Julie & Julia & Me - An Afternoon at the Cinema

It must be the impending pedicure. I'm feeling terribly self-indulgent today. I started the day by putting all my photos on a flash drive, which took forever but left my laptop clean as a whistle (well, once I had defragged it). I figured that was enough serious stuff for today, so after my walk, I went to a Subway close to Woodgrove Mall, and I had one of their low-fat subs. Then I strolled into the theatre for the 1:20 showing of Julie & Julia. The theatre was nearly full.

I turned off my cell phone as soon as I sat down, and my cell phone also functions as my watch. Therefore, I can't tell you for sure how long it was before the main feature actually started, but I would be very surprised if it was less than half an hour. Preview after preview rolled by. Some of them actually looked interesting. There's a very silly Sandra Bullock movie that I'll probably watch just because it has Sandra Bullock in it, and a Jennifer Aniston flick that looks like my kind of thing (unashamed fan of the sappy chick flick that I am). There was a movie about the end of the world that made me think of the trailers that theatres used to show, back when Todd-A-O was new, hot stuff. The movie appeared to be mostly about its special effects. Maybe it has a plot. I don't know. It certainly has special effects, though.

By the time Julie & Julia started, the personal space I had snagged for myself (an empty seat on my right, two on my left) had shrunk to just the space on my right. Fortunately, the couple who came in and sat to my left didn't bring popcorn. One of the reasons I generally like to watch movies at home is that I really, really dislike sitting in the middle of a bunch of people who are crunching and slurping whatever they've bought at the concession stand. It spoils the movie for me.

Which brings me to the movie. I loved it. Really I did. I laughed. I cried. But I also recoiled in disgust at the scene, early on, in which Chris Messina, playing Julie's husband, slurps, smacks, gobbles and crunches his way through several servings of bruschetta, talking the whole time. Frankly, if that couple on my left hadn't been there, blocking my way, I might have left the theatre. I'm glad I didn't, because the movie as a whole was a pleasure to watch, but that was a close call.

Meryl Streep is fabulous. Stanley Tucci is adorable. The younger couple, when they aren't eating, are cute. I will watch (most of) the movie again.

Oh - and I will never look at cannelloni quite the same way again.

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For a little more self-indulgence, I took the coupon that someone had given me, entitling me to a free mini-facial at the Premier booth in the mall, and I got my mini-facial. It was sort of like agreeing to listen to a time share spiel, I'm afraid. The facial was luscious. The product is great. It also turns out to cost somewhere between $90 and $120 a jar for each of the ten or so products (except for the jar of Dead Sea salt, which is on sale today for only $39). Way, way, way out of my league. The salesperson/aesthetician was shocked (shocked, I tell you!) to hear that. They don't put prices on anything, so I had no clue until the end. Oh, well. My face feels great, and if I had $200 to blow, I would consider the eye serum and cream, because they really did produce great, virtually instantaneous, results.

All in all, a delightful day. Bon appetit!