Sideways

Pros: Church's breakout performance, lots of cool wine info

Cons: Characters are not appealing

The Bottom Line: Sideways is certainly not Best Picture quality.

Review: Have you ever heard a song that had some well-written lyrics but the tune and melody just weren't very appealing? That's how I think of this movie. There isn't much appealing about the main characters although the story itself is kind of...

Pros: Entertaining, not "heavy" film.

Cons: A bit too much profanity for my taste.

The Bottom Line: Entertaining adult situations and story, this is not appropriate for children.

Review: My son and I attended a movie premiere late this afternoon in Santa Barbara. I had no idea we were going to this event. I wore shorts. I thought we were going to see a screening. Boy, was I red-faced.


It turned out to be quite...

Pros: Story, direction, script, acting (especially Giamatti), complex and delicious humor.

Cons: Fairly derivative (of Dave Brubeck) jazz score adds little life to the film.

The Bottom Line: More required reviewing from one of the great American directors of our time, Alexander Payne. Something for the loser in all of us.

Review: How incredibly refreshing it is to see an Alexander Payne film. A director of hilarious, intelligent, and often equally poignant comedies, Payne has trained his camera on the places, and more incisively, the people of America that somehow exemplify...

Pros: A few laughs. Good acting by Giamatti.

Cons: Too messy and incoherent

The Bottom Line: Given Alex Payne's record, this is a burning disappointment. I hope it's only a temporary incident!

Review: What do a mediocre soap opera actor and a wine expert and failed writer have in common? For one thing, they are good friends, or so they believe; for seconds, they are both total failures in their private and professional life; for third, they share...

Pros: Great script, great acting, great directing, FUNNY.

Cons: Slight whiff of "Leaving Las Vegas"

The Bottom Line: Payne deftly guides his actors to create a vivid story from a very simple premise. Love, anger, inspiration and hope make strong appearances.

Review: It's difficult to sell a story to producers that's really not much of a story; but then again, there have been far too many "stories" that were just awful, so I might be wrong. But this one is about a little bit of nothing, a small trip for The...

Pros: acting, script, direction, humor

Cons: too long, main characters unlikable

The Bottom Line: It's a good year for Sideways.

Review: By the time I got around to seeing Sideways, it had garnered so much praise that I was bound to be disappointed. Alexander Payne s script (adapted from the novel by Rex Pickett) and direction are excellent, but the film is about twenty...

Pros: A great cast plays out a great script

Cons: Nothing that sticks out to me

The Bottom Line: Sideways is my personal favorite of 2004. If it remotely sounds like something you might enjoy, check it out: you probably won't be disappointed.

Review: Sideways is a touching, sometimes poignant but overall lighthearted look at the lives of ordinary people shown with great veracity by writer/director Alexander Payne (About Schmidt, Election) and co-writer Jim Taylor...

Pros: Relaxed pace, female characters...

Cons: Male characters, a general lack of imagination...

The Bottom Line: Could have been a lot better...

Review: Sideways, an Alexander Payne film (the director of About Schmidt ), is adapted from a novel by Rex Pickett

Miles and Jack are best friends, and have been ever since they became freshmen roommates in college. Miles (Paul...

Pros: Great, nuanced performances by ALL the principles, and another directing triumph for Payne!

Cons: A bit coarse in places---

The Bottom Line: See it for the wine country cinematography, and hilarious sexual hijinx with an updated Odd Couple!

Review: It's a life filled with disappointments for Miles (Paul Giamatti), in Alexander Payne's movie, "Sideways." A broken marriage, rejected manuscripts, and other common indignities, have not prevented him from being a good, honest, and moral man...

Pros: Some good location shots. Good performances by the actors.

Cons: Boring, uninteresting plot.

Review: I can't see why this movie deserved anymore than a 2 star. Not humorous. Not interesting. No action. I'm not from California and don't drink wine so most of the story plot and locations didn't do anything for me. Best scene was the main actor having...