the news that Chateau Montelena owners Jim and Bo Barrett are selling their winery to the owners of Cos d’Estournel in Bordeaux right now — two weeks before the release of the movie "Bottle Shock" — is a strong comment on what they think of the film…
not encouraging…
Jon Bonné, Chronicle Wine Editor
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
(07-22) 14:06 PDT CALISTOGA — Chateau Montelena, one of Napa Valley’s best-known wineries, is being purchased by the owner of one of Bordeaux’s top properties 32 years after its Chardonnay trumped France’s best in a famous tasting and helped put California wine on the world stage.
…
Unofficial rumors of a sale have circulated through Wine Country for several months, and the potential deal conveniently comes just days before the Napa Valley premiere of the movie "Bottle Shock," based on the 1973 Montelena Chardonnay outscoring top white Burgundies in the 1976 Judgment of Paris tasting. Both the Barretts and their winemaker at the time, Miljenko "Mike" Grgich, leveraged the 1976 results to become some of the most familiar names in Napa Valley.
Downtown Film Festival: Summer Movie Fare, Hipster Style
If you were wondering what a family-filled movie event in the park would look like if you were an East Side hipster, here’s your answer. The Downtown Film Festival presents Your Name Here, a rock musical and mockumentary for the whole family, as part of their "Summer Screening Mixers." In this version, there will be both non-alcoholic and alcoholic drinks available for the attendees who come early to the party for the "mixer" portion of the evening. Can’t imagine this would be approved in Mayberry, USA, but then again, their movie screenings aren’t held in the courtyard of the Barker Block live-work lofts in Downtown LA.Your Name Here is a coming of age story (what else?) about a teenage band and their parents who are trying to manage them: the film was partially based on director Tamar Halpern‘s own family. Some familiar alt-geek tropes are explored: There’s a punk rock cool chick bass player—shades of Mary Stuart Masterson in Some Kind of Wonderful, anyone? But there’s also a few new ones, like a "narcissistic egg player" (????) and a British kid no one can understand. The original music is written and performed by the kids in the flick.
"In this age of pharmacology, there are a lot of doctors who say children should be on medicine," said Pullman, who attended the screening, along with Fanning and Daniel Barnz, the film’s writer and director. "An incredible number of families are facing this question, and without a lot of preparation. They weren’t raised in an era in which, if you have a child who’s a little jumpy, you got a pill for it."
