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I'm Julia Turner, and this is the Slate CultureGabfest, All Hail Merrill Edition.

This is also the daily podcast from slate.com for Wednesday, August 5th, 2009.

On today's program, we're going to talk about Julie and Julia, the new movie featuring Merrill Streep as Julia Child, the Kindle and what Merrill Streep's favorite books are on it, and the End of America, and whether Merrill could possibly save us. Joining me today is Slate Foreign Editor June Thomas. Hey, Julia. And our film critic, Dana Stevens. Hi, Julia. Hi, guys. Let's start by talking about Julie and Julia. This is a movie with a parallel structure.

Half of it is about Julia Child, learning that she loves to cook and writing her masterpiece cookbook, mastering the art of French cooking.

The other half is about a queen's blogger, a woman named Julie, who decides to cook her way through the entire cookbook in one year

and what this project does to her life, her marriage, her self-esteem, and her writing career.

What did you guys think of the film?

I loved it, just because Merrill Street was on screen for all that time.

And actually, Amy Adams, who plays Julie Powell, is also very likable.

I still was kind of longing for Julia and Meryl Streep and her husband,

Stanley, played by Stanley Tucci, to come on screen.

But it's a very slight movie.

I mean, there's very little conflict.

Not really a great deal happens, but it's just, it was like being bathed in a

warm vat of slightly melting butter. It was just so pleasurable. Yeah, I have to say the same.

I felt like I was watching it with this kind of almost a sinking feeling about, I know what the

criticisms of this movie are going to be, but I just am not feeling them right now. I think all three of us

felt that way, which is why this is going to be basically the gushy gab fest, and we need a little injection of

Stephen Metcalfe sort of frowning about something. But this movie is just, it's about pleasure,

it's full of pleasure, and it's a lot like actually Mamma Mia, which June and I saw together

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