NAKED FAME
unrated, 104 mins.

‘Naked Fame” tells the straight-faced story of a big, gay embarrassment. Glenn Ford, aka “Colton Ford,” made a name for himself as the muscleman star of such cinematic gems as “Prowl 3: Genuine Leather” and “Gang Bang Cafe.” But by the age of 40, life as a porn star proved unfulfilling, so Mr. Colton decided to pursue his lifelong dream of becoming a house music diva. With the help of a repellent would-be Svengali and the support of his porn-star boyfriend “Blake Harper,” he cut his first single and headed to New York.

On arriving in his Manhattan hotel room, the aspiring chanteuse unpacked a wardrobe consisting almost entirely of track pants and tank tops. The meetings did not go well. After rescuing a GHB overdose on the streets of Chelsea, the boys tuck their tails between their legs and head back to Hollywood. Drama ensues when Colton fires his obnoxious agent/producer, but an invitation to perform at Britney Spears’s tacky nightclub lifts his spirits. Will his dream come true?

All this is not, as you might be thinking, a satire of circuit-queen himbos directed by Christopher Guest, but an unintentionally hilarious documentary by Christopher Long. A must-see for anyone with an extensive Chi Chi LaRue collection (if you have to ask…) “Naked Fame” is otherwise recommended as an astounding expose of Los Angeles playing itself.

– Nathan Lee

WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE
R, 105 mins.

There’s nothing in “With Friends Like These,” a better-than-it-probably-should-be Hollywood satire, that you haven’t seen before. But there are enough bright performances and laugh-out-loud moments (at least in the first half) for it to keep its head above water.

For a movie about backstabbing, the film is atypically lighthearted. Veteran character actor Robert Costanzo plays Johnny DiMartino as a less-successful version of himself. Hoping one day to be able to play a real character with depth, he’s ecstatic when a casting-agent friend, Theresa (Beverly D’Angelo), lets him in on a secret: Martin Scorsese is coming to town, and he wants to cast an unknown in his upcoming film on Al Capone.

Unable to keep this to himself, Johnny tells two of his best friends Dorian (Jon Tenney), a womanizer despite being married to knockout Samantha (Elle McPherson), and Steve (Adam Arkin). Both are struggling actors, and both secretly try to steal the part from Johnny.

Writer-director Phillip Frank Messina either has a lot of friends or was owed a lot of favors. A relative unknown, he was able to fill his film (which was made back in 1998!) with familiar faces including Garry Marshall, David Strathairn, Michael McKean, and Mr. Scorsese himself. Bill Murray – who enjoys a teflon distinction, much like Christopher Walken, of being able to appear in total schlock yet come out clean – has an extended cameo and provides the biggest laughs here.

Most of all, though, it’s nice to see Mr. Costanzo get a lead role for once.

– Edward Goldberger

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE STREET
unrated, 93 mins.

Given the impressive array of talent involved, “The Other Side of The Street” is surprisingly ho-hum. Much-loved Fernanda Montenegro (“Central Station”) stars as Regina, a senior-citizen police informant. While she is quite good at her job, she gets in trouble when she thinks she witnesses a neighbor murder his wife (sound familiar?). That neighbor turns out to be Carmago (Raul Cortez), a retired judge. Based on his impeccable reputation, the police choose not to pursue this tip, and Regina decides to investigate herself. As she gets to know Carmago, though, she finds herself developing feelings for him.

Writer-director Marcos Bernstein cowrote “Central Station” and is a good storyteller. His film is by no means terrible but is a little boring, more successful as a film about two seniors finding each other than as one of Hitchcockian suspense.

– Edward Goldberger

DIARY OF A MAD BLACK WOMAN
PG-13, 116 mins.

Good Heavens, “Diary of a Mad Black Woman” is bad. Darren Grant’s film seems at first to have the makings of an intelligent drama: An attractive, talented cast in a film about a woman forced to start her life over again certainly has potential, if placed in the right hands. But it turns out to be a stuffy, soap opera romance and an insufferably juvenile and unfunny comedy. The jokes here are stale (“No More Wire Hanger” gags a quarter-century too late) and the drama, however draped in religious overtones, asinine.

Helen (Kimberly Elise) is quite literally thrown out of her house by Charles (Steve Harris), her powerful lawyer-husband of 18 years, who has not only been cheating on her but has raised two children behind her back. So she returns to her roots, moving in with her gun-toting grandmother, Madea (Tyler Perry in one of three roles, the others being Madea’s lawyer nephew and flatulent brother). Soon she finds love with Orlando (Shemar Moore), a perfect man who says “I want to be your knight in shining armor” with a straight face.

Ms. Elise escapes this film with her dignity intact, somehow. But as Madea, Mr. Perry (dressed in drag and a fat suit) is cringe-inducing. Mr. Harris, meanwhile, plays Charles as an exaggerated bad guy of cartoon-like depths, both physically and mentally abusive merely so that he may eventually be redeemed. Though by the time this happens, the filmmakers will be lucky if anyone in the audience cares.

– Edward Goldberger