Gay Republic Daily
Gay Identity - Queer as Volk? - Shortbus
Feral - Sep 11, 2006 - 10:35 PM
Post subject: Shortbus
Some clips about my favorite movie I'll probably never see:
Village Voice
Quote:
Writer-actor-director John Cameron Mitchell got a distribution deal for his sexy, controversial film Shortbus, opening October 4 at Landmark's Sunshine Cinema. He's throwing a party at Angel Orensanz on September 26 featuring performances by actors in the film, including Justin Bond, Daniela Sea, Bitch, Scott Matthew, and Jay Brannan.
Bay Windows
Quote:
From the director of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, John Cameron Mitchell, comes Shortbus (Oct. 4), a story of several New Yorkers bound together in the city by one thing, sex. We’re talking all types: three-ways, solo, straight and most definitely homo. Be ready for controversy, though, for some may not approve of all the gratuitous sex. Mitchell likes to push the envelope, and does more than that with Shortbus.
CBC
Quote:
Organizers of the Toronto International Film Festival have added a program of "edgy" films to this year's overall lineup.
The festival announced Tuesday a new program titled Vanguard, which includes 11 movies so far: four world premieres, six screening in North America for the first time and one making its Canadian debut.
John Cameron Mitchell's controversial new film Shortbus, previously announced as part of the general lineup for the upcoming film fest, will be shown as part of the Vanguard program.
The sexually explicit film, which stars CBC Radio host Sook-Yin Lee, looks at a group of New Yorkers struggling with their love lives and sexual relationships. The characters eventually converge at a weekly underground salon called Shortbus.
"Limited Release" means it'll never see the light of day out here in Amishland, though who knows ... It might be worth a field trip to Philly. There's a trailer for the film up at Towleroad. Supposedly, an "unedited" trailer is going to be at http://www.shortbusthemovie.com/ but I'm not seeing any content there just yet.
Shortbus, you might remember, features Jay Brannon, which is reason enough to see it. Oh, and there's a new song up at Jay's MySpace page. You wouldn't want to miss that.
Feral - Sep 11, 2006 - 10:36 PM
Post subject: RE: Shortbus
It takes me a while to find stuff sometimes.
Quote:
ThinkFilm has acquired all North American rights to John Cameron Mitchell's "Shortbus," perhaps the most talked about film at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival and, in a separate pact, The Works U.K. Distribution has secured UK rights to the new movie. A sexually explicit, strikingly artistic and ultimately hopeful new film, "Shortbus" is the story of a group of New Yorkers -- straight and gay, male and female -- coping with life and love in the modern day big city. They come together weekly at a polysexual, bohemian Brooklyn salon that features music, art and yes, sex. The follow-up to Mitchell's "Hedwig and the Angry Inch," "Shortbus" features an ensemble cast who workshopped the project and engage in graphic on-screen sex scenes.
...
Perhaps as many as a dozen U.S. companies were eyeing the film, according to insiders, with such entities as IFC Films, Magnolia Pictures, Roadside Attractions, Netflix, Criterion and many other outlets bandied about within industry circles as potential buyers or partners for the release. The buzz over the film emerged immediately after the world premiere of the film at Cannes where the movie garnered a rousing standing ovation and mostly critical raves. While the filmmakers had gone into the festival thinking that they might have to release the film themselves because of the graphic sexual content, the reaction at the festival quickly turned into a competitive bidding environment with ThinkFilm emerging victorious in a deal for North American theatrical, home video, television and Internet rights to the movie.
While there is some content up at Shortbus' site, it's still what I would call "completely empty." It seems a registration is being required -- not surprising since the film is NC-17. You can, at least, get that out of the way now.
Feral - Sep 11, 2006 - 10:36 PM
Post subject: RE: Shortbus
Gay Sex Sparks Walkout At Toronto International Film Fest
Quote:
(Toronto, Ontario) The lights had barely dimmed at a media screening of the controversial "Shortbus" at the Toronto International Film Festival when a man stormed out, declaring that a three-way gay sex scene featuring a raunchy rendition of the U.S. anthem "Star Spangled Banner" was going too far.
It was exactly the type of outraged reaction to sex that director John Cameron Mitchell was trying to combat with "Shortbus," a sexually explicit film that features actors having actual sex and starring Canadian broadcaster and actress Sook-Yin Lee.
"What pissed me off about it is that it was identified as porn without people having seen it," Mitchell said of his film at a news conference later Friday.
"Porn is meant to arouse and is watched to be aroused, and this film explores the other layers of sex ... obviously sex is really just another language with which we try to connect, and the film is about connection."
vanrozenheim - Sep 12, 2006 - 03:57 PM
Post subject: RE: Shortbus
This prude went to a sexually explicite film and expected to see .. what? If I would run out of a movie sceaming just because there are some unexpected heterosexual explicite scenes, I probably couldn't go to the cinema at all. Not to mention all the unsolicited heterosexual advertisements on TV!
Feral - Sep 12, 2006 - 10:23 PM
Post subject: RE: Shortbus
I imagine that, with all the hand-wringing about how the sex scenes in the film are actual sex rather than simulated sex, someone neglected to mention to this gentleman that there are *GASP* homos in the film -- and not lonely, unhappy homos either.
I think in this altogether too prudish era people have lost sight of the fact that, within living memory, real live pornographic films used to be shown in quite ordinary theaters. There was, after all, a time before video-tape and high-speed Internet.
Feral - Oct 03, 2006 - 10:06 PM
Post subject: RE: Shortbus
Shortbus is opening in New York on Wednesday, 4 October. In Los Angeles and San Fransisco it's opening on Friday, 6 October.
Opening weekend box office results have considerable impact on whether a film stays in a theater. Whether other theaters shall choose to show the film will also be affected by the film's opening week.
So ... should you be on one of the coasts this weekend, I simply require you to go see it.
Yeah, I know ... you'll fly right out there.
Some theater listings are here.
vanrozenheim - Oct 04, 2006 - 11:24 PM
Post subject: RE: Shortbus
I will have to wait untill the film comes to Germany... Btw, we will have a gay film festival here, in Cologne it will be on November 22-29. The most funny contributions are usually the shortfilms - bold, unconventional and uncensored. ![Wink](modules/PNphpBB2/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif)
Sifo-Dyas - Mar 22, 2007 - 05:42 AM
Post subject: RE: Shortbus
Shortbus is now out on DVD in Canada.
Feral - Mar 22, 2007 - 06:22 PM
Post subject: RE: Shortbus
Yay!
Feral - Jun 30, 2007 - 06:34 PM
Post subject:
Risque film prompts censorship talks
Quote:
ASPEN — Full frontal nudity, sexual dysfunction, orgies and homosexual encounters.
Who should dictate whether that kind of content should be projected on Aspen’s only single-screen?
Not the city of Aspen, which owns the Wheeler Opera House, which showed “Shortbus” last year. The risqué film explores the sexual challenges two couples face; Jon Busch and Don Swales, who operate the Wheeler Film Society and are in charge of programming at the city-owned opera house, chose the film.
The Aspen City Council shot down an attempt to control the content of future programming Monday night after Wheeler director Gram Slaton presented a new contract for Busch including a stipulation that suggested censorship.
That didn’t sit well with Councilman Jack Johnson, who suggested that one of the major reasons Wheeler management initiated a search for other programmers was because of the screening of “Shortbus.”
“It deserved to be seen here, and I will not support the city telling the Wheeler [Film Society] what to do or what to say,” Johnson said. “The city shouldn’t be stepping in.”
Feral - Jul 16, 2007 - 01:05 AM
Post subject:
So... were there an actual salon, like Shortbus, dedicated to "the gifted and the challenged" near you, would you attend? For myself, I'm not sure how I could not.
Rain - Jul 18, 2007 - 03:04 PM
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OK, 'berto you are not going to believe this, but....
J.C. Mitchell is one of my all time favorite directors. He's a pretty good actor, too. (Favorites would have to be Werner Fassbinder and close second Pedro Almodovar). Secondly, the Landmark is my second home. And I remember making a mental note last fall as I was walking out of the theater with my bf to go back and see that movie and TOTALLY forgot about it. So, I haven't seen it yet and now both he and I are looking to rent it. We both know some of the people in it (clicked on the VV write up).
Remember from the link that brought me here I had posted about Michael Alig not being an original club kid like he claimed? Well, Richie Rich, who is in this movie, IS an original club kid. Not only that, we both attended Hunter College (along with Julie Jewels...his fag hag) while trying desperately to keep clubbing at night. Ahhh...nights of drug fueled hysteria and days that you wished you were dead or that somebody would just hurry up and bury you.
Ms. Rich has gone on to bigger and better things these days.