Joe Swanberg's back with AUTOEROTIC -- at IFC Center & its Midnight series on VOD--and a co-director, Adam Wingard

Is Joe Swanberg ever far away? I mean, come on: This guy, one of the daddies of mumblecore, since 2005 has made a film or two each year (three already this year!), acting as (off and on) director, writer, producer, cinematographer, editor, and actor. (Can you "act as actor"? Sure you can!) He's fertile, give him that, even if his films are generally disposable entities that do not exactly hit profundity's G-Spot. And yet, as a filmmaker, Swanberg is likely to stick in your mind, as much for the positive things (energy, consistency, and a kind of weird formalism within the m'core genre) as the negative (repetitiveness, telling us stuff we already know, and the general inability to put a bunch of loose scenes into a thoughtful whole).

His best work so far has been 2009s Alexander the Last, in which, using a first-class actress for a change (Jess Weixler) and a story that actually went somewhere, he rose above, for the first time, the typical mumblecore longueurs. With AUTOEROTIC (not his newest work -- that would be Uncle Kent -- but the latest to be released), Swanberg (shown at right) is firmly, as per usual, into sexual territory, exploring, as previously, the continuing estrangement of men and women via video, the internet, inanimate objects--and the need to watch & compare rather than to be & do.

Apologies to Adam Wingard, shown at left, whom I completely left out of my original post, as both co-director and co-writer, as well as editor of this film. He also looks a lot like the fellow who plays the lead in the film's final story (see below), but as he is not listed in the cast, I may very well be mistaken.

Several sets of partners inhabit Autoerotic, and as you might expect from the title, their sexual habits trend toward the solo and masturbatory. Even when there's a twosome, you can bet one that one party of the pair is nearly unaware of the other -- and her needs. The first of these is a video spanking session, above, that makes voyeurs of both its participants and us viewers.

After the next coupling, above, the guy buries himself under a pillow, as his significant other tries to coax him out of himself. No good: The poor guy suffers from that terrible male bugaboo, I-think-my-dick's-too-small syndrome. Whether it is or not, the filmmaker and his actor give us no chance to judge, but when the girlfriend finally tells the guy, "You're a fucking asshole," few viewers will disagree. Then, entering unusual (for Swanberg) fantasy territory, the tale gets an odd and not-too-believable twist, resulting in the first of several autoerotic endeavors.

Another story lets us watch a horny young girl (above) who can't seem to stop masturbating until a friend suggests she might be a "gasper" -- one who auto-eroticizes via asphyxiation. She does try this at home to dismal affect until her boyfriend (played by the director) hits upon a way in which they can both enjoy the game.

The best of the tales spins around a couple (she's pregnant, unable to orgasm; he's helpless/hopeless, in bed and out) who invite over a girl who promises to help with that orgasm. In the film's funniest scene, his threesome fantasy goes unrequited. In the role of the wife, an actually pregnant Kris Swanberg (above, top, and the director's wife, I am assuming) proves the sexiest maternity mama I've yet seen: fun, funny and sensual as hell. Eat your heart out, Demi Moore.

The final segment offers a dolt (above, left -- and I am pretty sure that is Mr. Wingard in the  role), who likes to make videos of his own couplings. He is paid a visit by a former partner about to marry and who now wants him to delete all their video love-play. What transpires proves, as Swanberg loves to do again and again, that men are exceedingly dumb boys, and that their women, unfortunately, deserve them. The visual/verbal punchline to this segment enables the movie to end with a good joke.

Swanberg continues his penchant for formality in odd places, connections and disconnections, and his struggle to prove that, where sex is concerned,  "I caint get no satisfaction!" The fellow surely makes his point, yet he can't do much with it or go anywhere beyond it. As a result, the 72-minute movie entertains, off and on, but breaks little new ground.

Autoerotic, from IFC Films, opens theatrically this Friday, July 22, in New York City at the IFC Center (late-night only), and has been playing on VOD via the IFC Midnight series since June 29, and continuing through September 29.  Your move...