Shortbus

[Nasha]

Autofellatio, group sex tableaus, powerful cinematography, strong writing. It made me laugh. It made me cry. A film for the ages.

Has anyone seen Shortbus?

 

[drksideofthemoon]

Autofellatio, group sex tableaus, powerful cinematography, strong writing. It made me laugh. It made me cry. A film for the ages.

Has anyone seen Shortbus?

Nope...not likely to either.

 

[jomar]

Not yet. I did see the preview on a DVD I saw last night. It was previewed on TideLand - Terry Gilliam's bizarre new movie. It was a good watch.

 

[sirhugs]

No but now I want to more than ever....thanks for the heads up.

 

[Stella_Omega]

I like this quote very much;
"In the old days, when you couldn't show sex on film, directors like Hitchcock had metaphors for sex (trains going into tunnels, etc). When you can show more realistic sex, the sex itself can be a metaphor for other parts of the character's lives. The way people express themselves sexually can tell you a lot about who they are. Some people ask me, 'Couldn't you have told the same story without the explicitness?'. They don't ask whether I could've done Hedwig without the songs. Why not be allowed to use every paint in the paintbox?"

(from the wikipedia article)

 

[Stella_Omega]

Not yet. I did see the preview on a DVD I saw last night. It was previewed on TideLand - Terry Gilliam's bizarre new movie. It was a good watch.

Terry Gilliam has a new movie!?!

 

[Nasha]

Nope...not likely to either.

I hope that's not because of my quippy synopsis. It's actually a beautiful film, both moving and thought-provoking.

 

[drksideofthemoon]

I hope that's not because of my quippy synopsis. It's actually a beautiful film, both moving and thought-provoking.

Well, it's from the Wikipedia article...just didn't seem interesting...

 

[Nasha]

I like this quote very much;
"In the old days, when you couldn't show sex on film, directors like Hitchcock had metaphors for sex (trains going into tunnels, etc). When you can show more realistic sex, the sex itself can be a metaphor for other parts of the character's lives. The way people express themselves sexually can tell you a lot about who they are. Some people ask me, 'Couldn't you have told the same story without the explicitness?'. They don't ask whether I could've done Hedwig without the songs. Why not be allowed to use every paint in the paintbox?"

(from the wikipedia article)

I guess it's not surprising, but it's still amusing, that explicitness in "serious" films, literature, etc., gets second-guessed like that. Sex and sexuality are such fundamental aspects of our existence, and yet it's still as if that's the one area of humanity art is supposed to ignore, lest it be labeled prurient and gratuitous.

And I'm all like, WTF?

 

[jomar]

Terry Gilliam has a new movie!?!

Oops. My bad. It was a 2005 movie, but for some reason it's pretty new to my local video store. So I thought it was new. It has Jeff Bridges as the father and Meg Tilly as the mother. Everybody's crazy. It's about a little girl - and boy can she act!

 

[IrezumiKiss]

Well, it's from the Wikipedia article...just didn't seem interesting...

It's actually VERY interesting...don't sleep on this movie just on account of that Wiki article...only if you want to see a creative-minded film that treats sex intelligently and as a part of everyone's day-to-day being and reason for living, not as a titillation factor in a movie simply for an R or NC-17-rating or an excuse to see tits and asses from celebrities. It treats sex as smart and not stupid...and that's something that's sorely lacking in most cinema these days.

It's not perfect and I had some minor quibbles about it after I saw it in the theaters, but overall, I really loved this joint. I think it's a better home watch on DVD than a theater watch.

 

[Penelope Street]

Has anyone seen Shortbus?

No, but I might now. Thank you.

 

[mikey2much]

Liked the sexual scenes but thought the story was weak

Autofellatio, group sex tableaus, powerful cinematography, strong writing. It made me laugh. It made me cry. A film for the ages.

Has anyone seen Shortbus?

You have a woman who has never had an Orgasm counseling people who have problems with their relationship. You have a dragqueen, who is the wise old man, who seems to understand everybody and all he does is offer them a place to come and party, called the shortbus. It's a club for misfits.

The movie did break some taboos and as such I cheer for it, but it is a bad movie about lost souls for whom there is very little hope. Overall I found it depressing.
mikey

 

[sirhugs]

....It's a club for misfits.
...

sounds like a club I should belong to.

 

[CharleyH]

Autofellatio, group sex tableaus, powerful cinematography, strong writing. It made me laugh. It made me cry. A film for the ages.

Has anyone seen Shortbus?

Canadian film, eh? Have not seen or heard of it yet. Maybe it will make its way to Europe?

 

[mikey2much]

I think that I am a member in good standing

sounds like a club I should belong to.

When it comes to being a misfit, I think that I can hold my own with anybody.

I live in a glass house and don't throw rocks at anybody, I am not throwing rocks at this movie either, but I thought that overall it was depressing to watch these people get fucked over by one another for 90 minutes.

I guess that could just be me since several of the postings seemed to enjoy it.
mikey

 

[Nasha]

I thought that overall it was depressing to watch these people get fucked over by one another for 90 minutes.

I agree that the movie got pretty depressing at points, though I didn't see it as people fucking each other over at all. It seems to me the central characters were each coping with a deep unhappiness, and that they were struggling to resolve their problems. All the relationships were strained, at points, but I actually thought the movie depicted the characters as trying really hard to be loving to their partners and friends, even if their efforts were flawed.

One of the things I liked about the story was that even within the context of these strained relationships, there wasn't a lot of petty jealousy. They were all willing to give each other the space to work through their respective problems. Obviously, there's a pro-polyamory theme threading through the whole thing.

And I thought the film had a happy ending (a little double-entendre, there ).

 

[sirhugs]

yah see... if a bunch of misfits can fuck each other over for 90 minutes and sort of have a happy endsing, then, like in Sideways , its the sort of movie with sort of redemption that makes sense.

 

[mikey2much]

I stand corrected

yah see... if a bunch of misfits can fuck each other over for 90 minutes and sort of have a happy endsing, then, like in Sideways , its the sort of movie with sort of redemption that makes sense.

I would have to admit that she did make it in the end. So there was a happy ending.
What was depressing to me was the way personal relationships were always holding the people back from what they were seeking.
mikey

 

[Nasha]

Not yet. I did see the preview on a DVD I saw last night. It was previewed on TideLand - Terry Gilliam's bizarre new movie. It was a good watch.

Watched Tideland last night. Bizarre, indeed. I wouldn't say I enjoyed it, exactly, but it was a thoroughly worthwhile watch. Thanks for the tip.

 

[Guest]

when Imp was here, she showed us the trailer for it. Looked pretty interesting and god knows we dont see many adult films so, yeah, I'll watch it.

 

[sirhugs]

when Imp was here, she showed us the trailer for it. Looked pretty interesting and god knows we dont see many adult films so, yeah, I'll watch it.

can you Fed Ex to me

(or would Blockbuster have it?)

 

[Guest]

can you Fed Ex to me

(or would Blockbuster have it?)

i sincerely doubt blockbuster would carry that.

 

[sirhugs]

i sincerely doubt blockbuster would carry that.

yeah, my guess too...

 

[bluebell]

Oops. My bad. It was a 2005 movie, but for some reason it's pretty new to my local video store. So I thought it was new. It has Jeff Bridges as the father and Meg Tilly as the mother. Everybody's crazy. It's about a little girl - and boy can she act!

My friend and I searched four stores for TideLand last weekend.
Now I'm bummin' he didn't buy it.
I'm really glad to hear it's good, though. Now we have to get it!

I think it kind of got swept into that Pan's Labyrinth category, but unfortunately, was not nearly as publicized.