Many people whose opinion and taste I respect have been singing the praises of the recently released movie Sideways, featuring one my favorite actors, Paul Giamatti. So I was excited to finally get the chance to see it this past weekend and I really enjoyed it, although I think I might have expected too much. Giamatti, of course, was excellent. If it’s not the characters he portrays that get you, it’s the little idiosyncracies that do. The small facial ticks. The Charlie Brown hard-luck loser. He’s done it with arguable brilliance twice in a row now – if you didn’t see American Splendor, you’re really missing out.
I don’t want to get into too much detail, but Sideways explores a few days in the life of two thirty-something males who are heading in two different directions, neither of which is particularly good or something we all strive for. The one real drag in this movie is the constant metaphorical referrals to life as a glass of wine. Wine almost plays the lead role in this film, but enough already! About halfway through the movie, I was starting to think “okay, you’ve made your point.” That aside, the conversations between Giamatti’s character and his friend are, at times, priceless. And honest. That’s where the film really impresses. I certainly recommend it.
I’m surprised that Yahoo’s recent announcement that they’re gonna start to play in the consumer electronics lion’s den hasn’t got a little more scrutiny. All the gadgets out there these days (save for Apple’s IPod any maybe a select few others) are starting to fall victim to what I call the “pop music syndrome.” Nobody really cares what label a band is on. When was the last time you were in the store and decided to buy one album over another simply because you liked the record label better (music nerd friends: do not respond to that). Anyway, the hardware is taking a backseat to content. Content is king.
OK, seriously, tell me you can’t go to this site without “doing it” at least ten times. It’s nothing like the real thing, but it’s fun.
Song now playing: Neil Young – “Danger Bird”