For what it's worth, I read the piece before I see THE HOLDOVERS this weekend and it just made me want to see it more, with the added bonus of making me want to rewatch SIDEWAYS immediately even though I was cold on it back in the day.
Also +1 to your Framed note. Not exactly difficult once the theme is clear.
I caught a preview screening last week despite a dead car battery and thought it was fantastic! Outside my top 10 for now but I may move it up. A marked improvement over THE DESCENDENTS (the last movie of his I saw)
Love Sideways and am excited for The Holdovers next week!
Feel like it’s not that cool to really like Sideways anymore but that’s still one of my favorite films from a writing perspective - strikes this perfect balance between feeling novelistic while not actually being that dense, so Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church have a ton of room to be unlikable but amusing, and give their characters depth while not being all that hard to analyze their actions and decisions.
Saw the Holdovers last night. I didn't love Sideways, so I was wary, but this largely worked for me as a melancholy exploration of three people in various states of grief. Performances were solid across the board and some of the more contrived moments were kept brief enough so they didn't impact my overall enjoyment. Definitely worth checking out. Probably my second favorite Payne after Election.
Thanks for writing this, Scott. Just watched The Holdovers and think this story and these characters are so perfect for Payne and Giamatti. Always wondered why we never saw more collaborations between the two-- now I know why: they were waiting for the right story.
Such a fine comparison between these two wonderfully warm films. The Holdovers is simply one of the best movies I've seen this year. It's funny -- my wife and I were watching Sweet Smell of Success the night before, and every single character in that movie is just an odious human being! The Holdovers is pretty much the exact opposite; the characters are faulty as hell, but they're all such good people inside.
This film hits so many of my soft spots: academia, winter break, snow, Christmas, New England. Every time one of the characters said something unusual or difficult ("hidebound" was the first one, I think) and another would say, "I know what that means" made me laugh out loud. It happens like three or four more times!
The writer must've had fun with the character names:
Hunham - almost sounds like throat clearing
Angus - angst
Mary Lamb - caretaker
Lydia Crane - you think she's single (one leg), but she's not
Kountze - Geoffrey Chaucer's "quaint", modernized and slightly obfuscated
Hardy Woodrup - a punchable name if there ever was one
I'm coming in here over a month after this article was written because I have finally rewatched Sideways, which has been on my mind since watching the Holdovers on its opening weekend.
I only saw Sideways once, in the theater, and I thought it was fine. I'm sure if I had seen The Holdovers at 24 I would have felt much the same (although I would just have finished a degree in contemporary lit so maybe not?). But watching Sideways again at 43, everything about it worked for me. It defnitely was not a movie made for a dumb 24 year-old. It's a movie about being older and reluctantly continuing to grow up long after you thought you were already done growing.
I really appreciated this piece and it helped me see more in both movies, so thank you.
Will have to bookmark this so I can read it after I get to see THE HOLDOVERS next week.
I will use this space to note that this week’s Framed puzzles aren’t much of a challenge when you know they’re all directed by the same guy.
I was lamenting that very thing this morning. Might as well make Sideways my first guess sight unseen tomorrow.
They could throw a wrench into the works and do CITIZEN RUTH.
For what it's worth, I read the piece before I see THE HOLDOVERS this weekend and it just made me want to see it more, with the added bonus of making me want to rewatch SIDEWAYS immediately even though I was cold on it back in the day.
Also +1 to your Framed note. Not exactly difficult once the theme is clear.
Excited to hear what you and others think of THE HOLDOVERS.
I caught a preview screening last week despite a dead car battery and thought it was fantastic! Outside my top 10 for now but I may move it up. A marked improvement over THE DESCENDENTS (the last movie of his I saw)
I got around to it last night and did a double take when I saw the copyright date. Studios need to bring back the Roman numerals.
Love Sideways and am excited for The Holdovers next week!
Feel like it’s not that cool to really like Sideways anymore but that’s still one of my favorite films from a writing perspective - strikes this perfect balance between feeling novelistic while not actually being that dense, so Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church have a ton of room to be unlikable but amusing, and give their characters depth while not being all that hard to analyze their actions and decisions.
Okay yep The Holdovers is one of Payne’s best films! Loved it
Saw the Holdovers last night. I didn't love Sideways, so I was wary, but this largely worked for me as a melancholy exploration of three people in various states of grief. Performances were solid across the board and some of the more contrived moments were kept brief enough so they didn't impact my overall enjoyment. Definitely worth checking out. Probably my second favorite Payne after Election.
Thanks for writing this, Scott. Just watched The Holdovers and think this story and these characters are so perfect for Payne and Giamatti. Always wondered why we never saw more collaborations between the two-- now I know why: they were waiting for the right story.
Such a fine comparison between these two wonderfully warm films. The Holdovers is simply one of the best movies I've seen this year. It's funny -- my wife and I were watching Sweet Smell of Success the night before, and every single character in that movie is just an odious human being! The Holdovers is pretty much the exact opposite; the characters are faulty as hell, but they're all such good people inside.
This film hits so many of my soft spots: academia, winter break, snow, Christmas, New England. Every time one of the characters said something unusual or difficult ("hidebound" was the first one, I think) and another would say, "I know what that means" made me laugh out loud. It happens like three or four more times!
The writer must've had fun with the character names:
Hunham - almost sounds like throat clearing
Angus - angst
Mary Lamb - caretaker
Lydia Crane - you think she's single (one leg), but she's not
Kountze - Geoffrey Chaucer's "quaint", modernized and slightly obfuscated
Hardy Woodrup - a punchable name if there ever was one
You think Hunham is a cookie full of arsenic but he's soft and chewy inside.
Unlike those Christmas cookies Miss Crane made (I don't think they were very good!)...
I'm coming in here over a month after this article was written because I have finally rewatched Sideways, which has been on my mind since watching the Holdovers on its opening weekend.
I only saw Sideways once, in the theater, and I thought it was fine. I'm sure if I had seen The Holdovers at 24 I would have felt much the same (although I would just have finished a degree in contemporary lit so maybe not?). But watching Sideways again at 43, everything about it worked for me. It defnitely was not a movie made for a dumb 24 year-old. It's a movie about being older and reluctantly continuing to grow up long after you thought you were already done growing.
I really appreciated this piece and it helped me see more in both movies, so thank you.