Sideways

Thanks to Burt Prelutsky for the courage to point out the emperor's nakedness in regard to the movie "Sideways" ["Oscar, Don't Give This One Even a 'Sideways' Glance," Counterpunch, Jan. 3]. My only disagreement is that it is not the most overhyped movie of the year, simply the most overpraised. If "Sideways" is an Academy Award contender, my Uncle Ben should have been a movie star. He got just as drunk as the characters in "Sideways" but was far more entertaining and insightful. Steven Schwartz Marina del Rey Long after Prelutsky and the usual backlash ilk are forgotten, Alexander Payne's "Sideways" will continue to be remembered as a beloved American classic.

STAGE Long before "Sideways" was a hit Alexander Payne movie, it was an adored novel by Rex Pickett. Now it gets a stage treatment in this adaptation of the story of two guys cruising through wine country as they confront the rest of their adulthood. Ruskin Group Theatre, 3000 Airport Ave., Santa Monica. Fri.-July 8. $25. ruskingrouptheatre.com.

In the wine country north of Santa Barbara, the global economic crisis has drained wine sales, tapped tourist spending and siphoned away hotel profits. But five years after the Santa Ynez Valley was featured in an Oscar-winning film, the region is still feeling the upside of "Sideways." The offbeat comedy about the wine-soaked adventures of two hapless buddies drew crowds of connoisseurs to the region's wineries, vineyards and restaurants. And to the delight of merchants and wine makers, the continued popularity of the 2004 film has helped soften the blow of the worst recession in a generation.

The new Transformers ride has been generating positive early reviews from theme park enthusiasts and hard-core fans of the shape-shifting robots during a soft-opening preview at Universal Studios Singapore. > Photos: Transformers ride at Universal Studios Set to officially debut on Saturday, the five-minute Transformers motion-simulator dark ride , with high-definition 3-D images and special effects, will feature an original story line starring the heroic Autobots and villainous Decepticons -- anthropomorphic robots capable of changing into cars, trucks and planes.

The new Transformers ride has been generating positive early reviews from theme park enthusiasts and hard-core fans of the shape-shifting robots during a soft-opening preview at Universal Studios Singapore. > Photos: Transformers ride at Universal Studios Set to officially debut on Saturday, the five-minute Transformers motion-simulator dark ride , with high-definition 3-D images and special effects, will feature an original story line starring the heroic Autobots and villainous Decepticons -- anthropomorphic robots capable of changing into cars, trucks and planes.

There's something to be said for the fact that the soundtrack to director Alexander Payne's deft and moving new film "The Descendants" is one of the more compelling collections of Hawaiian music in recent memory -- and the CD has nothing to do with surfing or hula. Like the film, it operates on the premise that life is messy, even in paradise. In one scene, the KanakAttack trio sings -- and yodels (yes, yodels) -- a Jimmie Rodgers-style cowboy song in the Tahiti Nui restaurant.

A pocket-size drone dubbed the Nano Hummingbird for the way it flaps its tiny robotic wings has been developed for the Pentagon by a Monrovia company as a mini-spy plane capable of maneuvering on the battlefield and in urban areas. The battery-powered drone was built by AeroVironment Inc. for the Pentagon's research arm as part of a series of experiments in nanotechnology. The little flying machine is built to look like a bird for potential use in spy missions. The results of a five-year effort to develop the drone are being announced Thursday by the company and the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

  Total time: 15 minutes Servings: 4 Note: Adapted from Baccarat Bar, Bellagio Las Vegas. The sweet and sour will keep for 1 week, refrigerated. Sweet and sour 1/4 cup sugar 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice In a small saucepan, stir the sugar with one-fourth cup water over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Cool. Combine the cooled simple syrup and lemon juice. Makes 1 cup (8 ounces). Cocktail assembly 8 ounces pisco 3 ounces Cointreau liqueur 6 ounces white grape juice 6 ounces sweet and sour 3 ounces California Pinot Noir 4 slices lemon 3 grapes In a large pitcher filled with ice, add the pisco, Cointreau, grape juice and sweet and sour and stir to combine.

Poor design of their pressure suits led the seven astronauts aboard the Columbia space shuttle to black out almost immediately as the craft started breaking apart during reentry in 2003, and they were probably killed by the violent contortions, a NASA panel said Tuesday. Other design flaws with seat belts, helmets and parachutes also could have caused their deaths if they had survived the depressurization and intense buffeting, the panel said in its final report on the incident.

STAGE Long before "Sideways" was a hit Alexander Payne movie, it was an adored novel by Rex Pickett. Now it gets a stage treatment in this adaptation of the story of two guys cruising through wine country as they confront the rest of their adulthood. Ruskin Group Theatre, 3000 Airport Ave., Santa Monica. Fri.-July 8. $25. ruskingrouptheatre.com.

Four years ago, independent producer Michael London, whose credits include the acclaimed films "Sideways," "Thirteen" and "The Family Stone," had no problem raising more than $200 million in financing to make low-cost movies at his newly formed company, Groundswell Productions. At the time, independent movies were all the rage. Investors were hungry to cash in on a trend in which such unconventional pictures as Oscar-winner "Crash" and "Brokeback Mountain" not only win over critics but also mainstream audiences.

In the wine country north of Santa Barbara, the global economic crisis has drained wine sales, tapped tourist spending and siphoned away hotel profits. But five years after the Santa Ynez Valley was featured in an Oscar-winning film, the region is still feeling the upside of "Sideways." The offbeat comedy about the wine-soaked adventures of two hapless buddies drew crowds of connoisseurs to the region's wineries, vineyards and restaurants. And to the delight of merchants and wine makers, the continued popularity of the 2004 film has helped soften the blow of the worst recession in a generation.

Alison Mosshart's lips nearly grazed Jack White's when the pair shared a microphone Wednesday night at the Roxy. The room grew more humid during that encounter, though the singers never touched. Later, when White took one of his showy guitar solos, Mosshart simply stood and stared. Did her locked gaze signify adoration? Or was it hostile -- a silent way of shouting, "Get out of my spotlight"?

As bad as the stock market has felt for most of the new year, optimists on Wall Street say the evidence suggests that share prices are near their bottom, not setting up for another steep drop. After tumbling in early trading Thursday, the market rebounded late in the session on hopes for a federal mortgage-subsidy program to stem home foreclosures. The Dow Jones industrial average, which was down as much as 245 points at its low, rebounded to finish off just 6.77 points at 7,932.

THE CROWD at the Echoplex is cheerful and chatty, but as they sip an elegant French Gewurztraminer infused with "subtle tones of honey, grapefruit and tropical fruit" (or so says Wine Spectator), their ersatz sommelier, Julian Davies, slugs down a distinctly pedestrian bottle of Red Stripe Jamaican ale. This curated eclecticism is par for the course at Irregular Wine Tasting, where an Italian Cabernet Sauvignon might be followed by a milky junmai sake.

  Total time: 15 minutes Servings: 4 Note: Adapted from Baccarat Bar, Bellagio Las Vegas. The sweet and sour will keep for 1 week, refrigerated. Sweet and sour 1/4 cup sugar 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice In a small saucepan, stir the sugar with one-fourth cup water over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Cool. Combine the cooled simple syrup and lemon juice. Makes 1 cup (8 ounces). Cocktail assembly 8 ounces pisco 3 ounces Cointreau liqueur 6 ounces white grape juice 6 ounces sweet and sour 3 ounces California Pinot Noir 4 slices lemon 3 grapes In a large pitcher filled with ice, add the pisco, Cointreau, grape juice and sweet and sour and stir to combine.

All the holiday cheer in the world couldn't dispel the sense of gloom, and occasional doom, that filled Hollywood after a woeful year of flops ("The Island," "Stealth"), disappointments ("Cinderella Man," "Hustle & Flow") and confusion (Why can't A-list actresses open movies anymore?). Almost everywhere you looked, uncertainty reigned. Attendance and box-office receipts were down more than 5%. Disney's movie studio recorded a quarterly loss of $313 million.

We've asked you for reviews of good books you have read: "Sideways Stories From Wayside School" by Louis Sachar This book is about 30 kids in a classroom. The school is 30 classrooms high instead of 30 sideways, giving the story lots of twists and turns. --Jesse, 11 Lincoln Middle School Santa Monica "Snail Mail No More" by Paula Danzinger and Ann M. Martin Two best friends keep in touch through letters. Then they get computers and can send e-mail.

Thomas HADEN CHURCH is a man of contradictions. He's gamely appeared in a posh hotel dining room to talk about his new movie, "Smart People," but home on his Texas ranch is clearly where his heart is: His worn long underwear peeks out from a freshly pressed Ralph Lauren button-down shirt, and his jeans are tucked into muddy boots. His refusal to use contractions, eliding pronouns and verbs, would lend his speech an archaic formality if it weren't studded with curse words.

THOMAS Haden Church may not have won the best supporting actor Oscar for his witty yet poignant performance in 2004's hit "Sideways" as a middle-aged actor who comes of age. But he has won a slew of choice acting jobs thanks to his memorable turn. The 44-year-old Texan, who came to fame 16 years ago in the NBC sitcom "Wings," is in production on director Sam Raimi's third installment of the "Spider-Man" franchise, playing the villainous Sandman.