(Sony)

Alternative-rock space cadets the Flaming Lips have been developing their brand of musical weirdness for well over 20 years. Singer-guitarist Wayne Coyne has led his evolving cast of merry pranksters through musical trends, serious tragedy, and the creative, critical, and commercial success of albums like 1999's The Soft Bulletin. Capturing the madness right from the early days has been director Bradley Beesley, a long-time friend, neighbour, and steadfast confidant who's emerged as a skilled documentarian. Capturing the group's daily lives as well as collaborating on the group's music videos, Beesley has crafted an insider's view of a now-beloved institution.

His film takes its name from a teen gang that Coyne and his brothers formed with the intent of getting high and playing rough-and-tumble football. Eventually morphing into a band, the Freaks proved the genesis for the insanity that lay ahead. Heavily inspired by Gibby Haynes's bombastic Butthole Surfers in its earliest incarnations, the Lips have always maintained a strong visual presentation, leading up to and continuing with their signing to Warner Brothers in 1990.

Rich in intimate home movies, still photographs, and unconventional present-day interviews with key group members and associates, this DVD should give hope to those who have had to don a fast-food worker's uniform while trying to remain true to their artistic vision. Despite its serious undertones-Beesley does not gloss over the band's episodes of drug addiction and criminality-The Fearless Freaks is a well-crafted, down-home, and often quite humorous portrait of a group that hasn't forgotten its lower-middle-class roots despite ever-growing bank accounts.