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Film Friday: Sex With Lonely Strangers
Wow! Weird. Apparently we didn’t review Mister Lonely, even though we saw it at the Toronto International Film Festival last year. Why didn’t we? Who knows. Still, at least we get a chance to talk about it now, as it’s getting released this week (well, in the Cumberland, anyway).
Mister Lonely is a film…well, to be honest, it’s two films. Cut into one, more or less randomly. One is the story of a lonely Michael Jackson impersonator following a Marilyn Monroe impersonator to a commune in the Scottish Highlands, and the other features Werner Herzog as a priest struggling with his faith over the discovery of some nuns’ remarkable powers (I won’t spoil it).
The problem is, despite all the arguments that could be made for the two stories as reflections of each other, they would be tenuous at best—plus Werner Herzog is so fantastic in his role that he steals the whole show. Surprisingly for Korine, there’s a fair bit of warmth to his characters, though the downbeat endings aren’t exactly going to energize the viewer. It’s gorgeously shot, regularly hilarious, and perhaps thanks to its schizophrenic nature, quite captivating, so there are worse films you could go and see this week for sure.
Like, dare we say it…Sex and the City? Now, we’ve had a brush with claims of sexism already this week, so we’ll have to tread carefully, but speaking personally, this Torontoist could think of few things worse than spending any time in the company of Carrie Bradshaw and her asinine homilies. But that aside, aren’t you personally offended by the advertising blitz that is following this film? It implies that if you are of female persuasion you’re very obviously going to want to see the film (it’s Sex and the City!), and more, that you’re thrilled because it’s got all those things you girls love—fashion! shoes! and (swoon) a marriage!
Anyway, the reviews are interesting. Most of the reviewers are male, and they have tended to not like it, so let’s balance that out (and our own misgivings) with the most positive review we could find, from the Sun‘s Lindsay Ward. “From a megafan’s perspective, let me tell you … it’s fabulous,” she says, saying it plays out “like a very extended episode.”
I guess that’s the best people could hope for, right?
This week sees the release of The Strangers, too. How did this get greenlit? Sure, the poster looks kind of cool, but is there really any need for another house invasion slasher/thriller by now? What can they possibly add? By the reviews, apparently nothing. Andrew Dowler at Now says, “No backstory, no bizarre villain, no atmospheric setting, just people creeping around and making pathetic attempts to fight back.”
(And yes, we’re well aware films as recent as Inside have had a twist on the house invasion genre. But man! We could smell The Strangers‘ bog standardness a mile off.)
Also on release this week is Planet B-Boy, which played well at Hot Docs, not that we managed to check it out. It’s now playing at the Royal, and Eye‘s Jason Anderson reviews it positively, calling it a “conventionally constructed but captivating doc.”
And finally, don’t forget the screening of Troll 2 at the Bloor, covered by Jonathan Goldsbie.