Julie & Julia

Two true stories, one cookbook. Nora Ephron braids Julia Child's years in 1950s Paris writing Mastering the Art of French Cooking with Julie Powell's 2002 project to cook all 524 of its recipes in 365 days and blog the results. The book is the thread between them.

The recipes are genuinely Julia's. Because the film is about that cookbook, the dishes Julie cooks are the real published recipes — which is why the bœuf bourguignon here is marked screen-exact and points straight at the source.

"You are the butter to my bread." The film is unembarrassed about fat, joy, and appetite — Julie's ode to butter, Julia's browned-butter sole. Its whole argument is that pleasure at the table is worth taking seriously.

Julia's real drink was the reverse Martini. Mostly vermouth, a splash of gin — light enough to have two and still get a French dinner on the table. It's a small, true detail that says everything about her appetite for life.