Justin Bond Movies

In the mid-1990's, when Rudy Guiliani took over as mayor of New York City, he began a campaign to clean up the city, shutting down many of New York's sex clubs and wilder nightspots while turning the Times Square area into a Disney-friendly tourist destination. However, not every New Yorker was happy about the heavy hand being put upon the city's libertine community (especially given the cleanup's emphasis on gay clubs), and Michael Schmidt, a Big Apple party promoter, began staging regular parties at a Tribeca club called Don Hill's as an act of defiance against the new PG-rated New York. "Squeezebox" was originally intended to be a night where drag queens would give up lip-synching to records for the night and belt out their favorite tunes to the accompaniment of a rock band, but in time it grew into an "anything goes" showcase in which gays, straights, punks and club kids mingled in a party that celebrated freedom and self-expression for all as well as a wild good time. John Cameron Mitchell's acclaimed show Hedwig and the Angry Inch began as a workshop production at Squeezebox, and performers who graced the Squeezebox stage included Deborah Harry, Boy George, Jayne County and Antony Hegarty (who would later gain fame with his group Antony and the Johnsons). Filmmakers Steve Saporito, Zach Shaffer and Sean Pierce tell the story behind New York's wildest party and talk to a number of the people who made it possible in the documentary SqueezeBox, which received its world premiere as a special Midnight attraction at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

John Cameron Mitchell, who created a cult sensation as writer and director of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, blazes a brave new trail with this comedy-drama which combines the stories of a handful of emotionally unsatisfied New Yorkers with some of the most explicit sexual material to ever appear in a mainstream motion picture. Sofia (Sook-Yin Lee) is a couples' therapist who has a major relationship problem of her own -- she's never had an orgasm, and her husband Rob (Raphael Barker) doesn't seem capable of giving her one. Sophia's clients include James and Jamie (Paul Dawson and PJ DeBoy), a gay couple who have been together for five years and are beginning to grow tired of one another. As James and Jamie discuss the possibility of bringing another man into the bedroom, Sophia accidentally mentions her problem, and they tell her of an upcoming "Shortbus Party," a sexual free-for-all in which straight, gay, and lesbian couples are all welcome to either talk about sex or take a more active role in the main ballroom. As James and Jamie hook up with Ceth (Jay Brannan) for some mutually satisfying action at the bash, Sophia experiments with Sapphic diversions, and begins to truly find herself when she encounters Severin (Lindsay Beamish), a professional dominatrix. However, while Sophia begins to find what she needs with Severin, she discovers that while Severin is able to casually enter into a sexual relationship, she's never been able to emotionally commit herself to someone else. Shortbus was screened in competition at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A shocking and tragic event causes the members of a quietly dysfunctional family to reexamine themselves and their lives in this drama. Ben and Sandy Travis (Jeff Daniels and Sigourney Weaver) are a couple whose troubled family begins to crumble when their eldest son, star college athlete Matt (Kip Pardue) commits suicide. Sandy's naturally cynical nature becomes all the more prickly, and while she tries to bond with her surviving teenaged son, Tim (Emile Hirsch), they seem closest when they discover a shared fondness for marijuana. Ben also tries to reach out to Tim, but the young man is never able to shake the feeling that he's never quite been the son his father wanted. Tim has a girlfriend, Steph (Suzanne Santo), but their relationship has been going through a rocky patch, and Tim finds himself questioning his feelings about women and men when his friendship with next-door neighbor Kyle (Ryan Donowho) evolves into something more intimate. Imaginary Heroes was written and directed by Dan Harris, best known for his work as a screenwriter on the blockbuster comic-book adaptation X-Men and projected remakes of Superman and Logan's Run. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi