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rgweston1
Reviews
Wonderland (2003)
Traffic without an interesting story
If you've seen Rush, if you've seen Blow, if you've seen Traffic, you've seen Wonderland. Watch the E! True Hollywood Story for the John Holmes story, skip this movie.
The problem with this movie is that it told the wrong story. The interesting aspect of the John Holmes story isn't the drug deal gone bad, it's not even in John Holmes at all, he's peripheral to the real story. The real story is his wife and her relationship to him, and his girlfriend. That's the story I wanted to see while watching this movie. More Lisa Kudrow, less Val. She has a fascinating story, sticking by him and supporting him even after leaving him, even after the drug deal, and staying so close and protective of the girlfriend. This woman is the interesting story in the saga that is John Holmes.
The Company (2003)
Lessons in Passive Aggressiveness and how not to care about Characters
Ugh. The problem with The Company is that it's not a Robert Altman film. His touch is evident in the filmmaking and fly-on-the-Wall feel of the movie, but it's not his movie. It's Neve Campbell's, who wrote, produced, and starred in it. Campbell spent years with the national ballet and this movie was a labor of that passion. However, that is precisely where it goes wrong. It shoots for the wrong audience. Dancers will likely love this movie but they are the choir. They know how a dance company works, the back dealing and politics. They don't need this movie. The rest of us don't learn anything, or at least learn just enough to know that professional dancing is a horrible way to live. The dancing was beautiful, including Neve's, although she doesn't look quite as polished as her back ups in the company, but the characters were shallow and you are never given anything to grab onto to care about any of them. The only ones you root for the ones who are injured or fired so they can get out of that horrible horrible place. Such a disappointment on so many levels. The only thing that does come off well is the Joffrey. You actually leave the theater wondering if the Ballet company underwrote the production as a marketing expense.