Food and love at the movies this weekend
There are a lot of films about food and love opening locally this weekend - although it may surprise you which movie is on which subject.
For example "Julie and Julia" is about love, pure and simple. It's impossible to avoid the subject of food when talking about Julia Child who is magically portrayed by Meryl Streep. Yet the film's stories, for there are two, are each about loving couples working through difficult times.
Streep and Stanley Tucci as Paul Child light up the screen with a love affair fanned by the excitement of being two Americans living in Paris. The luminous days of the Childs in France light up the story of Julie Powell (Amy Adams) who tries to escape the despair she feels in post- 9/11 New York by attempting to cook all of recipes in Child's book on French cooking in one year.
Writer and director Nora Ephron faces her own challenges twining these two tales together, but has created a tale which while showing that life isn't easy, having a goal and a good attitude can take you a long way.
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"Paper Heart" (above) is all about love, of course, although there are some moments when Charlyne Yi and Michael Cera dine together which really make you wonder about modern courting rituals.
Deep down "The Cove" and "The End of the Line" are about food. In "The Cove" Louis Psihoyos has made a engaging thriller about the relationship between humans and dolphins. The discussion of the film has centered on the slaughter of dolphins at a small village in Japan, but the movie is really part of a much larger debate over what different societies consider vital to preserve their food supply.
"The End of the Line," Rupert (Unknown White Male) Murray's troubling documentary about the impact of overfishing explores the subject at great length. At one point a researcher in the film points out that most people would be horrified to learn of humans killing endangered land animals, however there is little outcry when equally endanger sea creatures are caught and served at high end restaurants. It's a thought-provoking film.
Here is Kenneth Turan's review of "Julie and Julia"