We’re back! In this episode we discuss Julie & Julia, directed by Nora Ephron and starring Meryl Streep, Amy Adams, and Stanley Tucci. The movie contrasts the lives of renowned chef, Julia Child with the life of Julie Powell, a blogger with a goal of cooking all 524 recipes in Child’s masterpiece cookbook.

First, we talk about our months-long absence from the podcast due to family, marriage, and pet adoption (00:27)! Then, we talk about the film itself (30:57).

Like what you hear? Please follow, rate, and review the show at https://open.spotify.com/show/6X1swI23miVfb8d30fNny7

In our second episode, we chat about the feature-length anthology film, Coffee and Cigarettes, directed by independent film director Jim Jarmusch. The movie consists of eleven short, unrelated vignettes with various celebrities enjoying coffee, cigarettes, and conversation.

We bring in our good friend and actor, Daniel Lujan, to join us to talk about the world of coffee and film.

First, we have a long chat about coffee beans, the intricacies of grinding and roasting, and even the “seasonal variety of monkey poop coffee.” (4:42). Then, we dissect the eleven short stories that make up the film itself (33:46). Finally, we take a slight detour and reminisce about the experience of discovering and renting videos in the early 2000s (1:14:39).

 Like what you hear? Please follow, rate, and review the show at https://open.spotify.com/show/6X1swI23miVfb8d30fNny7

In our first episode, we discuss the critically acclaimed Mexican romantic drama, “Like Water for Chocolate.” Based on a novel by Laura Esquivel and directed by Alfonso Arau, the film tells the story of Tita, a frustrated young woman with a magical gift for (quite literally) adding her powerful emotions to the food she makes.

First, we talk about the film, including the story and its use of magical realism (01:44). We then shift to the topic of the food that features prominently in the film, including the wedding cake, the roasted quail in rose petal sauce, and torrejas de natas (23:26). Finally, we wrap up with some of the story’s themes of gender, social expectations, and tradition (32:08).

 Like what you hear? Please follow, rate, and review the show at https://open.spotify.com/show/6X1swI23miVfb8d30fNny7