Sideways (Paul Giamatti) is a Depressing Move

GoNoles85
Mon, 03 Aug 2015 17:56:59 +0000

Musicamuscia,

I think we are talking about two different things. The credit crisis of Oct 2008 made it harder for the studios to finance films and certainly reduced the number of movies released by the studios and PC’s with distribution deals with the studios. However, anyone with a GoPro camera can make a movie nowadays and these micro budget movies are not dependent on distribution deals or syndicates of investors.

The NY Times did a Jan 2014 article about it titled “Flooding Theaters isn’t good for filmmakers or filmgoers.” You can Google it if you want. The Vanity Fair article of 2013 is even better. That article is titled “When the Spec Script was King” The first article points out that when Indie films flood the market they crowd each other out making it nearly impossible for the film to recoup it’s investment which isn’t good for filmmakers or filmgoers, hence the title of the article. Streaming has replaced the “straight to video” market but if a movie doesn’t get much publicity, and most don’t, they won’t get much of an audience or get noticed. They just die.

Food for thought.

Back on topic, Bottle Shock isn’t nearly as loved by audiences as Sideways, based on Rotten Tomatoes rankings, but I went to YT and watched the trailer and it looked really good.

As far as PG, I haven’t really followed his career. I have a hard time picturing him not talking about how much he hates the $%^#$$% merlot now, to be honest. He was so pathetic in that movie and so fragile. Sneaking off to call his ex, when drunk, and then devastated to find out she was remarrying and having a child. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. And his friend, THC, was disgusting really. I am still surprised his last scene was just going home again. They left him at the door step of his house, metaphorically, I suppose. The scene where he cries his eyes out about how much he needs his fiancé despite all his horn dog behavior was more of the depressing honesty you don’t usually see in movies built to glamorize things and shoot for mass audiences.

That is the word that came up over and over in the comments about Sideways. It was honest. There was none of the usual Hollywood gloss. It was a really honest film. Funny at time. Sad at times. Yeah, now that I look back on it one day and 10-years later, I really liked it. It was a great way to deal with a rainy Sunday.