Well, hello there, kind folks. If you’re visiting this blog of mine, I presume that you have a certain interest in the cinema. As for me, even since my early childhood, I have had a deep love of everything related to movies and television. As far as I can remember, I have been more at ease in front of a screen than in the yard, outside, playing. It is a great way to travel, though other people’s stories, without having to foot any kind of steep bill. Over the years, I feel that movie-watching has even fuelled my own creativity.

All that being said, I welcome you in my Cinephile’s Nest. I hope you enjoy it here, feel free to come back at any time. Here you will find reviews of current movies and older ones. TV shows also. Some classics that have remained some of my favourites, some that have disappointed me. I will use a very basic star (*) system to grade them from 1 to 5 (5 being sliced bread level). Remember, these are just my tastes. I will try to explain in each review what I liked about these particular movies, without giving spoilers.

Il y aura aussi des critiques en français pour les films francophones, car j'aime également le cinéma dans ma langue maternelle. Avant d'apprendre l'anglais, plus jeune, je louais des tonnes de films traduits en français, surtout ceux de Bud Spencer et Terrence Hill. Ma mère a eu le choc de sa vie lorsqu'un jour, dans la boîte d'un de ces films, Deep Throat avait malencontreusement inséré. Une expérience formatrice pour le jeune cinéphile que je suis.

Bienvenue à tous, amusez-vous bien.

I welcome you all here, enjoy yourself.

Thursday, October 6, 2016

Wonderland (2003)

Genre: Drama
Directed by: James Cox
Cast: Val Kilmer, Kate Bosworth, Lisa Kudrow
Running time: 104 minutes



On July 1, 1981, four people were murdered in an apartment on Wonderland Avenue, in the Laurel Canyon section of Los Angeles, as retaliation for a robbery committed in gangster Eddie Nash’s house. Famous porn actor John Holmes, who was at that point a junky playing both parties involved in this tragic conflict to score some dope and money, was a suspected accomplice in these murders.

Val Kilmer offered a decent performance as John Holmes. He did not attain Jim Morrison-like levels here, but he was still good. Kate Bosworth was very good as Dawn Schiller, John Holmes’ underage girlfriend. She was very convincing as the young lost soul, looking for love in the wrong places and searching for something to hold on to.

As for the film itself, it is your generic dark crime drama that fails in telling a compelling story. It is very difficult, based on what is put on screen, to care for these characters in any way. By the end of the movie, it felt like nothing more than a lost opportunity. It could have been so much better.


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