*** Official SIDEWAYS Discussion Thread (1 Viewer)

[Ravi K]

I'm in college and I liked Sideways more. I have a feeling that it will have more resonance for me when I'm older, while I thought Garden State was a nice but flawed film.

 

[Citizen87645]

I saw this the other night with friends of the same age or older as the character Miles. Ironically, I think I appreciated the film more than they, their initial mild complaint being the film's sentimentality (where I tend to like sentimentality as long as it's not manipulative). I definitely think the film was well made and "effortless" as some critics have noted, but I would not put this as the #1 of the year as some have done. I have a feeling I will put Million Dollar Baby in that spot.

Maybe it was Paul Giamatti being the main character, but I couldn't help thinking of American Splendor and finding that film more effective where their content and themes overlapped.

 

[Seth Paxton]

Definitely.

 

[Adam_S]

AO Scott has a wonderful analysis of why Sideways is picking up so much critical laurels in the Sunday NYT, I suggest y'll check it out.

 

[Christ Reynolds]

same for me. i'm in college (a couple years older than a traditional college student), and i thought garden state was a decent film, but i thought sideways was very good. with the exception of natalie portman's character, i felt very little for any of the characters in garden state. they went out of the way to create a character with a very interesting personality, but they never really go anywhere with her. sideways had me feeling something for each of the 4 main characters.

CJ

 

[Quentin]

I don't know about that...it's mostly a rant about why he thinks his opinion is better/more valid than the rest of the critics who overruled him and made "Sideways" the best pic for NY Film Critics. It comes across as quite bitter, and he's taking appropriate flack.

 

[Elizabeth S]

I'm closer to the age of the characters in "Sideways", but I liked "Garden State" a lot more. I appreciated "Garden State"'s quirkiness more than "Sideways"' sentimentality.

 

[Stephen_L]

Just returned from seeing Sideways and really enjoyed it. Virginia Madsen has never looked better (or maybe as I get older, I find myself turned on by older women ). The conversation between her and Giamatti about wine was so tender and revealing, one of the best romantic dialogue scenes I've seen in a long time. As an older, divorced man (age 47), I can only claim an older guys take on the film and it resonated strongly with me.

 

[ZacharyTait]

I saw Sideways and I think it's the best movie I've seen since LOTR:ROTK. Right now, it sits at #1 on my list of the best movies of 2004. Paul Giamatti, Thomas Haden Churce, Sandra Oh, and Virginia Madsen are all spectacular. All deserve Oscar nominations, althought according to scuttlebutt, I fear Sandra will not be recognized by the Academy. My favorite scene was the conversation between Miles and Maya on the porch. Maya's response to Mile's dissertation on grapes blew me away. The way Virigina delivers the lines was so perfect. This movie perfectly blends drama and comedy.

If I could ever get the courage to react to a golf ball being hit at me like Miles did, that would be awesome. I was laughing my head off when he finally did what millions of golfers want to do. To top it off, Jack's pretending to be crazy run at them was the icing on the cake.

The first masterpiece of 2004 and hopefully not the last.

 

[rich_d]

I respect Scott and he does have some good points. Critics do love to rally around films out of the pure mainstream and they certainly love films that they can identify with ... but who doesn't? That's what sets Sideways apart for me. I don't identify strongly with either one of the main characters yet I still really enjoyed the story. I also had high expectations after all the hype yet the film measured up to that hype. It's terrific.

 

[Nicholas Vargo]

I saw "Sideways" last night and I thought it was a very funny movie, but I also thought that parts of it were sad as well. It wasn't just some cheap film. It was awesome in how it dealed with its comedic and dramatic aspects. I think everyone is unanimous with Virginia Madsen's monologue on wine. In fact, I couldn't take my eyes off the screen as she spoke because she sounded so honest when she said all that stuff. It also does something that "Before Sunset" also did. It makes its ending ambiguous, and I would talk about it, but for those who haven't seen it, I won't spoil it.

Now the challenge for the top spot of the best film of the year has started. I don't know if "Sideways" is better than my top pick "Eternal Sunshine", and it will probably take another viewing to decide that. In fact, I saw "The Life Aquatic" for the second time last weekend, and I thought it was better the second time around. In fact, better enough to earn it a spot on my Top 10. Maybe a second viewing of "Sideways" will make it the best film of the year, but for now, I'll say it's #2. It's that good.

My rating: **** out of ****

 

[BennyD]

I finally got a chance to see Sideways this weekend. I'm not quite sure how I feel about it. I loved the characters and the acting was superb (though I wouldn't rank Paul Giamatti's performance above Jamie Foxx in Ray). However, I almost felt that the film wasn't quite sure what it wanted to be at times. By that I mean, that at moments it was extremely good comedy (Would you go get that wallet?) and at other times its an extremely moving film (the aforementioned speech by Madsen). I think that I would have enjoyed two different films more, one a comedy of personal discovery about Jack and Miles trip through wine country or a more serious picture about Miles rediscovering his self-worth with Maya.

Overall, I thought both Garden State and Eternal Sunshine were superb and would rank Sideways right behind those two. Since it's interesting to note the ages of viewers and their various impressions, I'm only in my junior year of college so maybe I just didn't relate to the characters enough in Sideways.

 

[ToddP]

That's part of what I loved about the film. I think it made it authentic. I think that's exactly what it wanted to be. Life isn't full of any one thing. There is sadness and joy and laughter in anyone's life. The acting, writing and direction was so good in this movie. The characters were so lifelike. I loved it, and it's in my top five for the year.

 

[Dennis Castro]

I had heard a "Blurb" on the news that some wine aficionados were upset about this film.

Anyone know what this would be in reference to?

 

[Henry Gale]

The film's popularity has brought unexpected numbers of "not very knowledgable" tasters to the the area featured in Sideways.
Also the Pinot Noir (why isn't it black? ) prices are being driven up due to the unexpected surge in sales.
Someone more familiar with the product that I am can probably shed more light on this situation.
That would include drinkers of Thunderbird, I know nothing about the grapes.

 

[NolanJ]

I made the mistake of watching this movie immediately after watching "Million Dollar Baby." I was emotionally drained after watching the Eastwood movie, I was in no condition to watch Sideways the same day.

With that being said, I have to say I find it amazing how powerful these movies were for different reasons... but since this is the "Sideways" thread, I'll stick to discussion on it.

My life so closely resembles Miles (while on a smaller scale) it's almost scary. All of the problems he faced in the movie I face in my life in one shape or another, and because of that fact, I think I fell in love with Virginia Madsen : )

I haven't seen any of her movies before, but the scene on the porch where Maya and Miles were discussing "wine" is possibly my favorite scene in a movie of all time -- it shook me that much.

As I watched this movie last night, all I could think about today was the plight of Miles and this wonderful woman, Maya, that was so willing to give Miles a chance at her heart... and the way Miles almost self-destructed losing any chance at all.

Then I realized I would probably act the exact same way... which is why I pulled for Miles even more.

It's funny how much movies can pull the heart strings and the emotional strings... because of the vast number of similarities between myself and the Miles character, this has turned into one of my favorite movies of all time.

Can anyone suggest any other good Virgina Madsen movies?

 

[AlexCremers]

I think the film is warm and touching but not in a sentimental way. It's been a while since I've seen so much chemistry going on between a cast. Virginia Madsen is quite a revelation. This has to be THE comeback of the year 2004. Thomas Haden Church, whom I never saw before, is simply fantastic. The only critique I can think of is that I feel it might've been a little too much when Jack had his little "breakdown" (sits on bed and desperately cries). The scene was too extreme (it momentarily took me out of the movie) and I don't understand where Payne wants to go with it. Paul Giamatti is always great, even though his character Miles was reminiscent of his role in American Spendor. Sandra Oh, who's also a newcomer to me, had the smallest part but she was just about perfect.

I haven't seen Sideways in theatre. I bought the DVD with full trust that this would be a very good movie. I normally don't do that.


------------
Alex Cremers

 

[ZacharyTait]

Looking at her filmography on IMDB, I see only 3 movies that I've seen her in: Dune, Candyman, and The Rainmaker (1997). I didn't know that she was in The Rainmaker until I looked it up. Hopefully, her role in Sideways leads to better scripts to choose from.

Virginia Madsen Filmography via IMDB

Nolan, you might want to check the spelling of her name in your question about good movies she has been in.

 

[AlexCremers]

This is interesting:

Payne doesn't think Sideways is a great film. He likes it a lot and wishes it all the best, but it is still what he would call a "minor work". All his films are, he says. He says the next film he makes will be in black-and-white Cinemascope, a big ensemble piece with a lot of actors and overlapping story lines, inspired by La Dolce Vita

- The Guardian, Saturday January 1, 2005

 

[Robert_eb]

I just watched this again and decided to look up this thread. What a wonderful film. I decided to pick up the book which this film is based on. If you haven't had a chance to see this film, what are you waiting for??