Cooking
On Christmas day I went to see the Golden Globe nominated film Sideways. I'm not a movie critic so forgive me, but it was perhaps the first wine movie I've ever seen so I think it's worth blogging about. The movie is ostensibly the story of two friends (played by Paul Giamatti and Thomas Hayden Church) who are off on a wine country getaway before one of them gets married.
But getaway is the last thing they do. The buddies confront each other, their past and their failures--often in the company of two strong women (played by Virginia Madsen and Sandra Oh). The writer-director team of Jim Taylor and Alexander Payne also worked on Citizen Ruth, About Schmidt and Election so it should come as no surprise at how well they manage to balance slapstick humor, dark comedy, and drama. Everyone has known someone like the happy-go-lucky "Jack" who manages to end up always smelling like a rose despite his at times despicable behavior. We also identify with Miles who after two years has still not gotten over his divorce.
So what does the movie have to do with wine, other than the setting? A lot actually. While one character is a wine snob and the other an ignoramus, both their reactions to wine and to the effect of drinking it are universal. More importantly the metaphor of wine as a living thing that is handcrafted and that reaches its peak or prime before deteriorating, weaves it's way through the film. If nothing else, go see this movie to get a taste of what passion is all about--passion for wine, passion for life and passion for love.
- You Will Be My Son Film Review
Sex, greed, perfume, family psychodrama, expensive shoes, murder and wine. Let's just say You Will Be My Son has everything you'd expect from a French film including some very emotional outbursts. It's a bit of a soap opera but the acting...
- Interview With Nigel Slater
Nigel Slater is a cook and food writer from England who has written extensively for magazines and newspapers and is author of nine cookbooks. The film based on his autobiography Toast is being released in theaters in the US this month. It features a...
- Today's Special Movie Review
Today's Special opens up in theaters around the US tomorrow. I got a chance to see a preview of it a few months ago at the International Food Blogger Conference and found it to be utterly charming, funny, and a bit of a tearjerker at times. You may...
- Educating Peter: Book Review
Here's the thing I hate about wine, the attitude. You know what I'm talking about. Wine should be something we enjoy and yet it easily slips into something that intimidates instead. Of course it's not the fault of the wine. It's the...
- Merry Christmas
Today is December 25th, Christmas day, a day Jews celebrate by going out to eat Chinese food and by going to see movies. After all, what else is there to do? Christmas dominates our culture and on this day most everything is closed and most everyone...
Cooking
Sideways:Film
On Christmas day I went to see the Golden Globe nominated film Sideways. I'm not a movie critic so forgive me, but it was perhaps the first wine movie I've ever seen so I think it's worth blogging about. The movie is ostensibly the story of two friends (played by Paul Giamatti and Thomas Hayden Church) who are off on a wine country getaway before one of them gets married.
But getaway is the last thing they do. The buddies confront each other, their past and their failures--often in the company of two strong women (played by Virginia Madsen and Sandra Oh). The writer-director team of Jim Taylor and Alexander Payne also worked on Citizen Ruth, About Schmidt and Election so it should come as no surprise at how well they manage to balance slapstick humor, dark comedy, and drama. Everyone has known someone like the happy-go-lucky "Jack" who manages to end up always smelling like a rose despite his at times despicable behavior. We also identify with Miles who after two years has still not gotten over his divorce.
So what does the movie have to do with wine, other than the setting? A lot actually. While one character is a wine snob and the other an ignoramus, both their reactions to wine and to the effect of drinking it are universal. More importantly the metaphor of wine as a living thing that is handcrafted and that reaches its peak or prime before deteriorating, weaves it's way through the film. If nothing else, go see this movie to get a taste of what passion is all about--passion for wine, passion for life and passion for love.
- You Will Be My Son Film Review
Sex, greed, perfume, family psychodrama, expensive shoes, murder and wine. Let's just say You Will Be My Son has everything you'd expect from a French film including some very emotional outbursts. It's a bit of a soap opera but the acting...
- Interview With Nigel Slater
Nigel Slater is a cook and food writer from England who has written extensively for magazines and newspapers and is author of nine cookbooks. The film based on his autobiography Toast is being released in theaters in the US this month. It features a...
- Today's Special Movie Review
Today's Special opens up in theaters around the US tomorrow. I got a chance to see a preview of it a few months ago at the International Food Blogger Conference and found it to be utterly charming, funny, and a bit of a tearjerker at times. You may...
- Educating Peter: Book Review
Here's the thing I hate about wine, the attitude. You know what I'm talking about. Wine should be something we enjoy and yet it easily slips into something that intimidates instead. Of course it's not the fault of the wine. It's the...
- Merry Christmas
Today is December 25th, Christmas day, a day Jews celebrate by going out to eat Chinese food and by going to see movies. After all, what else is there to do? Christmas dominates our culture and on this day most everything is closed and most everyone...