John Cameron (Hedwig) Mitchell's sexual fairytale of New York, "Shortbus"

Lotsa ppl in the hustings will see it on disc. It's better agitprop for polyamory than a satisfying movie.

well, the "tortured" one seems obv based on the Tarnation guy (suicidal? -- if only).

Jonathan Caoette actually appears in Shortbus for, like, 2 seconds.

I thought this was okay. I liked its general attitude towards sexuality, and some of the individual scenes were wonderful... But I also thought it left a bit too much unresolved. Did the sex therapist orgasm in the end, and if so, why? And why not orgasming was such a major deal to her to begin with? (I know several women to whom it's not.) The movie hinted that she had some other psychological issues, but didn't return to that. Similarly, it felt like "Severin's" story was just abandoned at some point. And the "Third Wheel" and "Voyeur" kissing each other in the end was a bit too convenient. All in all, I thought all the themes were interesting, but the movie didn't delve deep enough to them. I would've gladly watched an hour more of it, because I loved the way it was made.

I really, really disliked this film. Laughed exactly twice (at the 'Jennifer Aniston' joke, and the cell-phone self portrait to check for food-in-teeth), and found every single character repulsive in almost every way. It's suffocating in its self-satisfaction and navel-gazing, and I wanted to burn the theater to the ground every time there was even a fleeting reference to 9/11.

The former-child-actor character and accompanying jokes were mind-bogglingly stale; this was probably the 6th or 7th indie film I've seen centered around a woman who hasn't been able to have an orgasm; the 'real sex' gimmick wasn't even really interesting or even the least bit sexy (the only moderately intriguing sex scene - the male threesome with the songwriter-model guy - was so hard to watch because every line of dialogue was so insipid).

The point of the film isn't even really clear (not that it needs to have one, but it seems to really WANT to have one), though it appears to conclude that monogamy is all wrong and that you need to step outside your relationship to achieve a truly healthy sexuality.

Ugh. I love Mitchell but this was a stinker.

I just now noticed that comment of yours, Morbious PHD, and it's OTM.

By the way, I thought the most interesting character was the one who the film was the least interested in, i.e. the voyeur guy.

the second question is practically unfathomable.

or at least they told you this

Liked the final almost magic-realist brass band scene, but only as a kind of music video.

Will screen tonight!

Shortbus was highly recommended to me by a good friend, but Hedwig was SO BAD...

Tiki Theatre basically OTM, but Voyeur was really, really cute.

I liked the movie; I loved the - I hate to call it animated - sequences between scenes, which made New York look like Van Gogh's Starry Night. Maybe it isn't exactly like Starry Night, but that image has been emblazoned in my mind. Seemingly every girl at Marquette had that fucking reprint in their dorm rooms. Anyway, I was pretty charmed by the movie, but a little put off by the voyeur's actions toward the end.

like i said before... i liked it a lot, found it very winning and warm and funny.

-- s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, October 23, 2006 10:29 AM (1 year ago) Bookmark Link

Watched this tonight and totally agree.

I enjoyed the first two thirds or so, the end was trying waaay to hard for a big Everyone Is Beautiful moment. His warmth and empathy in regards to sex quirks is pretty refreshing for indie films, esp. compared to someone like Todd Solondz.

"sex quirks" is a really weak way to describe what I'm talking about, but I don't wanna say sexual "dysfunction," I just mean people dealing with everything that's funny and sad about sex.

How 'bout that TURKISH GRIP in the opening scenes?

"Saying nothing at all" is a bit harsh, when the American cultural trend is for gay adults in particular to embrace monogamy and the hetero-political implications of "marriage" as the norm to which they should aspire.

True, but I think polyamory is an even bigger farce than monogamy.

oh, i have no faith in polyamory as an agenda. Or, agendas.

polyagendory

seriously though, if you think every kind of romantic relationship is a farce, is any movie about love or intimacy that isn't about complete estrangement and isolation going to satisfy you?

Well, I can certainly laugh at the roundelays.

I don't see the farcical aspect of human relations as automatically bad.

Not in movies, at least.

MOVIE OF THE DECADE

And not just for the opening scene alone.

really like this film too. totally joyous and unashamed. i remember finding it quite moving but i'm not sure why, now.

finally watched this
haha, loved it :)