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Ghost Canyon

'Shortbus (Unrated)'
(Paul Dawson, Lindsay Beamish, et al / DVD / NR / 2007 / Raw Feed - Warner Bros.)

Overview: Numerous New York City-dwellers come to the exclusive club Shortbus to work out problems in their sexual relationships. Rob (Raphael Barker) and Sophia (Sook-Yin Lee) are a happily married couple, except for the fact that she has never experienced sexual climax. This irony follows her to work, because she is a couples counselor who frequently has to deal with the sexual issues other couples have. Two of her patients are Jamie (PJ DeBoy) and James (Paul Dawson), a gay couple who have been monogamous for five years and counting.

DVD Verdict: Any supposedly straight (as opposed to a soft or hard pornographic) film that begins with a montage of sex scenes featuring both men and women in full disclosure is alright with me! That I was witnessing this montage in a suburban multiplex (ok albeit an "art house") eating popcorn popped in Canola Oil and sipping a diet Sprite, sitting next to two blue hairs (who promptly exited, only after it might be noted, the completion scenes) only added to the surrealism of the situation!

Jamie (played by PJ DeBoy with a hang dog expression and tear welled eyes of which you soon grow weary) begins the film totally nude, filming himself auto fellating but blows the scene by doing just that too early. Jamie is gay and a former street hustler and lives with James (Paul Dawson) in a decidedly one-way relationship: James loves Jamie and Jamie loves himself and says that he "feels nothing, nothing at all." Jamie and James consult a sex therapist, Sofia (Sook Yin Lee) for help and guidance and during their first session, Sofia blurts out that she has never had an orgasm.

The solution? All three hoof it out to Shortbus: a sort of Plato's Retreat in which all manner of sex is performed in every position by every conceivable combination of men and women. Not all participate, no one is pressured, many just watch pretty much as we in the audience are doing: mouths agape, wondering how did Mitchell get the money to make this movie and more to the point: how did he get it released? Justin Bond (played by himself), manager/chorus master/drum majorette of Shortbus describes and dissects the Club's ethos as "like the 60's but with less hope."

Director John Cameron Mitchell (the brilliant "Hedwig and the Angry Inch") wants to titillate of course but he also wants to illuminate. And most of his characters do come out the backdoor better, smarter more self aware than when they entered. Not everything works. Some scenes are awkward and silly but Mitchell infuses the film with energy and social and emotional weight that cannot be denied. Redemption through the cleansing and illuminating properties of Sex? Revolutionary. This is a Widescreen Presentation (1.85:1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs and comes with the Special Features of:

Commentary by the filmmaker and cast
Deleted scenes with commentary
"Gifted and Talented: The Making of Shortbus" featurette
"How to Shoot Sex: A Docu-Primer"
Trailers

www.ThinkFilmCompany.com





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