My point is that there was no one's defense to jump to. No one was being insulted or attacked.

Marilyn, very well said! You won't change the minds of the detractors, but you eloquently expressed why so many of us liked the film.
No one has mentioned the outstanding performance given by Virginia Madsden that it certainly worthy of mention.

Howard, I was thinking about that earlier, I really wished Virginia Madsen had won that Supporting Actress award. Her speech about wine was one of the most memorable parts of the film to me.
(that and dopey Thomas Hayden Church crashing into the tree :)

Thanks, HowardR. I thought all the performances were extremely good.

Dreamer2, I don't agree that the actor was just using his friend. I think he also was trying, in the only way he knew, to get his friend out of his depressed state. And at the end of their "adventure" he perhaps acquired a little humility, realizing what a mess he'd made of things, realizing how foolish he was to risk his imminent marriage.

I thought the script and the actor did a masterful job of making me understand why he might behave so badly. He's an actor and it's easy for him to slip into playing a part, having a fantasy of another life just at the point when he is about to make a huge commitment. In a way, isn't that what every stag party is all about?

I think the wine lover stealing from his mother was a brilliant way of showing just how low he had sunk. And yet he was willing to risk physical violence to help his friend out at the end.

Don't get me wrong -- I'm not excusing any of this behavior or saying I like these guys. Just that they are human, flawed, but never without the hope of redemption.

I really enjoyed Sideways. I saw it by myself because I couldn't convince anyone else to see it with me! I don't think I'd run out and buy it on DVD, but I liked it because it wasn't "over the top."

Then again, I liked "Lost in Translation,"

I really enjoyed "Sideways." I wouldn't run out and buy it on DVD, but I liked the fact that it wasn't "over the top" like so many other movies. Then again, I enjoyed "Lost in Translation."

There's something about the low cost, film festival type movies that I find interesting. Maybe because they are filmed in places I've never been.....California wine country or Japan, for instance! (Keeping this travel related).

I'm off to Blockbuster with my son in a few minutes. We'll probably rent a really good thought provoking movie with Adam Sandler or something similar! :-)

Oh BuffaloGirl, I love Lost in Translation!
I like the stillness and and slow unfolding of the story, the people in it, Tokyo, everything about it :)

Rent Being Julia!

So much talk about a mediocre movie? Hmmmm. Perhaps it wasn't such a small movie afterall. I'm tired of pretentious pompous overblown melodramas and thought this simple story had such an American feel. I thought it was light-hearted fun.

Bonnie, I had a similar thing happen once when I was watching a movie with my mom and my son, and there was a sexy scene where the woman jumped on the guys lap and was grinding a little. I think I was more embarassed that my mom would think that I'd let my son watch such stuff. And honestly, I think it all went over my son's head, that my mom didn't care nor even notice, and that it was all my own neurosis at work that made me uncomfortable.

My husband didn't see Sideways. Maybe a rental movie and a bottle of (gulp) merlot are in store.

Actually, I prefer cabernet big-time.

Let's recommend movies, so I will never have another Saturday night as boring as this one! (Although, lots of fun discussions on Fodors tonight, with all the royal pomp and circumstance over on the Euro board.)

As for new releases to video, I really enjoyed Spanglish. Not your typical Adam Sandler comedy, but really interesting characters/relationships. People trying to grow, not intentional meanness. This is a great movie for mother/daughter viewing (although a couple mature scenes/themes).

Have you all seen Somethings Gotta Give? That's one of my "current" favorites. All time favorite? Probably "Room With a View."

So, what do you all recommend?

Motorcycle Diaries
Being Julia
Stage Beauty

Tandoori Girl, if for no other reason than the fact that it has a well-written script, I would not call it a mediocre movie.

I also enjoyed Being Julia tremendously, but then I could watch Annette Bening read the phone book for hours on end.

Lost in Translation, to me, is a very subtle and exquisite film. I could rave on about the performances, the script, the cinematography, etc. (but I won't).

No, Marilyn, neither would I. Which was what I was saying. That I liked the movie. And that if it provoked so much thought and discussion as we were having that it was anything but a simple movie.

Favorite movies. I have to admit to being able to watch Groundhog Day whenever it is on. Although I'm not sure I think it is a really good movie. It just makes me feel good.

I have to pull my husband away from the Godfather. And the Front Page.

I also love "Lost In Translation". Makes you realize what a truly great and overlooked actor Bill Murray is.

I must say I dislike the term "losers" as used about these characters, and really, many movies have characters that someone would consider losers,. Mature, intelligent, self-realized characters who make wise choices generally don't propel character-driven movies.

Sure, the Thomas Hayden Church guy is a complete mess, and the Sandra Oh character is flawed, though I don't know that I'd call her a loser. If Maya and Miles are losers, then almost everyone is. These are two decent, soulful people trying to make happy lives for themselves. Isn't that what most people are doing?

Was Jimmy Stewart a loser in "It's a Wonderful Life?" He wasn't exactly on top of the world for a good part of the movie. In good movies, the heroes either overcome an external foe, or a force of nature, or their own problems. Films would be pretty boring if they were all about perfect people. Sheesh.

Perhaps some people were disappointed with this movie because the ads made it seem like more of a rollicking comedy, and it's really a funny drama about a guy working through his unhappiness,

Sorry, TG, I misunderstood you and thought you had not yet seen Sideways.

Good points, Deletter.

My husband just alerted me that the movie is His Girl Friday from the play The Front Page. We're watching it now on the tivo.

Well, everyone is entitle to their own opinions. But I found the characters in Sideways very one-dimensional: awful. I can't compare them to Jimmy Stewart's character at all. He was self-sacrificing and honorable; these people use drugs in front of children, lie to each other and themselves, use women in a most base way, steal, and have no self-motivation. Where is the conflict? Maya might have some decency, but she was the only sympathetic character to me. I found I had no one to root for in this movie.

I wish I hadn't watched the movie with my husband. He was looking for more light hearted "buddy road trip" sort of a story, while I knew it was more about the flaws and analagies to the wine.
So what did I do? I rented Spanglish. Mr. Man thought, oh, Adam Sandler. Wrong! Like expecting Robin Williams or Jim Carrey to stick to the same role every film.
I think when the characters seem too dark, it is a turn off for some people. I look at the acting. I liked each of the choices for the casting. I think a lot of it depends on mood too. Some movies are better for critical thinking, some for pure escapism.
I know I couldn't have watched the movie with my late dad, or my mother-in-law. It's meaning would have been lost on her.
I enjoyed the wine aspect of it all. I have a great wish to do that sort of trip myself, without all the movie drama however,lol.