wastro

To those who have deprived themselves of the opportunity to see this film thus far ... GO! NOW! This movie knocked me sideways (ha ha HA) and is easily one of the best films of the year. The heavy drama is accentuated nicely by the numerous "LOL" moments (the golfing scene ... oh man ...), and really, this film is just perfectly balanced and will appeal to fans with a variety of tastes.

auto

Yep. Another good one from AP.

Pig Vomit was great as usual.

Frank TJ Mackey

As good as the hype it's getting.

GO SEE THIS MOVIE.

One of the funniest movies of the year.

it has something like a 135 fresh, 2 rotten on the meter.

Geofferson

Finally saw this last night.

Best movie of the year!

4 stars

Believe the hype -- go see this movie.

Patman

Alexander Payne manages to balance a child-like outlook with the weight-of-the-world weary outlook in this film pairing up Jack, man-child, (Thomas Haden Church) and his best man Miles (Paul Giamatti) on a road trip for Jack's last week as a free man before he gets married.

Jack and Miles are very funny together and know how to push each other's buttons, and share a long history of friendship, which requires both to accept the other's faults, pretty much unconditionally as this yarn is unravelled to many comedic, honest, and true moments.

The film gives the viewers a cursory look into the world of wine-tasting, and all the nuances that go into it. This springboards into using wine as a metaphor for life, a scene that Virginia Madsen nails as Mya when she and Miles discuss how they developed their passion for wine. Sandra Oh is also good as Stephanie, a cool chick that Jack is immediately attracted to, and Jack experiences a whirlwind romance within that week that almost defies belief, but it's so much fun, it's easy to overlook otherwise.

Giamatti is the emotional anchor for the film, and he gives us an all-too-flawed human character who's emotionally adrift, but wants desperately to find solid ground again and set down some roots and be considered someone worthwhile, which gets some play in his quest to become a published author.

A solid film, and one worth looking out for if you're in the mood for strong characterizations and some good comedic bits that buoy the film throughout this particularly life-affirming week between Jack and Miles.

I give it 3.5 stars, or a grade of B+.

JayPen

I saw this on Wednesday due to the 99% fresh rating on rottentomatoes.com, and I have to say I was let down.

Overall a very good movie, but my expectations were probably a bit too high after reading that it was the best movie of the year. It was very well done, but by far not the best. My vote for that so far of what I have seen would be Eternal Sunshine or Garden State.

I would give Sideways a strong B+.

kneijst1

I cant say it was the best movie of the year, but a very funny film. I wanted to see Finding Neverland while my friend suggested Bridget Jones 2, so I picked this flick. The movie theater was packed, but that kind of made things better, as the audience seemed to really get into it.

The actors were all sensational in this movie, and the script was damned good too. Overall I would give it a B+/A-. I definitly will rent or buy as a DVD, and it is in my top 10 of the year, but I dont think it's amazing, just really good.

Buford T Pusser

Did it Curb Your Enthusiasm?



I hope to see this soon. I loved Election and About Schmidt and liked Citizen Ruth quite a bit.

Dr. DVD

I did a search and nobody seems to have started a thread about this movie yet, surprising.

Just got back from it and can honestly say that this is a movie that deserves all of the recognition it is receiving. The story is nice and simple, and the acting is great. Probably the strongest point is that the movie stays pretty true to life with its outcomes save for the last two minutes or so.

I hope the academy has enough sense to at least nominate this movie for Best Picture, and in all honesty it should win for that category as well as adapted screenplay and actor for Paul Giamatti. Here's hoping!

monkey123

My pick for Best Picture!

cfloyd3

You are from Knoxville I see, so am I, I really need to head down to Downtown West and check this out, said I would for some time now.

Dr. DVD

That's a good theater. It will be getting "Kinsey" this weekend, which I plan on catching as well.

Geofferson

The original thread must have been lost in the forum upgrade because I know I've commented on this movie already. I saw it a few weeks back and it's the best movie I've seen so far this year.

RevLiver

Agreed, best film of 2004. I also commented in the old thread.

PopcornTreeCt

I heard it was only good if you're around the age of the 2 main characters. A couple of my friends (22, 18) saw it and didn't really care for it saying they couldn't relate. Is that true?

Drop

I'm 19, saw it with two other guys my age, and we all enjoyed it. However, I do feel I would've enjoyed it more if I was closer to there ages. Still it was a fantastic movie, and I get the feeling the more I'll watch it the better it'll get. The characters are great, and very interesting, and it manages to be very emotional and funny, without feeling false or forced.

Applejack

I liked it, but my wife thought it was kinda boring.

There was a few scenes that could have been lost, but after the first 20 minutes which seemed kind of slow, it was really good.

I still thought it wasn't as good as Eternal Sunshine though.

Dr. DVD

I liked it and I'm 28; about ten years younger than the characters I guess. Definitely a midlife crisis movie, but a good one.

Tarnower

I also thought it was the year's best film, so far. It joins "Eternal Sunshine" and "Finding Neverland" as the best film's I've seen so far this year.

orangerory

Reminds me of an older Swingers...

solipsta

Yup, that's pretty much my list, too.

Just saw Sideways and was thrilled with it. The acting was absolutely perfect.

MasterCXtreme

Bingo, I was thinking the same thing. I thought it was pretty good, but ran pretty long. If they trimmed it up maybe 15-20 minutes it could've been perfect. I'd be watching for quite a while and "Tuesday" would come up on the screen. Other than that, I really enjoyed the actors' characters and how they interacted with eachother. It had some very funny moments, but kept a serious tone going throughout.

bsktballDude1

I enjoyed this film immensely as well. The performances of Paul Giamatti and Thomas Hayden Church are both hilarious and heartfelt, particularly Giamatti who plays Miles to be such a loser, but a loveable loser. The chemistry between the two, who are two complete different personalities, but yet they complement each so well.

It is easily the funniest film of the year, I also like the aesthetics of the film. The soft look enriches the film throughout the travel in wine country, and you could almost smell the wine through the screen. The bouncy score gives the film a simple energy and tone that works with the scenic visuals of the duos road trip.

I'd love to see Giamatti win the Golden Globe for his work because Foxx is certainly going to win best actor at the Oscars.

eisenreich

Glad to hear this film is being so highly reviewed. Definitely looking forward to seeing it, although I'll have to drive about an hour to the closest theater that's showing it.

Dr. DVD

I used to have to do that myself, and it sucked, especially when you're driving and SUV and the crappy mileage it gets.
One thing I do like about where I live is that it tends to get a lot of the smaller indy movies and limited releases on time.