Hollywood and Vine (pardon the pun)

The movie 'Sideways' has been getting a bunch of attention as of late. From all reviews (both written and oral), this is a great movie. The guts of the movie are solid and I am told that the way the actors deal with the wine (i.e. speaking about it, tasting, critiquing) is relatively accurate to the real world practices of many. This is unlike Hollywood's usual take on the 'Southern Accent', which invariably sounds contrived and silly. Unless you get a guy from the South to speak on film, that is. Decanter.com is already marking it for Oscar contention. I have yet to see this film, but either way, I'm not sure what this does for the movie or me. There have been plenty of movies I thoroughly enjoyed which got nothing from 'The Academy'. And myriad more that brought home the bacon, for which I wouldn't cross the street.

A few things from the article kind of bug me:

"What has captivated critics is the low-key comedy and the anti-feelgood nature of the film. Rolling Stone praised its 'bracing wit and emotional gravity' which fuses into 'something funny, touching and vital'.

'You won't have a better time at the movies this year,' the venerable bible of hip America said." (emphasis T.t.S)

I can't tell you the last time I picked up a Rolling Stone. Maybe that means I'm not hip.

"Although the wine element of the film is 'definitely not glamorous', Jolin, who knows little about wine, said he 'learnt a lot about how to taste, what to look for and so on. I didn't know Pinot Noir could be white, for example.' "

Again not having seen the movie, I'm not sure of the context within which this little nugget of wisdom was revealed but for the rest of you, here goes: Pinot Noir is a red grape. It is red in that the skin is red. In grapes, like people, the color is all in the skin. So it is absolutely possible (and common) to attain white juice from a red grape. This is done routinely in the production of Champagne and other sparkling wine made a la 'méthode traditionnelle'.

"He also said Merlot producers may be a little put out, due to the lead character's dislike of the grape. 'I came out thinking I wasn't quite sure about Merlot either.' "

What the hell does this mean? While I am probably in agreement with the character's assessment of Merlot (especially in California), is it possible that a 2 hour movie could make such a persuasive argument against it? Especially when, so far as I understand, the primary focus of the movie is Pinot Noir? The caveat is made that he 'knows little about wine' but for the love of God, could someone please judge something on their own!! Of course, if you listen to popular opinion, this last election hinged on two entities: Michael Moore and Fox News.

I can't stand either one, so where does that leave me? Further down the road of the 'unhip' I suspect.