| 7/12/2005 |
RED RED WINE by UB40
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or
MEXICAN WINE by Fountains of Wayne
So I finally watched Sideways! Yes, you will notice that I've updated the Netflix queue to the right, (that's "rite" for you users of the metric system). So I thought I'd spout off about it.
When the Oscars winners were still a mystery and everyone was placing bets on who would win Best _____, I would always root for Sideways. I don't know why. Maybe it was because of the Alexander Payne / Omaha connection. Maybe it was because I liked Sandra Oh from grease Anatomy. Maybe it was because I remember Virginia Madsen from Highlander. Either way... Sideways! Woo!
Sideways (B-) I honestly think this is one of those movies that I was so psyched to see that I was somewhat disappointed that it didn't live up to the image I had in my head. It was a good movie. It had a great cast. I think the main thing of the movie is that it just seemed to drag in places where it shouldn't have. The more I think about it, I blame it on the music. Soundtracks provide audible clues as to how the movie is going. Even when you don't understand the language, the music can help you figure out if it is a sad scene or a tense moment.
Having seen a lot of previews and commercials I knew of a couple scenes that I was looking forward to. Why do they drive their car into a tree? Why does Sandra Oh purse-whip someone?
The basics: Miles (Paul Giamatti) is a divorced English teacher who takes his good friend Jack (Thomas Hayden Church), who is about to be married, on a wine tasting tour through California. On the way they discuss their life and they direction their lives are going. We learn that Miles has a book that may be published and Jack is about as much of a flirt and uses his 'fame' as an actor to get his way with women. It seems like an odd mix of best friends. They know each other from college, where I would be willing to wager Miles wrote more than one term paper for Jack. Jack promised to hook him up with his girlfriend's friend, but it never happened because Jack probably kept them both for himself. Just speculating.
Without spoiling anything, my favorite scene is when Miles and Maya (Virginia Madsen) are sitting on the front porch discussing how they got into wine as a hobby. I think I shouted "Marry her. Marry her now!" to Miles, but he couldn't hear me.
The movie takes you on a very introspective ride through these two guys lives. They are very regular. You could pick anyone on the street and they might have had a moment like what's shown in the movie. For that the movie redeems itself for the times when the story gets a bit dry. (That's my only attempt at a wine-related tie-in to this review, and even IT is choking on how dry of a tie-in it was.)
I would buy this movie. I would have to be in an introspective mood when I did it. A mood where I feel like asking myself, "How am I like Miles?" "Am I writing such an open ended book that leaves people wondering about my own life?" |
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I posted this @ 7/12/2005 05:04:00 PM.............Need a link?..........
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