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pretty trite movie, but four excellent performances. The good-looking guy, not Giamatti, deserves a nomination: an unforgettable character. Giamatti was just a one-note performance: a man w/no sense of humor is an unremitting asshole and not very interesting to watch. What is the fascination in Hollywood with jerky males???
This movie may be a first: a weak film with four superb performances.
Follow Ups:
Yeah, Miles, was pretty obnoxious for a long time. Didn't he change the most, though? I suppose Jack changed by marrying, but I wonder how much of a change it was and how much was part of his act.Didn't you feel some compassion for these guys? Maybe you have to be fifty something. I remember some fairly outrageous behavior from guys I know when they hit their fifties. Of course, I was never like that.
I didn't think I was going to like this, but it turned out to be an excellent movie.
do you get out much?
The guy's wife left him because he is such a self-centered loser. You may think attractive women find it attractive for a guy to give them zero eye-contact on a first date and spend most of the time thinking of their ex, and then to ignore a cautious romantic overture. Listen, talk this film over with women, puhleeese. It's obvious a geeky guy who wrote a fantasy. Seriously, have you ever known, personally, a guy like that character that ended up with a babe? No. He'd have ended up with the chubby waitress----if he was lucky.
Oh, the fourth good performance was, of course, that of the waitress: she gave 2 good ones...
Let me emphasize how GREAT I think the two women and the actor guy were: his performance is Oscar caliber.
Giamatti's character was a nice counterpoint but exactly the same irascible character we've seen in countless other movies. The actor, on the other hand, was an unforgettable original.
"do you get out much?'Yes.
"The guy's wife left him because he is such a self-centered loser."No, he is a much more complicated person than that. Just because *you* don't see it doesn't mean it aint there.
" You may think attractive women find it attractive for a guy to give them zero eye-contact on a first date and spend most of the time thinking of their ex, and then to ignore a cautious romantic overture."Good lord, what movie did you see? They made plenty of eye contact on their first date (which was not their first meeting, they knew each other already) and they mostly discussed their common passion, wine. That usually yields a pretty high success rate for first dates IME. Do they have baggage as divorcees? Yes. Welcome to the reality of dating after a divorce. Are you ignoring that they have another thing in common as recent divorcees? They were in the same situation. Obviously she had the perspective to deal with his baggage better than most.
"Listen, talk this film over with women, puhleeese."
I know a number of very bright women that love this movie.
" It's obvious a geeky guy who wrote a fantasy."
Not even close.
" Seriously, have you ever known, personally, a guy like that character that ended up with a babe? No."
Christ I know Virginia Madsen's cureent boy friend in real life and he is a bit of a geek with his own baggage! Yes, I know plenty of geeky guys who have had babes.
" He'd have ended up with the chubby waitress----if he was lucky."
You seem to have a real low opinion of women. Hint, they are not all that shallow and impatient.
"Oh, the fourth good performance was, of course, that of the waitress: she gave 2 good ones...
Let me emphasize how GREAT I think the two women and the actor guy were: his performance is Oscar caliber.
Giamatti's character was a nice counterpoint but exactly the same irascible character we've seen in countless other movies. The actor, on the other hand, was an unforgettable original."
Yep we saw different movies.
school teachers who write unpublished novels (don't they all?) who walk around totally depressed about THEIR divorces, never show interest in anyone but themselves (including the woman whose company they're sharing), and are overweight and balding. Spurning a woman's overture and then ambush-clutching at her rudely and roughly for an attempted kiss is also a tried-and-true pleaser.
You, mon ami, are a dreamer.
Now, just what do you think turns women off, I wonder?
"school teachers who write unpublished novels (don't they all?) who walk around totally depressed about THEIR divorces, never show interest in anyone but themselves (including the woman whose company they're sharing), and are overweight and balding. Spurning a woman's overture and then ambush-clutching at her rudely and roughly for an attempted kiss is also a tried-and-true pleaser.
You, mon ami, are a dreamer.
Now, just what do you think turns women off, I wonder?"Again, I'm not sure what movie you saw but doesn't seem to be the one I saw. You seem to have seen about a quarter of the movie.
Face it, women like guys who are fun to be with and show some interest in them. Being attractive, lively, and charming don't hurt, either (like Giamatti's soon-to-be-married chum).
Any sensible woman would have come away thinking, "This clown should marry a bottle of Pinot---that's all HE's going to screw..."
"Face it, women like guys who are fun to be with and show some interest in them."Face it, your broad generalization of women and what women want is shallow and narrow.
"Being attractive, lively, and charming don't hurt, either (like Giamatti's soon-to-be-married chum)."1. That guy is hardly good looking.
2. Not all women decide who they like based soley on looks. Like I said before, I know Virginia Madsen's real life boy friend. He ain't good looking. That is Virginia Madsen the successful Oscar nominated actress not Mia the waitress working her way through grad school.
"Any sensible woman would have come away thinking, "This clown should marry a bottle of Pinot---that's all HE's going to screw...'"Now you speak for all sensible women? Give it a break. There are real world women that are beautiful and not as superficial as you seem to believe all beautiful women to be.
to email me: I have a great Pinot cellar, I'm bald, a little chubby, irascible, and I promise to ignore her.
BTW, you do realize what women say they want greatly is at odds with what obtains?
You seem confused. Virginia is not Mia. Some how I don't get the impression that you are Virginia's type, should she happen to break up with my friend some time soon. I will say this for her. She is not so shallow as to exclude all guys that are not as good looking as herself from consideration.
and she didn't seem to find it strange that the two of them got together. I think the biggest difference in our reactions to this movie is that you found Giamatti's character to have very little redeeming values, but I found him to be a decent guy that was just going through a bunch of shit in his life.
In Vino Veritas
Anyway, I didn't "love" the movie but I think you're wrong about Giamatti, and the waitress did only call back after receiving a letter and reading his book (and not as a direct result of the phone call).
"Where are we going? And what am I doing in this hand basket?"
Really good movie, great performance by Giamatti. Different strokes, I guess.
In Vino Veritas
I hear a critic saying that it is the best comedy for the last ten years.
Tin drink only bad wines.....
I don't want to bash someone for their honest opinion, but I felt like this was a finely crafted film with good to outstanding performances. A comedy with some poingancy and heart.Maybe Tin just prefers Merlot to Pinot Noir.
PS. Patrick, I would highly recommend this one, if it comes your way.
In Vino Veritas
The "I'm NOT fucking drinking merlot!" outburst was hilarious. Funny that the movie should have that kind of impact.
I'm a Pinot-head!
90% of my collection is Oregon Pinot.
I had to overcome my natural fondness for Giamatti's wine preferences to come to my negative conclusion.
Like I said, I wouldn't bash anyone for having an opinion, I just disagree with you.
In Vino Veritas
I will give a go, that is certain.
Merci!
Highly over rated movie IMHO. Not a bad flick, but quite predicatable for the most part. For me, the best parts were those that I didn't anticipate - the wallet scene and when the pretty boy broke down. I wonder if Sideways has received so many accolades simply because it provided an alternative to the dozens of cookie-cutter, big budget POS in the theatres?
Isn't the charm of this film the fact that it ism NOT predictable? You yourself cite two instances. and there are more.
Those were the only 2 surprises for me.......
Dude what movie did you watch? The one I saw was nothing like your description. You only saw one note when Paul Giamatti was facing his x wife and her new husband and found out she was expecting? You saw just another asshole when wrecked his car to cover for his best friend? You saw just an asshole with one note every time he squirmed with discomfort over his friend lying about his novel being published? You saw one note when he was dealing with his feelings of failure as a writer? You saw a one note asshole when he laughed his ass off at his friend when he showed up naked at the door or when he went in and got his friends wedding ring back? You saw a one note asshole when he was grappling between his feelings for Mia and his unrequited love for his x? I saw something quite different than you did.
describing the ACTING.
No, I am citing examples and discussing his choices as an actor. That is acting, making choices and executing those choices. The examples I cited IMO demonstrate the range and depth of his acting that you say wasn't there.
in that moment when she said she was pregnant, was brilliant.Question...
You said there are 4 excellent performances yet you bag on one of them...which is it?
"Where are we going? And what am I doing in this hand basket?"
Agreed. His performance was brilliant from beginning to end.
This film has racked up the recoginition . . .
----Be right there, Mom.
for I must do my own swallowing. Giamatti's character was so over the top "loser" that it hurt. Can we spell m-e-l-o-d-r-a-m-a?
Reality check: if you think that chick would have called him back after that self-serving, whining, self-lacerating and self-pitying message....well, go for it.
I don't understand why guys like to see such jerks end up with babes (blonde, smart, and with a SERIOUS rack) when it's so out of touch w/reality. Wait a mintute....now I understand.
What about people who eat pate' and call it shit? At least the former have more fun eating.
No offense, but did the hurt strike you at home in any way? In response to just this kind of criticism of his character, a friend of mine observed that "film critics don't suffer yuppies lightly, not especially yuppie film critics."Reality check: if you think that chick would have called him back after that self-serving, whining, self-lacerating and self-pitying message....well, go for it.
This comment baffles the hell out of me. Do you live your life in a John Wayne movie? Or a Rumsfeld press conference? Self-serving? Hardly. Sincere, deeply regretful, and heartbroken is more like it. Self-pitying? Well, sure. I'm not sure whether to congratulate or pity you for the apparently square-jawed, unscarred emtional life from which you're criticizing Giamatti's character.
I don't understand why guys like to see such jerks end up with babes (blonde, smart, and with a SERIOUS rack) when it's so out of touch w/reality. Wait a mintute....now I understand.
A-haaa. Ha ha. I seee. Yes, I'll admit that Giamatti was pretty well outclassed by her in terms of physical beauty--though I happen to think blondes and SERIOUS racks are grossly overrated, so maybe I think he's maybe a tad less outclassed than you do. But there was more to his character than this broad tarring of "jerk," (though that's not to deny he was a jerk) and I think the chemistry between him and her was very convincingly pulled off.
Payne's films are refreshing for their deeply flawed "heroes." I read recently . . . where did I read this? Oh. I was reading Harold Bloom's chapter on Ibsen in The Western Canon , and there he cites a critic who refers to Ibsen's characters as instancing the truism that most people's virtues are implicated in their faults. The flipside to this, which I think is no less true, is that most people's virtues are indebted to their faults. I think Giamatti's character fits this bill. His faults just happened to be more apparent for his being at a decidedly low point in his life (still carying a torch for his ex-wife, unable to get published, deeply disappointed, yes, self-pitying, etc.), sunk all the lower by his regretful betrayal of a woman who looks to be a fresh turn of fortune for him.
Also, while I agree that as a crafted film Sideways leaves much to be desired, and that it did have its share of over-the-top moments (the retrieval of the wallet, however funny, I could have done without), I think it was very self-consciously flirting with some of its sylistic cliches. It also has what is in my limited experience the best depiction of drunkenness in the history of film.
I do think the film was well crafted, from the use of the unpublished book as metaphor (which although hardly completely original, was not too overplayed), to the ending, which I think was nearly perfect.The "wallet retrieval" scene, I think was great and established (or at least reinforced) some character traits in both characters. And also was a great illustration of how wierd life can be sometimes.
In Vino Veritas
a while later after receiving a letter from him and reading his book. At the very least this allows one to believe that he expresses himself better in writing.
"Where are we going? And what am I doing in this hand basket?"
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