Julie and Julia (and like 1 million calories)

Julie and Julia is a movie that would benefit from a lot less Julie and more Julia. For good measure I would probably increase the amount of Stanley Tucci's character, Paul Child. This movie is almost at war with itself, with one story heartwarming and enchanting, while the other one drags on and drags you down with it.
Let me begin with the bad, which in this case is Amy Adams. Adams plays Julie Powell, an aspiring blogger whose gimmick is that she's recreating Child's recipes in one year. Seems interesting enough and (spoiler alert) I'm glad she was able to accomplish her goal. THe problem with this plot is that it's no fun, lacks any real adversity and demands us to root for or at least feel for a crazy shrew who doesn't appear to gain any weight (this made me hate her more during the movie).
Adams can play likable and cute, it's basically her thing. When she tries her hand at a working woman she is unable to straddle the line of humanity that people struggle with, and ultimately becomes a stereotype. She devolves into a whiner at her best and a raging ingrate at her worst. Not exactly fun to watch.
What might be even worse is how much she resents her charming apartment. Honestly, it's the neatest place. It's not like they have kids. She needs to lighten up. That idea could apply to everything about her in this movie. If she had just scaled it back a few degrees I think her part would have been a nice compliment to the Meryl Streep part. Even in this imaginary version of her storyline, I think we would have been fine with a movie just about Julia Child.
Based on her performance in the movie, I can easily assert that Meryl Streep could have carried this movie by herself. She is a joy on the screen, as is Tucci as her husband. I would have loved further exploration of their marriage, which is so much fun to watch.
Maybe this story wouldn't have had a lot of conflict, but I don't care. They could have added a graphic sex scene or revealed where her show came from. That wouldn't be interesting? THat wouldn't have held our attention? This doens't need to be Julie/Julia in the vein of Frost/Nixon. It's not like the characters are involved with each other. They never even meet!
As I think about this more and more I'm struggling to understand why I ever had to hear the name Julie Powell or watch Amy Adams try to capture her likeness.
Anyway, I'm going to stop before I freak out more about something that probably couldn't matter less.

Yeah, that's Amy Adams...

So I'm going through the HBOs and i stumble across Cruel Intentions 2. Now the first movie is a classic. It's not amazing cinema, but for titillating sensation it totally delivers. The second one, which I've seen about three minutes of, is a far cry from the original.
Actually, the sequel feels more like an after hours Cinema production based on the quality of the production and the acting. But this is a all just a long winded way to get to the fact that in this 2000 masterpiece lies a special little gem, which is that AMY ADAMS IS IN THE MOVIE!

But better yet, she's not playing the sweet and innocent part you'd assume she'd be cast in based on her recent career trajectory. No, the star of Julie and Julia or Julia and Julie, actually plays the conniving, back stabbing trouble maker played so perfectly by Sarah Michelle Geller in the original.
Now I didn't stop long enough to compare the two performances, but the tiny bit i did see, during which Amy Adams tries to get out of gym and dance class left me thinking her version might not be at the same level. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the picture of her from the movie.