Shortbus wasn't in the Frameline festival, but I'd be remiss not to review it here, especially now that it's available on DVD. (Its theatrical run was quite limited.) The DVD only needs one disc, because the "unrated" version is the movie-theater version.
John Cameron Mitchell created and starred in Hedwig and the Angry Inch, the play and film that have inspired a whole generation of drag queens, genderqueers, and other transgressively gendered people. In Shortbus, we follow a gay couple, their couples therapist, her husband, and various others we meet along the way, into a sex club called Shortbus. The film is a celebration of the wonder, the diversity, and the fabulousness of human sexuality, but without forgetting the complexities of human relationships. There is straight sex, gay sex, vanilla sex, kinky sex, and even real human interaction. The sex scenes are unflinchingly frank, but this isn't pornography in the usual sense of the word. In the Internet preview (included on the DVD), JCM says that Shortbus is "everything you need to get through the next two years of George Bush"; no question — you gotta see this one.
Technorati tags: Shortbus, Hedwig, John Cameron Mitchell, unrated films
