SIDEWAYS! (Possible "Spoilers")

[Obrotherrules]

It's been a while since I started a topic, but I'll just hope that nobody else has started one on this subject.
I am talking, of course, about Alexander Payne's SIDEWAYS, which so far this year has won the NY Film Critics Award, the LA Film Critics Award, the Chicago Film Critics Award, the Nobel Peace Prize, and the Congressional Medal of Honor. It's made it to almost every critics' top 10 list. It's gotten the most nominations at the Golden Globes.
And it's not that good!
Now, it's one of those flicks (like GLADIATOR) that I kind of liked after watching it, but after a while, all this attention is kind of silly. SIDEWAYS is a plain, moderately well-written film that does feature some wonderful acting (although Thomas Haden Church was a little too sitcom-y for my taste), but certainly doesn't have any major important themes to bring across, and it wasn't that fun to watch either.
So, I hope this thread gets a good turnout. If you're like me, feel free to knock whatever you want about the movie. Or if you actually liked it, please say why. Maybe there's something I missed, besides Paul Giamatti's Oscar-worthy performance (I hope he wins, not the movie). And I put in "Spoilers" at the top in case anyone wants to talk about the ending (the open-endedness of which was one of my favorite things about the movie).

[Badbird]

You are the umpteenth person who's commented about the "open ended" ending.

It was pretty straight forward and obvious to me. There's really only one way it's gonna go.

I think it's gotten so much praise because there's actual deep characterizations in it after we've been bombarded with hollow, one dimensional characters in the LOTR movies for the past three years, which always got the Best Picture attention. Call it Epic Backlash.

Do I think it's the best movie of the year. No. Top Ten. Yes. But of all the contenders for Best Picture in most circles, I think it is the best. Unless it somehow goes up against Collateral, which doesn't seem likely. Paul Giamati deserves all the acting awards without a doubt. He should have gotten nominated last year for American Splendor as well.

Plus, it's got the wallet scene, AKA, the best five minutes in a movie this year.

[bob]

I agree with the original post verbatim. A mediocre film, and it pisses me off how everyone loves it so much. It actually makes me like the film less.

[movieguy1021]

It's this year's Lost in Translation, plain and simple.

I personally loved both, with Lost in Translation being my #3 of last year and Sideways as my #7 this year. The key is seeing it before all of these nominations. I saw it when the only review I had seen was my own newspaper's. People's expectationsf are brought up too high, and when they see a very good movie, but not excellent, they think it's subpar.

And I agree with Badbird, that wallet scene was genius.

[dellamorte dellamore]

Sideways 2 : every which way but loose

[Badbird]

Originally posted by movieguy1021
It's this year's Lost in Translation, plain and simple.

I personally loved both, with Lost in Translation being my #3 of last year and Sideways as my #7 this year. The key is seeing it before all of these nominations. I saw it when the only review I had seen was my own newspaper's. People's expectationsf are brought up too high, and when they see a very good movie, but not excellent, they think it's subpar.

And I agree with Badbird, that wallet scene was genius.

The best part is the look on his face when he "sees it." Not the wallet, the other part. There's this look of genuine shock/disgust/amazement all at once. We've got this at my theater and I watch this scene every time and laugh.