Final Viewing Party Recap

Day... Doesn't Really Matter.

Here it is! A recap of the culmination of my yearlong struggle against Julie & Julia.

THE FINAL VIEWING PARTY! 

As most of you faithful readers know, I was flown out to Denver to watch Julie & Julia for the 365th time by an experimental interactive theater group named Off-Center @ the Jones. I didn't really know how many people would show up or why anyone would want to essentially watch me watch Julie & Julia, but hey, I wasn't going to argue with a free plane ticket (plus a generous appearance fee). Long story, short I didn't know what to expect at all really. And well, the last thing I would have probably expected was...

Over 100 people showed up! They paid $10 a piece! To watch me watch a shitty movie!

Audience members recreated my blog posts! What?!?

And of course, I finally boned a duck.

Here are the highlights (and the lowlights) of the big party that Denver Off-Center & the Jones threw for me two weeks ago. It was quite the wild ride. And by that I mean, It was unequivocally the weirdest evening of my life.



How to summarize my experience? Well, the first thing that happened was the announcement that Amy Adams' mom was in attendance. After that, all bets were off.

It was pretty much anything goes from there--we churned butter, we chopped onions, we made jokes about Not Mark Ruffalo. It was insane. I mean, watch the video, see for yourself. There were sharks, there were vaginas, there were live tweets--Hell, there was even a video message from real life Random Actor Tuesday, Megan Byrne.



Oh, and did I mention? AMY ADAMS' MOM WAS THERE. YOU KNOW, AS IN THE MOTHER OF THE ACTRESS WHO PLAYS JULIE POWELL, MY SWORN ARCHENEMY. I HAD TO SIT THERE AND RAG ON AMY ADAMS IN FRONT OF HER MOM. IT WAS AWKWARD.

But more on that tomorrow. Let me just say that this final viewing of Julie & Julia was, without a doubt, the most enjoyable viewing out of the 365 and probably the most fun anyone's ever had watching this 2-hour long piece of shit movie.

I cannot thank Charlie M. and Emily T., the curators of Off-Center, enough for giving me this opportunity to come to Denver and feel like an absolute king for a day or two. You guys really couldn't have made this final viewing party any better and I owe you a huge debt of gratitude for making it all happen. You guys picked a weird cause (in me), but I'm eternally grateful that you did. The whole Denver experience made it all somewhat worth the pain (the emphasis on somewhat). Thanks again, guys.

Check back later for:

• My exclusive interview with AMY ADAMS' MOM!!!
• A letter from Julie Powell!!
• Other things!

And... soon enough, I will announce my post-L/J&J FOLLOW-UP BLOGGING PROJECT. What movie will I watch next every day for a year? (Hint: No movie. I'm never doing that again.)

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Non-Julie & Julia Quote of the Day: "One does not simply walk into Mordor."