The poll was a little bit different than any other one I’ve run before (at least with an Oscar Moment).  Rather than answer a simple “yes/no” question, I asked readers to pick ALL the contenders from Lisa Cholodenko’s film that they expected to wind up nominated at the big dance.

So there might have been some confusion, and I apologize for that.  The results seem normal now, but at first, they didn’t seem … well, all right.

There was a clear favorite candidate: Annette Bening.  With six votes, readers clearly think she is going to be a major threat in the Best Actress race.  (Although I will say, after having seen the movie, I think Bening should be supporting and Moore should be lead.)

Then things got a little more interesting.  Four people think that the movie will be nominated for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay.  That’s a nice number, but it shows that not everyone is convinced this is the real deal.  Only one person thinks Lisa Cholodenko will receive a nomination for Best Director, which isn’t too shocking given that the movie isn’t the type where the director gets a lot of credit.  But in 2007, Jason Reitman sneaked in for “Juno” when no one expected it, so you never know.

Among other actors, Julianne Moore received the next highest votes of confidence with four.  In my review, I singled her out as my favorite, and I sincerely hope she wins.  Hopefully no category fraud issues spell her doom.

Surprisingly, Mia Wasikowska wound up with more votes than the elder statesman Mark Ruffalo – two to one, in fact.  Many people consider Ruffalo very overdue for a nomination, particularly after being snubbed for 2000′s “You Can Count on Me.”  But if the field is weak enough, Wasikowska could sneak in if love for the movie is strong.  It wouldn’t be the first time that two actresses from the same movie were nominated in the category; it’s happened the past two years.

Also worth a mention, Josh Hutcherson received a vote, which I sure liked to see.  Represent 17-year-olds!  (Fun fact: he’s two days older than I am.)

In an effort to see some of Julianne Moore’s finest roles, I decided it was time to watch Paul Thomas Anderson’s Academy Award-nominated second feature.  The movie was her breakout, earning her notices from everyone, including the first of her four Oscar nominations.  But it’s not just to feature her that “Boogie Nights” is my “F.I.L.M. of the Week;” the entire ensemble shines in a true work of artistry by Anderson.

I can’t dance around the topic any longer – this is a movie about the adult entertainment industry, in Los Angeles during the ’70s and ’80s.  Director Jack Horner is looking for an actor to build an empire around, someone who can do more than just look good.  He finds just that in Eddie Adams, a young nightclub employee with talents that Horner seeks.  Changing his name to Dirk Diggler, Horner’s discovery becomes the star he always dreamed of.

But the bigger Diggler’s star becomes, the closer he moves towards becoming a supernova.  His fame has made him violently angry and cocky.  He has also spiraled into severe drug abuse and addiction.  Soon enough, he finds that his greatest asset for his job doesn’t function the way he wants.  Diggler slowly drops towards rock bottom, and thanks to a strong performance by Mark Wahlberg, it’s a gripping journey to watch.  See, the stories of fame in the adult film industry are no different than any other entertainment industry.

As I said earlier, there is quite the ensemble at work here, including John C. Reilly, Don Cheadle, and William H. Macy as members of Diggler’s posse.  It’s quite fun to see them in their younger years, just getting started in Hollywood.  He was leagues away from stardom at the time, but a definite standout is Philip Seymour Hoffman as a crew member infatuated with Diggler.  He plays an unsettling character, and it’s nailed with the precision we now regularly associate with Hoffman.

The women are great, too.  Heather Graham, who most people don’t take seriously, is seriously brilliant as Rollergirl, an actress who does all her movies wearing rollerskates.  Anderson wrote the character with great depth, exploring her insecurities and weaknesses.  Graham goes there with him, truly shocking us not only by how good she is but how far she is willing to take her character.  And then there’s Julianne Moore, who entered mainstream consciousness for her portrayal of Amber Waves.  She acts as a mother figure to Diggler, yet at the same time, she finds herself very attracted to him.  Moore can play both objectives well, but she’s at her best when they clash.

In only his second movie, Paul Thomas Anderson handles “Boogie Nights” with the precision of a Martin Scorsese or Quentin Tarantino, sharing the former’s knack for great camerawork and the latter’s ability to select great music.  Now that I’ve seen this, I have to wonder why I like his later movies so much less.

Day 3: “You Have To Break A Few Eggs…” / “You Have To Write a Few Posts…”

I got to read about the beginning of Julie’s blogging career, which has some surprising parallels to my own.

Julie began blogging in the calm before the storm of moving. You will quickly find out that a 17-year-old has little to relate to such adult tasks as moving and packing. Although at the edge of my memory, I have some vague memories of the several moves that my family embarked on in 1996 and 1997 before finally settling into the house that we still inhabit today. Either I was too young and naïve to comprehend the pain that my parents were in or they were really good at putting on the happy face, because moving homes isn’t something that my mind associates with extreme anguish.

If it hasn’t been incredibly obvious, my travail equivalent to Julie’s move is my junior year. I have gradually begun to feel the effects of the slow decomposition of my soul, in addition to the painful collapse it suffers every night under the weight of several hours of challenging homework. On my first ever blog post, entitled “The Beginning,” I attached a poll to gauge my readership’s opinion on how off my rocker must be to attempt such a project. At first, most said that I was. But as time passed, the majority said that I was in my right mind. However, the poll is even now with one fly in the ointment who picked “maybe.” And a note on the poll, I used the terms “most” and “majority,” but don’t be fooled. 15 people took the poll. Sometimes I just have a flair for the theatrical.

So naturally, the first question my mom asked when I told her that I had started a blog was, “Are you sure you can handle this with junior year and everything?”

Likewise, Julie’s mother responded to the same question with, “Maybe this isn’t the best time to start a project like this? While you’re trying to move?” Julie replied, “It’ll be fine. I have to eat, don’t I? Besides, it’s already out there. Online, where anybody can see it. I have to go through with it now. It’ll be fine. It’ll be great!”

My response to my mom’s question: “Yeah, I think I can do it. I know that homework has to be the priority and it will remain the priority because I want to go to a good college so I can have a fruitful life.” Pop quiz: Recognize the last bit of that sentence? Modern philosopher Ferris Bueller said it.

Now I must throw myself a life raft in the shark-infested sea in which I am swimming. I really am lucky to have a mother who is tolerant with my ambitions. I am glad she doesn’t force me to become a study zombie, locking myself in an ivory tower to do nothing but schoolwork. At the same time, I am grateful that she is not such a passive presence that she would let me do what I want to do at the cost of what I have to do. Early in the project, Julie’s mom calls her and demands that she take down the blog for her own well being. We all know who won that fight, but thankfully, I have not had to partake in a similar one with my own mom. Even though I have slipped and chose to blog instead of do other things that I need to do, she hasn’t lost her mind and told me to take down the blog.

Julie recounts her initial euphoria from watching people discover her blog. She talks about how she checked her blog twelve times at work to find out that she got 36 hits and how ecstatic she was at her first comment from a complete stranger.

I cannot tell you how huge a sigh of relief I breathed when I read this. I have feared for such a long time that it was an incredibly vain thing to do to check my “blog stats” page as often as I do. I check it as frequently as my Facebook, which is to say religiously (just what my mother will be excited to hear when she reads this). I love seeing what my readers are looking at, where they found my site, but paramount to all is seeing what crazy searches are getting directed to my blog.

All sorts of interesting and colorful folks visit my blog thanks to the lovely WordPress search engine. People looking for cheap pornography were severely disappointed when they searched for “graphic male nudity” and “movies with male nudity” but wound up with me. I also want to know the kind of people that searched “pee in sink” and “free film of boy spanking.” Today, I actually got my most interesting search redirect yet: someone searched “Pirates of the Caribbean” in Russian.

I remember my obsession with watching the little dot rise higher and higher on my page visits line graph. The first person I told was my friend Laura, who happened to be on Facebook right as I published the site. I sent her a chat message saying, “I know I’m a dork, but I just started a blog about my love of movies, if you want to check it out.” I went back to the blog stats page, hit refresh, and saw the dot move up from zero to one. When I clicked back over to Facebook, Laura replied, “Haha, wow, you kind of are a dork. But this is really cool.”

Next, I sent the link to my friend Gillian, who puts up with all of my movie hypotheses and actually looks at all the trailers I send her. She was instantly won over by it, and told me that it was legit enough to make my Facebook status. I didn’t want to before because I feared becoming what CNN calls “The Self-Promoter,” someone whose status is always one of his or her blog posts or achievements. However, I wanted to get the word out, so I just went ahead and posted it.

Suddenly, that dot started going up and up, higher and higher, soaring into the stratosphere … of 70 views. I learned one of the most important lessons of blogging on my first day: if you want people to look at something, put it on Facebook at night. To date, the day that my blog recorded the most hits, almost a third of my page views were from Facebook. A few of my friends had the verve to comment. One was kind enough to leave me lots of blatant grammatical errors just to get under my skin, and another left me plenty of smiling emoticons telling me how proud they were of me. The third comment came a bit later after I had sent the link to my blog to my whole family. My aunt Hope compared my endeavor of starting a blog to the hero’s journey.

But one Friday night, I was checking my e-mail on my cracked iPhone while bored, and a gray circle with the number one in the middle popped up. If I am fortunate enough to have someone read this at a time when reading a blog is like reading a papyrus scroll and using an iPhone is like using a telegraph, what I just said was that I received an e-mail. After two taps, I saw that it was a notification from WordPress that I had received a comment. With all due respect to my first three commenters, this one had the power to make get up and dance on a table like I was in “High School Musical.” It was a comment from someone I didn’t know!

James DeAmara, who writes the Central Florida Film Critic blog, commented “Great review!” on my review of Judd Apatow’s “Funny People.” Those two words, coupled with that sublime punctuation, meant so much to me. It meant some semblance of acceptance into the film blogging community. It meant that someone other than my friends were reading my blog, and better yet, these people weren’t Philistines. It wasn’t what the doctor ordered, but maybe it was one of the doctor’s casual, off-the-record suggestions.

Julie and I both experienced the rapture of having other people commenting that we didn’t know. But she doesn’t mention anybody trying to tear her down, only support her. Maybe she is just turning a blind eye in her memoir, but what is a person going to say negatively to a blog about a woman on a mission? All I can think of is, “This is stupid, you are wasting your time,” “Better put up a PayPal so you can afford WeightWatchers,” and “You can’t do this.” It is much easier to precipitate discord when you are dealing with opinions like me. J. Shady of “The Blarg” told me that I was blinded by my worship of the character Julie Powell in the movie “Julie & Julia” to accurately review Amy Adams’ performance. Again, I hyperbolize for dramatic effect. Here’s what the actual comment looked like, no Marshall spin on it:

I can understand your interest in Amy Adams’ character more, since you clearly outlined that she influenced you and this blog. But I thought the movie painted Powell in an awkward and sometimes creepy light.

Now don’t get me wrong; I love disagreement. It is necessary for me to have an open community feel like I hope to create. If everyone is in accordance, then it might as well be the teacher and student feel. As enticing as it may sound, I don’t want my blog to turn into a one-party state with me as the autocratic and despotic tyrant who rules over it all. I want opposition, although I will hardly be hesitant to use my iron fist to crush it.

The project forces Julie to eat her first egg. I personally don’t know how I could live without eggs, but who am I to question her method? So how about a comparison of eggs to something cinematic? Obviously you don’t mind since you have read this far. Since I started blogging, I have faced my fear of going to a horror movie in theaters by seeing “Paranormal Activity” before the rest of America hopped on the bandwagon. The friend I went with cowered in fear, but I found myself surprisingly unaffected. I was a little scared, though hardly horrified. In fact, I think it gave me a strange ego boost, which made me decide to watch “Saw.” Even as a guy cuts his foot off, I just wasn’t scared. Maybe a little nauseated, but not terrified. I usually hate to watch foreign movies, and I have started giving them a chance. I watched “City of God” which is in Portuguese, and it is actually one of the best movies of the decade. On the other hand, this desire to go global compelled me to watch “Sin Nombre,” one of the most boring movies I have ever had the pleasure of seeing.

Julie finished off the chapter with an extended anecdote about the time that her mother and father came to New York for the latter’s birthday, with the added perk of helping Julie and her husband, Eric (I can’t believe I have gotten this far without mentioning him or his name), unpack. Forgive me, but I don’t think you want to hear a yarn about my junior year. If you were expecting story time, too bad. I’m writing this during my junior year and I need some sleep, which in turn provides sanity, which in turn provides acceptable grades, which in turn provides good options for college, which in turn provides opportunities to make a decent living, which in turn provides the potential to have a fruitful life. Don’t you just love the ripple effect? I seem to be reminded of it at every opportunity possible.

What I do in this year echoes in the rest of my life.

However, in “Dinner for Schmucks,” pain is just pain.  As if the pain of the events themselves weren’t enough, we are forced to endure a seemingly interminable series of jokes falling flat on their face.  It’s OK to watch pain when it’s a fictional character enduring it – not the movie itself.

The plot is simple, adhering only to the old adage of Murphy’s Law: “Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.”  As a rising executive, Paul Rudd’s Tim is invited to a cruel tradition where members of the corporate crew each bring a bozo to dinner in order to lampoon them for their own entertainment.  He hits the jackpot with Barry (a red-headed Steve Carell), an IRS agent who dabbles in taxidermy in his spare time, creating some very intricate mice dioramas.  While he has a heart of gold, he has a knack for destroying everything in his sights.

There’s also a cast of supporting characters, including Tim’s girlfriend with an inconsistent French accent (gotcha!), as well as his psychotic New Year’s hook-up turned stalker, a foul-mouthed secretary, and a sex-crazed artist.  None of them manage to excite us, and it’s not just because we don’t recognize them.  There have been many a no-name comedy sensation, look no further than last summer’s “The Hangover” as proof.  Yet there’s just no comedic spark or energy from anyone, and characters that could make a mediocre comedy bearable just become part of the pratfall.

And then there are the schmucks, who only come out in the twilight moments of the movie.  It’s an interesting cast of characters, headlined by Zach Galifianakis, who thinks that he has the power to control minds.  The schtick is funny for a little while, but even last summer’s golden child of comedy can’t keep the ridiculous character from becoming a one-note role.  Your mouth may be wide open during the dinner, not necessarily laughing but just awe-struck by how absurd the buffoons at the table are.

At “Dinner for Schmucks,” the real schmuck is you, the unsuspecting moviegoer who is lured in by the wattage of comedic stars Steve Carell and Paul Rudd.  With your money, you’ve financed a dinner for sadists, the executives who will make a profit off of your pain.  Perhaps a more fitting title is “Movie for Morons” because that’s exactly what you’ll be if you see this movie.  D+ /

That’s right.  I took notes.

As I’ve been saying for the past two weeks, I’ve been hesitant to embrace a theory until I had seen the movie again.  I find myself still a little befuddled as to how everything happens, but what happened was definitely a lot clearer.  It was clear enough, in fact, that I was able to formulate my own theory as to what could be happening in the movie.  I’m not sure if it’s entirely valid, yet it’s a theory nonetheless.  I’ll throw it after a jump so an unsuspecting visitor doesn’t find that they’ve had the ending of the summer’s most talked about movie ruined for them.

So needless to say, THERE WILL BE SPOILERS after the cut.

First, here are the notes I took.  They are incredibly rough since I wrote them as the movie was going on, so forgive me if everything doesn’t quite make sense.  Everything is exactly as I typed it on my iPhone.

Saito touches totem at beginning – irrelevant?

Do you dream mr cobb – no answer

Maybe you don’t believe in one reality anymore – choose me

Childrens faces – cobbs totem?

Age discrepancy – dream!?

Cobb wakes up without seeing how the other dream ended

Airplane another dream layer?

And here’s the theory that I’ve formulated about what exactly is happening in “Inception” – Cobb’s kids are his totem.  That’s why he never wanted to look at them; he didn’t want to blur the real world and the dream world.  When he gets back to the kids at the end and sees their faces, that means everything else had been a dream and he is back in reality.  The top does fall.  (NOTE: I observed that the top never wobbled in the dream like it did in the end.)

The main reason I hesitate to claim the theory as the answer to the mystery of “Inception” is because I feel everything being just a dream would be too simple for Nolan.

And here are some interesting “Inception” tidbits that you might enjoy:

Oh, and while we are on the topic of dreams, I had a nightmare last night.  Christopher Nolan had died.  And then I woke up … (I hope someone appreciates the reference here.)

So that might clear up some illusions that you might have.

Day 2: “Joy of Cooking” / “Joy of Moviegoing”

Julie spent this chapter juxtaposing her discovery of cooking to her discovery of sex and pornography. I figured that last word might draw in some eyeballs just wandering across the page. Unfortunately, I will not be speaking of anything pornographic here, so my apologies if I can’t offer something as titillating as the first sentence promised.

Anyways, the purpose of interlacing her discoveries was to show how sinful she found both of them to be. While most don’t need an explanation as to how a book filled with graphic depictions of sexual positions might be sinful, perhaps a further explanation of how cooking can be such an act of iniquity. Julie learned about sex when she was 12 through furtively reading “The Joy of Sex,” an erotic treasure-trove she found among her parent’s possessions. While she was absorbing all the ribald information in that book, her mother introduced her to Julia Child’s “Mastering the Art of French Cooking.” Although this book was much less lewd, Julie found it tantalizing in a different sort of way. Her fantasies of making sweet love to Jason Bateman soon were replaced with visions of cooking something for him. Thus, a fascination with the culinary began (thankfully not with the risqué, because I might not have stumbled across her blog if it had fallen under the “over 18” category).

I don’t have any amusing or steamy story to tell alongside with my discovery of movies; in fact, I don’t even have a story about realizing that I was obsessed. Like Henry Hill in “GoodFellas,” it just something that I have known ever since I could remember.

Now, a full paragraph tangent on that last cinematic allusion. Expect plenty of movie references here. It should just be a foregone conclusion. Movies are what I think about all the time, and for me not to mention them in my writing does my mind a disservice by not accurately transposing my thoughts to paper … er, screen. Plenty of quotes and references will pop up like those little purple creatures that are supposed to be moles in Whac-A-Mole. The effect of all this will hopefully reverberate how obsessed I am, highlight movies that deserve to be mentioned, and maybe a few giggles if I am fortunate enough.

So back to the real story now, I honestly cannot remember a time when I was not completely infatuated by movies. As I said in Random Factoid #2:

My first movie in theaters was “Pocahontas” in 1995. I have no memory of it whatsoever, and I’m not sure if I have seen it since. I don’t know anything about the plot other than that it is completely inaccurate in a historical perspective, something every history teacher I have ever had seems to bring up at least once every year.

Movies have just completely dominated my thoughts since I can remember having thoughts. So unlike Julie, I can’t point to a specific point or incident that really made me love movies, nor can I think of a certain movie that sparked my interest in them. To anyone who was really hoping to hear a story about how my obsession began, my sincerest apologies. Blame my faulty memory or blame my parents for introducing me to movies at an age that I cannot retain memories of now.

But if you do want some specifics about my first moviegoing memories, they start in 1997. I remember going to “Cats Don’t Dance,” a fun musical tribute to Hollywood, and loving it. My mind wants to say that we went multiple times, but it cannot say for sure. I also recall going to see a sneak preview of “Hercules” on my dad’s birthday, and I also recollect seeing that lovable loin-cloth laden lass (how do you like that alliteration?!) in “George of the Jungle.” But that’s about all I can muster up out of the annals of my brain at the present time.

Julie concludes the chapter by talking about the power of Boeuf Bourguignon. She describes it as “classic and comfortable, impressive and simple.” It was the first dish Julia Child prepared on her television show, and Julie’s mom made it to impress her father’s boss. My mom has made Beef Bourguignon several times for my family, and I remember it being quite delectable.

So what is the movie equivalent of Boeuf Bourguignon? As I sit and ponder, the most difficult of the characteristics to match is “simple.” Nothing is coming to mind now, but hopefully it will come to me soon. Maybe this will be the movie that I use to tell the person that I care deeply for how I really feel about them. It would be a nice side effect of this project to gain some confidence and swagger in another field of play. I hope the movie, my first real love, wouldn’t feel betrayed though. I’m sure the movie would cheer me on to victory though, as most good friends do.

Kai listed three movies he just won’t see, all of which are pretty darned scary.  I’m not too easily spooked, but I do have a line of what I will and won’t see.

If I’m aware that a movie has a plot revolving around the devil or Satan, I won’t see it.  I wasn’t aware that “Paranormal Activity” had one (really, no one knew what the movie was about before they saw it), so that was one exception.  I may make an exception for “The Exorcist” because it’s one of the highest-grossing movies ever made and “Rosemary’s Baby” because it is Roman Polanski.  Other than that, I’m out.  It’s not a moral objection; I just don’t want to see any sort of Satanic horror.

What movie began your love affair with cinema?
ROSS McD: My dad told me when I was about 7 in a pub (yes, Im Irish) that there was a film on on the TV in the corner that I’d probably like. It was called Return of the Jedi. He was right.

When did you start blogging?
ROSS McD: Uh, around January 2009 I think…

Why did you start blogging?
ROSS McD: Me and Ross McG were a bit bored and a bit peeved at some creative stifling in our jobs as journalists, and threatened for a very long time to start a movie website, which we deduced some rich person would buy of us for millions of pounds/euros, and we would move to Sausalito in San Francisco. Man, when I read that last bit back its sounds rather gay!

What has kept you going?
ROSS McD: Ross McG’s constant nagging.

Has there been a particular person (or people) that has helped you along the way?
ROSS McD: I guess I have to give Ross McG some credit. The whole movie blogosphere have been very kind and helpful to us actually, the likes of M. Carter, Katie, Kaiderman, Aiden R, Heather, Fandango (sorry to anyone who’s not off the top of my head) – I bet everyone has written the same mushy crap for this one!

What’s the best part of being a blogger? The worst?
ROSS McD: You know when you watch a totally awesome movie or a totally shit movie and you instantly think: ‘Aaaaggghh I wish I had some kind of outlet to tell/warn people’ – having that. The worst? Deadlines! You know whe you just don’t feel like writing, but Ross McG said he will kick your ass if you don’t? Does he do that with everyone else?

Has blogging increased or diminished your passion for movies?
ROSS McD: Increased I suppose, if only to force you to spare yourself the embarassment of admiting you havent see a particular classic…

What’s your proudest moment as a blogger?
ROSS McD: Getting a TV gig out of it? Having a weekly newspaper column? Making the IMDb hitlist or WordPress front page is always a thrill…

What advice would you give to someone looking to follow their passion? To someone starting a blog of their own?
ROSS McD: Get an angle I suppose, try not to blend in or you wont get noticed! Visit as many similar blogs as you can, great for meeting friends (sniffle) and robbing ideas!

I’ll only give the series a brief introduction before I just let my words speak for themselves.  There are thirteen entries with a fourteenth, a reflective piece, to air at a later date to be determined.  I’ll run one entry per day for the next thirteen days.  Since they are fairly sizable posts, I’ll put all the text after the “see more” jump in the interest of not having a mile-long front page.  The “Marshall & Julie” graphic, which I reserve the right to change very soon, and the title will run before the jump, however.

So sit back, relax, and read.  Hopefully you’ll enjoy, too.

Day 1: “The Road to Hell Is Paved With Leeks and Potatoes” / “The Road to Hell Is Paved With Horror and Romantic Comedies”

Yesterday, my mom and I were returning some shirts that were too small from my birthday at the Galleria, a large shopping mall in Houston. But of course, one-stop shopping is impossible for her at a mall. As soon as we walk in, she decides she needs to go to J. Crew. Being a guy, the last thing I want to do is go and sit awkwardly in a chair for half an hour while the 20-something skinny staffers shoot stares that read, “Poor kid, doesn’t he have something better to do than get dragged around the mall by his mom?” I found my escape in Borders, which was just a few units down.

Junior year has taken a toll on the time I have available for leisure, and with that time, I watch movies to satisfy my readers. Yet I still like to think that if the right book comes along, I would drop everything and read it. So I looked around the store, mainly at paperbacks because I don’t like the feeling of reading a hardback book. (Fun fact: I waited over a year to buy “A Thousand Splendid Suns” because I would only read it in paperback. And large print isn’t an option for me, either.) The selection was scant on the first level, limited to just the best-sellers for the most part. I hiked up the steep staircase to the second floor, and I found the treasure trove. The “Buy 1, Get 1 for 50% Off” Table. At first glance, about half the books on the table were ones that I had bought this past year at full price, something that I hit myself for later. On my second glance, I picked up “Freakonomics,” a book that has piqued my curiosity ever since the sixth-grade genius was quoting obscure passages from it in my Latin class. I circled the table a few times, meriting a few puzzled looks from the other people browsing the titles as well. After a few orbits, a title caught my eye. It was “Julie & Julia” by Julie Powell.

Usually my rule is that if I have seen the movie, I won’t read the book that provides the basis for it. I learned this lesson the hard way when I read the book “Freaky Friday” after the 21st century version hit theaters. Needless to say, I was very disappointed when the book was nothing like the movie and I couldn’t even picture Lindsay Lohan saying half the things her character would say. So I was a little hesitant to drop a fair amount of change for the book, knowing how Hollywood has a slight tendency to distort books (if you can’t catch that sarcasm, I don’t know what to say). I stood there with the book in my hand, all 11.4 ounces of its illustrious splendor pulsating through my body. To buy or not to buy, that was the question. I had just cashed several birthday checks, and the presence of Andrew Jackson in my pocket was swaying me towards biting the bullet and buying it. Still, I deliberated carefully. All this descriptive language might make it seem like this contemplation took place for hours on end. In reality, this took place for about a minute. I left Borders with my pockets a little lighter and a small bag slung around my arm. In the bag were “Freakonomics” and “Julie & Julia.”

For those who do not know anything about Julie Powell or “Julie & Julia,” you wouldn’t be reading this blog if it weren’t for her valor and chutzpa (if she ever reads this, I hope she gets a good belly-laugh out of that last word). Piddling away in a mediocre temp job in the Big Apple, Julie needed something to break the monotony that she feared her life might become if she kept on the current trajectory. At the suggestion of her husband, she decided to start blogging about the one thing that she loved to do: cook. But to give herself a definite purpose, she decided to cook her way through Julia Child’s “Mastering the Art of French Cooking,” the Bible for housewives back in the day. She found a certain magic just flipping through the pages of Child’s book, partly from an admiration of the chef who redefined what an American cook was but also from the joy that would come from whipping up one of her recipes. In 365 days, Julie managed to cook all 524 recipes, though not without her fair share of pain and anguish. Powell’s adventures made her a star in her own right. Her blog was retooled into a book, “Julie & Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously,” which has become a holy text to bloggers in the same vain as Child’s book was for the average American chef. The book was later adapted into a movie by Nora Ephron and starred rising star Amy Adams as Julie, allowing her work to reach an even larger audience.

So what does Julie Powell have to do with me, the 17-year-old movie fanatic who would rather sit at the art house theater than at the football stadium?

If you change “cooking” to “watching movies,” switch genders, subtract 12 years, and change New York to Houston, there is quite a similarity. In the interest of keeping my own head, I must say that I do not consider my job of being a student “droning,” but hopefully no one will take offense if I say that I am somewhat weary from the endless supply of work. We both turn to the things we love for release. Julia Child inspired her, and Julie in turn inspired me to start my own blog and turn my obsession with all things cinematic into something productive.

With Julie Powell’s trials and tribulations ascribed to paper resting on my arm as I strolled through the mall, a new idea popped into my head. Why not use Powell’s book like she used Child’s book to get a sense of purpose? I already started a blog inspired by what Powell did, so why not use it for some “internal improvements?”

My hope is that Julie can teach me something about blogging just like Julia taught her about cooking. Her project definitely showed determination and a desire to see something through to fruition, and I think I could definitely learn some valuable lessons from her on that front. Julie had her whole blog planned out from day one, while I have just been twiddling my thumbs while elaborating on my obsession with movies for three months; perhaps Julie’s focus will rub off on me. Maybe I can even pick up a few things about cooking. I’ll make it a goal to attempt at least one recipe with minimal parental assistance soon.

My idea is to use “Julie & Julia” as the first structured project for my blog, the first of what I hope will be many. Reading a chapter a night with a few of her unadulterated blog posts sprinkled in seems reasonable, or at least as reasonable as anything fun junior year can be. So who knows how far my project will go? It got Julie Powell a book deal and a movie; will I follow the same pattern? I must say that my life would need a whole lot of Hollywood treatment before a sustainable film could be made, but maybe the joy of blogging will just suffuse throughout my body like cooking did to Julie.

Julie’s first post stated:

The Book:
“Mastering the Art of French Cooking”. First edition, 1961. Louisette Berthole. Simone Beck. And, of course, Julia Child. The book that launched a thousand celebrity chefs. Julia Child taught America to cook, and to eat. It’s forty years later. Today we think we live in the world Alice Waters made, but beneath it all is Julia, 90 if she’s a day, and no one can touch her.

The Contender:
Government drone by day, renegade foodie by night. Too old for theatre, too young for children, and too bitter for anything else, Julie Powell was looking for a challenge. And in the Julie/Julia project she found it. Risking her marriage, her job, and her cats’ well-being, she has signed on for a deranged assignment.

365 days. 536 recipes. One girl and a crappy outer borough kitchen.

How far will it go? We can only wait. And wait. And wait…..

The Julie/Julia Project. Coming soon to a computer terminal near you.

So without further ado, here is Marshall’s inspired version based on Julie’s post:

The Book:
“Julie & Julia.” Movie Tie-In Edition. Paperback, the only way I’ll read it. The renowned Meryl Streep and Amy Adams grace the cover, but the real star lies underneath the title. Julie Powell. Her quest to fight a life of tedium raised blogging to new heights, brought the craft a new viability, and taught millions that with an iron will and some time, the most daunting of tasks can be achieved.

The Contender:
Student by day, student by night, student by weekend, and movie fanatic when he can catch a breath. Marshall was in the most unlikely of positions to start a blog – yet he did. It was going well, people were visiting (although seldom did any of them comment), yet he still felt somewhat unfulfilled. There was some missing piece of the puzzle, some step missed in the overall equation for greatness, some absent rhetorical strategy in a long essay. He found it in “Julie & Julia,” the Holy Grail of bloggercizing that was the inspiration for the movie that inspired him. Seeking to fill that void which he felt in his blog, he decided to commit to a project that could do untold damage to him. It could destroy his sanity, his grades, and his vestige of a life.

14 days. 15 chapters and 307 pages. One teenager who doesn’t have the time, yet will have to force himself to make it.

How far can he bend before he breaks his back? Only time will tell.

The Marshall & Julie Project. Read it on a blog on your computer.

So here we go. Fasten your seatbelts, it’s going to be a bumpy two weeks.

What movie began your love affair with cinema?
I’d like to think that movies is in my blood, as my late dad was a screenwriter/director back in the 60s and early 70s in my home country Indonesia. But the credit really should go to my late mom who took me to see Superman when I was a wee girl and I just fell in love with it. She was a movie buff also who would bring home various VHS movies from her vacation abroad, which fueled my early love for cinema.

When did you start blogging?
June 9th, 2009.

Why did you start blogging?
I got an assignment to design a blog for my client, which finally compelled me start my own movie blog, something I’ve wanted to do for a while. I actually started jotting down the name I wanted for my blog (luckily FlixChatter was still available at the time!) and what I want to put in it. Seems like I had always been emailing people about all sorts of flicks news/commentary so a blog is the perfect venue to combine my passion for writing and the movies.

What has kept you going?
Well for one, I’ve come to really enjoy blogging. But the biggest motivator to me is getting responses from readers and fellow bloggers alike. My eyes light up every time I see a comment on my post, not much else perks up a blogger’s day quite like it

Has there been a particular person (or people) that has helped you along the way?
I have to say my friends at work Becky (Prairiegirl) and Mike B. were my supporters from the get go, they had bookmarked my blog when I was still struggling to get barely 50 hits a day. I’ve also learned a ton from fellow movie bloggers who encouraged as well as challenge me to be better every day. My husband’s been a great supporter also, for putting up with the seemingly endless time I spend in front of my laptop!

What’s the best part of being a blogger? The worst?
Best part? Being a part of a community of people who share a similar passion and making friends along the way. It’s also a great feeling when someone tells you they like a movie you recommend, or seeing your post get quoted or referenced by other sites, it may seem trivial to some, but it’s huge for a wee blogger like me. The worst? Well, the time it consumed! I wish I were a better writer that I could write things, especially reviews, in half the time! Oh, and when you spend so much time writing a post and nobody comments on it

Has blogging increased or diminished your passion for movies?
Definitely increased. The more I write about them, the more I appreciate it more as an art form rather than simply a piece of entertainment. For sure, it has broaden my movie ‘horizon’ if you will, as I learn about certain genres that weren’t on my radar. Of course, there are still movies I simply refuse to watch out of principle, and nothing would ever get me to enjoy horror/slasher flicks.

What’s your proudest moment as a blogger?
Seeing my post(s) referenced (or linked to) by other blogs or professional sites are always thrilling, not to mention being asked to participate on a blog event (so thank you Marshall!).

IMDb has been kind to me for featuring several of my posts on the HitList section, especially the few times when I hadn’t submitted my posts via the HitList forum. The first time it happened I jumped up and down in my cube and ran over to Mike and Becky to share the good news, I could hardly contain my giddy excitement It’s awesome to get recognition from a site that I visit every day, and seeing my blog stat shoots up never fails to add an extra spring in my step.

What advice would you give to someone looking to follow their passion? To someone starting a blog of their own?
Go for it! It’ll make your life all the richer and more fulfilling because of it. Blogging has certainly make me happier as I get to channel my creativity and passion, and gives me something to look forward to every day. If you’re inclined to start your own blog, write what you love and write from the heart. Be patient when things don’t take off right away, I didn’t let lack of hits/comments stop me from writing the first few months. Eventually people will find you and you’ll watch your blog grow in no time. Oh, and for any blog, content is KING, that’s what keeps me coming back to other blogs!