Random items and Surreal Life

It's been awhile, so here's a few media odds and ends:

Wonderland (2003) starring Val Kilmer as porn legend John Holmes in a story about his alleged involvement with the Wonderland murders of the early 80's. The movie plays out like "CSI Gone Wild" with a choppy story, flashy direction and a lot of conjecture. Kilmer never really convinces as being John Holmes though he does bring the proper amount of selfish pathos to the character. Sadly, the movie drowns in a grimy, sleazy pool of LA jadedness that is more cynical and harsh than any movie the actual John Holmes ever shot. Boogie Nights this ain't.

Wild Strawberries (195?) is a classic film by Ingmar Bergman about an aging doctor who has a Salvador Dali dream about his death and decides to start living. The doctor takes a car trip to his ceremony, visiting his old haunts and building relationships with his daughter in law plus a few hitchhikers. A moving film.

Also, I have been revisiting the Red Hot Chili Peppers Stadium Arcadium (2006). The double CD took awhile to really dig into, but it has proved to be a strong CD over time. The grooves are sharp and memorable with enough left turns in the music to keep it from being predicable. Great fun!

But what my wife and I have been watching closely in a piece of reality tv that truly highlights the vanity of some people's egos. That show is VH1's Surreal Life Fame Games. Surreal Life veterans such as Vanilla Ice, Ron Jeremy, Traci Bingham, CC Deville, Chyna, Bridgette Nielsen, Webster, Mini Me and Andrea Lowell (I don't know who she is either) live in a lush house in Vegas. They compete with each other by performing contests for celebrity status and the loser goes to the "B-List", where they live like...normal people! The B List is a little tacky in its decor, but really it's sleeping in twin beds in a large room.

But, the B list is enough to unnerve these celebrities and cause them to unravel. This is where the magic of this show lies. It's really funny to watch these pampered celebrites who really aren't all that famous to start with become unglued because they have to play ping pong or open their own car door at a hotel. Chyna became so upset she started trash talking Mini Me in a van (what's more pathetic than seeing a former WWE wrestler insult someone no higher than her knee). Bridgette Nielsen (age has not been kind to her) keeps threatening to leave because it's too much for her.

What's better is the clips of the future episodes promise more! Vanilla Ice (the most grounded and human so far of all the celebs) gets into it with Ron Jeremy (and I don't mean in a "Ron Jeremy" kind of way). They trash their fancy rooms in anger. All the while host Robin Leach smirks his way to hell, loving every chance he gets to needle these people. While this show definitely follows the recent reality trend of emphasizing Jerry Springer like conflict, watching these king size egos take a hit will keep us watching for the rest of the season.