Sideways

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Took me by surprise. Cracks began to show as it went on and the ending is a bit tidy, but very measured, often affecting, yet subtle. At it's best when it wasn't trying too hard to be funny. Quietly one of the best films I've seen this year.

That said, Undertow and Incident At Lock Ness both just hit Berkeley...we shall see.

― adam... (nordicskilla), Sunday, 7 November 2004 02:40 (twenty-one years ago)

i want to see this.

― amateur!!st, Sunday, 7 November 2004 02:47 (twenty-one years ago)

I can't decide if I should see this or Undertow tomorrow afternoon.

― milozauckerman (miloaukerman), Sunday, 7 November 2004 03:23 (twenty-one years ago)

see both!

― adam... (nordicskilla), Sunday, 7 November 2004 03:47 (twenty-one years ago)

i saw this recently on the recommendation of my film professor. it didn't impress me much, though it was entertaining for the evening. i'd say go for it. it makes me want to learn about wine and drive around california wine country.

― nora (nora), Sunday, 7 November 2004 04:37 (twenty-one years ago)

is it a good date movie?

― amateur!!st, Sunday, 7 November 2004 05:23 (twenty-one years ago)

depends on the date. I want to say yes.

― adam... (nordicskilla), Sunday, 7 November 2004 06:35 (twenty-one years ago)

Alexander Payne had started to annoy me, especially after I finally saw Citizen Ruth, but he has changed tack with this film.

― adam... (nordicskilla), Sunday, 7 November 2004 06:36 (twenty-one years ago)

Ah, I was wondering prompted the attention.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 7 November 2004 06:43 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm going to see this tomorrow, I think. Meanwhile, The Incredibles kicked much much butt. Very funny, seriously good action.

― Kenan (kenan), Sunday, 7 November 2004 06:46 (twenty-one years ago)

I was going to see that but I've been laid low by a cold. Next week, I figure (and I'll miss the opening weekend crunch).

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 7 November 2004 06:47 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah, I liked it a lot. Note that I was not a big fan of About Schmidt at all -- I felt like it never found the right tone, that its reliance on such farcical elements (the waterbed, Dermot Mulroney's hair, Kathy Bates's boobs) meant that when it came time to milk the pathos (OMG Jack is so lonely), it didn't feel like it was earned. But Sideways strikes just the right balance between funny and sad/poignant because Giamatti's character is always both at once: what shifts in tone there are never seem abrupt. And some nice subtle choices, indeed. Even when things aren't going smoothly for Giamatti w/r/t Virginia Madsen's character, you always see a connection between the two, something that draws them to each other, that complicates any impulse we may have to think, "har har, wotta loser."

― jaymc (jaymc), Sunday, 7 November 2004 07:53 (twenty-one years ago)

see both!

I saw two movies today, actually! The other one was Tarnation, which I mildly liked, but had a LOT of problems with, too.

― jaymc (jaymc), Sunday, 7 November 2004 07:54 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah, Payne'll have a lot to answer for after About Schmidt, but I'll give Sideways a shot.

Tarnation on Wednesday.

― Eric H. (Eric H.), Sunday, 7 November 2004 09:16 (twenty-one years ago)

I still fear Tarnation, but I feel I will go and see it. But then I want to see the above two movies plus The Incredibles plus Fade To Black! Oh NO!

― adam... (nordicskilla), Sunday, 7 November 2004 16:51 (twenty-one years ago)

i thought this was pretty good, but not particularly great. i liked thomas haden church.

― s1ocki (slutsky), Sunday, 7 November 2004 19:05 (twenty-one years ago)

he piled it on a little thick with that whole "wine is a metaphor for life" crap

― s1ocki (slutsky), Sunday, 7 November 2004 19:05 (twenty-one years ago)

But you always tell me that wine is a metaphor for life!

― adam... (nordicskilla), Sunday, 7 November 2004 19:32 (twenty-one years ago)

You talking to the mirror again?

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 7 November 2004 19:37 (twenty-one years ago)

Seriously, s1ocki, you think he piled it on to thick? I really felt this film had (for the most part) and admirable lightness of touch.

*SPOILERS MAYBE*

The only time I thought the film really relied on that metaphor was during the conversation between Giamatti and Madsen on the back porch, and that seemed quite self-conscious and deliberate (on the part of those two characters, anyway). I actually thought that was one of the best scenes in the film. I also liked the way it was shot, like when Giamatti was drunk on the phone to his ex-wife, pacing in and out of focus. Nice!

― adam... (nordicskilla), Monday, 8 November 2004 00:16 (twenty-one years ago)

Yes, agreed. I liked that the characters were obviously very conscious of what they were saying and its metaphorical implications, but also didn't spell it out.

― jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 8 November 2004 00:37 (twenty-one years ago)

A movie about wine snobs where wine was talked about the entire time - and it wasn't annoying! That's a feat unto itself. The masterpiece talk is strong, but this was much better than last year's critical darling.

― milozauckerman (miloaukerman), Monday, 8 November 2004 00:54 (twenty-one years ago)

I know nothing about wine, so part of the movie for me was actually delighting in conversation about other people's passions.

― jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 8 November 2004 01:01 (twenty-one years ago)

pretty self-consciously fugly movie, didn't you think?

― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 8 November 2004 01:12 (twenty-one years ago)

but i did think dude was trying to draw parallels b/w how giamatti experienced wine/life (contemplatively, over-analytically), and how th church just guzzled it down, heedless of the consequences, and i was like well, ok, whatev.

― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 8 November 2004 01:13 (twenty-one years ago)

I think you're reading too much into it! Respectfully!

― adam... (nordicskilla), Monday, 8 November 2004 03:10 (twenty-one years ago)

Mrs adam might agree with you, though. :(

― adam... (nordicskilla), Monday, 8 November 2004 03:10 (twenty-one years ago)

do you agree that it was totally fugly?

― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 8 November 2004 03:49 (twenty-one years ago)

i guess i'm consciously playing the hater here, because the movie left so little of an impression on me. i think i pretty much liked it, but when i hear so much praise about a movie that left me feeling just so-so, i tend to go devil's advocate (see also: eternal sunshine of the spotless mind)

― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 8 November 2004 03:50 (twenty-one years ago)

do you agree that it was totally fugly?

No! ;)

I am the same with popular movies, I didn't know this one was getting so much praise. Is it?

― adam... (nordicskilla), Monday, 8 November 2004 03:52 (twenty-one years ago)

every middle-aged movie critic in america has stood to salute this movie

― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 8 November 2004 03:54 (twenty-one years ago)

did you find, as i did, that all the woman characters in this movie were totally half-baked? it was almost relentlessly uninterested in them...

― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 8 November 2004 03:54 (twenty-one years ago)

Jonathan Rosenbaum and the dude from Salon are the only ones not declaring this Greatest Movie of blah-blah-blah. You have to admit that it's better than last year's critical darling.

― milozauckerman (miloaukerman), Monday, 8 November 2004 04:02 (twenty-one years ago)

legally blonde 2?

― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 8 November 2004 04:07 (twenty-one years ago)

That was so awesome.

― adam... (nordicskilla), Monday, 8 November 2004 04:14 (twenty-one years ago)

You are right about the female characters, btw.

― adam... (nordicskilla), Monday, 8 November 2004 04:15 (twenty-one years ago)

This movie was so much better than all of this guy's other awful films. It's still not great and the fact that the barely fleshed out female characters have been praised by critics as exemplars of good writing, but are still only barely explored more than the pathetic ciphers in most indie films of this type is indicative of something (low standards, I'm guessing.) But it does have quite a few laughs (esp. if you ever had the misfortune to visit to this part of California.)

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Monday, 8 November 2004 04:43 (twenty-one years ago)

you prefer this to election?

― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 8 November 2004 04:52 (twenty-one years ago)

I can't stand Election.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Monday, 8 November 2004 04:55 (twenty-one years ago)

i think you might be the only person i've ever encountered who doesn't like that movie!

― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 8 November 2004 05:02 (twenty-one years ago)

it does kinda beg the question though, why did you see sideways if you hate guy's other movies so much?

― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 8 November 2004 05:03 (twenty-one years ago)

My dad wanted to see it and it'd gotten good reviews so I figured I'd give it a shot. Besides I thought his other movies had the potential to be good, maybe he'd actually succeed this time.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Monday, 8 November 2004 05:08 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm curious to know more about why you didn't like Election.

― Kenan (kenan), Monday, 8 November 2004 05:17 (twenty-one years ago)

1. slocki so otm about the female characters' lack of depth. i had a really hard time buying that madsen's character would be immediately interested in giamatti's, and a lot of that was because i didn't feel like i knew enough about her.

2. the porch "wine as a metaphor for life" scene was excruciating, in a bad way.

3. the drunken phone call to his ex was excruciating, in a wonderful way.

4. wtf was up with that cheeseball split screen sequence! terrible terrible terrible.

5. likewise, payne's choice of music was pretty abysmal. just because the movie is about wine doesn't mean you have to track it with vanilla corporate bookstore jazz! overall the aesthetic felt a little too self-consciously 'grown-up' for me, like a showcase commercial or something.

6. most of the really solid laughs came from the film's buddy movie component. the golf course confrontation and the wallet retrieval sequences were very very funny.

7. i think i feel the same way about sideways as i do re: about schmidt - both are solid films with lots to speak for them but ultimately vastly overrated.

8. election: so awesome.

― mark p (Mark P), Monday, 8 November 2004 05:47 (twenty-one years ago)

vanilla corporate bookstore jazz

more movies should be scored with muzak à la jacques tati. though i'm not sure if this is what you mean.

― amateur!!st, Monday, 8 November 2004 05:52 (twenty-one years ago)

far from it. i'm thinking more like the 'jazz' that my aunt and uncle the professional cover band used to play.

― mark p (Mark P), Monday, 8 November 2004 05:54 (twenty-one years ago)

I thought the buddy movie component (except for Giamatti launching a golf ball at the jerks) was weaker than the rest. Wacky comedy didn't fit the mood so well.

― milozauckerman (miloaukerman), Monday, 8 November 2004 05:55 (twenty-one years ago)

just because the movie is about wine doesn't mean you have to track it with vanilla corporate bookstore jazz

Seeing as how the music I usually hear in bookstores is Miles and Coltrane and such, I highly opject to this. There's no such thing as corporate jazz. People don't really like jazz enough for it to ever be corporate. You can hear jazz and thing it's lame, and that's fine, but that doesn't mean the music itself it lame.

― Kenan (kenan), Monday, 8 November 2004 05:57 (twenty-one years ago)

well there are boring branford marsalis duet albums and such

― amateur!!st, Monday, 8 November 2004 05:58 (twenty-one years ago)

I haven't sen the movie or heard the music yet, mind you. But if I were playing the odds, I'd bet that "corporate bookstaor jazz" is really just jazz, and you're overreacting.

― Kenan (kenan), Monday, 8 November 2004 05:58 (twenty-one years ago)

Skipping 129 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

Wine isn't just a key metaphor of the *film* -- it's a metaphor that Giamatti himself uses, a way for him to understand himself and his predicament, and to make us understand as well.

I thought the director was very gentle-handed and calculatedly ambiguous with regard to Giamatti's alcoholism. I found myself bouncing back and forth between being convinced that he had a serious alcohol problem and strongly doubting it.

― Clarke B. (Clarke B.), Monday, 10 January 2005 17:29 (twenty-one years ago)

I think he had a pretty serious alcohol problem... I mean, it evidently ruined his marriage. Obviously his personality played a part in it as well, but the wife seemed all to familiar with Drunk Miles and didn't want to talk to him that way.

― polyphonic (polyphonic), Monday, 10 January 2005 17:42 (twenty-one years ago)

Upperbrow? Is that even a real word?

― Ken L (Ken L), Monday, 10 January 2005 17:47 (twenty-one years ago)

Even if it isn't, I like it. I may even have used it myself recently.

― Ken L (Ken L), Monday, 10 January 2005 17:54 (twenty-one years ago)

We are witness to the genesis of new language.

Samuel Johnson is spinning in his grave.

― polyphonic (polyphonic), Monday, 10 January 2005 18:02 (twenty-one years ago)

But Eric Partridge is cackling with glee in his.

― Ken L (Ken L), Monday, 10 January 2005 18:04 (twenty-one years ago)

What really irritated me about Sideways was the combination of really nice, well observed details that don't usually get shown in movies with incredibly stupid, artificial garbage. I liked the way Miles dressed. It seems like a small thing, but it's nice to see a character who dressed like an actual, real-life slob, rather than a "movie slob." Also, the fact that the steakhouse was right on the sidewalk-less highway, and they had to walk in a ditch to get there from the motel.

But who are these two attractive, intelligent, 30-something women who have live in semi-bohemian, christmas light covered apartments? One drives a motorcycle? One a waitress? Is california seriously filled with hot almost-middle aged women who live like college students in their first off campus apartment?

And the porch conversation was awful. I expected it to end with some kind of "gotcha," like the famous Cosby Show "you should love me because I'm your son" speech.

― Chris H. (chrisherbert), Monday, 10 January 2005 23:29 (twenty-one years ago)

But who are these two attractive, intelligent, 30-something women who have live in semi-bohemian, christmas light covered apartments? One drives a motorcycle? One a waitress? Is california seriously filled with hot almost-middle aged women who live like college students in their first off campus apartment?

You should hang out in California a bit.

― polyphonic (polyphonic), Tuesday, 11 January 2005 00:01 (twenty-one years ago)

Is california seriously filled with hot almost-middle aged women who live like college students in their first off campus apartment?

Yes. (xpost)

― kyle (akmonday), Tuesday, 11 January 2005 00:03 (twenty-one years ago)

these two attractive, intelligent, 30-something women who have live in semi-bohemian, christmas light covered apartments
I don't understand what the big mystery is either. What should they have looked like? Plain Janes? Trailer trash?

― Ken L (Ken L), Tuesday, 11 January 2005 00:07 (twenty-one years ago)

I mean, they were both waitresses in relatively high-class wine bars. They're not going to be ugly.

― polyphonic (polyphonic), Tuesday, 11 January 2005 00:09 (twenty-one years ago)

two weeks pass...

I just saw this movie yesterday and I really liked it. I can't believe no one's mentioned the wrecking of the car yet!

― The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 31 January 2005 14:47 (twenty-one years ago)

That moment where it veers off to the right instead of hitting the tree is just brilliant.

― Andrew (enneff), Monday, 31 January 2005 14:50 (twenty-one years ago)

The golf course scene was among the best.

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Monday, 31 January 2005 14:56 (twenty-one years ago)

I heard this was rubbish.

― RJG (RJG), Monday, 31 January 2005 15:02 (twenty-one years ago)

Read my review on FT, RJG! I loved it.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Monday, 31 January 2005 18:24 (twenty-one years ago)

I thought it was great .. but I hope it wasn't the best film of the year. I mean, it wasn't *that* good, although I can't think of anything else that I thought was better.

― dave225 (Dave225), Monday, 31 January 2005 23:29 (twenty-one years ago)

are there any reviews of this that didn't pun on wine at some point ("a fine vintage!!!?!?!!!")?

― Miles Finch, Tuesday, 1 February 2005 11:45 (twenty-one years ago)

Charles Krauthammer's favorite movie of the year

― mookieproof (mookieproof), Tuesday, 1 February 2005 12:41 (twenty-one years ago)

saw this last night. i enjoyed it, especially the 'wallet retrieval' scene which maybe saved the whole thing for me - very tense, very funny i thought. much niceness elswhere tho.

anyone agree that a better ending may have been this: we hear Mia's voicemail but Miles doesn't as he has already gone to see her, unaware that she has finished his book and would like to see him again - but the last shot is still the knock on the door.

this way there's a stronger sense of 'taking a chance really can pay off sometimes' and it's just that little bit sweeter.

― Alienus Quam Reproba (blueski), Monday, 7 February 2005 15:12 (twenty-one years ago)

That would have irritated me for being presumptuous in a totally out-of-character jarring manner. He would move from being a regretful bumbler to a typical Hollywood "take a chance on LURVE!" dipshit.

― The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 7 February 2005 15:28 (twenty-one years ago)

from now on i will only watch films that star Julia Roberts and.or Richard Gere

― Alienus Quam Reproba (blueski), Monday, 7 February 2005 15:58 (twenty-one years ago)

So that's one heaping helping of Runaway Bride for you.

― The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 7 February 2005 15:59 (twenty-one years ago)

meh, really. no way near as good as 'election' or even 'about schmidt', no bite.

The film was solely concerned with Miles. Throughout the film the narrative followed him, and only him; all new information was presented to us as Miles experienced it

compare that with the icy reserve and poise of 'election'.

pretty self-consciously fugly movie

i read this as 'self-pityingly fugly', and i think that'll pretty much do it as a three-word review.

― NRQ, Monday, 21 February 2005 11:07 (twenty-one years ago)

for some reason i keep thinking of cassavetes husbands when i think about this movie (note i haven't seen or read any reviews of sideways or this thread for that matter) - how's it compare? does it make any sense to compare the two?

― j blount (papa la bas), Monday, 21 February 2005 11:13 (twenty-one years ago)

anti-friendship.

― cozen (Cozen), Monday, 21 February 2005 11:51 (twenty-one years ago)

pro-friendship!

― Sven Bastard (blueski), Monday, 21 February 2005 12:00 (twenty-one years ago)

two months pass...

I liked it quite a bit, and it reminded me of many drives to Napa and Tahoe with male friends - especially the getting drunk and belligerent alternating with the maudlin self-loathing. It could have used more cigarettes.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Monday, 25 April 2005 16:12 (twenty-one years ago)

I did NOT need to see that guy naked. And running.

― luna (luna.c), Monday, 25 April 2005 16:15 (twenty-one years ago)

But he was flapping freely in the wind, like god intended. Er wait.

It could have used more cigarettes.

What brands would be best?

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 25 April 2005 16:17 (twenty-one years ago)

I went out with some people from work last week, and they started talking about this movie. And then they ordered Pinot Noir, which they had never tried before seeing Sideways.

Other than that, I loved it.

― diedre mousedropping (Dave225), Monday, 25 April 2005 16:19 (twenty-one years ago)

Haha, I've never been a big Pinot fan - his reasons for liking it are decidedly rockist - which is of course a symptom of his unhappiness.

As for cigarette brands - I'm thinking that Miles would smoke Marlboro lights and the other guy Parliament lights. The women would obviously smoke American Spirits.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Monday, 25 April 2005 16:26 (twenty-one years ago)

I had to see this with my mom and her boyfriend. I liked it, but then on my birthday, we went to Bear Valley to go skiing and they went on a sort of wine tasting trip. So, when we get home, instead of carrying tons of presents up the stairs, I have to carry God knows how many cases of wine up those 56 stairs while my mom and her boyfriend unload the car.

Still a good movie though.

― Aja (aja), Monday, 25 April 2005 16:33 (twenty-one years ago)

I can't see Miles as a Marlboro Lights kind of guy. (for various reasons, I associate those with sorority girls and cocktail waitresses)

Kamel Lights, maybe, or the British cigs that come in a flat box (Dunhills?).

― milozauckerman (miloaukerman), Monday, 25 April 2005 16:41 (twenty-one years ago)

Wimpy writer guys like Camel Lights.

― adam (adam), Monday, 25 April 2005 16:50 (twenty-one years ago)

This is also true.

― milozauckerman (miloaukerman), Monday, 25 April 2005 17:09 (twenty-one years ago)

Cigarettes mean very different things in different places/markets.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Monday, 25 April 2005 17:13 (twenty-one years ago)

(brands)

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Monday, 25 April 2005 17:13 (twenty-one years ago)

i liked this movie more than i thought i would. about halfway through i realized that the two central characters are ME broken up into two people.

overal pretty funny. goddamn is that wine talk cloying, though.

― latebloomer: But when the monkey die, people gonna cry. (latebloomer), Thursday, 28 April 2005 05:41 (twenty-one years ago)

Just finally saw this. I had been subject to all the hype, and also to a guy at work who hated it and starts ranting any time anyone mentions it, so I had mixed expectations. It's pretty good. I liked it better than About Schmidt, because I didn't feel like I'd seen these characters before. I liked that it was funny but not afraid to show real consequences -- you laugh at the motorcycle-helmet assault until it goes on just a bit too long and then he gets up all splattered with blood. The major drawback -- and the one cited loudly by my coworker -- is that neither of the guys is very likable -- Miles is sympathetic, broadly, but not very likable. Not that characters in a movie have to be likable, but if they're not there needs to be some other reason to care about them, which there wasn't always.

― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Thursday, 28 April 2005 06:02 (twenty-one years ago)

eleven months pass...

my favorite part was when he asked for a copy of barely legal, and then had to ask again for the NEW copy of barely legal.

but then the movie got ruined for me when sandra oh found out that the dude was just a big liar and that he didn't really care about her daughter. then i just wanted those two dudes to die and i didn't find the rest funny or poignant.

― scott seward (scott seward), Sunday, 9 April 2006 03:35 (twenty years ago)

I still laugh about the friend telling him he needed to just get his book into libraries.

― Abbadavid Berman (Hurting), Sunday, 9 April 2006 03:40 (twenty years ago)

that was a good line! publish it yourself. get it into libraries. let the people decide!

but it's kinda sad when someone has a half a good idea and half a screenplay and just makes up the rest.

― scott seward (scott seward), Sunday, 9 April 2006 03:42 (twenty years ago)

Eh, I thought there were other good moments. For some reason Ireally enjoyed the opening sequence of Paul Giamatti, already late and hungover, stopping to get a latte and a pastry. Also liked the episode at Mom's house -- tragic in a nicely understated way, as were pretty much all the undertones of alcoholism.

― Abbadavid Berman (Hurting), Sunday, 9 April 2006 03:47 (twenty years ago)

There are more good moments in this than About Schmidt, but whoever suggested Eugene Levy & John Candy should have made this was very OTM. For a portrayal of two emotionally stunted men, I probably prefer Splash.

― Zwan (miccio), Sunday, 9 April 2006 04:14 (twenty years ago)

a scene of educated leads running or driving away from angry lower class people and an extreme close-up of lead character staring and sniffling in the third act are both war crimes in my book.

― Zwan (miccio), Sunday, 9 April 2006 04:18 (twenty years ago)

Were the alcoholism undertones understated? I mean, he beats you over the head with his subtext - oh, look, an entire section devoted just to stealing money from mom, another to show him drinking alone from a styrofoam cup.

I guess there were good moments (the porch scene with Giamatti and the blonde woman would probably be awful if I were to sit through it again, but she sold it well), but much of it was reprehensible (the angry poor fat people, yes).

― Big Willy and the Twins (miloaukerman), Sunday, 9 April 2006 04:49 (twenty years ago)

one year passes...

Sarandon and Tim Robbins were raising two young sons Jack and Miles

― gabbneb, Saturday, 2 February 2008 16:27 (eighteen years ago)

six years pass...

http://thedissolve.com/features/exposition/530-the-curious-case-of-the-japanese-remake-of-sideway/

http://cdn4.thedissolve.com/features/530/fullwidth.faf2651f.jpg

― j., Thursday, 24 April 2014 21:00 (twelve years ago)

eight years pass...

Was the novel of this any good?

― djh, Friday, 19 August 2022 17:48 (three years ago)

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