Rex Pickett on Road Movies

Sideways novelist Rex Pickett, whose book was adapted into the acclaimed film of the same name last year by Alexander Payne, has revealed his all-time top-10 road movies on Fandango.com. His picks include The Motorcycle Diaries, The Last Detail, Kings of the Road and…Sideways.

“When I was asked if I would consider including it, my first reaction was that it wouldn’t be appropriate,” he writes. “How self-aggrandizing. But they begged, so here goes: Sideways is more properly what I term a ‘sojourn’ movie - i.e., the characters go somewhere, stop, hang out, then return. Critics have been pretty damn favorable to it - hell, it garners a 96 on rottentomatoes.com - but I’m not going to render an opinion on whether I think it’ll stand the test of time or not. What I personally like about the film - aside from the fact that it’s a very faithful adaptation of my book and unwittingly redeems my seven years in the trenches laboring over two road movies of my own - is how it dares to risk its characters’ apparent absence of likability.” Pickett discussed his picks further during an interview with Barbara Bogaev on public radio’s Weekend America program.

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