IndyKlipschFan Posted April 6, 2005 Share Posted April 6, 2005 Editorial Reviews Amazon.com With Sideways, Paul Giamatti (American Splendor, Storytelling) has become an unlikely but engaging romantic lead. Struggling novelist and wine connoisseur Miles (Giamatti) takes his best friend Jack (Thomas Haden Church, Wings) on a wine-tasting tour of California vineyards for a kind of extended bachelor party. Almost immediately, Jack's insatiable need to sow some wild oats before his marriage leads them into double-dates with a rambunctious wine pourer (Sandra Oh, Under the Tuscan Sun) and a recently divorced waitress (Virginia Madsen, The Hot Spot)--and Miles discovers a little hope that he hasn't let himself feel in a long time. Sideways is a modest but finely tuned film; with gentle compassion, it explores the failures, struggles, and lowered expectations of mid-life. Giamatti makes regret and self-loathing sympathetic, almost sweet. From the director of Election and About Schmidt. --Bret Fetzer My own take?? At 43, I got a lot of great laughs out of this one. We take passions in our lives and develop a language that people into that passion (the film uses wines...we use audio and Klipsch) That in and of itself, becomes our life... whether we like it or not. We talk in terms of flavor of different speakers, different horns, x overs, drivers, horn shapes, big boxes Heritage vs Reference vs who knows... And much like the movie those out of the loop can only guess what is good for them no matter how miss informed. (The one analogy is the mass produced crap wine... We all, as Klipsch Fans, feel the same mass produced yucky feeling hearing for instance BOSE no matter how great the masses think it is... Much like the mass winery it stinks if you KNOW true wine/ sound possible from Klipsch.) This is also a coming of age movie about missed opportunities.. Starting over, being true to yourself, and going forward from past mistakes too. Even if you stumble along the way you have to try. It is also about being miss informed sometimes to those around you and how special they can be in your life and save you sometimes too from insanity. (Or in this case, your best buddy sneaking back into a woman's house that you were having sex with leaving in a hurry..... all the while she is making woopie to her hubby....Who seems to get off that his wife is a naughty girl *****.... and getting back your wallet. As he comes after you to KILL you!!) I laughed so hard, just an incredible moment in the film. Life isn't always rosy, and ya know we all have ups and downs too. But it is the pursuit of happiness, and the joy of the journey, that allows us to go through that struggle and get through things both good and bad and live a full life. If your in your 20-30's you may miss the opportunity to experience from someone else some of the nuances in this movie. But say your in your 40's- 50's? This group especially needs to go see this movie as a must. I think you will see, much like I did, a lot of yourself in one flavor or another in the characters involved. 8+++ 1-10 scale. BTW the sound is a 10. Just incredible placement and tunes too. Perfect! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacksonbart Posted April 6, 2005 Share Posted April 6, 2005 Nice write up. Just saw this one myself tonight. My wife and I really liked it. It has some very funny moments along with very uncomfortable ones, could relate to more than a few of both. Thought it was very well done. We were actually out in Los Olivos during one of the days they were shooting, on one of our day trips from our vacation to Santa Barbara. The only reason we figured it out was I saw Church just walking down the main street and put two and two together later. That was 2 years ago or so, when they had those wild fires, you can see the haze from the fires in a few of the scenes. Would recommend it. Love that part of CA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gcoker Posted April 8, 2005 Share Posted April 8, 2005 My wife and I also watched it last night, we both liked it very well. I agree 8 out of 10 stars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fini Posted April 8, 2005 Share Posted April 8, 2005 I only wish they'd made their way up to the real wine country... Just joking. Kind of. I really like Giamatti's acting. He was great in American Splendor as well. As a bonus for those reading this extensive review, I will clue y'all in to fini's favorite winemaker, Carol Shelton. If any of you enjoy Zin, Carol is the absolute QUEEN off this grape. Here's her website. Seriously, if you have the opportunity to taste any of her wines, jump at the chance! She and her husband Mitch Mackenzie are charming, down-to-earth folks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteelerFan Posted April 8, 2005 Share Posted April 8, 2005 I haven't seen this yet but I was afraid this was going to one of those movies that the critics love and I was gonna hate. Since you guys enjoyed it so much, I'll watch it with an open mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ygmn Posted April 9, 2005 Share Posted April 9, 2005 waiting for this one used..... So....what wine should I be drinking while I watch?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicholtl Posted April 10, 2005 Share Posted April 10, 2005 Pinot Noir. National sales of this wine have gone up 30+% since the release of this film. Coincidence...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndyKlipschFan Posted April 10, 2005 Author Share Posted April 10, 2005 Just NOT Merlot!!! (Inside joke of the film!!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toddvj Posted April 11, 2005 Share Posted April 11, 2005 Whatever wine you drink, just make sure you drink a lot of it, and are good and drunk, because this movie is booooooring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boomac Posted April 11, 2005 Share Posted April 11, 2005 On 4/8/2005 5:04:30 PM SteelerFan wrote: I haven't seen this yet but I was afraid this was going to one of those movies that the critics love and I was gonna hate. Since you guys enjoyed it so much, I'll watch it with an open mind. ---------------- On 4/9/2005 3:18:13 PM ygmn wrote: waiting for this one used..... So....what wine should I be drinking while I watch?? ---------------- What ever wine you choose drink a lot! Sorry guys. I thought it had a few funny moments but we found it to be very B O R I N G! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gcoker Posted April 11, 2005 Share Posted April 11, 2005 ---------------- On 4/10/2005 10:28:13 PM IndyKlipschFan wrote: Just NOT Merlot!!! (Inside joke of the film!!) ---------------- I was going to suggest Merlot..then when he watches the movie he will get it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteelerFan Posted April 11, 2005 Share Posted April 11, 2005 ---------------- On 4/11/2005 11:04:50 AM boomac wrote: Sorry guys. I thought it had a few funny moments but we found it to be very B O R I N G! ---------------- As it turns out I did enjoy it. Thomas Hayden Church was a roll! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndyKlipschFan Posted April 14, 2005 Author Share Posted April 14, 2005 I still hope to win a t shirt one of these days!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duffinator Posted April 14, 2005 Share Posted April 14, 2005 ---------------- On 4/9/2005 3:18:13 PM ygmn wrote: waiting for this one used..... So....what wine should I be drinking while I watch?? ---------------- A cold beer, and several of them. Preferrably Mexican beer. I live in Northern California and find the whole wine thing a bit pretentious. That's not to say I don't enjoy a nice glass of wine, usually Merlot! This movie is enjoyable and has some funny moments in it. Having been a single guy into my late 30's before getting married I can relate to Thomas Hayden Church's character, up to a point, and laughed my rear off at some of the lines. But in the end I gave it a 3 out of 5 star rating on Netflix. In order to give it 4 stars I would have to want to see the movie again and at least for now there is no reason to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theryugobuddy Posted April 14, 2005 Share Posted April 14, 2005 Man, I loved this movie--I understand that some people may not get it, but its far from Boring! I think if you thought American Pie was comic genius, then you won't like this. But, come back and revisit it when you're in your forties. Giamatti is brilliant, and just as funny as Church, but in a subtler way-- This is not a romantic comedy, but all the elements of a romantic comedy are here. Its very sad and very funny and quite touching. Its not a buddy movie in the classic sense either--but it does have a great relationship between two guys alternatng between each of them acting the parent of the other. Both guys are sympathetic scoundrels but you gotta love them becuase they seem so real. The backdrop of the wine country is almost another character of the movie. The pretensciousness of the over-zealous wine drinkers is part of the humor-- Wierd, funky jazz music, too-- One of my favorites-- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boomac Posted April 14, 2005 Share Posted April 14, 2005 My wife's cousin, who is in his 50s, divorced and a wine lover, recommended Sideways to us. He's been to several of the locations that were used in the movie. Although we laughed a few times, the only part we thought was hilarious was when the young lady beat the tar out of the guy with her cycle helmet. Sorry but my wife and I, along with our (junior in college) daughter, thought it was just ok. I do not mean to offend anybody or their taste and dont claim mine to be unimpeachable but I give Sideways a six out of ten. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndyKlipschFan Posted April 15, 2005 Author Share Posted April 15, 2005 Boomac thats fine, ratings are personal and no problem. I didn't find the movie just amazingly funny, except perhaps the Wallet Scene.. But I did laugh at so much more too. I listend to the special extras section as they described the film and heard so much more too about the philosophy behind the characters. The movie is about lying, lying to yourself others and the consequences...As told by Paul Gimanti. I also feel a lot of wine people (myself included sometimes about what we like and why???) can be stuffy. I think that comes with the introduction to wine beyond "wine in a box." LOL But the Europeans also understand wine too. It is to be drunk and enjoyed too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damonrpayne Posted April 17, 2005 Share Posted April 17, 2005 I was told by many people to see this (I've been known to drink some wine) so finally rented it last night. There were a couple funny moments but overall it was quite a yawner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boomac Posted April 17, 2005 Share Posted April 17, 2005 Ya know Indy, I really wanted to enjoy this movie. There are so few good flicks these days. In retrospect, I guess I did find the wine tasting and drinking pretty funny. Also, after evaluating my initial reaction, I think my problem was with Thomas Hayden Church. I couldn't stop thinking about that goofy airplane mechanic he used to play. I didn't care for that character either. Perhaps, that's why I laughed so hard when Stephanie beat the heck out of him with her helmet and really, that was worth the Blockbuster price of admission. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxman Posted April 20, 2005 Share Posted April 20, 2005 Three of us watched this the other night and very much enjoyed it. The two main characters reminded me of my best friend and my Uncle, so it helped me relate to the story a bit. Funny stuff. Clearly not for everyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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