MISTER LONELY (Seville/Paradox) Judging by Mister Lonely’s low-key reception thus far, Harmony Korine’s long hiatus from feature filmmaking has badly diminished his cool factor. On the other hand, it’s nice to see he’s done some growing up in the eight years between his cantankerous Dogme exercise julien donkey-boy and this uneven but endearing story of a Michael Jackson impersonator (Diego Luna) who becomes part of a remote commune populated by like-minded faux-celebs, including Samantha Morton as a kind-hearted Marilyn Monroe and Denis Lavant as a cruel Charlie Chaplin. As weird as that may sound, the parallel plotline involving Werner Herzog and a posse of flying nuns yields the most memorable moments of lunacy.
Yet Mister Lonely’s prevailing tone is one of wary optimism — it feels like the work of an artist who’s discovered that the world’s not as awful as he initially assumed. Too long by half an hour, the movie badly belabours this point but its depth of feeling is a welcome surprise. The DVD adds deleted scenes and a making-of featurette, though hardcore Harmony fans should also invest in the soundtrack disc with music from Spiritualized’s Jason Pierce and the Sun City Girls.
THE EARRINGS OF MADAME DE… (Criterion) The most sumptuous yet most acerbic of Max Ophüls’ romantic roundelays — another, La Ronde, also arrives this week — this 1953 drama makes a long-overdue appearance on DVD. Giving it the deluxe treatment the movie so richly deserves, Criterion augments its new digital transfer with a video introduction by Paul Thomas Anderson, commentary by scholars Susan White and Gaylyn Studlar, a visual analysis by Tag Gallagher and new interviews with Ophuls’ surviving collaborators. Among the supplementary reading materials is the Louise de Vilmorin novel on which the movie is based. What? No free jewellery too?
Also out this week
SPEED RACER (Warner) Audiences may have passed on the Wachowski brothers’ supercharged brand of live-action anime but no Hollywood movie this year can match it as a piece of eye candy. Viewers sensitive to strobe lights or the sight of a chimpanzee in a hat are advised to give it a pass. EXTRAS: featurettes.
YOUNG @ HEART (Fox) Watch oldies sing newies in this doc about a chorus of seniors whose repertoire includes the Ramones’ “I Wanna Be Sedated” and Sonic Youth’s “Schizophrenia.” If they really wanted to impress me, they’d learn some Throbbing Gristle. EXTRAS: deleted scenes, extra performance clips.
88 MINUTES (Sony) Al Pacino proceeds through this rote thriller with all the enthusiasm of a man washing his gym clothes. EXTRAS: filmmaker commentary, featurettes, alternate ending.
THE LOVE GURU (Paramount) Spare a minute of silence in remembrance of Mike Myers’ career. EXTRAS: featurettes, extended versions of scenes plenty overextended already.
Out Sept 23
Leatherheads, Deception, Run, Fat Boy, Run and Sex and the City: The Movie — wouldn’t you rather spend your money on a new handbag? I know I would.