Cooking... Blogging... and Meryll Streep

I’m really excited about this upcoming film starring my all-time favorite Hollywood actress Meryll Streep and newcomer funny gal Amy Adams. The movie’s title is “Julie & Julia” and is directed by Rom-Com Genius of the ‘90s Nora Ephron. Remember “Sleepless in Seattle” “You’ve Got Mail”… okay, you get the picture. I love it because it’s about three things that I absolutely adore: Cooking… Blogging… and Meryll Streep. Here’s the basic plot:

Frustrated temp secretary Julie Powell (Amy Adams) embarks on a year-long culinary quest to cook all 524 recipes in Julia Child's “Mastering the Art of French Cooking.” She chronicles her trials and tribulations in a blog that catches on with the food crowd.

The film by the way is based on a real life story of Julie Powell herself who really blogged about her cooking attempts. The blog became such a hit that she eventually published it into a book entitled "Julie & Julia". Hmmm, now there's a great idea. Do you think "Memoirs of a New Missus" would fly off the shelves? (thought bubbles hover me now)

Anyway, Julia Child is played by Meryll of course, and in case you don’t know who Julia Child is… before there was a Martha, Giada, Rachael and the Barefoot Contessa, Julia Child was the TV Chef that all housewives in the ‘50s emulated.


(left) Meryll as Julia Child and the real Julia Child (right)

In the film, we would be seeing two eras in juxtapose as present day Julie struggles with gourmet cooking in a tiny New York apartment while Julia begins to build her culinary brand in the ’50s. Cooking then becomes the metaphor for their life and love issues. That’s just my literary analysis. (Me and my penchant for metaphors!)



I was kind of inspired with the story and made me think about putting up blog posts of my own kitchen adventures. I usually just post resto finds & recipes that I have tried and tweaked but I have never written about my experience in making them, and the whole drama that went behind it (if there were any). I actually have 2 new beautiful cookbooks (Martha Stewart's Cooking School and Classic Recipes book set by Hershey’s, Campbells and Eagle Brand) sent to me as presents by my secret “sweet” kitchen fairy. I call her my kitchen fairy because she has been so generous in sending me trivets, kitchenware and cookbooks every time she does some spring cleaning in her home. This famous lady loves to spread the love on homemaking. Thanks to her, I’ve been able to make cupcakes with my favorite gadget – a yellow Kitchenaid Mixer – which I named after her. I’ve told her that she should put up her own brand of home ware like Martha. She’s already got the name. Anyway, that’s enough about her. You might already guess who she is. Hehe. :-)


(left) My yellow Kitchenaid Mixer, a gift 2 yrs ago... (right) and cooking for hubby's bday

Anyway, I really can’t wait for this new film. I love Meryll Streep’s movies. Be it drama, comedy, and even theater… she’s done it all. I love her best in comedies. Here are my FAVE FIVE MERYLL STREEP COMEDY MOVIES: “Postcards from the Edge” (I love the mother-daughter issues of this story)… “She-Devil” (Her character seriously made me think about wanting to become a romance novelist when I was a kid)… “Death Becomes Her” (two words: Goldie Hawn)… “The Devil Wears Prada” (She was so deliciously evil!)… “Mamma Mia” (Again, this really reminded me of my mom and I during my own wedding. Mama drama galore! And her character Donna, is so like my mom. She’s funny like that. Haha!)



Of course, she ain’t Meryll Streep if not for the tear-jerking Oscar worthy roles. HERE ARE MY FAVE FIVE MERYLL STREEP DRAMATIC FILMS: “Kramer vs Kramer” (Again, she reminded me of mom when she left my dad and our family)… “The Bridges of Madison County” (I’ve really always wondered about falling in love in that age)… “Adaptation” (with director Spike Jonze and writer Charlie Kaufman, need I say more?)… “The Hours” (There was a time back in my melancholic years that I loved Virginia Woolf’s works)… “Angels in America” (An HBO mini-series that had her playing 4 roles. Wow talk about versatility)



But more than her craft, I am more delighted about the fact that she’s been married with 4 children for 30 years to the same man. Now, that’s a rarity in Hollywood. She’s really proof that fame and fortune don’t always destroy families.

Classic Chick Lits

I know what you’re thinking. I must admit, the title is a total paradox. How could you even put the words “classic” and “chick lit” together? Although it was not spoken out loud in my university, a penchant for chick lits would be a mortal sin for any English Literature and Creative Writing Major. I therefore confess – I am a sinner! :-)

Of course, I also read the likes of Diane Ackerman, Jeanette Winterson, Margaret Atwood, Isabel Allende, Anais Nin, Sylvia Plath, Tracy Chevalier among the many other formidable (more serious) female contemporary writers that I have encountered in college, but there was just something about chick lits that was gratifying. It was my junk food in between these gourmet entrees. Guilty pleasure, if you may. And just like any junk food, it was bound to be devoured in volumes. Soon enough in the past decade, it was probably the only genre that raked in money for publishing companies and we’ve seen how these books turned into box-office hits worldwide.

I found myself blogging about chick lits today because I just saw the trailer for the movie version of Sophie Kinsella’s “Confessions of a Shopaholic” which is due to come out in 2009. It stars the adorable Isla Fisher (that love-crazed girl in Wedding Crashers), who I totally have a girl-crush on, hehehe. Anyway, I kinda chuckled at the fact that of all people, the movie’s producer is none other than THE Jerry Bruckheimer. Now when did Jerry ever begin to take interest in chick lits? I guess he got bored blowing up planes and cities.

We’ve always known Mr. Bruckheimer as one of the most respected, intelligent and business-savvy movie producers of our time. The idea of Bruckheimer producing a movie about a New Yorker who gets into a life and DEBT situation with her monstrous credit card bills is just something I am baffled with. I read the book. Okay, here’s a confession. I have three of these Kinsella kitschy novels (Disclaimer: my mom got them for me. She likes to update me with what’s new at Barnes & Noble) and let me tell you, though they’re “entertaining” to say the least, they’re nothing extraordinary. I have read enough chick lits to say that Rebecca Bloomwood (the Shopaholic heroine) was just another Bridget Jones wannabe. Truth is, after Helen Fielding published this now famous diary in 1996, it unleashed a battalion of Bridgets. In the book Becky (Rebecca) was actually Brit and they must have turned her into a New Yorker in the movie to prevent any comparison with Ms. Jones. As if we couldn’t see through that.



It was quite surprising that Shopaholic spawned a trilogy. I guess that proves that every woman out there can relate to Retail Therapy, my mom definitely included. Well, I was once a shopaholic myself and I’ve had my own living nightmare with Citibank but thank God that’s all over. Now I don’t have a credit card and I don’t even want to get one anymore. I pay in cold cash now.



So what makes a classic chick lit? There are actually clichés that govern the genre. If you’re already a chick lit reader you may have noticed the following standard story and character elements. Or if you’re still someone who’s scratching his head and asking “What in the world is chick lit?” read on and unravel the mystery…

First of all, if you visit any bookstore nowadays, I’m pretty sure it’s hard to miss a chick lit novel. The PINK COVER is a dead giveaway. Blame it on Barbie. Pink has become the international color code for fashion and any stuff that’s “girly.” So you take this book and as you breeze through its pages you’ll discover these things:

In a classic chick lit, our heroine is either looking for Mr. Right or getting over Mr. Wrong. In the middle of this love crisis, she’s also in some sort of a career conundrum. She’s either in a dead-end job or is looking to climb the corporate ladder. Another very important detail is that a chick lit heroine more often than not works in media, public relations, advertising or for a woman’s magazine. Her story is usually told in the first person and if we could actually hear her, she would sound articulate, quirky, funny, light-hearted and sometimes if need be bitchy but still in a cute way. And by novel’s end, the heroine usually has worked out all her problems and has learned “important” lessons about life. That typically means she got the man of her dreams or she got promoted. Basically it’s a happy ending but it leaves enough space for a sequel.

I would have to say that based on the above mentioned elements, my twenty-something single life was one big classic chick lit novel. I was a classic chick lit heroine – a hapless single girl in hot pursuit of love and life’s little luxuries in the big city. My fairy tale ending was my wedding. My Mr. Darcy turned out to be Joseph. Hahaha.

Furthermore, aside from these formulas, there are still more chick lit clichés that I can relate to. A classic chick lit heroine always had these stereotypical characters around her: 1) The supportive female best friend 2) The overbearing mother 3) The guy she ought to fall in love with 4) The fabulous gay confidante and 5) The boss everybody hates. Anybody who knows me well enough would agree that these people are indeed real life characters in my bio. In fact, I actually have an unpublished memoir of my misadventures in Manila which I think should remain unpublished since it would totally contradict my new Christian life now. Hahaha. It was actually entitled “Chronicles of my Men Catastrophes.” It was my young adult life written ala chick lit.

Speaking of classic chick lits, I decided to sneak in a Fave Five list in this article. I thought of counting down my five favorite chick lits turned into chick flicks. So I’m only listing down the books that were already turned into movies. So Candace Bushnell’s SATC is out, as well as Kinsella’s Shopaholic since it has not hit theaters yet. Just a note, I really only have 3 favorites, I’m just stretching the list to 5 to adhere to my “fave five” rules. Hehe.



5) The Princess Diaries (Meg Cabot) – Not exactly your typical chick lit heroine. The book reads much like Sweet Valley High (anybody who grew up in the 90s knows this). However, it was cute and the usual ugly duckling turning into a swan story worked just right.



4) The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (Ann Brashares) AND Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (Rebecca Wells) – They share one spot in my list because they’re practically made from the same mold. Traveling Pants could actually pass off as the junior version of Ya-Ya. Again not your typical chick lit as these stories revolve around the friendship of four friends in suburbia. Come to think of it, they’re actually like candy versions of SATC which also has four female lead characters.



3) The Nanny Diaries (Nicola Kraus & Emma McLaughlin) – Unfortunately this bestselling book didn’t turn into a box-office hit. Maybe it was a lack of promotion or maybe the casting was kind of questionable, ‘cos I personally didn’t imagine Scarlett Johansson while I was reading the book. And maybe it was also because the movie made several big changes in the screenplay. The heroine’s background was one of them, which is probably why I could not imagine Scarlett while I was reading the novel.

The book’s Nanny and the movie’s Annie came from different social backgrounds. I guess for the movie, they decided to make the heroine more attainable – a working class daughter of a New Jersey nurse who decides to get a nanny job in the Upper East Side of Manhattan. The book’s Nanny on the other hand was a Child Development Major at New York University. Her parents are wealthy and well-educated, so we see that the only reason for her in taking a professional baby-sitting job was due to a school requirement. Of course, the novel’s main point was Nanny’s own epiphany as she suddenly sees the ugly pores of her own wealthy world through the other side of the social spectrum. Annie in the movie on the other hand has the typical Maid in Manhattan story.

But despite all those differences, I still liked the book and the movie as well simply because they practically turned out to be two different optimistic stories.



2) The Devil Wears Prada (Lauren Weisberger) – Now this wasn’t only a compelling read, the film even gained an Oscar nomination. Can you believe that? An Oscar nomination off a chick flick? Who knew! Meryl Streep was PERFECT for the role. Oh Meryl happens to be one of my favorite actresses of all time and because of that I think I’m gonna feature my Fave Five Streep Flicks soon. Hehe.

Now this story is a certified classic chick lit. It’s got all the elements and clichés that we’ve talked about earlier. I could imagine my friends who are working at the Summit Media magazines as they nod in unison at each oh-I-can-relate-to-that moment in the movie. The closest I could come to sharing Andrea’s burdens is her BOSS. I’ve had my share of difficult bosses but I could never forget my very first boss. Although she was no Miranda Priestly, she was feisty and scary enough. But hey, I definitely learned a lot from her. And I have her to thank for paving the way of my career.



1) Bridget Jones’s Diary (Helen Fielding) – Helen Fielding started it all. I have mentioned in my earlier blogs that I related to Bridget Jones a lot in my single life before I became a Christian. Bad boyfriends. Bad habits. Body Images Issues. Biological Clock Threats. I shared Bridget’s disgust on marriage simply because it has not presented itself to me and to her for that matter. And of course that all changed. Hahaha! Bridget and I both came in terms with our issues and we got the happy endings that we deserved and waited for God knows how long. The only difference was, while Bridget stopped counting calories and ciggies, I met Christ and fell in love with Him instead. A much better ending I would have to say. And that is why this blog has a part 2...

What if Bridget went to Church?: Redeeming the Pink Pocketbooks thru Christian Chick Lit (CLICK HERE FOR THE BLOG SEQUEL)

My Fave Five Flicks of... JOHNNY DEPP

Because I premiered my Fave Five List with a random choice Winona Ryder, I thought it would be fitting to feature her ex-paramour Johnny Depp in my 2nd list. So here’s my own in-DEPPth analysis of my fave five flicks of the über-talented Johnny Depp.

I believe Tim Burton is more in love with Johnny Depp than he is with his wife Helena Bonham-Carter. Don’t you think so? But I don’t think Helena minds. The Burton-Depp nuptial on film has become an art form in itself. In my Top10 list alone, I have four of these movie tandems. If I’m not mistaken the gothic duo have made six films together as of date, and a seventh one is on the offing – Alice in Wonderland with Depp as the Mad Hatter. Ooh I can’t wait for that!

This marriage of talents surely have been prolific and successful at that. Who wouldn’t agree that playing a freak with a flock of seagulls hairdo and blades for hands definitely put him on the Hollywood map?

I’ve had a crush on Johnny Depp since his “21 Jump Street” days in the late ‘80s. He’s been doing small roles on the big screen even before that but it was after leaving that TV show that got him on the roll. He was James Dean reincarnated in his breakout role in “Cry-Baby” (1990), and although I like this film ‘cos it was like Grease on steroids it landed on the 11th spot in my list. Oh looking at his body of work just makes you feel like a kid in a candy store. There’s just so many to choose from.




The 2nd half of my Top 10 Johnny Depp movies include: 10) Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007), 9) Sleepy Hollow (1999), 8) Ed Wood (1994), 7) Chocolat (2000), and 6) What’s Eating Gilbert Grape? (1993)

Like I said, four out of my Top 10 were his works with Tim Burton. Three of those are already in my 2nd half. I didn’t include “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” (2005) because I really love the Gene Wilder version and I don’t think I’d ever change my mind. “Corpse Bride” (2005) was excellent but I wanted to see Johnny’s REAL face so that automatically excludes it from my list. Hahaha!



The rest of my favorites were done by other directors but if there’s one thing that I see similar among these non-Tim Burton films – his characters though still offbeat are all easy to fall in love with.

Here are my FAVE FIVE FLICKS of… JOHNNY DEPP

5) Don Juan DeMarco (1995) – Who wouldn’t want to be romanced by Johnny Depp? I love this film not only because it plays around the theme of love but more interestingly it also tickles your thoughts about the thin lines between reality and imagination. Johnny played a mental patient who fervently believes that’s he’s the legendary Don Juan DeMarco. Of course nobody believes him and Marlon Brando’s renowned psychiatrist character was tasked to cure the costumed “crazy” guy back into his real identity. The conflict in the movie was not whether Johnny’s tall tale was indeed true. Instead, it was Marlon Brando’s character that was facing a crisis as he was beginning to have some fondness over his patient, to the point of almost believing his stories already.

What I love about this film is that it poses the question: Is reality never romantic? I feel so much for this thought because personally, I would have wanted to change a lot of unpleasant and hurtful experiences in my childhood and instead create a prettier past that’s easier to look back to.

4) Finding Neverland (2004) – Acting wise, this is one of his more subdued roles. I noticed Johnny’s quite bipolar in his choice of characters – ranging from strident to serious. I think in my entire list, his role here and in Gilbert Grape are the only ones where he’s neither a freak nor some crazed costumed caricature. In these movies, he’s just a “normal” person living a regular life albeit laden with inner conflicts and issues. But of course, that’s given. That’s what makes a character anyway.

I love this film simply because he played the man who created Peter Pan, one of my favorite children’s stories of all time. I always like films about famous writers and how their personal life stories have inspired and given birth to classic literary masterpieces that the world has grown to love through the years and centuries. And it didn’t hurt that Johnny Depp was such a handsome swoon-worthy J.M. Barrie. I saw Mr. Barrie’s real photo and let’s just say I’d rather picture him with the Johnny Depp face.

3) Pirates of the Caribbean Trilogy (2003, 2006 & 2007) – Johnny Depp said in one of his interviews that his kid actually believes that he’s really a pirate in real life. Captain Jack Sparrow certainly lives among us now. What was originally a supporting role to the hero Will Turner is suddenly now the story’s most compelling and timeless asset. We like Jack because he is simply the anti-hero. Jack is a confusing hybrid of many personalities: rock star, drunkard, gay… among many others. I guess the more he puzzles us, the more adorable he becomes.

2) Edward Scissorhands (1990) – Tim Burton must have been toying with a theory – what if we turn this painfully handsome actor into varying forms of grotesque characters and see if his talent was abundant enough to shine through. The theory is now truth. Johnny Depp is living proof that one can really have it ALL and LOTS of it even.

As you’ve noticed this is the only Tim Burton film that made it to my Fave Five but this is my favorite Burton-Depp project and probably the best they’ve ever done. It was a gothic fairy tale! I related to the movie because its simplest message was about the ironies of “being normal.” I’ve struggled with fitting in myself. And we learn from the movie that even though his physical body is not complete, his heart is whole and bigger than anybody else living in pretentious manicured suburbia.

1) Benny & Joon (1993) – Now this is my all-time Johnny Depp favorite, also because it stars one of my favorites Mary Stuart Masterson (Anybody knows where in the world is she now?) A mentally ill girl + an oddball boy = strange love. Play that Depeche Mode cassette tape, will ya? (Hahaha naka-relate ba kayo?) Anyway, it’s a wonderful date movie. It’s an eccentric yet endearing love story. It’s the kind of movie that you’ll never get tired watching over and over again. Well at least for me. And besides, who gets tired of watching Johnny Depp anyway, especially when he’s all cute and quirky?




If you're also Depp-ly in love with Johnny, take the poll (found somewhere on the left side of this page) and pick your own favorite flick. Enjoy! :-)