Um... Yeah... Uh.. Wow....
Added 1/13/2010
I realy thought I knew what I was getting into but I wasn't ready for what this film had to show but this is not bad thing.
But beyond my shock about being shocked by this film I must say this is a facinating film if you have the constitution for it.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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RUINED CIRCLE JERK
Added 12/27/2009
As it was my turn to host the monthly circle jerk I decided to purchase Shortbus. Neither me or my four male friends are gay so imagine our surprise when confronted with a man sucking himself off whilst we attempt to beat ourselves off. Needless to say I am a laughing stock and am no longer allowed to attend the circle jerks.
1 out of 7 people found this helpful.
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WHODDA-WHADDA-WHYDDA-WHAT-THE-HELL??
Added 12/7/2009
Back in 2007, I was having a passionate dinner conversation with
some artsy friends of mine who are film students.
They swore by all that they held holy that I WOULD JUST LOVE this
indie film called "Shortbus", which they said was so clever, well-written,
well-acted, etc., and I bought their recommendation (quite literally!)
hook, line & sinker! (-: (I guess P.T. Barnum was right about suckers!)
The next day, I ordered this film from Amazon and couldn't wait to get it
to see just what all their raving was about!
They had guided me to some really good indie films in the past,
so I had no reason to doubt their taste...
THAT IS, UNTIL I POPPED THIS SEX-FUELED DIRECTIONLESS FAUX ARTISTIC HODGE-PODGE
into my DVD player and immediately thought after 15 minutes...
What the hell is this??--NO, REALLY!!
Now I'm not a prude, I have no problem with nudity, various sexual
preferences, etc., but c'mon!!--That's all this film is really about
is shock value based on a myriad of different people of different races,
varied sexual persuasions, from all over NYC having sex 1-on-1, in 3-somes,
groups, dominatrix, and all other manner of swings & things!
There is a sparse plot that is liquid & murky as quicksand and sinks twice as fast!
No real substance, no real story, just writhing, moaning, undulating bodies---
drab dialogue--rinse & repeat. It gets lost in all the sensationalism.
Which I have found to be a sure fire indicator when any substance or
true artistic merit is lacking! They try to have a moment of revelation
and light towards the end, but by then, it's all just so misguided that you don't even care anymore!
I watched the whole thing all the way through, then called up my
artsy friends and expressed my severe disappointment in ways that I could
never repeat in this review and expect to get it published!
They insisted that I completely "missed it", and gave back as good as they got!
We didn't speak for 2 weeks afterwards! (LOL!!)
Myself and most of my friends are high strung, passionate, stubborn artistic types...
(Musicians & composer/arrangers (Myself and 3 others), while some are aspiring
acting-direction-film or play writing students (3 of them), and some come from
painting/sculpting backgrounds (2 of them), so these passionate discussions and
mini blow-outs are standard fare within our circle! Just like family! (LOL!!)
In my summation though, NOPE, I don't recommend this movie to ANYBODY
who values cinema or stories with plots which are well-written, well-told,
directed or acted with an semblence of credibility!
In fact, my friends (2 of them) wound up buying the copy of this DVD
that I bought from Amazon from me for a slightly discounted fee! (-:
All is forgiven now...
4 out of 11 people found this helpful.
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Great Story
Added 11/26/2009
There is not much that I can add to the many reviews that have already been posted about this film. All I can say is that the movie is amazing and if you give it a chance you will enjoy it.
2 out of 3 people found this helpful.
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short on points
Added 10/17/2009
Sofia (Sook-Yin Lee) is a relationship's expert. Her husband Rob (Raphael Barker) open this film with a very graphic sexual encounter. Whilst Sofia finds the sex satisfying, ironically, given her profession, she is yet to have an orgasm. This quest becomes one of the themes of the film.
She meets clients James (Paul Dawson - who looks a lot like Mark Whalberg) and Jamie (PJ DeBoy), a gay couple having their own relationship problems. They recommend to her to attend a club called "Shortbus" which is an anything goes sex club.
Sofia protests to all that she is in a very happy relationship with her husband, whom she loves. Her relationship with him seems to be happy. She stumbles upon a group of lesbians including Severin (aka Jennifer) (Lindsay Beamish) who we see earlier in the film as a dominatrix. Severin can't form a relationship with anyone. Sofia breaches professional guidelines by both acting as counsellor for Severin, and having sex with her.
That's the problem with this film. Whilst it is trying to promote a 'guilt-free' sex enviornment ultimately several of the lead characters continue to have relationship problems. All they end up doing is realigning their sex partners. This then becomes the social engineering message of the film. That: relationships don't matter, sex does. I found this annoying given that the film argues against itself in that several of the characters still desire to have relationships. Sure James and Jamie become a foursome (with the addition of Caleb, their stalker (Peter Stickles) and Ceth (Jay Brannan)), but the others do not progress to their own desired outcome. A celebratory sing-along at Shortbus at the end of the film does nothing to hide this point.
3 out of 5 people found this helpful.
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