We're all used to Hollywood taking Japanese horror flicks and remaking them with interchangeable Abercrombie & Fitch-looking casts-- but look out, Toho Cinemas! Here comes a Japanese remake of Sideways, a film about a depressed writer and his lothario actor buddy on a roadtrip to California wine country. And it's still called Sideways.
I'm a fan of the original and own it on DVD. It's a movie I pop in the player and watch whenever I'm in a mellow mood. I also read Rex Pickett's novel, which is more broadly comic. And that's about the extent of my scholarship in American wine tasting culture and middle-aged failures. Still, I'm incredibly curious as to how the remake will translate certain cultural aspects. I'm also wondering how two guys from Japan just happen to run into two Japanese women on their little wine pilgrimage. To quote Jack, "Seems pretty fishy to me..."
Well, no matter. If American filmmakers can ruin international movies, I see no reason why other countries can't wreck ours in return. Fair is fair. And who knows-- Kikuchi Rinko's in the remake's cast, so it's already worth watching!
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