PAPER
Cinemaniac
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Out this week on DVD is the crackpot film by Harmony Korine (Gummo, screenplay for Kids), Mister Lonely. It's about a Michael Jackson impersonator (Diego Luna) moonwalking on the streets of Paris for spare change who meets a Marilyn Monroe impersonator (Samantha Morton) who convinces him to go with her to a commune in Scotland. This castle-like enclave houses other imitators (Madonna, The Pope, Abe Lincoln, Sammy Davis Jr., The Three Stooges, etc.). Meanwhile there's an unrelated story set in a Latin American jungle about skydiving nuns who leap without parachutes from planes (driven by a Priest played by Werner Herzog) and miraculously land unharmed. Yes, it’s that weird. But there are parts that are just wonderful -- a musical show the commune puts on is particularly sublime. But, unfortunately, it’s way too long and eventually runs of of steam. Nonetheless, seeing Anita Pallenberg (as a Queen Elizabeth impersonator) reunited with her Performance costar James Fox (as The Pope) is quite heavenly.

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