In 1977 Meryl Streep made her film debut with Julia, but won both critical and commercial success with her roles in The Deer Hunter (1978) and Kramer vs. Kramer (1979), the former giving Streep her first Oscar nomination and the latter her first Oscar win. She later won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in Sophie's Choice (1982). So far Streep has received 16 Academy Award nominations, and has won two. Her current nomination is her 16th nomination for her role as Julia Child in Julie & Julia. Though it will be showdown between Meryl Streep and Sandra Bullock for this year's Best Actress Academy Awards trophy, there are many Oscar-watchers and forecasters who feel that Bullock is the front runner for her role in The Blind Side. But some others reasons that it is Streep's chance to shine, as the Julie & Julia star hasn't won an Oscar for nearly 30 years.
The film depicts events in the life of Chef Julia Child, contrasting her life with Julie Powell, who aspires to cook all 524 recipes from Child's cookbook during a single year, a challenge that she described on her popular blog. Nora Ephron's screenplay is adapted from two books: My Life in France, Child's autobiography, written with Alex Prud'homme, and a memoir by Julie Powell. In 2002, Powell started blogging her daily experiences cooking each of the 524 recipes in Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and she later began reworking that blog. The film is the first major motion picture based on a blog.
