'Sideways'

Ohhhhhhh. I get it.

Paul Giamatti's character is the pinot noir grape: Fragile, thin-skinned and in need of constant attention. However, if he ... err, the grape receives that attention, then he ... ummm, it is possible of great things.

Meanwhile, Thomas Haden Church's character is the cabernet grape. Tough. Works with anything, anywhere.

I love thinly-veiled metaphors in film. Often, they are buried so deep in the narrative that they are lost. I appreciate a director that'll serve it up on a silver platter.

Fun fact: Sales of merlot wine dropped in the United States while sales of pinot noir increased by 16 percent following the release of this film.