Wonderland
by James Cox
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Dylan McDermott, Josh Lucas, Kate Bosworth, Lisa Kudrow, Val KilmerDirector: James Cox
Brand: Lions Gate
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 104 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-02-06
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Lions Gate
Movie Reviews of Wonderland
Movie Review: drugs and death in wonderland
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a very good movie which tells about the horrendous wonderland murders of 1981. There is little doubt that John Holmes was at the murders wether he was forced to kill someone or not is not known. However the movie does depict the ruined lives of hard drug addicted people whose very existance is a nightmare wether they live in wonderland or not. They had degenerated into shambling people whose only reason to exist was to get high.
One reviewer says this movie doesn't make them sympathetic, well in truth , why these were people sinking into the abyss , all of their good qualities were lost in drug addiction. It reminded me of the many people I know who sank into the swamp of addiction. Who they were was gone mainly buried in the false promises of the drug culture, that brotherhood and good times will last, instead of a sordid selfabsorbed reality wether you can handle it or not. In fact I lost a friend two weeks ago , he was shot in the head over drugs. He was two credits away from his college degree too. This movie really does a great job in capturing the early 80's, a time of truly great music and longer hair on men was still around mainly. (it would fade out mainly for most men in a few years time though), val kilmer does a great job here depicting john holmes as the junkie he had become, ready to sell out anyone for a snort, and eric b is excellent as the gangster nash; the corrupted man who has enough money to escape justice. In fact the whole cast is excellent in this movie , you get a feeling for the reality of lost dreams not only in holmes life; who died of aids 7 years later but of everyone involved , people who just wanted to party and now have no existance but gettting high really, it's the trap that has destroyed millions of lives since the 60's ( a many more earlier but it wasn't mainstreamed then) , and there is no wonderland for most of us in that lifestyle even in los angelos , unless it's like this well made movie which gives us both sides of the story and lets you decide what most likely happened. The sad fact is that four people who were lost souls finally lost their lives and there was little justice for them. I think everyone involved with this movie did a fine job in bringing back a lost drug era , the coke era, which was soon to be replaced by the even more deadly crack and meth eras. This one is worth owning if you are a true crime fan or just a fan of great music because the soundtrack to this one is stellar.
Summary of Wonderland
On the afternoon of July 1, 1981, Los Angeles police responded to a distress call on Wonderland Avenue and discovered a grisly quadruple homicide. The police investigation that followed uncovered two versions of the events leading up to the brutal murders - both involving legendary porn actor John Holmes. You're about to experience both versions.The dark underside of Boogie Nights is tracked in Wonderland, a sleaze-filled look at the notorious "Wonderland Murders" of 1981. The movie attempts to explain how the legendarily endowed porn actor John C. Holmes was involved in the killings, while deliberately suggesting the difficulty of knowing the truth of a murky case. The police procedural aspects turn out to be less intriguing than the weirdly hapless domestic life of Holmes (Val Kilmer at his most dazed), who despite his promiscuity continues to rely on his starchy, clean-cut wife (an unflattering role for Lisa Kudrow, but the most interesting character in the picture). Well-known actors--notably a near-unrecognizable Dylan McDermott--slouch through the story, which rather distracts from the aggressively realistic approach. In the end, the unclean aura makes one yearn for the stylized ingenuity of Boogie Nights, or at least a reason to be watching this story this way. --Robert Horton
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