USA, 2003
Director: James Cox
Cast: Val Kilmer, Kate Bosworth
Even with a maximum amount of buzz surrounding it, Wonderland all but skipped theaters, at least in my area. And while this type of theater booking reasoning has always bothered me, I can see why Hollywood does it. After working in a theater for so long, you begin to understand that most of the public are idiots who clamor for movies about souped-up cars and live-action versions of fat cartoon cats. Why lose money on a smaller film while you can fill up a stadium-seater with 168 screens of Lord of the Rings?

This brings me to home video. It’s really the only way to see any small films in Oklahoma. And even then, when all you have is Blockbuster and Hollywood, it’s still a ***censored*** Goonie-treasure hunt. While lately the Blockbuster by my house has been better (they did have plenty of unrented copies of Beyond Re-Animator and Lost in Translation last week), it’s always hit-and-miss. So, naturally, even though I did have low hopes for the film itself, I was glad to see that, ten minutes before closing on a Wednesday night, there were still plenty of copies of Wonderland, all waiting to be checked out.

One of my favorite sub-genres of film are biopics about the more outré members (no pun intended) of society, especially when it comes to porn and the like, and with a film like this, I bet everyone was expecting a more true to life version of Boogie Nights, or a brilliant mystery like Auto-Focus. Unfortunately, it was more like Blow, except with John Holmes and no actual blowing.

Horribly mis-directed by James Cox, Wonderland is a slap-dash retelling of the little-known Wonderland murders that apparently implicated the then ex-porn star/ then current coke-head John Holmes. It’s told in a low-rent Kurosawa multiple-POV non-linear fashion that’s more annoying than innovative. And that’s basically it. We learn nothing. We’re really not told anything. We’re just shown a glimpse into the lives of grimy, irritating characters that sit around non-stop, snort coke and plan botched heists.

Val Kilmer stars as Johnny “Wadd” Holmes, but I don’t think he knows it. The gloriously overrated current “it girl” Kate (no relation to Brian) Bosworth is his annoying girlfriend. Lisa Kudrow, Josh Lucas and Eric Bogosian are in there somewhere too. Heir/skank Paris Hilton has a wordless, less-than-a-minute cameo as a girl on a boat (actually, not giving her any lines was the only good idea this film had, but if he truly had any good ideas, he would of not had her at in this all).  Everyone overacts, everyone over-emotes, everyone in this movie sucks and should be blacklisted from Hollywood.

Also—don’t get fooled into thinking this movie is about John Holmes—it’s not. There is no interesting life-history, no behind the scenes and not one glimpse of his 13-inch manhood. Not one. Change the main character and this movie could have been a standard crime thriller. It could have been about Gary Coleman and you wouldn’t have had to of changed one line of dialogue. And how do you have a movie about John Holmes and not have any sex? That’s like making a movie about the Gospel of John and not including Christ—it just makes no sense.

On the plus side, included on the second disc is the feature-length, VCA-made documentary Wadd. This is a billion times better than Wonderland itself, and tells you more than the actual movie does. If it’s available individually, I say snap it up.

Overall, Wonderland isn’t even the price of a rental. It’s cheaper just to take a ***censored*** and smear it on the TV, because it’s the exact same thing at half the price.

Louis Fowler is a frequent contributor to Cinema Eye and Hitch Magazine. He is also the publisher of Damaged Magazine, a new issue of which is coming soon.

UK/Canada 2003
Director: Deepa Mehta
Score: ***

The Republic of Love, Mehta’s follow-up film to Bollywood Hollywood shows her once again in a jovial romantic mood experimenting with camera angles like overhead, slanted and laterally reversed shots before settling down with a scene.  Her tongue-in-cheek opening sequence involving the training of the perfect home-maker, which incidentally has nothing to do with the rest of the film, is indicative of the tone her film is to follow.  Republic is basically a white Canadian romantic comedy filmed in Toronto, (with British and Canadian actors) that traces the affair between a radio talk show host, Tom (Bruce Greenwood) and his newly found true love-at-first-sight, museum curator Fay (Emilie Fox).  Tom has survived three divorces while Fay is surviving a three-year long relationship.  Interestingly enough, their love affair is contrasted with Tom’s parent’s perfect marriage - until Tom and Fay get together and Tom’s dad (Edward Fox) decides to leave mother. 

Mehta has the knack of introducing bright and lively sequences in her films.  One love scene involving foot fetishes is particularly hilarious.  There are some spirited performances, notably from the stellar supporting cast of Edward Fox, Jackie Burroughs, Martha Henry and Claire Bloom.  The film is based on the late Pulitzer Prize winner Carol Shield’s novel, but this emotionless telling plays like a slightly upgraded Harlequin novel.  An interesting point to note is Mehta’s Indian influence – in the (film’s) music and in her casting of the minor roles. 

Review by Gilbert Seah.

Spain/2002
Director: Emilio Martinez Lazaro
Score: **

The Other Side of the Bed is the kind of bedroom farce that the hot-blooded Spanish claim they are good at making.  Nominated for multiple Goyas (the Spanish equivalent of the Academy Awards), the film was also a box-office hit in 2002 but took its time in reaching North American theatres.

The film centers on the love affairs of two couples.  At the start, couple Javier (Ernesto Alterio) and girlfriend Sonia (Raz Vega) comfort their distraught friend Pedro (Guillermo Toeldo) that his girlfriend Paula’s (Natalia Verbeke) leaving him is just a phase.  Paula has fallen in love with someone else.  It does not take long for the viewer to guess that the secret lover is none other than Javier himself nor predict that Sonia will eventually fall for Pedro.  Supporting characters are thrown in for good measure, like a skirt-chasing Rafa (Alberto San Juan) and the bumbling private-eye (Ramon Barea) Pedro hires to find Paula’s lover.

All these antics should provide ample opportunity for comedic high jinks but the humour is slight if funny at all.  The film’s best scene – the tennis match in which both Javier and Pedro are paired up, after they discover that each has slept with the other’s girl is less hilarious than expected.  Lazaro’s decision to add song-and-dance numbers in between segments do not work that well either, especially for non-Spanish viewers unfamiliar with the local pop songs.  The central character Javier, which turns out to be more irritating than amusing because of his attitude and the smugness of his sleeping around, does not help in making the film more likeable either.  The supporting cast fare better, especially San Juan as Rafa who talks more than he can handle.  His spill on why he gets the uglier girls is particularly amusing.

Probably the only reason the film got a release (none of the other Lazaros’ films have) is the fact that it garnered various awards.  The film was originally slotted to open on St. Valentine’s weekend, but is delayed two weeks, if not already for an entire year. Obviously, the distributors do not have high hopes for this comedy.

Review by Gilbert Seah.

2003, Action
Director: Kenta Fukusaku
Starring: Tatsuya Fujiwara, Ai Maeda, Riki Takeuchi,

Plot: Japan has fallen victim of the Wild 7, a group lead by Shuya Nanahara, a survivor of the Battle Royale program. Wild 7 takes credit for the bombing and declares a war against the Japanese government. And the government responds the way it only knows, it launches a new Battle Royale program. And a lucky class of junior high graduates is sent on to a mission of “do-or-die” to take out Wild 7.

Just like the original Battle Royale, the US will not ever welcome Battle Royale II, ever. This is why. The film is very sympathetic to terrorism. And if that’s not bad enough, the country responsible for the fascist state of affairs in the film is, you guessed it, the US. This film is directed by Kenta Fukusaku. He took over the project shortly after death of his father. And the result is a disappointing one. Just like the original, an over-the-top performance by Tatsuya Fujiwara is not easy to watch. The gunfights are not really exciting. The film is about individual choices and how society prevents us from making them. It is way too thematic and metaphoric, it seems not enough thought was given to making the plot of the film as coherent as it should or could have been.

I am sure there are people who will enjoy Battle Royale II for its over-the-top everything. But the film feels just plain silly. And if you were truly impressed by the original, well, you may be disappointed.

Review by Shogo.

Can/Fr/Belg 2002
Director: Sylvain Chomet
Score: *****

Cutesy and adorable characters are replaced by often obese and grotesque figures in Quebecois Sylvain Chomet’s fascinating and imaginative new animated flick that has deservedly been nominated for the upcoming Academy Award for Best Animated feature alongside Finding Nemo and (yes- ugh!) Brother Bear.  From the film’s first sequence, which pays tribute to the old Felix the Cat and Betty Boop type TV cartoons, the film gets better and better, finally ending in a hilarious bicycle/limo chase through the streets of imaginary Belleville.

The marvel of it all is that this foreign film goes without subtitles.  Yet, the complicated plot involving the granny training Champion (the grandson) for le tour de France, the abduction of the three cyclists, her heroic rescue with the faithful dog in the city of Belleville, the encounter with the singing ‘triplets’ is simple and intriguing enough to follow.  The film’s charm derives from Chomet’s grand imagination.  The cyclist wind-vane changing direction in the wind and the slowing down of the train each time it passes the cottage window, so that the faces of the passengers can be seen by Bruno, the dog particularly stand out.  But it is the colours (often yellowish brown), caricatures of real-life figures and dark shadowy city with the slanted buildings that give the film is characteristic look.  Art director Evgeni Tomov claims to have got his inspiration from Caro and Jeunet’s Delicatessen and City of Lost Children.  And it shows.

Les Triplettes was also nominated for best song and with reason.  Leaving the cinema, the catchy tune Belleville Rendezvous stays in the head for at least a day or two.  Les Triplettes is not to be missed for its sheer achievement!

Some points to note. The North American title goes as THE TRIPLETS OF BELLEVILLE and the British title Belleville Rendez-vous.  In Canada, this film only just opened a few weeks back while the U.S and Britain were fortunate to have it played since last year.  And if you were in London or Dublin during the festive season, BBC2 played the entire film on prime time at 9 pm Christmas Day.

Review by Gilbert Seah