt spends pretty much the entire movie in either skinny ties and cardigans or skinny jeans and band T-shirts. So my heart was pretty much won over from the start.

that's what you get for waking up in vegas

On Saturday, my friends and I went to see "The Hangover" while hungover, which albeit was a cliche move on our part but it definitely did not detract at all from the experience. The movie was easily one of the funniest films I've seen in a long time, a blend of comedy and mystery, tigers and babies.

But the real question remains: was the perfectly timed release of Katy Perry's latest single "Waking Up in Vegas" planned to coincide with the film's Box Office takeover, or was it all just cosmic luck?