Movies to see

I haven't been seeing many movies lately, but fortunately the only two I've seen in recent memory have been standouts. One of them, Shortbus, I was skeptical of because its selling point seemed to me to be that there was actual, explicit sex going on in the movie! Even though I'd enjoyed John Cameron Mitchell's other movie,"Hedwig and the Angry Inch," I was wondering what the point of this porn with a pedigree would be. Even after Matt Savage wrote approvingly of the movie in his column I didn't think much of it. But then I read a few snippets of reviews of the movie, and I suddenly it sounded like the type of movie I'd dig. And what do you know, I thought it was pretty fantastic. The sex wasn't superfluous, it actually fit nicely into the plot, and augmented to story, even. Overall, it's a very touching movie, about freaks and the sexual and non-sexual relationships they have with all sorts of people. And within this, these people just trying to find a place in the world that they're comfortable with. I give it my seal of approval.

I also saw Little Children last week, and it's one of those movies that's really very good, but difficult to recommend because it's disturbing in a lot of ways. If, like me, you're into movies that focus on the dark underbelly of the suburbs - the promises, fantasies, and ultimately the dashed hopes of living in the land of manicured lawns and 2.5 kids - then this movie is for you. It's another movie who's focus is freaks - though freaks of another kind, freaks who've subjected themselves to the suburban life but who've found it difficult living in a place that has pretty much drained the livelihood and passion of their everyday lives. Throw in a convicted sex offender who's relocated to this Boston suburb of Wyndam (!?!?!?), and this ensemble cast pulls off a winner. Totally worth seeing, though disturbing.