10 Subtle Movie Jokes That Probably Went Straight Over Your Head

2. Miles The Hypocrite - Sideways

Here's a joke so subtle that it almost backflips into "this is no longer a joke" territory, but it's worth noting because it's actually quite funny. Those familiar with wine should find it hilarious, anyway.

In the movie Sideways, Miles (Paul Giamatti) and his best friend Jack (Thomas Haden Church) embark on a wine-tasting trip through California. Along the way, Miles, a wine expert, can be heard mentioning how little he likes wines of both the Merlot and Cabernet Franc varieties. He spends almost the entire movie disparaging them, in fact. At the end of the movie, though, Miles uncorks what he considers to be his ultimate wine - the one that he's been saving for his entire life, to open at a very special moment.

The wine is a '61 Cheval Blanc, by the way, which will mean nothing to those who know nothing about wine (myself included), but here lies the sum of the joke: Cheval Blanc is, in fact, a Merlot and Cabernet Franc blend. This, of course, must've been apparent to the filmmakers, who presumably included it because they knew that most movie-goers wouldn't understand. Subtle, with a capital "S."