Shortbus (2006)
Directed by John Cameron Mitchell
In post-9/11 New York City, an eclectic group of citizens find their lives entangled, personally, romantically, and sexually, at Shortbus, an underground Brooklyn salon infamous for its blend of art, music, politics, and carnality.
14 connections found
View:
14 films that influenced Shortbus
What critics say influenced Shortbus
It's a gleefully randy romantic roundelay, in the tradition of Max Ophuls' serially sexual French comedy "La Ronde" (1950).
Mitchell isn't going for the end-of-an-affair melancholy of Michael Winterbottom's "9 Songs," or the cherry-bomb bravado of Catherine Breillat's "Romance."
The brief but stormy history of hardcore sex in mainstream movies is littered with earnest attempts at making real-life screwing work in the service of a story: take Catherine Breillat's decidedly unerotic Romance, Michael Winterbottom's cooly observed 9 Songs, or Vince Gallo's ridiculously arty Brown Bunny.
Catherine Breillat’s lugubrious Romance, costarring porn star Rocco Siffredi; Bruno Dumont’s dour Life of Jesus; and Marco Bellocchio’s psychological and political diatribe Devil in the Flesh also included some graphic sex.
Dawson, who got his inspiration for hustling from My Own Private Idaho, tries comforting a vague but potent unhappiness with his lookalike beau (Paul DeBoy) by bringing a third party (Jay Brannan) into the relationship; Chinese-Canadian therapist Lee has never had an orgasm; and Beamish, for all the clomping boots and shaved-eyebrow snark, just "wanna, like, have a house... and a cat."
Mitchell, the gender-bending genius behind the hit stage play "Hedwig and the Angry Inch," which he adapted into the 2001 film, has set up a disappointingly low bar with his latest outing, in which he seeks to push the envelope in depicting sexual frankness.
This is probably intended to say something about society's penchant for voyerism, although if director John Cameron Mitchell (Hedwig and the Angry Inch) is trying to make a more specific point, he doesn't achieve it.
Director John Cameron Mitchell ("Hedwig and The Angry Inch") flaunts cinematic tradition with a raucous sex comedy filled with truly shocking sex acts that underscore his vision of New York as a playground of debauchery.
The latest film from writer/director John Cameron Mitchell (who made the terrific movie musical "Hedwig and the Angry Inch") is attracting more than its share of curiosity because of Mitchell's decision to center his film on the subject of sex and to have his actors actually copulate, in various gymnastic configurations, on camera.
All hail, then, to writer-director John Cameron Mitchell, who wrote and starred in the off-Broadway musical hit Hedwig and the Angry Inch, for pretending the last 30 years didn't make hard-core romance obsolete.
It's as if Mitchell -- the thoughtful, mischievous faun behind "Hedwig and the Angry Inch," one of the only truly swinging rock musicals ever made -- were calling out to one and all, "Come on over, kids -- we're having a sex party!"
Advertisement
Ever since Woody Allen came along with his Annie Hall and his Manhattan, his Hannah and Her Sisters and his Husbands and Wives, New York has become THE American city of the ensemble romantic dramedy, where different characters come together to discuss love, life and politics.
Ever since Woody Allen came along with his Annie Hall and his Manhattan, his Hannah and Her Sisters and his Husbands and Wives, New York has become THE American city of the ensemble romantic dramedy, where different characters come together to discuss love, life and politics.
Witness Edward Burns' The Brothers McMullen, She's the One and The Sidewalks of New York, Jill Sprecher's 13 Conversations About One Thing, Charles Herman-Wurmfeld's Kissing Jessica Stein, or just about anything directed by the unofficial chronicler of black Yonkers, Spike Lee.
Ever since Woody Allen came along with his Annie Hall and his Manhattan, his Hannah and Her Sisters and his Husbands and Wives, New York has become THE American city of the ensemble romantic dramedy, where different characters come together to discuss love, life and politics.
Advertisement
Mitchell isn't going for the end-of-an-affair melancholy of Michael Winterbottom's "9 Songs," or the cherry-bomb bravado of Catherine Breillat's "Romance."
The brief but stormy history of hardcore sex in mainstream movies is littered with earnest attempts at making real-life screwing work in the service of a story: take Catherine Breillat's decidedly unerotic Romance, Michael Winterbottom's cooly observed 9 Songs, or Vince Gallo's ridiculously arty Brown Bunny.
In 9 Songs, Michael Winterbottom filmed the arc of a young couple’s brief relationship, which included much more explicit sex than Shortbus, but minimal character development or interaction.
Ever since Woody Allen came along with his Annie Hall and his Manhattan, his Hannah and Her Sisters and his Husbands and Wives, New York has become THE American city of the ensemble romantic dramedy, where different characters come together to discuss love, life and politics.