Somewhere

We see Hollywood celeb Johnny Marco (Stephen Dorff) tooling about: In the opening shot, driving in circles around a desert loop; later watching twin strippers with seemingly feigned interest in his room at the Chateau Marmont or picking up women at parties or eating or taking his Propecia. He occasionally gets a call from his agent or barbed texts such as "Why are you such an asshole?"

Then, he's surprisingly given temporary custody of his 11-year-old daughter, Cleo (Elle Fanning), when his ex decides she needs time to herself. The action doesn't exactly accelerate–Johnny's still eating, texting, and womanizing, though less of the latter as Cleo becomes his main girl. They sunbathe and play Rock Band. Mostly silent. That's really all there is to Somewhere, a sometimes insightful but mostly dull picaresque of a lost movie star whose day-to-day life has become empty.

But unlike Lost in Translation, the daddy-daughter relationship isn't all that compelling; it's kinda sweet, but there's no blossoming here on either part; though we're to believe Johnny has grown up a bit by the end of the story. Filmed at the Marmont, around California, and in Italy, Somewhere is a very pretty picture. But like Johnny's admirers, beauty can get boring, too.

In a move that is expected to significantly reduce the frequency of attempted torch raids on Alec Duffy's Brooklyn apartment, Sufjan Stevens has released a new single–on the Web, to everyone. It's a ballad he composed years ago when he was in the throes of a theme kick–songs for each day of the week, each planet in the solar system, et cetera–that never quite subsided.

This one, called "Sofia's Song," is a very small banjo tune dedicated to Sofia Coppola, written during a pre-fame phase when Sufjan was feverishly composing songs based on names. You can listen to it here, on the Asthmatic Kitty Web site. The label published it with an essay by Sufjan reflecting on the clumsy ardor and blessed earnesty of his schoolboy days, when he wrote the song. In its simplicity and imperfection, "Sofia's Song" is–not accidentally–an appropriate companion to this brief biography. And this time, you won't have to sit awkwardly in some guy's den to hear it.