The main reason I wanted to cover this film was Alan’s presence at the press junket. As a huge fan of his work since “Die Hard,” getting the chance to speak with Alan was a real thrill. And while I wanted to ask about his entire body of work…when you only get 4 minutes to ask all your questions…you have to unfortunately pick one thing and try your best. So I went with “Galaxy Quest.” Say what you will about this film…but I love it. And if you were to watch it now….you might come around to my opinion on it… Anyway, if you’re a fan of Alan’s, I hope you like the interview.

Now about that standard opening….

Opening this week, in limited release, is “Bottle Shock.” The film played at this year’s

Sundance Film Festival and it’s the story of what happened to the wine industry in 1976.

Although any store you go into nowadays stocks a huge selection of California wines, there was a time when the world didn’t think much of wine produced in the United States. It was the same time that wine produced anywhere but France was considered subpar.

But what happened in 1976 changed all that.

It was the year that a small American winery bested the French wines of the time and sent the wine industry into a tizzy – putting California wines on the map for good.

Based on that true story, Bottle Shock chronicles the events leading up to the famous ‘Judgment of Paris’ tastings, told through the lives of father and son, Jim and Bo Barrett. A former real estate attorney, Jim (Bill Pullman) sacrificed everything to realize his dream of creating the perfect hand-crafted chardonnay. His business, however, is struggling, and he’s not only trying to overcome differences with his slacker son (Chris Pine), but is also fighting off the creditors.

Meanwhile in Paris, unwitting British wine shop owner Steven Spurrier (Alan Rickman) hopes to revive his own failing business by sponsoring a competition which will pit the traditional French powerhouse against the California upstarts.  Little did Steven and Jim realize that they were both on course to change the history of wine forever.

Anyway, to help promote the film I recently sat down with most of the cast and the interview below is with Freddy Rodriguez and Rachael Taylor. As usual, I listed what we talked about above the interview.

Finally, if you’d like to watch some movie clips from “Bottle Shock,” click here. 

Alan Rickman

• Since he was going to have to drink a lot of wine and eat good food for this role, how long did he debate taking this part…
• Did he research the part and is he now a collector of wine
• How does he pick his projects
• Did he know the actual story that the movie is based on
• And the finale is…..Galaxy Quest! A film I love...