Not long before launch time, we wrote about our movie night with girlfriends, exploring erotica, and talking about what sort of flicks worked to turn us on... The premise being that as we grow older, using movies and literature and images to "get in the mood" can really help us overcome our skimpy sex hormones to fire up libidos.
In that post, we shared our list of movies that we found hot or naughty or disturbingly sexy, and a friend wrote asking for details on the movies we chose. Here's a bit about each of them:
A Room With a View: Romance literature depends upon eras when a lot of clothes, social restrictions and sexual oppression offer the perfect fuel to set off explosive passion. Helena Bonham-Carter and Julian Sands’ longing is by turns sweet and frustrating, and always titilating.
Breathless: If you have a tendency to fall for bad boys, Jean-Paul Belmondo is your type. A liar and a thief and a persistant seducer. The film is set in Paris, a classic and masterpiece of the influential director, Jean-Luc Godard and writer Francois Truffaut.
9 1/2 Weeks: Mickey Rourke and Kim Basinger are just bad for each other, and it’s so good. Lots of erotic play. Lots of sex. A terrible relationship. Not so much a feel-good movie here. You don’t hope they end up together in the end. New uses for the jars of stuff in your fridge.
Body Heat: William Hurt and Kathleen Turner in a steamy southern summer film noir. She seduces him, talks him into murdering her rich, oppressive husband so they can live happily ever after. The seduction and heat and sweat between these characters is more than memorable.
The Piano: A movie pairing Holly Hunter and Harvey Keitel made our list of sexiest films? Oh, my, yes. A haunting story of passion and the bargains women make to survive, and to thrive.
Atonement: The lovely, epic novel about class, love, jealousy, malice, and regret is made alive with performances by Keira Knightley and James McAvoy, whose passions are doomed from the start. But they do get off to a good start…
Shakespeare in Love: Find just about anything with a Fiennes in it — Joseph or Ralph — and you’ll likely find a hot film. These boys embody sexuality. Here Joseph is the young Shakespeare, and he’s in love. Gwyneth Paltrow is Viola, a woman mismatched and thwarted. A funny movie with a Shakespearean plot and much of his dialogue. The heat between Fiennes and Paltrow is luscious.
The Unbearable Lightness of Being: Daniel Day-Lewis, Lena Olin, Juliette Binoche. The cast should be enough to recommend the film. The sexy and disturbing triangle of Milan Kundera's novel, gorgeous Prague, the Soviet invasion. This is one beautiful, erotic, memorable film.
Looking for Mr. Goodbar: Diane Keaton and Richard Gere are hot for each other, and the movie made our list of turn-ons for that reason. But their obsessions get the best of them, to say the least. Amazing performances by great actors.
Sweet Land: Elizabeth Reaser and Patrick Heusinger are awkward and beautiful as they work his rural Minnesotan farm. A gorgeous movie whose sensuousness bubbles up from nowhere and nothing. There are so many barriers to this romance, it just has to bloom. And it does. And it’s breathtaking.
The Graduate: Dustin Hoffman loves Katharine Ross and lusts for her mother, Anne Bancroft. Sick? Well, yes, okay. Yes. And really, really sexy too. 60s angst. Remember 60s angst? We do.
Under the Tuscan Sun: The title gives it away: Tuscany. Heat. This film is about escape and discovery. A grown woman’s fantasy come true.
Thief of Hearts: Sexy Steven Bauer has stolen Barbara Williams’ diary. Her dull and predictable life breeds a rich fantasy life in those pages, and now he knows every detail of it. Careful what you wish for, girlfriends…
Vicky Cristina Barcelona: Javier Bardem could stand in the middle of the room and read our grocery list, and that would be enough for us. But put him in a movie with a lot of sexy women and supremely sensuous surroundings, and… why aren’t there more movies like this?
Moonstruck: Ah, Moonstruck. How many times have we seen it? A dozen times? How many media have we owned it in? VHS, Disc, DVD, Digital… and counting… This campy romantic comedy just never gets old. An aging Italian Cinderella in Manhattan gets another chance at love. And she takes it. Cher and Nicolas Cage. Mama Olympia Dukakis nearly steals this movie.
Daniel Craig films: Oh Sigh. His Bond flicks are so yummy. But really, we’ll take him in anything, in or out of a tuxedo. Out is good.
Dr. Barb DePree, M.D., has been a gynecologist and women’s health provider for almost 30 years and a menopause care specialist for the past ten.
2 comments
Great list. I’d add “Lust, Caution” as a must-see. I also recommend a similar post substituting TV for movies. There are some very sexy TV shows available, including “True Blood” and “Mad Men.”
Thank you for the list. I’d add any of the Red Shoe’s Diaries to the list. They are not movies, but taken from a TV series that was on Showtime. We have the entire series on tapes and they are a turn on.
We’ve purchased many of them off of Ebay. Enjoy.