Really. It's a great cure for insomnia, I recommend.

1950's Paris, Julia Child (Meryl Streep) is a woman who is use to working and after moving to Europe tries to find something of interest to occupy her time while her husband is away at work. After trying a number of things she enrolls in Le Cordon Bleu and is determined not to be intimidated by her all male classmates.2000's Queens, New York, Julie Powell (Amy Adams) works in a cubicle at the Lower Manhattan Development Corp call center taking calls from the public about the rebuilding of the downed towers. Her writing career has stalled and her job is emotionally draining.Both women find their direction, but not without a bit of stumbling. Child's begins to write cookbooks and becomes one of the first TV chefs. Powell decides to cook every recipe in Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking and write a blog about it.If you enjoy cooking, you'll like this film, i.e. you'll get it, but if not you'll wonder why people thought this was such a great movie.

Julie and Julia (2009): Dir: Nora Ephron / Cast: Amy Adams, Meryl Streep, Stanley Tucci, Chris Messina, Jane Lynch: Amusing drama about parallel lives that unfortunately never physically connect. Meryl Streep plays Julia Child who learns to cook and eventually has a cook book published which will inspire young Julie Powell decades later to write a blog, which consists of serving up every meal in Julia's cook book. Directed by Nora Ephron with breathtaking art direction that captures both time frames. Ephron previously made such films as Michael as well as the underrated Bewitched. Streep is hilarious as progressive Julia who loves to cook but also has a knack for sarcasm. Amy Adams plays the struggling yet determined Julie who accepts the task at hand inspired by Julia. What is unfortunate is the conclusion where we are given the reality that not only did the two principal characters never meet, but apparently Julia wasn't pleased with the attention given by Julie. This is disheartening and not entirely in place with the personality Julia gives off throughout the film. Stanley Tucci plays Julia's loving husband who works hard but remains loyal. Only Chris Messina as Julie's husband seems flat only popping up when convenient for the plot. While it does have its qualms, the film is a unique comic drama about succeeding with determination and passion. Score: 7 ½ / 10

With Food Network playing shows all day about the food industry, travel Chanel basically changing its name to the next Food Network, and food constantly being advertised in our faces, why in the world would we make a another food movie? Two words: Meryl Streep. Yes, that's right, old Meryl is showing the world that she's such an amazing actress and pretends to act humble when really she's just looking for another Oscar nomination. There's no denying the skills of Meryl Streep's acting, or that she has had an impressive career, but enough is enough! We don't care about your lame french accent or about a boring chef who can't cook without butter! Julia Child and Julie Powell - both of whom wrote memoirs - find their lives intertwined. Though separated by time and space, both women are at loose ends... until they discover that with the right combination of passion, fearlessness and butter, anything is possible. Yes, history and modern day have clashed into one mess of a film. Amy Adams is so obnoxious and delivers her worst performance to date as Julie. Usually, Adams is delightful in everything she does. This time around she fails miserably, playing a desperate for attention wannabe who can't find the groove of her terrible character. Streep, like most biographic performances by an actor or actress, is cliché and unimpressive. She tries way to hard and portrays Julia Child as if she were in a cheap commercial for a local french restaurant. With only a two hour long running time, "Julie & Julia" feels longer than a week! It absolutely refuses to make one scene interesting or artistic, returning to the same old biography movie techniques that have been done hundreds of times. And, in all fairness, there's nothing interesting about a chef who made millions by using butter.