Rediculousness

I've been watching a lot of movies lately. My schedule has left me with lots of cold, dark nights off lately so when I was invited to watch yet another movie with a friend I didn't hesitate to jump at the opportunity especially since it was at one of my favorite little theatres, The Princess II. The theater is in the basement of the larger Princess and is more like a large living room with about 30 big theatre chairs. There were only about 10 of us in the place to catch the movie and this made it the perfect was to view Shortbus.

If you haven't even heard of this movie you are clearly living in a box in Siberia. Actually the buzz about this movie probably even got there. Basically it's John Cameron's new movie (aka Hedwig and the Angry Inch) and the big buzz is all about how all the sex in it is real and not your usual simulated Hollywood stuff. I've read differing reviews on the movie but pretty much everything has focused on that aspect of the film which seems odd to me. Knowing that the sex is real changes how you look at those scenes in the film which is the point I think and while I don't think it's for every movie or even that it should become a standard this film in and of itself is not as sexually provocative as a movie like say, The Dreamers.

In the end, sex is not what you will take away from this movie. It's a beautiful weaving of lives, stories and characters and how sex is part of that. It's a very blatant look at modern society and what relationships have become. At first I thought this might be a movie only really relevant to a younger generation but as I thought on it more I've changed my mind. The message here is not about sex, it's about how we live our lives, how we love, the search for happiness and the search for companionship, love and some kind of contentment.

Shortbus touched so many nerves for me I left feeling a little raw, exposed but as the film says, permeable to the world. Watch this movie with people you feel ridiculously comfortable with and then let it stew. I'm going to be looking for the soundtrack if only to sit back now and then and think about it sometimes and hope there's room for me on the Shortbus.

Nicolas - I couldn't agree with you more on Shortbus. It has been running nightly at the E Street Cinema here in Washington, D.C., since it opened, and every night I understand it almost sells out. I've been three times now, and each time there is an emotional energy in the crowd that is hard to describe. And you're right - it is not generational. I've seen elderly people in there, college kids, old leather queens, single women, weeping, cheering along with everyone else.

I also got my hands on the lyrics for the closing song, which are in demand on the internet. I hope Google drives folks to your blog this way, so they can see your review.

IN THE END (lyrics)
by Scott Matthews

We all bear the scars,
Yes, we all feign a laugh.
We all sigh in the dark,
Get cut off before we start.
And as the first act begins,
You realize they’re all waiting
For a fall, for a flaw,
For the end.

There’s a path stained with tears.
Could you talk to quiet my fears?
Could you pull me aside
Just to acknowledge that I’ve tried?
And as your last breath begins,
Contently take it in
‘Cause we all get it in the end.

(Chorus) And as your last breath begins,
You find your demons’ your best friend
And we all get it in the end.

We all get it in the end.
Yes, we all get it in the end.