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Movies / On DVD / Shortbus
Shortbus

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Shortbus (2006)

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Reviews Counted:118

Fresh:77

Rotten:41

Average Rating:6.4/10

Consensus: The sex may be explicit, but Mitchell integrates it into the characters' lives and serves the whole story up with a generous dose of sweetness and wit.

Rated: 18

Runtime: 1 hr 42 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:01-12-2006

Synopsis: Writer/director John Cameron Mitchell follows up the cult classic HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH with another salacious slice of sex-laden cinema. Mitchell interweaves three separate tales of highly... Writer/director John Cameron Mitchell follows up the cult classic HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH with another salacious slice of sex-laden cinema. Mitchell interweaves three separate tales of highly sexed and sexually frustrated New Yorkers, all of whom find some kind of salvation at an underground club named Shortbus. Anything goes at Shortbus--wild orgies between people from different ages, backgrounds, and sexual preferences are treated as commonplace, and most of the sex scenes shot through Mitchell's voyeuristic lens are completely unsimulated. Mitchell allows little time for his audience to pause for breath, opening SHORTBUS with a frantic collage of copulation and carnality that features most of his central characters. These include Sofia (Sook-Yin Lee), a sex therapist who has never reached full orgasm; gay couple James (Paul Dawson)--who begins the movie by fellating himself--and Jamie (PJ DeBoy); and Severin (Lindsay Beamish), a dominatrix who finds herself unable to find true love. Mitchell lets his cast of characters unravel their tales of woe, interspersing the touching and mostly sad stories with eye-popping scenes from Shortbus and swooping birds-eye shots of a computer simulated version of New York City. The director also draws heavily on an indie-rock soundtrack, making repeated and effective use of the beautiful "Winters Love" by Brooklyn-based group Animal Collective. But it's the sex scenes that will really get tongues wagging, and its testament to Mitchell's fearless and uncompromising vision that he depicts sexual acts that run the full coital gamut, from amusing to titillating to shocking. Amid all the boundary-pushing there is a tender heart buried in SHORTBUS's central narrative--which revolves around the search for identity and acceptance--but less sensitive viewers who seek amusement in the singing of the National Anthem into a prominent orifice will also find plenty to enjoy here. [More]

Starring: Raphael Barker, Lindsay Beamish, Justin Bond, Paul Dawson

Starring: Raphael Barker, Lindsay Beamish, Justin Bond, Paul Dawson, Yolanda Ross, Jay Brannan, Shanti Carson, Sook-Yin Lee, PJ Deboy, Peter Stickles, Bitch, The Hungry March Band

Director: John Cameron Mitchell

Director: John Cameron Mitchell
Producer: Howard Gertler, Tim Perell
Studio: ThinkFilm

[See More Credits]

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Reviews for Shortbus

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21 - 40 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

The hallmarks of a true collaboration between the director and his actors are everywhere, and their performances are what raise the film above any of its shortcomings.

Full Review Source: Reeler | comment Comment
01/31/07
Michelle Orange
Michelle Orange
Reeler

If you want to explore the ideas of love and emotional permeability while seeing a narratively complex world of sexual self-exploration to which few are privy, then this is the movie for you. Otherwise, run for your life.

Full Review Source: Cinerina | comment Comment
01/31/07
Karina Montgomery
Karina Montgomery
Cinerina

Sex and the self-centered.

Full Review Source: Laramie Movie Scope | comment Comment
01/19/07
Robert Roten
Robert Roten
Laramie Movie Scope

Mitchell worked with his cast to develop the various stories and the improvisatory effort may not have resulted in a Mike Leigh sort of drama but it has yielded wondrous moments. The cast is very good with the best performances coming from Lee as Sofia (w

Full Review Source: Murphy's Movie Reviews | comment Comment
01/11/07
Ted Murphy
Ted Murphy
Murphy's Movie Reviews

Um raro exemplo de produção norte-americana que encara o sexo com maturidade, o filme é um estudo de personagens com sucesso apenas moderado, já que não consegue desenvolver todas as subtramas com o mesmo cuidado ou interesse.

Full Review Source: Cinema em Cena | comment Comment
12/30/06
Pablo Villaca
Pablo Villaca
Cinema em Cena

Oozes hardly more than body fluids in its telling tale.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
12/06/06
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Everybody has a right to pursue what makes them happy, so long as they don't hurt anyone else in the process. That's a sweet notion, but not a particularly deep one. The movie's all skin and heart; very little brain.

Full Review Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette | comment 1 Comment
11/20/06
Philip Martin
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Another telling example (The Brown Bunny, Anatomy of Hell, Bellocchio's Devil in the Flesh) that hardcore sex seems better suited to hardcore sex films.

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
11/16/06
David N. Butterworth
David N. Butterworth
rec.arts.movies.reviews

full review in Greek

Full Review Source: Movies for the Masses | comment Comment
11/13/06
Joseph Proimakis
Joseph Proimakis
Movies for the Masses

Despite the movie's matter-of-fact approach to (and depiction of) graphic acts, the point isn't the sex, it's the genuine emotion generated by the actors, who helped develop their roles with Mitchell.

Full Review Source: Las Vegas Review-Journal | comment Comment
11/11/06
Carol Cling
Carol Cling
Las Vegas Review-Journal
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Sydney Morning Herald | comment Comment
11/10/06
Sydney Morning Herald

This is a film for the adventurous. A colourful and wondrously imaginative sexual adventure that integrates humour, symbolism and emotion

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
11/10/06
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile

Simply a terrific movie -- the most courageous (not just because of the sex), inventive, moving and captivating film I've seen this year.

Full Review Source: Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) | comment Comment
11/08/06
Ken Hanke
Ken Hanke
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

You know something is amiss when the spiky-haired dominatrix is a more relatable character than the movie's ostensible leading lady.

Full Review Source: Salt Lake Tribune | comment Comment
11/04/06
Sean Means
Sean Means
Salt Lake Tribune

[Shortbus] will give adults who aren't put off by zoo-naked sex more to talk about, even in disparagement, than anything showing at the Cineplex.

Full Review Source: Blogcritics.org | comment Comment
11/01/06
Alan Dale
Alan Dale
Blogcritics.org

One woman’s quest for the perfect orgasm may strike sophisticated viewers as the stuff of sexual farce at best, but Sook-Yin Lee’s Sofia brings both emotion and eroticism to the proceedings, and for this Mr. Mitchell should be commended.

Full Review Source: New York Observer | comment Comment
11/01/06
Andrew Sarris
Andrew Sarris
New York Observer

It runs out of energy before the end.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
11/01/06
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader

Shortbus doesn’t quite delve as deeply as it ought into its characters’ emotions: It has more breadth than depth, perhaps due to its improvisational methods.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
10/30/06
Marrit Ingman
Marrit Ingman
Austin Chronicle

Wearing its controversy-courting eagerness to shock on its sleeve, the film aims to challenge taboos, but comes up short.

Full Review Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune | comment Comment
10/30/06
Colin Covert
Colin Covert
Minneapolis Star Tribune

I would like to commend Mitchell for making a warm, funny and very human film about people who don't just want sex but want to enjoy sex with someone they love. What a concept!

Full Review Source: KPBS.org | comment Comment
10/28/06
Beth Accomando
Beth Accomando
KPBS.org
 
 
21 - 40 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 >> >|
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