These two men are typical middle-age Southern Californian clinically "depressed" men on meds, who will screw anything and all think they are wine experts...NOT....I might add they are mostly dimocrats!

Agree, the movie stinks...

I'd rather listen to Kelly Osbourne sing in fucking klingon than sit through that waste of celluloid again. Bah!

To his credit Thomas Haden Church is a pretty nice guy. He lives here in Kerrville in his off time. I met him in one of the liquor stores here and the clerk kept calling him Loal (his character from wings) so I proceeded to correct him,telling the clerk his name is Thomas Haden Church not Loal. Thomas thanked me and bought my six pack of Shiner for me.

I thought that was pretty cool.

Denny if you want to see a good movie I recommend "Thirteen conversations about one thing". One of the best I have seen in years.

That's pretty much what I figured. Yeah, I'll generally go out of my way to see something that THC is in, but a movie about wine tasting? Not even on a first bloody date. Learned my lesson there with Best in Show. Looking sensitive just ain't worth it, o my brothers and only friends.

Oh, and Maddox (http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=sideways) had a similar review with a great moral to the story....

Count me in as one of those completely disappointed by this movie after hearing so much hype. Both of the main "protagonists" could have died off in a fiery car wreck halfway through the film and I'd have been much happier following Virginia Madsen (yum!) and Sandra Oh for the rest of it. And if any so-called friend of mine tried wrecking my car to cover for his lying, cheating, skank ass, he'll find himself under the front bumper.

And I *love* Merlot, dammit! :-P

Yeah, I realize the movie was not that great but I lived in that area for about 4 years and it was beautiful. It was a shame they didn't show how close that area is to the ocean or a scene from the beaches. Beautiful, there are about 40 mile of beach along Vandenberg AFB (real close, 10 miles from where most of that film was shot) That area starts some of the prettiest parts of Pacific Coast Highway (PCH 1) The beach at Vandy is so secluded and protected that you could be the only one on the beach for miles. I used to run my dogs up and down that beach. All I had to do was say beach to them and they went "NUTZ". I watch the movie for the scenery and the memories. I used to road bike through a lot of little towns like Los Olivos
and the Santa Ynez Valley vineyards. Denny, some really nice wines come from there. You should make the trip, It might not change your mind about the movie, but I think you'll like the wine. BTW, I still drink Merlot…….Fuck’em
I realize California’s got a bad rap but this area is probably one of the nicest area in Cali.
Everybody has some place, I guess that would be my place.

scaryguy - My sister lived in the Bay Area and when I would go out to visit over Christmas we would often drive down south to LA or San Diego. I have driven through the area many times. I have never done any wine tasting there, but my friend Michael has. He's even eaten at the Hitching Post.

Duncan - Maddox rules! That's why I link to him.

Too bad about the Merlots getting nailed because of the flick...I'll have to watch for some sales, but I don't think it has had an effect on the excellent Columbia Valley Merlots, which are still priced where they were (a bargain, at $10-18 for a decent bottle, and good ones can be had all the way down to $8). If you go to Cab-Merlots, which are fine for ordinary table wines, they go for as little as $6 for decent Columbia Valley bottles of 2 yrs vintage. They need to be put down for a couple of years, but at $65/case, I can put enough down to give me a steady supply.

I agree with your comment "I don't see what the raving was all about." But I did laugh out loud at the words "get your bone smooched." That phrase is comedy gold, I tells ya.
And Sandra Oh - no.

I'm with you. The movie was a major disappointment after all the hype. Want an intelligent, thought-provoking movie? Try
"The Station Agent." You'll thank me for it.

Rivrdog, et al--just think though, since Merlot sales are flagging thanks to the film, then that means the price on them will drop...thereby giving Merlot fans a chance to get even MORE! ;-)

Screw the idiots whose entire culinary preferences revolve around what some celluloid schmucks say. They're brainless!

--TwoDragons

Not a wine drinker but did spend some time on weekends at the Silverado Resort in Napa Valley when I lived in southern California. My friend had a small plane and we'd fly from the Santa Monica airport up the coastline for a while on our way to the resort. Was even prettier seeing PCH from the oceanside. Funniest thing was visiting the home of a business associate whose wife really enjoyed the wine. She made us some wonderful chocolate souffle's, and we watched her small children throw pumpkins off the balcony to the living area below. She thought it was hilarious...not sure how funny it was the next day when she woke to that mush in the carpet.

Actually what will happen if Merlot sales drop is the wineries will pull up their Merlot vines and replace them with sumpin' else. That almost happened to Zinfandel. The only thing that saved that grape, until red Zinfandels came back in favor, was white Zinfandel (a horrible, horrible wine). I personally enjoy Merlot and hope its popularity will come back so the wineries won't quit making it.

The book was a lot better, but then it wasn't even the same story. "Sideways" (in the book) means drunk, and the book is about Miles being an alcoholic in denial. The "drinking from the spitbucket" scene only makes sense in that context.

Crummy movie.

Cool chicks, tho.

I completely agree with you. I couldn't believe the hurrah about this movie. It's sad that America's idea of heroes has become one of womanizers and irresponsible drunks.

My Dad and I have a blast watching that movie. He lived in that area for 20 years, and is now back in Wisconsin, so it's a big Memory Lane thing.

And there actually are a couple funny lines.

As a writer, I can understand why the movie failed if Denny feels this way about the main character, the protagonist.

I was taught to construct protagonists who are flawed, but appreciable by the reader (or the viewer). If the person you are supposed to be rooting for is a "total asshole," then the writer isn't doing his/her job.