New at BOP: Review: Matrix Resurrections Movie Review: Moonfall Movie Reviews: Scream The #1 Movie in America November Forecast The Many Saints of Newark October Forecast New Trivia Question All site updates Share & Save   Tweet Print this column

Hollywood is a machine. Every week, every month and every year, countless films are released into theaters and not every one is as successful as the studio heads would hope. Sometimes the publicity machine was askew, sometimes the movie targeted an odd demographic, sometimes the release was steamrolled by a much larger movie and occasionally the movie is flat out bad.

But Hollywood's loss is our gain. There is a veritable treasure trove of film out there that you may not have seen. I will be your guide to this veritable wilderness of unwatched film. It will be my job to steer you towards the action, adventure, drama and comedy that may have eluded you, and at the same time, steer you away from some truly unwatchable dreck.

Hopefully we'll stumble across some entertainment that may have slid under your radar. Wish us luck.

Bottle Shock (2008)

I must admit, before really diving into this review, that I had no intention at all of watching Bottle Shock. It came and went with hardly any impact at all, and was seemingly another Sideways life-and-its-meaning style film with Wine as its subtext and cover.

Apparently, the general public agreed with that assessment. Bottle Shock grossed $4.5 million worldwide, and the majority of that box office came from the United States. In film terms, this is not a rousing success.

As my wife frequently tells me, that was the wrong assumption to make.

Bottle Shock is a wry and amusing look at California wine culture in the early '70s. It does this with a truly odd cast of characters that blend beautifully. It was surprisingly entertaining. As I stated earlier, I literally had no desire to see it. The film happened to come on after The Dark Knight on a local cable channel and I was too lazy to turn it off while I was working on my computer.

Slowly, subtly, the actors, dialogue and story sucked me into this film, to the point where I walked away from my computer and was perched on the couch staring intently at the screen. It wasn't difficult for them to catch me either, not once the story started to unfold.

Bottle Shock stars Chris Pine (Our new Captain Kirk from the Star Trek reboot) as Bo Barrett, Bill Pullman as his father Jim Barrett, Alan Rickman as wine connoisseur/snob Steven Spurrier, Dennis Farina as his fellow wine fan Maurice, Freddy Rodriguez as wine savant Gustavo Brambilla, Eliza Dushku as bartender Joe, Rachel Taylor as agriculture student and conflict generator and general hottie Sam and West Wing alumnus Bradley Whitford as Professor Saunders.

Okay, before I go any farther, that is not only a GREAT cast, it is truly eclectic. When was the last time you saw a cast like this? There's a lot of talent in that list, and they all seem to mesh really nicely.

Continued:       1       2