Congratulations to Sarah Lamb  from Spring, Texas, the winner of  Pride and Prejudice give-away. The the Emmy Award winning miniseries on two digitally restored DVDs. stars Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy and Jennifer Ehle as Lizzie. Thanks to everyone who commented about your favorite Jane Austen movies and novels. Its was a neck and neck race between Emma and Pride and Prejudice.

Stay tuned to Just Chick Flicks for more contests and giveaways.

…And It’s Over So Soon

I recently got a nice little ego boost, along with about 13 1/2 minutes of fame when Eric Felton, a writer for the Wall Street Journal quoted from my Golden Globes post in his article about the state of Chick Flicks in Hollywood.  The article entitled: Movies From Mars, From Venus and From Pandora/Chick flicks, guy films and those that cross the divide.

“Among them were the romantic comedy (just about anything labeled “romantic comedy” these days can be assumed to be a chick flick) “(500) Days of Summer,” and two Meryl Streep vehicles, the post-menopausal sex comedy “It’s Complicated” and the love letter to French cooking “Julie & Julia.” But then what ended up taking the prize in that category? A raunchy, boys-misbehaving-in-Vegas pic, “The Hangover.” As the blogress at JustChickFlicks.com lamented, “there is certainly some Chick Flick prejudice in Hollywood when a movie like The Hangover can beat out two movies with Meryl Streep.”–Wall Street Journal (January 21, 2010)

Mr. Felton makes some very interesting points about how and why movies are marketed for female audiences. Take a minute to read it and let  me know what you think.

Building  A Better Blog

You may have noticed a few changes to the Just Chick Flicks design.  Twelve months ago when I started writing about my favorite movies, I knew less than nothing about website design or blogging.  But I did a Google search on “blogging tips” and came up with Problogger.  Over the last few months I have learned so much about blogging from Problogger’s Darren Rowse that am sure many of you newer readers are here because of some of the things I’ve learned on his site.

Last month, I took part in his 31 Days to Build A Better Blog project. Each day he assigned a different  task designed to help improve various aspects of my blog.  You tell me, but I think the site has improved. Of course that’s just my opinion and everyone thinks their baby is cute. A few other good things came out of that project.

[1] I met many other bloggers, who are very creative and helpful.  Such as  Andi, Action Flick Chick and Eliza Leigh, The Opinionated Ant.

[2]  learned that other people (not only my  personal friends) are reading Just Chick Flicks.

[3] That there are a lot of people (both men and women) who share my  unique view of movies.

I actually purchased the 31 Days to Build A Better Blog Book, because I felt it had more lessons than  I could learn in just 31 days. Besides it is less than $20  (or 4 visits to Starbuck’s) .  If you have a blog, I highly recommend it. Go to Problogger.net for more information.  [Click here to view more details]

A Great Designer

The other thing I did was to change my blog design to a WordPress premium theme called Thesis by the genius designer Chris Pearson. I had used several free themes, including my previous theme Neoclassical, which was also designed by Pearson. It was hard  for me to spend  cash money on something that I felt I could get for free. But let me tell you how much easier this theme is to use. I am planning some really cool design changes in the next few weeks.  I am not a website designer, I don’t know anything about HTML, CSS, PHP or WXYZ.  But the Thesis Theme  has  a really great support community for people like me.

Thesis Demo Site — See the Thesis Theme in action!

Now comes the hard part. The actual redesign of my site. There will be a new headers, logo and lots of COLOR!  What does all this have to do with movies and  chick flicks? Not much really. But this blog tells you something about  me too, my love of movies, handsome leading men, Kung Fu, Star Trek and so much more. And I want it to love GOOD!

So stay tuned,  I am planning to make Just Chick Flicks better for all of us. I hope you continue to visit my site and keep on watching Chick Flicks!

Amy Adams and Meryl Streep are together again after their Oscar nominated performances in Doubt. But even though they play the  title characters in Julie and Julia,  they don’t have any scenes together. As a matter of fact, they are separated not only by an ocean, but by more than 30 years.

Julie

Julie & Julia is the story of one woman who is inspired  by another women to achieve her dreams. It tells the parallel stories of Julie Powell and Julia Child.  Julie Powell (played by Amy Adams),is a frustrated employee at a government bureaucracy who decides to write a blog. And like most bloggers, she writes about her passion, which happens to be cooking. She uses Julia Child as the inspiration for her blog, The Julie/Julia Project.

“Government drone by day, renegade foodie by night. Too old for theatre, too young for children, and too bitter for anything else, Julie Powell was looking for a challenge. And in the Julie/Julia project she found it. Risking her marriage, her job, and her cats’ well-being, she has signed on for a deranged assignment.

365 days. 536 recipes. One girl and a crappy outer borough kitchen.

How far will it go? We can only wait. And wait. And wait…..
The Julie/Julia Project. Coming soon to a computer terminal near you.”

She decides to chronicle her experience of cooking every recipe in Julia Child’s  Mastering the Art of French Cooking in just one year. Think of it, that is more than 500 recipes! That’s makes me feel bad, because some days after slaving over a hot keyboard, working the man every night & day, I can just gather enough strength to make a peanut butter sandwich for dinner. I guess its good, I write about movies  on my blog. There are good days and bad days. All the while she gains a few pounds (its all that butter) and some insights into herself and  gets a book deal.  I really like the blogging parts of the movie. I understand her, because I have learned a lot about myself since I have been writing this blog. I don’t have a book deal and there isn’t a movie about my life on the horizon (but if there ever is, I want Halle Berry to play me-I’m just sayin’), but the more I do this the more I learn. Oh yeah…the review… So she cooks all this wonderful food.

Julia

Julia Child, played by Meryl Streep is the wife of a diplomat living in France. Meryl’s  The  Devil Wear Prada co-star  Stanley Tucci plays  her husband, Paul Child.    After working for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) during WWII and traveling the near east, she was used to a little adventure. The 6′ 2″, Julia was not content to be a housewife. She eventually decides to follow her passion for French food. She learned to cook, wrote a monumental cookbook and changed everything. I am not sure , but I think Julia Child was the first celebrity chef. Her PBS television series, The French Chef was part cooking lesson and part comedy due to Julia’s personality.

Nora Ephron directed Julia and Julia, which is based on Julie Powell’s Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously and  Julia Childs’ My Life in France.  Meryl Streep does a wonderful job of portraying the larger than life Julia Child. I really enjoyed this movie for the way it told the stories of two women who were searching for way to improve themselves and who both found themselves in food.

I have been complaining asking for better chick flicks for a while now. I am on a campaign to let the world know that  chick flicks don’t have to be sappy love stories  about love starved females.  They should be movies that appeal to women and  tell our stories  in an entertaining way.  Julie & Julia satisfied my appetite for a really good chick flick.

One last word of advice: Don’t watch this movie on an empty stomach. After watching  Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci consume sumptuous meals and Amy Adams prepare Julia Child’s Boeuf Bourguignon, Chocolate Souffle’ and the list goes on. Well, all I can says is, my friend and I left the theater with an overwhelming desire for CAKE!

Read the book: My Life in France by Julia Child

Mastering The Art of French Cooking

I have just been tagged by my friend and fellow blogger Gwen, who is a very talented and gifted artist. For years she made her living as a freelance commercial art and a muralist.  But now she is painting what she wants. Please visit her her blog to see her beautiful work and see   her interesting Tag Answers.

I am also tagging some other blogs that I enjoy. You will find them in my Blog Roll.  I also subscribe to each of them in my Google RSS Reader, so that they arrive on my home page on a daily basis. It is the best way not to miss a post from your favorite blogger.
So Tag You’re It…

And now for the rules:

1. Link to the person who tagged you

2. Post the rules in your blog

3. Write five random things about yourself

4. Tag random people at the end of your post and link to them

5. Let each person know they’ve been tagged

So Here Goes…

1. I am a lot older than I look. But don’t ever ask me my age, I wouldn’t want to tell a lie.
2. Even though I am the “Chicks Flicks chick“, I love sci-fi movies. I am not a trekkie, but I can’t wait to see the new J.J. Abrams Star Trek.
3. Love Barbra Streisand. I have seen The Way We Were more than 50 times. At least when I last counted.
4. If I had it to do all over again, I would be 32 and look like Halle Berry. But then again, who wouldn’t?
5. If all great novelists  write from experience, I wish I had lived a much more adventurous life, because I know I have a great novel somewhere in me waiting to get out.

And now for my  5 Tag Picks:

Action Flicks Chick

La Femme Reel

Movie Viewing Girl

Cinema Coquette

Chick Flick Mania