ON SCREEN

Mister Lonely

Diego Luna, Samantha Morton, Werner Herzog
NR, 112 minutes (IFC Films)
one-half star

Thuddingly indulgent writer-director Harmony Korine (Gummo, Julien Donkey-Boy) returns with another tedious wallow, the kind of pretentious, patronizing pap that gives art films a bad name. This time, the talented Luna stars as a Michael Jackson impersonator who leads a solitary and friendless existence in Paris. While performing at an old folks' home (where “Michael” tells the pensioners they don't have to die if they just decide to stay young forever), he meets a Marilyn Monroe impersonator (Morton) who whisks him off to a collective in Scotland where everyone pretends to be someone else. (“Marilyn” is married to a Charlie Chaplin wannabe, and their young daughter dresses up as Shirley Temple. Other residents do themselves up as the Pope, the Three Stooges, and Abe Lincoln, among others.) Woven throughout is a subplot about nuns who realize they can skydive without parachutes. None of it means a damn thing. The talented Luna and Morton deserve better than this kind of claptrap. —ALONSO DURALDE

Water Lilies

Pauline Acquart, Louis Blanchère, Adele Haenel
R, 80 minutes, Koch Lorber Releasing
***

Filled with poignancy and a little heartbreak, Water Lilies is a terrific, albeit slight coming-of-age film. Marie (Pauline Acquart), a mere wisp of a teen, is an outsider who becomes smitten with the self-confident Floriane (Adele Haenel), a synchronized swimming goddess. As she acknowledges her attraction to Floriane, Marie's friendship with Anne (Louise Blachère) ebbs and flows. Water Lilies finds considerable drama in the romantic entanglements of these characters: Anne lusts after François (Warren Jacquin), who is Marie's boyfriend; Floriane uses Marie to see François, and so it goes. Writer/director Céline Sciamma captures the adolescent angst not in words so much as in visual cues: when Marie, who is fascinated by nubile young girls' bodies, is invited into the pool by Floriane, she steps tentatively, hesitantly, into the water. Sciamma is considerably observant. Her film depicts the budding, nascent sexuality of these teenagers—gay, straight, curious, ashamed, and afraid—with remarkable sensitivity and grace. —GARY M. KRAMER

LIMITED RUN

Midnight Cowboy

Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman star —in the only X-rated film to win the Best Picture Oscar—as a male hustler and his consumptive companion. Nuart Theatre. Wed., May 7. 7:30 p.m. $9.50. 310/473-8530.

Some Like It Hot

Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon don outrageous drag to become Josephine and Daphne and cozy up to sexy Marilyn while avoiding mobsters in Billy Wilder's timeless film. Nuart Theatre. Thurs., May 8. 7:30 p.m. $9.50. 310/473-8530.

Sappho

The melodrama follows a beautiful vamp's carnal deceitfulness in early 1920's Europe, catalyzing seduction, destruction, insanity, betrayal, and scandal galore! Billy Wilder Theater. Sun., May 11. 7 p.m. $10. www.cinema.ucla.edu.

Payment on Demand

In this realistic portrayal of a ‘50s taboo—divorce—a vengeful Bette Davis (I'm scared already) takes her ex-husband to the cleaners while reflecting on the failure of her marriage. LACMA. Sat., May 17. 9:40 p.m. $9. www.lacma.org.

Homo Must

Kiss of the Spider Woman

Hector Babenco directs the adaptation of Manuel Puig's moving tale of the bond between two Argentine prisoners, with William Hurt winning an Oscar for his portrayal of the vulnerable Molina. LACMA. Thurs., May 15. 9 p.m. Free admission. www.lacma.org.

ON DVD

Cover

Aujanue Ellis, Raz Adoti and Vivica A. Fox
**

This earnest misfire scores points for trying to tackle a taboo subject, but its execution fails, and frankly, it just takes too long to get there. The first 3/4 of the film play out like a mediocre Law & Order mystery that’s not so mysterious. It isn’t giving too much away to say that Valerie’s (Aujanue Ellis) husband Dutch (Raz Adoti) is cheating on her—with a man! But did she commit murder? Of course, there are bigger questions being asked about how being gay is dealt with within the African-American community, but the whole film is oddly structured around the good Christian woman’s “did-she-or-didn’t-she” interrogation rather than the far more interesting issue of men on the down-low. Director Bill Duke is trying to be socially aware and make a point—or at least express an opinion—but the melodrama succeeds in overshadowing the intended conversation about how homophobia is seemingly innate in much of the African-American community, even in the men who have sex with other men. —WALLY KING

The Living End: Remixed and Remastered

Craig Gilmore and Mike Dytri
***

Writer-director Gregg Araki’s unsentimental and unsettling look at the caustic relationship between two HIV-positive gay men on a tumultuous road trip isn’t always easy to watch, but it’s definitely worth a look—or a revisit if you’re already familiar with the openly gay filmmaker’s work. This fully-restored DVD boasts noticeably improved sound and picture quality over its 1992 incarnation. Jon (Craig Gilmore) has just learned his HIV status—in 1992 it’s a death sentence—and is in a state of shock when he picks up a hot hitchhiker named Luke (Mike Dytri) whose just killed three potential gay bashers. Their worlds collide, and soon they find themselves on the run living lives free of consequence and conscience. Araki’s bleak look at life as seen through the eyes of HIV-positive men is unrelenting and unapologetic and despite some black humor, End is indie cinema plainly and purposefully all about rage. —W.K.