PARALLEL (not to be confused with the 2023 Fanatsy Romance or the 2018 Mads Mikkelsen film) is the American remake of the 2019 Chinese sci-fi film PARALLEL FOREST. The film came about due to classic Hollywood talent agency “packaging” - Paradigm Talent Agency partnered with the original Chinese producers, and knew that two of their top performers, brothers Aldis and Edwin Hodge, were looking for material for thier new upstart production company. Surprisingly, the brothers decided they not only wanted to co-produce and co-star in the project, but they also wanted to try their hand at writing the new script together.
So write it they did (with screenwriter Jonothan Keasy.) Then they brought on additional Paradigm peeps such as director Kourosh Ahari (The Night) and Danielle Deadwyler (objectively the best name ever) in the lead role. The film shot for 16 days in Vancouver and was given a limited theatrical release alongside VOD in February 2024.
The story follows Vanessa, a grief-stricken mother after the loss of a son she shares with husband Alex. Along with Alex’s brother Martel, the couple retreats to Alex’s dead father’s home to cope with their child's death. While wandering in the woods, Vanessa encounters a terrifying doppelgänger — a version of herself from a parallel universe. And in short order she tumbles into a mind-bending exploration in multiverse paths that may either free her from grief or imprison her forever.
This film is a testament to great pre-production and planning. With only three actors and essentially two locations they managed to craft an entire multiverse. (Take notes, Marvel!)
Parallel can be rented or purchased on VOD or streamed in the States on Paramount+.
Episode Chapters
1:48 Wine Trivia Question of the Week
3:06 Parallel - A Remake Made via "Packaging" Talent
11:08 Could You Take Out Your Own "Other"?
18:18 Differences Between the Original and this Remake (spoiler free!)
29:03 Thoughts on the Ending (again, spoiler free!)
32:44 The Importance of Black Representation (Expecially Decision Making)
38:34 Dave's Wine Pairing: Lagrein
44:38 Dallas' Wine Pairing: Carmenere (plus Camminare Noir)
53:54 Wrap Up!
1:01:14 Outtakes
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Wine Trivia Question of the Week
Today's movie is all about parallel universes. If there were such a thing - and there very well might be, don't be a cynical asshole like Dave - what would be the GREATEST wine grape in ALL universes?
Answer this 100% subjective question based on literally nothing factual above, and then scroll to the bottom of this post to find out the answer as deemed by who-even-fucking-knows?
(And can I just say: I don't even agree with the answer. It just IS the answer, according to the whole of the oenophile universe. Or is that universes?
The Wine Pairings
Bergmannhof KARL Lagrein Riserva 2020, Alto Aldige, Italy
DAVE: Lagrein is a rare indigenous red grape from the Alto Aldige (aka South Tyrol aka Süditrol), releated to Syrah and an offspring of Teroldego, it contains some of the meaty, gamey, peppery qualities that Syrah can display, while maintaining a certain blanace - medium acidity, medium “sweetness" (on the palate, there’s no residual sugar here), medium body, medium tannins, medium alcohol even (13.5%), this is a somewhat rustic red wine that is complete and satisfying while never overpowering.
Because of its unique history and location within the southern Alps and Dolomites (so a certain amount of "Alpine" character), this region grows a wide range of grape varieties that are not usually seen in other parts of Italy. These include Müller-Thurgau, Vernatsch, Lagrein, Sylvaner, Riesling (known in Italian as Riesling Renano), Gewürztraminer (known in Italian as Traminer Aromatico) and some wacky thing called Blatterle.
The cooler climate mixes with mediterranean summers to help craft wines of said “balance”. Bergmanhof is a winery located in the Eppan an der Weinstraße locale, which yes, is still in Italy despite all the German going on there. This region speaks 85% German and only 15% Italian, but still technically in Italy!
Fermentation on the skins in large open wood barrels, the wine undergoes malolactic fermentation then is aged in tonneau (barrel) for 18 months, bottled untreated and unfiltered, then maturation in the bottle for at least 6 months before being released.
I really wanted the depth and meatiness of this red to pair with the intensity of the movie, but also as mentioned this is a wine of balance, and the film is all about characters seeking balance, sifting through parallel universes to find the happiness and center they'd been missing within their own.
Calcu Carmenere Gran Reserva, Colchagua Valley, Chile
DALLAS: This was a fun pairing for me. I knew I wanted something that was full and maybe herbal somehwere between a Cab Sauv and a Syrah. I think this film feels like a bit of an experiment, a successful one but an experiment nonetheless. Everything in the film plays well. And there are no real deficiencies.
So I went for a Carmenere, specifically, the Calcu Carmenere Gran Reserva from the Colchagua Valley. It was quite fruity with herbal peaks.
FUN FACT: Carmenere shares the same parent grape as Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon (as we learned in this week’s Wine Trivia Question), Cabernet Franc. All these grapes display a certain green bell pepper astrigency (caused by a chemical called “pyrazines”) and for a very long time Chile actually thought their Carmere was Merlot! Until DNA testing in the 90’s proved otherwise.
Dave even stumbled upon a wine bidding entry once for a 1985 Chilean “Merlot”, which, dollars to donuts, was actually Carmenere before they knew what they wer egrowing.
FUN FACT 2: Curiously, after digging around for other wines that fit this bill I came across an article from UC Davis entitled, "US Davis Releases 5 new Wine Grape Varieties" dated December 2019.
The long and short of it is that the department Viticulture and Ecology has been actively experimenting with new grape varietals to combat the deadly Pierce's Disease which costs California growers more than 100 million a year. The result of the project if the creation of five new traditionally bred varieties. And one of the three new Red Varieties is the Camminare Noir, which is not unlike the Carmenere with the excpetion of some flavor notes and herbaciousness.
Answer to the Wine Trivia Question of the Week
B) Pinot Noir - Don’t @ me, I’m not the biggest fan of Pinot either. It’s…good. It’s fine. It can be stellar and it can also be very, very generic just like every other wine grape under the sun. But Burgundy (which is actually called Bourgogne) was ahead of the game on mastering Pinot before any other place had mastered anything else, so they have a corner on the mythologizing of their grape, commanding insane prices for basic bottles of very good red wine.
Okay, Bourgogne lovers, don’t @ me, either - love what you love. And let me love the wild variety that exists elsewhere. I just want Pinot to be planted in far fewer places. We do not need as much as we’re growing and making, especially where it isn’t native.
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