The Auswine Forum

What do people think of this movie?

I dont understand why she decided to have sex with him on the basis of him talking about how he likes Pinot Noir and telling her stuff about it that she probably already knows

but besides that, i thought it was a good movie. it wasn't about wine, but had wine in the forefront alot. this movie was what intrigued me about wine, and i started ordering wine at restuarants.

before that i had some truly aweful, disgusting wine at a few weddings (asian weddings, read=cheap)

there was this one point in the movie where he was trying a wine with the winemaker there, and he was like "there's a hint of something *clicks fingers* ... strawberries!" and the winemaker says "yes, well done."

thats why i thought that extra fruit is added to the wine to distinguish it from other thousands of wines

A good character development type of movie boardering on arty. Better than the typical american swill

Good luck on the replies for this thread Lordson, the hooks and bait laid should get plenty of frenzied bites hehe

You should look up Serge, you would get on so well

what, this guy? http://forum.auswine.com.au/profile.php ... file&u=619

i'm not aware of any baits i left

just wanted to see what people thought, i read somewhere, some guy didn't like how it romanticised wine, but i never thought that

That's the one. Only one.

Love to answer the question about why she may have had sex with him based on a conversation about wine...

But as they say "a gentleman never tells".

lordson wrote:before that i had some truly aweful, disgusting wine at a few weddings (asian weddings, read=cheap)

You been hanging out with the wrong asians

Love to answer the question about why she may have had sex with him based on a conversation about wine...

Its because Lordson is Serge. He is researching his latest movie called "Debbie does Petrus"

Lordson, I think this movie is primarily about deception, with a vinous setting.
The wine savvy Stephanie and Maya are depicted as open, honest and generous (especially Stephanie's wine pours). As such they are easy prey for Jack and Miles' deceptions. Miles' mum would also come into this category.
Miles is also somewhat deceptive, even to himself. He does however have a conscience and some insight. Because of this, he makes some progress during the movie to address his issues. We are hopeful at the end that he can make a go of it with the honest and open Maya.
Jack, the wine innocent in the movie, is the most deceptive. It is no coincidence he is an actor, a profession in which the ability to deceive is paramount. He appears to be emotionally shallow and is so lacking in conscience that he is bordering on sociopathy. Because he is emotionally shallow, he is also not a very good actor (in fact a failed soap opera actor). When he shows emotion we feel it is fake emotion e.g his performance to Miles to get him to go back for the wedding ring. We know Jack will not change. We know he will never experience anything more than the most transient emotional fulfillment and that at those moments, his penis will be directly involved.
I'm sure its open to other interpretations, but that's my take on Sideways.
Any other views?

I’m not sure how many times I’ve seen this movie. Roscoe’s summary is excellent, but I have to add a few of my impressions.

Wine is the common denominator for the main characters, even for Jack as he immerses himself in his week of women before his wedding - he even plays with the idea of him and Miles buying a vineyard. I disagree a little with Roscoe about the sincerity of Jack when he convinces Miles to go back for the wedding rings. At that point Jack is seeing his whole world collapsing and he finally realizes just how much he needs Christine, maybe not as a life partner but as a safe port that he can return to in times of trouble. Whether that will work out for him in the future is very doubtful given his shallowness, but given his immaturity he probably believes it will.

Will there be a sequel? Rex Pickett, the novelist who wrote Sideways, has said “A lot of people would love to see the Jack and Miles characters again. My agents didn't want me to go in that direction, but I might be leaning that way. If I do, I'm going to reverse them. Miles is like me. In '98, when I wrote this, I had process servers at my door. What if Miles is a novelist and a success? What if Jack is divorced and a failure?”

Oh, and Pickett has drunk from a spit bucket!

Mike

Roscoe wrote:Lordson, I think this movie is primarily about deception, with a vinous setting.
The wine savvy Stephanie and Maya are depicted as open, honest and generous (especially Stephanie's wine pours). As such they are easy prey for Jack and Miles' deceptions. Miles' mum would also come into this category.
Miles is also somewhat deceptive, even to himself. He does however have a conscience and some insight. Because of this, he makes some progress during the movie to address his issues. We are hopeful at the end that he can make a go of it with the honest and open Maya.
Jack, the wine innocent in the movie, is the most deceptive. It is no coincidence he is an actor, a profession in which the ability to deceive is paramount. He appears to be emotionally shallow and is so lacking in conscience that he is bordering on sociopathy. Because he is emotionally shallow, he is also not a very good actor (in fact a failed soap opera actor). When he shows emotion we feel it is fake emotion e.g his performance to Miles to get him to go back for the wedding ring. We know Jack will not change. We know he will never experience anything more than the most transient emotional fulfillment and that at those moments, his penis will be directly involved.
I'm sure its open to other interpretations, but that's my take on Sideways.
Any other views?

A truly erudite response. While i couldn't write such a view I would concur. The only theme I would like to mention is that while Miles is deceptive he always realized that that one has to walk the walk to a certain extent and hence his possession of that prized bottle of wine. I think the act of drinking it allows Miles to adjust the placement of his self into an area that is more real i.e. as you mention perhaps a future with Maya.

cheers

Carl

I thought it one of the worst films I've ever seen. If you want a wonderful film about wine (but so much more as well) then the first and last to see is Mondovino. If you think Robert Parker is god though don't bother, he comes up looking pretty foolish.

"before that i had some truly aweful, disgusting wine at a few weddings (asian weddings, read=cheap) "

That's a really classy generalisation to make son, nice one.

been to three asian weddings, tried all the wine there, and it was aweful

0/3

and thats what got me thinking, whats the big deal with wine

that was a little while back

...did the guests speak Asian at the weddings too; and the service, was it also conducted in Asian?

*shakes head and walks away slowly*

what are you talking about?

are you oversensitive to people referring to asians? the opposite of racist?

it was an Asian wedding reception, how about that. asian staff, asian food, cheap wine to keep the costs down.

The only asian-style wedding I've been to was almost exactly nine years ago and was also the most expensive and extravagent.

I could forgive Miles many things, but not stealing from his mother. Actually drinking wine from a styrofoam cup was pretty bad as well. I understand the importance of the scene, but I don't think any wine lover would have done it - he'd have taken his riedel with him.

It didn't stop me loving the film though.

Duncan wrote:Actually drinking wine from a styrofoam cup was pretty bad as well. I understand the importance of the scene, but I don't think any wine lover would have done it - he'd have taken his riedel with him.

I always took that to mean he had become so broken down emotionally by his ex-wife's revelation she was pregnant. He no longer cared enough about himself to care about his prized possession.

He had sunk so low.

But that moment helps in come to grips with his situation and teaching him not to hold onto issues of the past (symbolised by storing wine) and embrace the future (Maya).

I love that he hates Merlot. Yet his most prized wine is packed with it.

Dan wrote:I love that he hates Merlot. Yet his most prized wine is packed with it.

A wine packed with cabernet franc and merlot!

And its largely about Pinot Noir!!

on Asian weddings... I concur! I am Asian, which of course allows me to freely insult Asians without being labelled a racist.

The main reason wine is bad at Chinese weddings at least (err.. not all Asians are the same, despite what some think), is because the invite is usually extended to several hundreds of guests. I have been to a wedding where the guest count was over 1000. Now unless the wedding party are loaded, that can explain bad wine. Cheap = bad? Not necessarily, but how many people can pick out the better cheap wines? Only those in the know. Then again, I have never had a decent wine at any wedding, Asian or not.

Last one I went to had Yellow Tail. It tastes like candy. eww...

I take my own wine to weddings. All of my friends/family know about my 'habit' so don't think twice about it.