Cozy Up With HBO Max’s 'Julia,' a Warm and Welcoming Treat

The latest in pop-culture news, recaps, and reviews, plus close reads, profiles, interviews, and more from Vulture.com. [Brand Logo]( TV Review [Cozy Up With Julia, a Warm and Welcoming Treat]( The new HBO Max series is much like the version of Julia Child it wants to portray: imperfect yet charming — and in love with feeling good. Photo: Seacia Pavao/HBO There’s a familiar undercurrent in biopic projects of legendary figures: Stories about famous athletes or politicians or movie stars need to include the darker, more personal details of their lives because biographical narratives need to humanize their subjects. There is some of that in Julia, the new HBO Max series about the chef, author, and TV personality Julia Child. She was remarkable, and the series enjoys showing that off. For the most part, though, Julia is a warm and cozy treatment of Child, the TV equivalent of pulling a simmering pot of boeuf bourguignonne out of the oven and taking it straight to the table to serve. There are brief moments of tension, and there’s the satisfying pleasure of watching a person figure something out. But Julia Child as presented in Julia does not need humanizing or any of the frictive strain between the stage personality and the person behind the curtains. Here she is, delightfully human both onscreen and off. [Read The Story »]( Devour pop culture with us. [Subscribe now](for unlimited access to Vulture and everything New York. The Latest TV Recaps • [The Real Housewives of Orange County:]( Attitude and Altitude • [Snowfall:]( Soldier of Love • [Survivor:]( Caught Double-Dipping • [The Dropout:]( Stab the Fish • [Julia:]( The Omelet That Sparked a Show • [Julia:]( A Wobbly First Attempt • [Julia:]( Father of the Chef Stories We Think You’ll Like 1. [Jon Batiste on His Best, Funniest, and Most Prophetic Music Plus, his most meaningful Grammy nomination.]( 2. [CNN+ Has Quibi Vibes The streaming news app isn’t worth the price — at least not yet.]( By Josef Adalian 3. [The Art of the Dirty Deal: 17 Movies, Shows, and Documentaries About Scams Can’t get enough of Inventing Anna? In love with The Tinder Swindler? Here’s what to watch next.]( By Marah Eakin 4. [The YouTubers Who Kindled the Fire for Elden Ring FromSoftware’s games may deliver relentless death, but the games’ online community gives them new life.]( By Tim Brinkhof [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( 5. [Who Will (and Should) Win at the 2022 Grammys? And can anyone stop Olivia Rodrigo from a sweep?]( By Justin Curto 6. [How Winning Time Managed to Bottle the Magic of Showtime Lakers Basketball Director Damian Marcano used a basketball trainer to the pros and a camera operator on Rollerblades to make it happen.]( By Mikael Awake 7. [Aline Was Inspired by a True Diva How do you write, direct, and star in a Céline Dion biopic? According to Valérie Lemercier, you start by changing the singer’s name.]( By Rachel Handler [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( [Today’s Crossword]( 31-Across, Three Letters: Tags in a tweet. Photo-Illustration: Vulture; Photos by Universal Pictures, Disney and Universal Pictures Vulture Recommends We consume it all so you don’t have to. Watch [Bust Down](, the new big-laugh Peacock comedy co-created by Chris Redd, [Sam Jay](, Langston Kerman, and Jak Knight. On Vulture’s [Good One podcast](, which features [Moses Storm]( as guest host, Redd discusses his Eric Adams impression, how [Bust Down got on the air](, and the worst pitch of his run on SNL. [Read more from Vulture]( Next week at Union Hall Vulture’s weekly comedy show, Pretty Major, will feature Niles Abston, Sophie Buddle, Jay Jurden, Jess Salomon, Tom Thakkar, Yedoye Travis, and Zach Zimmerman. [Buy tickets here.]( Tuesdays at 7 p.m. Union Hall, Brooklyn, N.Y. If you enjoyed reading Vulture’s daily newsletter, forward it to a friend. Or dive deeper into the Vulture universe with our other newsletters: • [1.5x Speed](: Podcast recommendations and listening notes from Nick Quah, sent every Wednesday. • [Buffering](: Joe Adalian reports on the streaming industry, sent every Thursday. • [The Housewives Institute Bulletin](: For dedicated students of the Reality TV Arts and Sciences, sent every other Friday. • [Vulture 10x10 Crossword](: A puzzle for pop-culture obsessives sent to your inbox every weekday. • [The Critics](: A weekly dispatch on the cultural discourse, sent Fridays. [logo]( [facebook logo]( [instagram logo]( [twitter logo]( [unsubscribe](param=daily) | [privacy notice]( | [update preferences]( This email was sent to {EMAIL}. Was this email forwarded to you? [Sign up now]( to get this newsletter in your inbox. [View this email in your browser.]( You received this email because you have a subscription to New York. Reach the right online audience with us For advertising information on email newsletters, please contact AdOps@nymag.com Vox Media, LLC 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW, 12th Floor Washington, DC 20036 Copyright © 2022, All rights reserved