Hey, me too. \:D/

I only saw this film because you told me about it way back in about September Libs. You got me onto one of the greatest hidden gems that I may not have seen if not for your glowing praise of the film. Thanks. \:D/

I am one of those who has really liked the movie (made my TOP 10 of the year), but doesn't understand the fuss about the wine speech. I mean, the delivery by Madsen was decent, yeah, but the whole meaning of it was just so obvious. A central scene like this one, I'd have prefered to be a bit more subtle. The methaphors in the speech were really way too obvious for my taste.

Because so many people think of wine as a seduction all on it's own. And this scene was so perfect because although she was expressing her true feelings for the wine, she was also seducing him at that moment. Evertything was perfect and he blew it. One of the best written scenes in any movie.

As far as I know this isn't the reason why most people love this scene, but much rather the speech which is the methaphor for life. Really too blatant for me to appreciate.

Apart from that, the movie had the 3rd best screenplay 2004.

Sideways
Running Time: 123 minutes
MPAA Rating: R for language, some strong sexual content, and nudity



I know that that when it comes to movies, I don't have much of a sense of humor. I hated films like Napoleon Dynamite, and the romantic comedy Hitch, so when I heard about the Oscar nominee Sideways, I had extremely low expectations. I have heard about how "hilarious" it was, and when somebody says it's funny, I might giggle once or twice, but next to never do I find a movie hilarious. So one night I was bored, and I asked my grandma is she wanted to go to the movies, she said she wanted to see a comedy. Well, we already saw Meet the Fockers on Christmas, and that was really the only comedy, and then I thought of Sideways. We walked into the theater to only two other people, but by the time the film started, it was at least half full.
Miles is a divorced middle school teacher and novelist, Jack is his best friend and in a week, he'll be married. Miles decides to take Jack on a wine tasting trip for his last week of freedom, but very quickly things get out of hand, and both of them are wishing they stayed home.
Paul Giamatti who plays Miles was great, I rented his film he made a couple years ago American Splendor and I absolutely loathed it, I thought it was so overrated. That's another reason I didn't think I'd like Sideways. His performance was great! He was hilarious, and some of the emotion he showed throughout the film was brilliant. The "big scene" in the movie which revolves around him going to get his friends wallet out of a room which has two very large people having sex, though it sounds weird, was hilarious. I actually found myself laughing out loud with the whole theater. Paul was really robbed of an Oscar nomination.
Virginia Madsen was great. She played a waitress at one of the wine tasting places Miles and Jack went to. I'm really happy she got an Oscar nomination, and she won the Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy at the Golden Globes, she really does deserve it. I loved her speech about the wine, some might think it's stupid, and out of context I'm sure it is, but in context it's a beautiful speech that was greatly given.
Sandra Oh - oh my god! She was hilarious! I've never really seen her before, I've seen her in little roles, but this is her first big one I've seen of her. Her "you're getting married?!" thing was absolutely hilarious. I think she's robbed of a Best Supporting Actress nomination at the Oscars, but at least Virginia Madsen got a nomination. I'm hoping that this will get her more recognized, and she'll be in more films soon.
Alright, now the movie - it was hilarious. I laughed out loud more then once, and I wanted more. When I got home from the theater, I couldn't stop thinking about it. I wasn't in a great mood what before I saw it, but when I walked out of the theater, I was so happy. I was laughing and everything, it was weird - like my brother was like "are you okay?" because I'm never like that. Oh well, I love feel good movies, and this is definitely one of them. The theater, which consisted mostly of older people, loved it. They were laughing at everything, and everybody was talking about it. Sideways is definitely a movie I'll be buying the way it comes out.

9/10 (A-)

Great performances. However, I felt the script was lacking, and neither compelling or ultimately engaging. Overall, a big disappointment.

C-

Did you watch the scene on the porch?

Whatever floats your boat, though. :wink:

That scene is too overrated. The script overall is great, though, the 3rd best of the last year (behind Closer and Eternal Sunshine).

BJ has not graded the greatness



BJs Grade:

A

BJ gives Sideways a solid A and dubs it the best Comedy of 2004.

Sideways is a great movie, but not the best film of the year for me. It has some great characters, and Sandra Oh was my favorite. The part when she was beating the hell out of Jack was hysterical, he deserved it, he was a dirty dog! The whole wine tasting concept was interesting, and I liked how it was portrayed. Paul Giamatti was excellent, and his role in this is impressive. Thomas Haden Church is okay, but I really loathed his character in this. Virginia Madsen is great, and I think she is a talented actress. The story is pretty good, and I really thought some parts were hysterical like the golf course scene, and the Jack beating scene. All in all I enjoyed it, and it is definitely in my top 10 of 2004.

A-

Its an ok movie but it seems very overated. There werent really any moments that make you laugh out loud but thats not what my main complaint is. I never really understood the fascination with wine with Madsen and Giamonti's character. All I basically got from the movie is that Hayden's character is a jerk and that Giamonti's character is some loney sap who tries to get his best bud out there to taste some wine. The movie however does well to illustrate how isolated Giamonti's character is but thats basically just it but then again I never quite understood the love for About Schmidt even after watching it
B/B-

Sideways is basically about a bunch of losers getting drunk for a week. They start out as losers and assholes, they end the movie as losers and assholes. There's no turning point for the characters, so why bother making a movie? Admittedly the movie has a few fine moments, but as a whole it is flawed and with two hours runtime way not tight enough. There are elements to love like the beautifully shown wine obsession and the relationship between Madsen and Giamatti. When those elements come together, like in the scene on the veranda, Sideways is a masterpiece. But on the other hand we have the completely unnecessary character of Haden Church who only exists so the two have a reason to drive out for a week. He adds nothing to the story, he is just plain annoying and I just can't understand the fascination with his performance. Nothing special here that would justify him being the Oscar-frontrunner for a long time. The real deal are Giamatti and Madsen who has never been close to acting this good before. 6/10

A-


Overrated, but very good.

i seen it over DVD. it's an interesting comedy. i like it. the story was good, i like the view. everyone of the main cast play really good, i can learn few things about wine. i might watch it again. A grade

great movie, Very enjoyable, funny but not laugh out load, great performence by all the cast actually, i thought Sandra Oh did a fantastic job as well, my favorite scene was when Sandra's character beat the crap out of Hayden church!! fantastic!!

B+

i really think its VERY overrated!


.....i need a drink......

Uh... how could you say its a great movie, and say its very overrated? Heh. I guess I kinda understand...

I really want to rewatch this and see if my grade for stays the same... I'll probaly buy the DVD previewed or something.

well i dont think its one of the best of the year, and i didnt see the GREATNESS in it

it was just fun and enjoyble, i know i said great but not THAT great

Enjoyable, but as Matatonio said, a little overrated. While it deserved it's Oscar for screenplay I don't really consider it one of the year's top 5. Virginia Madsen was fantastic and proves that older women are HOT! Paul Giametti was absolutely robbed of an Oscar nomination. I grade it a B+.

It's interesting I think to consider this together with director Payne's other film Election and esp. About Schmidt....lots of speculation about wasted lives.

A+++, the best movie ever made, but a bit overrated.

Actual grade: A-

B+

Blind bought the dvd and i definately don't regret it. But damn the ending was so frustrating. Im seeing this kind of non-resolution more and more in arthouse films these days ; It's supposed to be like a kind of interesting twist that careers away from the norm; but it just plays out to be somewhat irritating - especially when theres so little scope for projected endings.

I mean; in this case wouldn't the thing have been better to see her facial expression at the end; to give at least one clear link as to where its going?

Anyway I felt that, whilst Sideways was completely engaging, quirky and entertaining - it focused a little too much on the Middle Aged and Not a Spectacular Success = life is a wreck ethic that i find is a little insulting and exaggerated to be honest.

But Paul Giamatti and Thomas' relationship basically is an exaggerated version of me and my friends; my friends are all seriously off the rails they are unreliable, insane and spur of the moment kind of people. Whilst id say i have those qualities in me too - im definately the stable one of all of my friends.

Put me in a group of "normal" people and im the insane, unreliable one, but amoungst my friends? Im the normal one. [i hate the whole "normal" label] anyway i felt like there was a lot in this movie to identify with. But whilst the execution was nice; some scenes were un-necessary and sometimes the way it moved was a little frustrating. We wanted things for the leads that didn't pan out - and whilst thats supposed to be the point of unpredictable dramedys like this it dosent stop it from being frustrating. Levy had a point in that there was no difinitive moment of "realisation" it was there, but it wasn't obvious. Then the "wedding" at the end is actually kind of threatening id say. I mean; a cheating rat isn't going to just commit when we know how flaky his character is - and they seemed to think it was okay that he was being unfaithful - those are personality traits that are generally difficult to digest. We don't like our heroes to be cheating liars when it genuinely hurts people in scenarios we can identify with and envision or even aspire to [marriage]

I loved Sandra Oh and the scene where she battered the crap out of Hayden Church was fucking hillarious. Also the wine speach on the porch made me sexually attracted to wine.

I think the ending was perfect for the movie. Sometimes, you just don't need a traditional resolution to things.

B-, almost B-/C+

An ok flick, but its still very much the most overrated of the year.

I agree that sometimes an untraditional ending is good. But Sideways' ending was just annoying.
It didn't give us any human tangent at the end to go off on.

If they had placed the face of Virginia Madsen opening the door at the end; I think it would have given one clear line of development - whilst the mind of the viewer would have been the source of the other endings for the other characters; but the ending of sideways basically didnt clearly pin the character to any real direction ; and in film thats not good enough. Not everything has to be obvious, no. But thats not why the ending was annoying.

You might not like A History ov Violence.

And when you'll see it, you'll know why.