I forgot to mention

that I did, in fact, get a chance to see the Japanese remake of the movie Sideways, and while the general story was pretty much the same as the American version (a man about to get married and his friend go for a bachelor party trip of sorts in Napa Valley), the movie was basically wildly different.  At least, I think it was (I saw the original in theaters, which means it’s been quite a while since I saw it and I may not fully remember it), but as far as I remember, the characters had very different personalities and the events unfolded completely differently.  Granted, some of it was changes made to accomodate for the fact that they were Japanese people going to Napa Valley, and also to make it more accessible for a Japanese audience, but I remembered the original being really really funny, and I only laughed out loud once or twice while watching the Japanese movie.  And the Japanese people in the theater weren’t laughing either, so it wasn’t just cuz I didn’t get it.

One thing I did think was interesting, though, was that I was watching the credits at the end, and nearly all the American characters (i.e. the staff of the various vineyards) all said “Jim Johnson (or whoever) played by himself.”  And it was filmed on location in Napa.  So I’m guessing that maybe instead of hiring actors to play the roles of the vineyard staff, they just let all the actual staff members be in the movie.  I thought that was pretty cool.

Other than that, though, I didn’t like it very much.