Tag archives: Alexander Payne

20 Years Later, We’re Still Talking ‘Sideways’: Santa Ynez Valley to Spotlight Cult Film During Annual Feast
By Gabe Saglie   |   September 17, 2024

Actress Virginia Madsen got an Oscar nomination for her role in the 2004 film, Sideways. Twenty years later, she’s still feeling the impact, and enjoying it. “It changed my life,” she told me during a recent conversation. “And it’s still so alive, this movie. It became a cultural phenomenon, and there are very few movies […]

Everything’s Coming Up Sideways: Cult Wine Country Film Turns 15
By Gabe Saglie   |   September 5, 2019

Little known fact about the 2004 cult film Sideways: if George Clooney and Brad Pitt had gotten their way, the heartthrob pair would have seen their own names on the movie’s marquee. Director Alexander Payne turned them down, though, opting instead to cast lesser known names that wouldn’t steal the spotlight from the story or […]