Narc (2002)
I watched this after reading Rio Rancho's positive review. It's a gritty cop drama in the mould of The Wire starring Ray Liotta and Jason Patric. I quite enjoyed it: while it doesn't really break any new ground in the genre, it is nevertheless a solid and fairly entertaining film. Refreshingly, it doesn't try to be anything it isn't: just a good, honest narcotics-based cop flick.
Julie & Julia (2009)
Based on true events, this film tells the story of frustrated wannabe writer and amateur foodie Julie Powell (Amy Adamson) who finds an outlet for her talents by attempting to cook every one of the 524 recipes from Julia Child's famous cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking in 365 days -- and writing a blog about it. Interwoven in parallel is the story of the events that led to Julia Child (Meryl Streep) writing the book some 40 years earlier, while she was living with her husband in Paris.
In case you haven't guessed, this wasn't a Peter-pick, but I was happy to go along for the ride: it was an easy-to-watch, feel-good sort of a film (and I had even heard of the book!). Although it does have a narcissistic side (which was portrayed quite well in the film), I find the concept of setting oneself a random but personally meaningful challenge, and then documenting its progress, quite inspiring.
One pet peeve was Meryl Streep's portrayal of Julia Child, which seemed a little over the top and became tedious after a while (I was reminded of Mrs Doubtfire more than anything else). The film also ended on a slightly unresolved note, with Julie rebuffed by Julia (then 91) who apparently didn't approve of her blogging exploits and, as she has since passed away, presumably never will.
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