Sideswiped

(Warning: spoiler alert!)

After watching the Oscar Best Picture nominee Sideways, I thought Alexander Payne wuz robbed. Sure, I haven’t seen Martin Scorcese’s The Aviator, but many have already said it wasn’t his best picture. Personally, I think Sideways was the better made, more compact, more fully intact, more engaging movie than Clint Eastwood’s very upbeat boxing-and-death movie. Maybe because in Sideways, even if no one dies, not everything ends happily-ever-after; plus, its characters are so relatable. In Million Dollar Baby, who among us can easily relate to being a quadriplegic, or to being an angel of death and mercy? Well, Academy members who vote, apparently. Then again, it’s not surprising to know that Hollywood is full of people who can’t act on their own and who do mercy killing all the time. Ah! No wonder Sideways lost for Best Picture.