Wonderland

Wonderland has a lot of things in common with the 1997 Paul Thomas Anderson movie Boogie Nights. While both movies speak about a pornographic actor in the 80's, only one happens to be based on a true story and it's Wonderland. Directed by James Cox (Highway), Wonderland is based on the ups and down of the life of the porn star legend John Holmes or the man with the 13 and a half dick played by Val Kilmer.

The cast is simply all-star with the likes of Kate Bosworth (Blue Crush), Lisa Kudrow (Friends), an almost inrecognizable Dylan Mcdermott (The Practice), Josh Lucas (Stealth), Tim Blake Nelson (Minority Report), Christina Applegate (Married With Children), Carrie Fisher (Star Wars), Janeane Garofolo (Dogma), Michael Pitt (Dreamers) hell even Paris Hilton plays a sex bunny in the movie. While some actors are better than others, Val Kilmer is truly a great lead maybe it's something to do with his hair being long; remember his breakthrough role in the Doors? The other great surprise is Dylan McDermott who I was amazed to find out was actually in the picture when reading the credits. Wonderland was also the first chance for Lisa Kudrow to play a normal human being with an IQ over 35 and she unfortunately could not pull it off.

While some may criticize the idea of the movie being another one of those "based on a true story" genre, the movie is shot quite interestingly keeping the audience unsure of where it will lead them next. In a day in age where it seems that audiences are only interested in non-fiction movies, Wonerland is a nice surprise and is a definite recommendation for movie lovers.