i like movies. most of them i watch for the art while others i watch for the pure guilty pleasure.

some of my guilty pleasure movies include bring it on, hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy, and shaun of the dead. movies i watch for the whole art behind them are amelie, pulp fiction, and 25th hour.

a movie like sideways is a complete different animal.

it is very artistic while keeping the guilty pleasures behind it. i have to watch everytime its on HBO. i also own the flick, but i don’t find myself watching it on dvd or find myself picking it when i just wanna pop in a movie.

sideways speaks to me. i identify with the paul giamatti character, miles. he’s a hopelessly depressed loser who just can’t say the right thing at the right time. he has no self-confidence and regrets for missing those moments that would have helped define himself as a person. unlike his friend, jack, played by thomas haden church, he’s not comfortable with living a lie. jack puts him into uncomfortable situations, and miles doesn’t really know how to react to that situation.

miles is passionate about stuff he knows about. the scene where he sits with maya, played by virginia madsen, and talks about pinot noir, he sounds like a proud father talking about his son’s accomplishments. this also includes one of the most painful moments in the entire movie. when maya is describing why she loves wine and starts to come on to miles and he denies, it just kills me. i know what miles is feeling at that moment. i would have done the same exact thing; quickly change the subject and miss the moment. i also know that it would be me in the bathroom, talking to myself in the mirror, calling myself an idiot.

i’ve always described this movie as me and my brother’s great trip if he would have been in arizona when he was getting married. i’m not saying that he nor i would be trying to have sex with everything that moves, but his gift to me would be trying to get me laid by whatever means neccessary. i’m not saying that would happen when the times come that i should ever get married, but i have a feeling that we would go on one of these great journeys of self-discovery.