Bottle Shock and the original bastards

[dean_martin]

The Griffin family (sans Meg) was facing certain death when Peter set off the sprinkler system in the safe room. As the room filled up with water, Peter told the Griffin family history including many of its dirty little secrets. As his final secret, Peter revealed that he didn't like The Godfather. When pressed by Lois, Chris, Stewie and Bryan, Peter exclaimed, "It insists upon itself." I think that statement sums up my feelings on Bottle Shock. It uses examples of character quirkiness (e.g., a father-son boxing match) to develop the story of how a relatively young vineyard/winery in California shocked the wine world with its win at an international wine competition. But it can't get going without stepping on its own feet. Now here's my confession a la Peter Griffin: I didn't watch the whole thing and it probably deserves another chance. The cast is not that bad. I particularly liked the interplay between Alan Rickman and Dennis Farina but their dialog was just too cryptic in the beginning. I'm not going to grade it because I probably gave up on it too soon. If anyone has any arguments or comments "for" the film, I'm all ears.

I haven't made it to the theater to catch "Inglorious Basterds" yet so in the meantime I picked up "Inglorious Bastards" with Bo Svenson and Fred Williamson. This is a fun movie. Think spaghetti western set in World War II. Nothing too deep here, just good fun for a rainy Sunday afternoon. The opening scene with the cast of characters being hauled off to court-martial is very good. Although Tarrantino's story is very different, I'll be looking for nods to its name-sake.

[Troy]

I need to rent the original Bastards. Thanks for the reminder.