Sideways

Pros: Great sad character study

Cons: not much happy about it.

The Bottom Line: It's like being in a 2 hour wine-drunk; with that film over your brain.

Review: From my review, you might think that I don't get it, that the reason the movie was nominated is precisely for how much I see these guys as losers. The film does its job - they are losers. However, what besides this makes it good? Read on....
...

Pros: The Miles and Maya characters actually learn something

Cons: Amoral, impulsive supporting characters; depressing mood; gratuitous nudity and sex (which is never tasteful)

The Bottom Line: With good acting and scenery wasted on unsympathetic characters and a meandering plot, Sideways is an overrated stinker that somehow slipped under critics' collective radars.

Review: Last Friday, my wife and I went down to our local Hollywood Video and rented that film that seemed to either win or be nominated for an inordinate amount of Golden Globes and Academy Awards -- Sideways, a film directed by the same man who...

Pros: Giamatti, the thoughtful way it deals with people and their baggage

Cons: A bit sitcom-y in moments, a touch long

The Bottom Line: The Bottom Line has been drinking a lot of Riesling lately. But don't ever order Merlot in its presence.

Review: Alexander Payne has a knack for dissecting those very specific times that are common to everybody's lives. In "Election" he gives us a gaggle of teenagers battling through adolescence, while the newly-minted adults around them battle with the fact...

Pros: Paul Giametti's character is someone we can relate to.

Cons: None of the roles are bad, but there's no Oscar-worthy performance here.

The Bottom Line: This film kep me watching. It's not like your typical formulaic fare.

Review: Sideways is receiving a lot of critical praise and it is one of the better films of the year, so far.

Two friends head out to California s wine country, to spend a week together before one of, Jack, gets married. Jack is a former TV actor,...

Pros: Well written story with strong performances.

Cons: Not for someone looking for an action adventure flick.

The Bottom Line: Well written with strong performances.

Review: Miles and Jack are two individuals who have found themselves drifting into middle age with few accomplishments and no real prospects of achieving their life s ambitions. They are polar opposites which is probably what initially draws them to each...

Pros: Paul Giamatti is always a welcome addition to any movie cast.

Cons: Unfortunately, there aren't enough roses on planet Earth to make this sh!tstorm smell nice.

The Bottom Line: If you want to pay over $10 to be bored for two hours, have I got the movie for you!

Review: I'm kind of a tall guy. Sometimes when I'm in a crowded movie theatre with my knees pressed up to my chest I have to endure some excruciating pain. I thought at first that my leg discomfort might have colored my opinion of this film...

...

Pros: Paul Giamatti's defining performance, Madsen and Oh in their roles, very funny, great dialogue

Cons: predictable, some may find the characters unlikable

The Bottom Line: Sideways is a funny, emotional film from director Alexander Payne. One of the best of 2004. 4 stars.

Review: For all that it is (a fine film, featuring some fine performances, with some fine humor), it seems critics have been too careful not to call Sideways what it really is. Perhaps it's because they feel that this film is too good to be called...

Pros: Wine country locations, photography were nice Theater had good popcorn and candy.

Cons: Too much loser attitude and negativity throughout the movie no entertainment or escape from reality

The Bottom Line: I can not reccommend this movie. Too depressing. Provides no escape from reality, no humor, glamour, music or exciting actors and I expect much more from academy award nominees.

Review: This movie is an academy award snore! The stunning photography can't even save this mess. The lead character, a writer is never shown as anything but a loser, and yet we must suffer through scenes of this ugly guy clipping his toenails and taking a...

Pros: Boring travelogue of California wine country

Cons: Everything else

Review: For maybe the second time in my in my 58 year life, I was driven to leave the cinema and forfeit the $18 that my wife and I had paid. Life is just too short!
We waited and waited for just a glimmer of better things to come, but never a hint...

Pros: The directing; Thoughtful story

Cons: Slow pacing; Where's the beer???

The Bottom Line: This is a good movie but the slow pacing could put some viewers to sleep.

Review: What is a middle- aged man to do if he is getting married in a very short time and wants a final taste of freedom? Most would opt for the usual bachelor party celebration, some casual drinking, and perhaps a visit to a girlie bar. But there are...