Sexy Sook-Yin, Leather Lovers & MacKay the Meanie: Various Snapshots from the Week
I heard it once said that if people couldn't talk about the weather, nine out of ten conversations would have no starting point. I find myself facing a similar dilemma whenever I begin another post. I always want to open with some comment on the weather and, for extra points, endeavour to be somehow literary in said post, drawing some arcane analogy between the weather and the week's various adventures and misadventures. Here then, permit me if you will to note that tonight is - like last week - dark and rainy. Hmm, and I thought I left Vancouver behind?
And yet there I was on another dark and rainy night last Friday with some friends (well, a friend and his friend, who I plan to co-opt as one of my own friends), for the Ottawa premiere screening of Shortbus, at the lovely and shabby Bytowne Theatre (325 Rideau). You've no doubt heard of this movie, the latest by Hedwig and the Angry Inch auteur, John Cameron Mitchell. (Is the word "auteur" pretentious? I couldn't decide.)
Yes, it's the one with the three intersecting stories about people in New York City who cannot seem to find satisfaction in their sex lives, or dare I say, satisfaction in their lives in general, which happens to also impact their sex lives (no surprise there). In hopes of finding some type of cure - or at the very least a release - they all frequent a sex-club called Shortbus, at which anything (and nearly everything) goes. All of this is set against the backdrop of a city in heat, where brownouts and blackouts punctuate the story, leading to the Big One (which actually happened in August, 2003).
Shortbus has received mixed reviews, but what I think most reviewers fail to mention in their critiques is how funny the film is. Perhaps I have a more juvenile sense of humour than most, but I found some of the scenes very funny. Particularly some of the sex scenes, and there are many to choose from. Of course, that's the one thing that sets the film apart from others: the sex is completely real, and by real I mean that Sook-Yin and Company showed off more than any actor I have seen in a long while.
So why the mixed reviews, you ask? Well, from my perspective, the characters didn't actually come to life. Aside from a few key examples, they don't come across half as real as the sex they are having, and when sex is the only leg the film has to stand on, it comes up a bit short, sort of like a relationship that's all sex and no substance. By comparison, I find Hedwig (Mitchell's earlier work, in which he played the title role) much more fulfilling, as Hedwig's character experiences a considerably more pronounced arc over the course of the film.
Now, if I tell you I spent Saturday at Leather Night at the Centretown Pub (340 Somerset West), would you think I'm all sex and no substance? Seriously, I was out with friends and had I not gone, I would not have seen the Adidias chaps I haven't been able to get out of my head ever since. Imagine all of that comfort and functionality in a pair of pants intentionally designed without a crotch or butt. They would have come in so handy at Shortbus. Chaps notwithstanding, I will say that the music was terrible, but perhaps that comes with the territory. If only leather daddies liked Belle & Sebastian.
On the Hill, it was a stupid-busy week. I'm not going to offer much in the way of political commentary here because I don't want to say something on my blog that will earn me the Turner Treatment. Even at my worst I hope you won't find me as self-absorbed as the "I'm not the issue here, but have you seen my blog" newly-Independent MP from Halton.
The Conservatives released the Clean Air Act today, but get this: minutes before Ambrose's press conference, the fire alarm went off in Centre Block and everyone was evacuated. The cause? A heat censor. Seems like all of their hot air is catching up to them.
And of course, how could I forget to mention Peter MacKay's side comment about Belinda Stronach in the House today during Question Period? Seriously, Belinda-bashing is so tired. But what really bothers me about it is what's underneath; what to me feels like a simmering and constant attack on women. And it's not like the female population of Canada should depend on Status of Women Minister Bev Oda to defend them. Ok, that's it, no more politics. Back to me. Kidding.
I'd like to close this week with a salute to the fine contractors and sub-contractors who have been assigned the unenviable task of fixing Bank Street between Laurier and Wellington. It's finally opened between Laurier and Queen, and I know the Ground Zero between Queen and Laurier is just a few more weeks off from being cleaned up and re-opened. Thank heaven for progress, even if it doesn't progress very quickly. Or look all different when it's done.
And yet there I was on another dark and rainy night last Friday with some friends (well, a friend and his friend, who I plan to co-opt as one of my own friends), for the Ottawa premiere screening of Shortbus, at the lovely and shabby Bytowne Theatre (325 Rideau). You've no doubt heard of this movie, the latest by Hedwig and the Angry Inch auteur, John Cameron Mitchell. (Is the word "auteur" pretentious? I couldn't decide.)
Yes, it's the one with the three intersecting stories about people in New York City who cannot seem to find satisfaction in their sex lives, or dare I say, satisfaction in their lives in general, which happens to also impact their sex lives (no surprise there). In hopes of finding some type of cure - or at the very least a release - they all frequent a sex-club called Shortbus, at which anything (and nearly everything) goes. All of this is set against the backdrop of a city in heat, where brownouts and blackouts punctuate the story, leading to the Big One (which actually happened in August, 2003).
Shortbus has received mixed reviews, but what I think most reviewers fail to mention in their critiques is how funny the film is. Perhaps I have a more juvenile sense of humour than most, but I found some of the scenes very funny. Particularly some of the sex scenes, and there are many to choose from. Of course, that's the one thing that sets the film apart from others: the sex is completely real, and by real I mean that Sook-Yin and Company showed off more than any actor I have seen in a long while.
So why the mixed reviews, you ask? Well, from my perspective, the characters didn't actually come to life. Aside from a few key examples, they don't come across half as real as the sex they are having, and when sex is the only leg the film has to stand on, it comes up a bit short, sort of like a relationship that's all sex and no substance. By comparison, I find Hedwig (Mitchell's earlier work, in which he played the title role) much more fulfilling, as Hedwig's character experiences a considerably more pronounced arc over the course of the film.
Now, if I tell you I spent Saturday at Leather Night at the Centretown Pub (340 Somerset West), would you think I'm all sex and no substance? Seriously, I was out with friends and had I not gone, I would not have seen the Adidias chaps I haven't been able to get out of my head ever since. Imagine all of that comfort and functionality in a pair of pants intentionally designed without a crotch or butt. They would have come in so handy at Shortbus. Chaps notwithstanding, I will say that the music was terrible, but perhaps that comes with the territory. If only leather daddies liked Belle & Sebastian.
On the Hill, it was a stupid-busy week. I'm not going to offer much in the way of political commentary here because I don't want to say something on my blog that will earn me the Turner Treatment. Even at my worst I hope you won't find me as self-absorbed as the "I'm not the issue here, but have you seen my blog" newly-Independent MP from Halton.
The Conservatives released the Clean Air Act today, but get this: minutes before Ambrose's press conference, the fire alarm went off in Centre Block and everyone was evacuated. The cause? A heat censor. Seems like all of their hot air is catching up to them.
And of course, how could I forget to mention Peter MacKay's side comment about Belinda Stronach in the House today during Question Period? Seriously, Belinda-bashing is so tired. But what really bothers me about it is what's underneath; what to me feels like a simmering and constant attack on women. And it's not like the female population of Canada should depend on Status of Women Minister Bev Oda to defend them. Ok, that's it, no more politics. Back to me. Kidding.
I'd like to close this week with a salute to the fine contractors and sub-contractors who have been assigned the unenviable task of fixing Bank Street between Laurier and Wellington. It's finally opened between Laurier and Queen, and I know the Ground Zero between Queen and Laurier is just a few more weeks off from being cleaned up and re-opened. Thank heaven for progress, even if it doesn't progress very quickly. Or look all different when it's done.
posted by Capital Letters at 8:59 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home