I was introduced to the movie SIDEWAYS by my old housemate, Chris, a graphic designer with far more conventional taste in films than my own. I don't usually go in for comedy-dramas such as this, but something about it really struck a chord, and continues to do so. Chris kept telling me how much like Paul Giamatti's character (Miles) I was, and he had a point.
Miles is a struggling writer with a catalogue of personal issues and neuroses, with a skewed sense of his own worth and a hobby which is more of an obsession (in Miles' case it's wine. I guess mine would be vintage VHS horror movies or ancient SF pulps).
The film has taken a place alongside High Fidelity, Clerks 2 and The Breakfast Club as one of the films I can always trust to be there when I need something to relate to or find some solace in. I guess I'll always see myself as a bit of a loser, a bit of an oddball outsider, but where's the problem with that? I'm me. It's just my life seems a bit more sideways than a lot of other people. Cheers Chris, I needed that, mate.
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