Sideways

I did a real hasty check to see if there was already a post started on this movie, didn't see one.

Two best friends. One is depressed from a divorce of two years ago, still in love with his wife. Frustrated writer who is waiting on his book to get published. The other, is getting married in a weeks time. Together, they decide to take a vacation so he can get his last days of freedom in. They drive down to another city. They taste different wine, meet woman, get themselves into a lot of trouble.

Anyway, me and my boyfriend went and saw this this afternoon. I really, really enjoyed it. First of all it was directed by one of my favorite directors, Alexander Payne (he also did Election). This movie had great diaglouge. I love movies with funny and witty dialouge. To me that is like the most important aspect. Maybe its because I want to write scripts someday as well.

The ending, abrupt as it was, was actually incredibely appropriate (won't spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen this movie yet). You don't know exactly what will happen, but in a way it was wise for the director to let the audience picture what will happen.

Did anyone else see this movie, and what did you think of it?

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letterboxd

I saw it and I LOVED it.
The analogies with wine were very well-played. I really enjoyed seeing a complex metaphor and a worthy message brought together with such entertaining comedy.
The acting was great. Thomas Hayden Church is just wonderful, down to his smallest gesture. And Paul Giamatti is also really perfect as the whinging loser. The fact that we can like and care about these two knuckle-heads is a feather in the caps of both these actors. It's an amazing feat to make these guys appealing.

An all-around well-done little film, if you axe me!


...oh, also agreed that the ending is a nice touch. This is a movie for thinking grown-ups and they ended it with that in mind, I felt.

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Review: Cabin in the Woods 8/10

I was unimpressed.

It's OK, but not much more. That it is better than the usual Hollywood claptrap isn't saying much. Just because it's better than My Baby's Daddy, 50 First Dates and Raising Helen isn't anything to get excited about. The acting was fine, but not speactacular. The characters were well-drawn as far as they went, but not nearly enough was done. As for the situational gags, they were few and far between. It could have been a comedic character piece with some real wit and depth, or it could have been an updated fun Screwballer. It's bits of both here and there, but never enough of its own thing, and ultimately unsuccessful.

That Sideways is getting so much praise from critics and audiences only tells me how downright awful a year it has been for smart comedies. There have been a couple howlingly funny dumb ones - namely Dodgeball and Anchorman, but little aimed at adults. One of the few in many months to take that shot comes around, and that it's not a complete failure leads to it being overpraised. In a few months when you can view it on video, watch it in a weekend when you also watch Lost in America (1985), Annie Hall (1977), Wonder Boys (2000), As Good As it Gets (1997) and His Girl Friday (1940). Those are all truly great flicks. Sideways simply ain't in their class. Not even close. Just because we've been subjected to Soul Plane and The Whole Ten Yards around it does not by default elevate Sideways to the category of greatness.


Eh.

GRADE: B-



But as you were....

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"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra

Sounds like you're on Movie Overload, Holden. I stayed far away from the ones you're suggesting make Sideways look better, and I still enjoyed it without the contrast. It's not As Good As It Gets, but I don't think it was trying to be. It has a very 'small picture' feel to it, and as such, it's a well-told story. I'd give it a B+/A-.

I am going to se it when it starts here

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Buddha

For all the attention it got, a lot of Mofo's sure seem to have missed the boat on this one. I liked it quite a lot, though I hadn't really thought of the movie comparisons (both good and bad) Holden mentioned. Actually, I hadn't even thought of it being a comedy, though I laughed quite a bit (especially at the Thomas Haden Church character's steadilly eroding looks/standards.)

I found the two main characters to be truly loathsome and was glad they steered away from madcap humor in favor of uncomfortable pathos; it would have made it too cynical.

The ending didn't do much for me (that last shot, at least), but I did really like the idea of "the letter" (hope that's not too vague, but I don't want to spoil it.)

The writing really impressed me, and I thought it had a handful of really powerful moments that evolved out of the "core story" sublimely. Where the Giamatti character meets his ex at the wedding and learns she quit, and also him drinking his special wine from a styrafoam cup at some fast food dive; I don't drink alcohol at all, never have, and these two bits really got to me, so I say the makers of this movie must have done something right.

EDIT ~ I didn't know Alexander Payne directed Election. This was better.

I guess I'm going to have to check out this Sideways flick; which I was going to anyways.

If it isn't anything like As Good As It Gets, then it should be a decent film. AGAIG is one of the all-time most overrated items of celluloid. It is so overwhelmingly mediocre that it is the perfect embodiment of mediocre, as would exist in the Platonic form.

Helen Hunt is a great actress when the role demands zero personality-- which is every time, unfortunately. I would rather see Linda Hunt.

Greg Kinnear is great as the 21st century version of Tab Hunter-- definitely the answer to a question no one asked. And ol Jack thinks merely his presence in a film is enough to elevate his character, or perhaps the movie itself. Kinda like DeNiro starring in such current garbage as Meet The Parents, Meet The Fokkers, and Hide And Seek. Nicholson "jumped the shark" years ago when he made Wolf.

I kept waiting for something compelling to happen in the movie, but alas there was nothing.

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A quick note: I enjoyed this movie from start to finish, howerver its also one of those movies that I can understand why people have a Love/Hate relationship with. Example: Nopoleon Dynamite

I'm gonna probably rent it.

you gave more of your thoughts on As Good As It Gets and one sentence of Sideways

I suspect the reason he only gave one sentence on Sideways was because he hadn't seen it yet.

i know that he hadn't seen it yet, but i was bringing up the question as to why he would give us a "review" on a movie that isn't the topic of discussion in this thread.

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess because it was a movie that he feels strongly about or was just responding to the overwhelming praise Holden gave it (a "truly great film", as oposed to lesser romantic comedies like Sideways). Didn't strike me as an out of place comment, and actually I agree with it. Whatever.

good for you. its irrelevant whether i agree with his comment or not (i don't). but hey, further discussion of this movie can go in a more appropriate thread.

and by the way, As Good As It Gets and Sideways shouldn't even be compared as romantic comedies. I don't consider Sideways a romantic comedy at all. I guess its how you look at it. If you want to debate about the two movies, thats one thing, but as you said, he's never even seen Sideways, therefore he can't take part in that debate...yet.

Before seeing Sideways, I checked out another Alexander Payne film I had always known about but never got around to watching. Election. I thought it was great. Totally unexpected. Then I went to see his latest. with the same feeling I had about Election. Turned out that I loved it. A great film that exudes Payne's distinctive style as a director.

A quality flick, but not the best of the year, obviously, but it did have the moment of the year.









Yes, the floppy cock banging against the window. Def. moment of the year.

All of the Alexander Payne films I've seen have been disappointments, this one is no exception.

Sideways was, handsdown, my favorite film of the year. It was just an absolute pleasure to watch, and (IMO) the best of Alexander Payne's films so far (although Kong also likes his other three).

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Still can't stop the third person references....it's like some kind of disease.