"Shortbus" is a really wild ride

After spending too much money on Christmas presents (What can i say? I'm a giver), I'm on a bit of a budget for a few weeks. I've actually had breakfast at home the last three days instead of buying a smoothie at Jamba Juice, last night my buddy Evan and I went out for margaritas during "2 for 1" hour, and a few days a go I went to the $3 movie theater at Beverly and Fairfax to see "Shortbus." What a trippy movie! It explores the lives of several emotionally-challenged New Yorkers as they navigate sex and love in and around a modern-day underground salon called Shortbus where there is a blend of art, music, politics and most of all, SEX. The place is described by its cross-dressing proprietor (played perfectly by Justin Bond) as "like the 60s only with less hope." It's man-woman, man-man, woman-man, man-man-man, woman-man-woman and on and on. It's everything and here's the part I had heard about but couldn't quite believe until I saw if for myself: the sex is REAL! People are really having sex on screen and it's not a porno! It took me awhile to get used to it then it was cool. I read one review which described the film as something of a car wreck and yet, you can't look away.
And I was into the characters (REALLY!) like the sex therapist (Sook Yin Lee) whose never had an orgasm, the gay couple (Paul Dawson and PJ BeBoy) deciding whether to open up their relationship, and the dominatrix (Lindsay Beamish) who is looking to connect and remind herself that she is alive. Lee is wonderful, absolutely wonderful in the film. Very funny, heartbreaking and brave. As the credits roll, it says that a lot of the situations were improvised by the actors. I'm sure they didn't teach a lot of what ends up on the screen in acting school.
"Shortbus," directed by John Cameron Mitchell, is obviously not for the uptight. Hmmmm, or maybe it is? At any rate, it's just about finished its run theatrically so you'll probably have to see it on DVD. I'm glad I saw it. To think, if I hadn't been on a budget, i would have shelled out $12 to see "The Good Shepherd" at The Grove and not had near as much to talk about. I gotta go now, there's a special on 99 cent cheeseburgers at Burger King!