#248106 - 31/01/2005 00:28
Sideways question *SPOILERS*
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 06/10/1999
Posts: 2591
Loc: Seattle, WA, U.S.A.
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We just got back from seeing this. I don't have spoilers exactly, but I figure there could be some and only folks who have seen this movie should read this given what I want to ask (if they care!):
The ending: Right/wrong? How and where should it have ended? I have a thought on that and curious whether anybody else pops up with a similar thought. How does the novel end?
Enjoyed the movie a lot, BTW, but also curious as to whether opinion varies by sex and age. Do you have to be over 30? 40? to enjoy?
_________________________
Jim
'Tis the exceptional fellow who lies awake at night thinking of his successes.
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#248107 - 31/01/2005 02:16
Re: Sideways question *SPOILERS*
[Re: jimhogan]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 24/01/2002
Posts: 3937
Loc: Providence, RI
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I missed seeing it before I left town, and I think the theater which is showing it will show it through Thursday. I get back Friday. Doh.
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#248108 - 31/01/2005 03:14
Re: Sideways question *SPOILERS*
[Re: jimhogan]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/03/2000
Posts: 12341
Loc: Sterling, VA
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Quote:
Enjoyed the movie a lot, BTW, but also curious as to whether opinion varies by sex and age. Do you have to be over 30? 40? to enjoy?
I went with my mother to see it. I'm in my mid-twenties, she's in her mid-fifties. She really enjoyed it as she and my father are big wine fans. They spent their honeymoon in Napa, and even know the manager of Coppola's Napa vineyard. In that respect she enjoyed the movie a lot more than I did.
As a person who loves movies (and dislikes alchohol of any type), however, I merely appreciated the wine parts of the movie, but loved the movie its self. I'm a huge Paul Giamatti fan, and thought he did a fantastic job. I think he should have gotten an Oscar nomination.
I personally thought the end was just how it should be, and how I imagine it would have in real life. ***SPOILERS*** Thomas Hayden Church's character loves his new wife, but will (without a doubt) cheat on her. That's just his nature. Madsen and Giamatti's characters had a genuine connection, and I think she realized that he doesn't have it all together, and didn't condone what his friend was doing. I think it's something she thought they could get past, and that it was worth it to do so. I think it was a good ending.***END SPOILERS***
The way I see it, Sideways appeals to a certain generation like Garden State appeals to mine, although I tend to think that the latter is more about a generation than about a few people, but maybe people from the Sideways generation relate more to these guys than I think.
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Matt
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#248109 - 31/01/2005 18:06
Re: Sideways question *SPOILERS*
[Re: jimhogan]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
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My opinion of the movie (and I'll admit that I didn't pay a lot of attention to the ending due to the two rudest [censored] people I've ever come in contact with in a movie theater) was that it really thought that it was being subtle and insigtful but that it was, in fact, being very blatant and superficial. Much like a teenager writing poetry. That whole tone of the movie ruined it for me. Onthe other hand, I like all four lead actors in the movie, and I thought they did a good job. I just thought the script itself was pretentious and clumsy.
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Bitt Faulk
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#248110 - 01/02/2005 00:27
Re: Sideways question *SPOILERS*
[Re: Daria]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 06/10/1999
Posts: 2591
Loc: Seattle, WA, U.S.A.
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I missed seeing it before I left town, and I think the theater which is showing it will show it through Thursday. I get back Friday. Doh.
Oh, if they get an Oscar for something, they'll be back to pump it for more cash.
_________________________
Jim
'Tis the exceptional fellow who lies awake at night thinking of his successes.
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#248111 - 01/02/2005 00:46
Re: Sideways question *SPOILERS*
[Re: Dignan]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 06/10/1999
Posts: 2591
Loc: Seattle, WA, U.S.A.
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I went with my mother to see it. I'm in my mid-twenties, she's in her mid-fifties. She really enjoyed it as she and my father are big wine fans. They spent their honeymoon in Napa, and even know the manager of Coppola's Napa vineyard. In that respect she enjoyed the movie a lot more than I did.
A big part of the movie felt like a travel advert for California wine country, though overlaying that with Mile's tedious wine apprciation might keep some people away! It is frankly a riot for me to read about mother and son watching this movie together when I think about my clan's "family values". I have one or two relations who could appreciate this movie, but a bigger number would have to be taken from the theater in an ambulance.
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As a person who loves movies (and dislikes alchohol of any type), however, I merely appreciated the wine parts of the movie, but loved the movie its self. I'm a huge Paul Giamatti fan, and thought he did a fantastic job. I think he should have gotten an Oscar nomination.
I hadn't seen American Splendor, but I will now. Great work at giving me a low-grade version of the creeps, Paul! Oscars are about nothing.
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I personally thought the end was just how it should be, and how I imagine it would have in real life. ***SPOILERS*** Thomas Hayden Church's character loves his new wife, but will (without a doubt) cheat on her. That's just his nature. Madsen and Giamatti's characters had a genuine connection, and I think she realized that he doesn't have it all together, and didn't condone what his friend was doing. I think it's something she thought they could get past, and that it was worth it to do so. I think it was a good ending.
I didn't place Virginia Madsen with blonde hair. What a hotty! (Oops! Strike that!). I didn't begrudge the movie having a positive, hopeful ending (too much), but I just felt that if Miles was *really* going to fulfill his character, it would have ended in the fast food joint right as the '61 was revealed. OK, too melancholy, but I thought that was the spot. I wonder how the book, which apparently lacks some of the high-falutin' Milton/Maya dialogue, ends.
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The way I see it, Sideways appeals to a certain generation like Garden State appeals to mine, although I tend to think that the latter is more about a generation than about a few people, but maybe people from the Sideways generation relate more to these guys than I think.
My friend won't mind if I snip from her email "Actually, I think he does have a conscience kinda. As long as you're standing right in front of him. And he believes he's a romantic. Like I said, every woman knows a guy like him. A total jerk but very likeable."
I'd told her that I want to be less like Miles and more like Jack!
It is probably not a good thing, but I do relate more than I'd like to Miles. Just the early shots of him slowly making his getaway from San Diego, I thought those were great.
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#248112 - 01/02/2005 00:49
Re: Sideways question *SPOILERS*
[Re: jimhogan]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 24/01/2002
Posts: 3937
Loc: Providence, RI
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Quote:
Quote:
I missed seeing it before I left town, and I think the theater which is showing it will show it through Thursday. I get back Friday. Doh.
Oh, if they get an Oscar for something, they'll be back to pump it for more cash.
Not in this (one-screen) theater.
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#248113 - 01/02/2005 00:57
Re: Sideways question *SPOILERS*
[Re: wfaulk]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 06/10/1999
Posts: 2591
Loc: Seattle, WA, U.S.A.
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My opinion of the movie (and I'll admit that I didn't pay a lot of attention to the ending due to the two rudest [censored] people I've ever come in contact with in a movie theater)
Yeah, that *was* pretty bad... Oh, Oh, you mean people *in* the theater! Bummer.
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was that it really thought that it was being subtle and insigtful but that it was, in fact, being very blatant and superficial. Much like a teenager writing poetry.
I think I have seen reviews referring to this movie as an "art house flick" and I don't get that. I didn't get the feeling that the movie was aiming for anything very subtle or lofty, so I didn't have any difficulty overall enjoying it. There were some things that dragged and didn't fit. Strained wine obsession. Are there a Miles/Maya pair out there quite so in love with wine esoterica? Oh, actually I think I've met some of those folks (fill in dogs, children, other hobbies) and they can be a real PITA. And if Miles really was as tortured as he was, would Maya see something in him?
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That whole tone of the movie ruined it for me. Onthe other hand, I like all four lead actors in the movie, and I thought they did a good job. I just thought the script itself was pretentious and clumsy.
I'm easy. I loved some of the dialogue. I thought Jack was perfect rogue and I loved some of the (predictable) slapstick.
Though I'm not sure it is a movie I'd ever watch again. Those rude people!
_________________________
Jim
'Tis the exceptional fellow who lies awake at night thinking of his successes.
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#248114 - 01/02/2005 04:57
Re: Sideways question *SPOILERS*
[Re: jimhogan]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
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What I was referring to was the "she's talking about wine ... no! wait! she's taking about him! aren't we so clever!" stuff. Very irritating.
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Bitt Faulk
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#248115 - 01/02/2005 13:59
Re: Sideways question *SPOILERS*
[Re: wfaulk]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 06/10/1999
Posts: 2591
Loc: Seattle, WA, U.S.A.
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What I was referring to was the "she's talking about wine ... no! wait! she's taking about him! aren't we so clever!" stuff. Very irritating.
Well, I did find that whole exchange maybe the low point in the movie, but what to talk about when your other pair is off zapping? Actually, I could believe neurotic Miles being irritatingly caught up in bad unintentional metaphor, but Maya didn't seem like the type, so I had to blame the writers!
_________________________
Jim
'Tis the exceptional fellow who lies awake at night thinking of his successes.
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#248116 - 08/02/2005 03:46
Re: Sideways question *SPOILERS*
[Re: wfaulk]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 24/01/2002
Posts: 3937
Loc: Providence, RI
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What I was referring to was the "she's talking about wine ... no! wait! she's taking about him! aren't we so clever!" stuff. Very irritating.
Yeah, that was a bit annoying.
I enjoyed it anyway. (The theater held a wine tasting with it this week; I wonder what they had last week?)
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