Spoiler-free two-second review: Best movie since Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Granted that was only like 6 months ago, but still.
Overrated. Acting was good, writing was nothing special.
Granted, it didn’t make my Top 25 of all time list, but Sideways was the best film I saw in 2004.
Writing was nothing special?
“No, if anyone orders Merlot, I’m leaving. I am NOT drinking any fucking Merlot!”
If you’re at least halfway interested in red wine, this is soda-comes-out-of-your-nose-you’re-laughing-so-hard funny.
I was privileged to be among the perfect co-audience. There were no gigglers, no phone users, no baby havers, and no stereotypical blacks in their late teens. Everyone laughed at the funny parts and shut the fuck up during the non-funny moments. It was great.
I just saw this today. What cinches the movie is how it is both funny and poignant. The three scenes on the golf course, with the naked guy, and with the car are funnier than anything I’ve seen in a recent typical comedy. And while I’m not old enough to appreciate marriage or divorce, Giamatti’s scenes are easy for anyone to relate to.
I’m a wine newbie, but I’ve somewhat recently fallen in love with shiraz. Care to help me with my wine education by sharing what the secret wine enthusist joke about that is?
I also thought this flick was terribly overrated. What does help in its favor is that the last 30m minutes are much much better than the rest of the film. And I felt only Giametti did a good job with the acting (and it kills me that Church got a nomination and Giametti didn’t), G was really the only thing I liked in that film.
Merlot is the latest varietal pushed by the California wine marketing hype machine. Before my time, Chianti and Cabernet Sauvignon were the “in” wines. There was a brief fling with White Zinfandel, but I got into wine during the mid-90s California Chardonnay boom.
At that time, people read one article about wine, saw the words “Chardonnay” & “oak flavors” near one another, & pronounced the combination good. Suddenly, lots of winemakers were literally stirring shaved oak chips into marginal quality grape juice, and the resulting product was over-oaked Chardonnay. What was a decent bargain at $10 became ridiculous at $18 a bottle, especially when balance between elements was replaced by overdone vanilla & oak. Kendall-Jackson was the biggest offender in this time period.
In the late 90s, the powers that be shifted focus to Merlot, a grape that has hardly ever been the main element in wine. It’s an essential component of some of the world’s finest blends, like French Bordeaux, and good-value blends from Australia (like Cabernet Sauvignon-Merlot). But it doesn’t have the character to stand by itself, especially not in value-priced wine ($12-$15/bottle). If you like the taste of it, that’s fine, but I found a lot of other similarly priced wines that tasted better. Good call on the Shiraz, because that’s exactly where a lot of excellent quality is available in wine right now. Be aware that Shiraz is the same grape as Syrah, but different from Petit Syrah, a less capable grape. Gotta love marketing.
To many people who appreciate wine, saying you are into wine, but often ordering Merlot, is equivalent to saying you are into alternative filmaking, and then only citing Miramax films as your favorites. It raises red flags that the person may just be following trends. Of course, if you really do like Merlot, you call wine enthusiasts a bunch of elitist snobs. This is why the line in Sideways was so funny, because Giamatti’s character is a pretentious (alcoholic) wine snob. It’s a completely characteristic statement for someone like him. He’s got low self-esteem already, so he devalues potential romantic interests by implying they have no taste in wine.
I have a feeling that Shiraz may be the next push by California, which might be OK, because Shiraz can make outstanding wine at both low and high price points, & has done so both here and abroad. For instance, Syrah (the same grape) is a predominant varietal used in French Cotes-du-Rhone on the low end of the price spectrum, and Cotes-Rotie on the high end. I just hope winemakers don’t abandon balance in favor of one flavor element, like slight sweetness or the “jammy” characteristic, as they did with Chardonnay.
Sources:
Good summary of Merlot marketing
Syrah/Shiraz information
Wine for Dummies, a well-done introduction to the subject. I haven’t read any of the follow-ups: Red/White/French/Italian Wine for Dummies, but most are by the same authors, so are probably good bets.
Another problem with Merlot is that the majority of the cheap ones really suck. But the high-dollar ones can be excellent. If ya got the bucks, try any of the Merlots from “Pride”. They are outstanding, but they will set you back $45-$90 in a wine shop. As far as merlots that you can get in a supermarket, forget about almost all of 'em. A notable exception is the Columbia Crest “Grand Estates” Merlot (which is a little pricier than the regular Columbia Crest). I belive it was in WS top 50 last year.
btw, is it cool now to say “Sideways” is a mediocre movie? Seems like a few months ago it was cool to even know about it. As a 37 year old, I absolutely loved it. There were quite a few moments that hit pretty close to home. However, if I was younger, I don’t think I would have appreciated the movie at all, except for some of the slapstick.
I’m still in my college years, but I found the movie more touching and poignant than funny. I didn’t think it was the greatest movie of the year (probably because I thought it was a comedy coming in), but I definitely see it having strong merit as a drama. Sharp writing and excellent acting (especially by Giamatti). I need to watch American Splendour now.
Only Giamatti’s character was, well, a character. The other three main people were types.
Sidd_Budd, thanks for education, I’ve certainly got a lot to learn. As for me, when I first had shiraz, I went, “So this is why people like red wine”, although I’d venture that all I had had before were cheap Merlots.
Shiraz/Syrah is almost all I drink. Cote du Rhone and Aussie Shiraz represent the best value buys in wine in the world in my opinion. You can have Napa Cabs at 100 bucks a pop and even the French Bordeaux are not worth the money. The only Californian I drink is Sonoma/Dry Creek Zin which has some very unique flavors and some very brave winemakers experimenting. Oregon Pinor Noir is also a nice option in most years. The Merlot line made me want to run out and see Sideways :)
What “type” is Sandra Oh’s motorcycle-riding, “I need to be spanked”, wine-pouring, nose-breaking, single mother?
Good movie. I enjoy a nice story flick once in a while, it’s like a sorbet after a heavy meal of SFX laden movies. I also enjoy a bit of wine now and then, but am no expert by any means. I don’t like red wine much, something in it (maybe the tannins?) gives me a headache almost every time. A nicely chilled glass of a crisp white wine is a nice topper to a hot summer day.
What “type” is Sandra Oh’s motorcycle-riding, “I need to be spanked”, wine-pouring, nose-breaking, single mother?[/quote]
Apparently you don’t watch Oprah.
I finally saw this last weekend. Some funny stuff, but too late in the movie to overcome its slowness.
I also found Miles so unsympathetic or perhaps just so pathetic, that I really did not care if he got the girl…
I agree. I’m closing in on 32. I think if I saw it anytime before I turned 30, I wouldn’t have been able to appreciate the movie as much.
[quote=“Dirt”]
I agree. I’m closing in on 32. I think if I saw it anytime before I turned 30, I wouldn’t have been able to appreciate the movie as much.[/quote]
I’m only 23 and I appreciate the film alot.
Also, I hope i don’t end up like Miles.
I agree, the movie stands on many merits. The difference between my experience and yours is that, like Miles, it’s coming to a point where I’m running out of time to hope that I don’t end up like him. Like him, I wonder how much time I have left to accomplish what I want to, I wonder how much time or even if I’m going to be able to leave my mark on this world before I’m too old or die. You hope that you don’t end up like Miles, I can see where my own life intersects at the same places as him.