Marx claims that history repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce. In the case of director Ang Lee, the reverse is true. A dozen years before Lee brought to the screen Annie Proulx’s heart-wrenching short story of ill-fated love (Brokeback Mountain), he directed The Wedding Banquet. In this comedy, Lee foreshadowed Brokeback Mountain's theme of the relationships of bi-sexual couples to the larger and often hostile society.
The Wedding Banquet is a romantic comedy about a semi-closeted gay Chinese immigrant stockbroker (Wei Tong, played by Winston Chao) and the lengths he goes to in order to conceal his sexual identity from his parents, who have paid him an unexpected visit from Taiwan. How far will Wei Tong go? Far enough to marry Wei Wei, played by May Chin. Wei Wei, a tenant in Wei Tong building, agrees to the marriage in exchange for her delinquent rent. And Wei Tong’s dilemma only gets more pressing when his parents insist on a elaborate traditional Chinese wedding banquet. Simon, Wei Tong boyfriend played by Mitchell Lichtenstein, is in every sense of the word, the best man, and he dutifully helps the odd couple navigate the rituals of the wedding banquet.
The wedding banquet is a very funny film that is filled with painful moments. It’s a story about sexual roles and their cultural context. And none of the five major characters is initially prepared to confront the contradictions and confusions that result from the cultural conflicts between Chinese and American, gay, straight and bi-sexual, and monogamy and polygamy. For them and for us, Lee suggests, the journey ends with new understandings of cultural and sex. For the viewer, hard lessons should always be so pleasurably learned. This is a fun film with many unexpected turns.
Monday, December 03, 2007
Thursday, October 04, 2007
Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love (1997)- R
There are so many reasons to see this film despite its flaws. The main flaw is that the actors seem to “over-act,” or exaggerate their acting. To the viewers in the West the acting may even seems comical. However, this style is characteristic of the extremely popular Bollywood films of India and in fact is one of the reasons to see this film. Bollywood films are Indian produced soap-opera style dramas that, up to just a few years ago, followed strict Hindu codes of sexual censorship. Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love is a breakthrough film in that it uses Bollywood stars, is filmed in India, is directed by the Academy Award winner Mira Nair and is explicitly erotic.
It is correct to say that Mira Nair is a world famous film producer. Her most acclaimed work was Salaam Bombay (1988) that won Best Foreign Film at the Academy Awards and top honors at the Cannes Film Festival. However, my favorite Mira Nair film is Monsoon Wedding (2001). Mira Nair’s films capture the amazing revolution in India today. She captures the tide change of a nation moving from poverty to an economic power. Her films are so realistic and vivid that you can almost smell the curry.
Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love presents a story of a women sent by her father to marry someone she does not love. She runs away and joins a school to study the art of love according to the ancient Kama Sutra writings. The setting of the story is 16th century India. Mira Nair elevates the training of these women from lowly prostitutes to philosopher-love goddesses.
Here are some reasons to see this film. In the brothel scenes, Mira Nair hired all the extras from the impoverished sex worker slums of Bombay. The film was in the Indian courts for 15 months before an edited version was allowed to be shown in India. The film features the most famous Indian Bollywood actress Rekha, who plays the Kama Sutra instructor. During the filming, crowds of over 10,000 people would follow the production company solely to get a glimpse of Rekha. The colors and fabrics of the costumes are amazing. Despite the very erotic nature of the film, Mira Nair hired her mother to play one of the elder woman’s roles.
And then there are the sex scenes. The scenes are explicit, very erotic and beautifully filmed. The key instruction to the young women students is that the art of love is greater than the act of love. The film attempts to link the erotic and spiritual and probably attempts to do too much.
Despite its flaws Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love is a good film. However, appreciating the contributions of Mira Nair makes this film more enjoyable. The film is available from Netflix.
It is correct to say that Mira Nair is a world famous film producer. Her most acclaimed work was Salaam Bombay (1988) that won Best Foreign Film at the Academy Awards and top honors at the Cannes Film Festival. However, my favorite Mira Nair film is Monsoon Wedding (2001). Mira Nair’s films capture the amazing revolution in India today. She captures the tide change of a nation moving from poverty to an economic power. Her films are so realistic and vivid that you can almost smell the curry.
Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love presents a story of a women sent by her father to marry someone she does not love. She runs away and joins a school to study the art of love according to the ancient Kama Sutra writings. The setting of the story is 16th century India. Mira Nair elevates the training of these women from lowly prostitutes to philosopher-love goddesses.
Here are some reasons to see this film. In the brothel scenes, Mira Nair hired all the extras from the impoverished sex worker slums of Bombay. The film was in the Indian courts for 15 months before an edited version was allowed to be shown in India. The film features the most famous Indian Bollywood actress Rekha, who plays the Kama Sutra instructor. During the filming, crowds of over 10,000 people would follow the production company solely to get a glimpse of Rekha. The colors and fabrics of the costumes are amazing. Despite the very erotic nature of the film, Mira Nair hired her mother to play one of the elder woman’s roles.
And then there are the sex scenes. The scenes are explicit, very erotic and beautifully filmed. The key instruction to the young women students is that the art of love is greater than the act of love. The film attempts to link the erotic and spiritual and probably attempts to do too much.
Despite its flaws Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love is a good film. However, appreciating the contributions of Mira Nair makes this film more enjoyable. The film is available from Netflix.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Nude Alaskan Cruise and the Movie “Swinging: From Fantasy to Reality” (2004) –Educational
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Thursday, July 19, 2007
All the Ladies Do It (1992)- NR
Margo Wilson wanted to know why husbands in the United States kill their wives and why wives kill their husbands. She studied killing in three major US cites (Wilson, M. I. & Daly, M. Who kills whom in spouse killings? On the exceptional sex ratio of spousal homicides in the United States. Criminology. 30:189-215). Her findings were very interesting. Margo Wilson concluded that the primary reason for wife killings was (perceived or real) infidelity. Interestingly, there were few documented husbands killed by wives for infidelity, though as we know, husbands are more likely to have extra-marital sex. The main reason wives kill husbands was for physical or emotional abuse. Men it seems are hardwired to go ballistic with rage or free fall into depression when faced with their wives sharing their bodies with someone else. Paradoxically, women are hardwired to share their bodies. A young mother for instance, will have sexual intercourse with her husband at 7am, breast feed her infant at 8am, have her toddler on her hip at 8:30 and still shave her legs for the examination of her male and female office co-workers. Women understand that in public their breasts, hips and legs are "shared" as much as their face. Men know it too but frequently go crazy when it involves their wife.
Two very popular films that illustrate this point are Unfaithful (2002- R) and Indecent Proposal (1993- R). Both films are about husbands' response to a wife's infidelity. In Unfaithful the response was homicide and in Indecent Proposal the response was deep depression. In both films the husbands are tortured by wanting to know the explicit details of their wives' extra-marital sex, despite the extreme pain that such details produced.
When our oldest daughter was four, she loved the story of Dumbo. She wanted to have the story read to her every night. The moral of this classic Disney animation is "the very thing that holds you down (in Dumbo's case it was his ears) is the thing that lets you fly." The secret missed by Margo Wilson's research and the movies Unfaithful and Indecent Proposal is that wives having sex with other men is one of the strongest erotic fantasy of men. Somewhere deep inside the hardwiring of men's brains there is this place that goes ballistic when their wives are sexual with others. A micro-inch away from this spot is another spot of highly aroused pleasure from the same event. This second spot is the subject of the Italian film All the Ladies Do It.
All the Ladies Do It is a sometimes funny and very stylish film by the Italian erotic film director Tinto Bass. The story follows Diana (played by Claudia Koll), a very attractive middle age wife who deeply loves her husband but also deeply loves being caressed and fondled and loved by other men. Diana, as with all of Tinto Bass's leading women characters, has beautifully broad Italian hips and proudly unshaven genitals, both of which are displayed throughout the film. Diana's husband is very aroused by the fantasy of her having sex with other men. He frequently encourages her to "make-up" explicit details of these fantasies during their lovemaking. The catch is that the detailed stories are real and not fantasies. When Diana's husband finds out the truth, his hardwiring jumps the circuit to the ballistic side.
The movies Unfaithful and Indecent Proposal, though teasing their viewers with erotic scenes of illicit sex, end with a moral message of marital destruction. All the Ladies Do It ends with the married couple embracing and celebrating this pleasure side of the male brain. All the Ladies Do It is a very explicit and erotic film. I enjoyed it greatly. I strongly recommend it, particularly if you enjoy the non-ballistic side of the male brain.
Two very popular films that illustrate this point are Unfaithful (2002- R) and Indecent Proposal (1993- R). Both films are about husbands' response to a wife's infidelity. In Unfaithful the response was homicide and in Indecent Proposal the response was deep depression. In both films the husbands are tortured by wanting to know the explicit details of their wives' extra-marital sex, despite the extreme pain that such details produced.
When our oldest daughter was four, she loved the story of Dumbo. She wanted to have the story read to her every night. The moral of this classic Disney animation is "the very thing that holds you down (in Dumbo's case it was his ears) is the thing that lets you fly." The secret missed by Margo Wilson's research and the movies Unfaithful and Indecent Proposal is that wives having sex with other men is one of the strongest erotic fantasy of men. Somewhere deep inside the hardwiring of men's brains there is this place that goes ballistic when their wives are sexual with others. A micro-inch away from this spot is another spot of highly aroused pleasure from the same event. This second spot is the subject of the Italian film All the Ladies Do It.
All the Ladies Do It is a sometimes funny and very stylish film by the Italian erotic film director Tinto Bass. The story follows Diana (played by Claudia Koll), a very attractive middle age wife who deeply loves her husband but also deeply loves being caressed and fondled and loved by other men. Diana, as with all of Tinto Bass's leading women characters, has beautifully broad Italian hips and proudly unshaven genitals, both of which are displayed throughout the film. Diana's husband is very aroused by the fantasy of her having sex with other men. He frequently encourages her to "make-up" explicit details of these fantasies during their lovemaking. The catch is that the detailed stories are real and not fantasies. When Diana's husband finds out the truth, his hardwiring jumps the circuit to the ballistic side.
The movies Unfaithful and Indecent Proposal, though teasing their viewers with erotic scenes of illicit sex, end with a moral message of marital destruction. All the Ladies Do It ends with the married couple embracing and celebrating this pleasure side of the male brain. All the Ladies Do It is a very explicit and erotic film. I enjoyed it greatly. I strongly recommend it, particularly if you enjoy the non-ballistic side of the male brain.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Indie Films: Shortbus (2006) –UR and Confusions of An Unmarried Couple (2006) –UR
The new technologies allow all of us to be experts, ...well sort of. We can write our own film review blogs and even make our own films. Much of the blogging (perhaps mine included) and independent film making is self-indulgent. Occasionally, there are real innovations and original thoughts.
Shortbus is an example of an innovative independent film that is about the same people who make independent films and write blogs. The film is a visual journey of the erotic self-discovery of New York City twenty-something year olds. The sex is graphic but not erotic. It is more a story of people discovering their bodies than discovering and loving someone else's body. I don't know if this self-absorption is an indictment of a generation, a stage of development or something unique about physical lovemaking. However, the dialogue and characters in Shortbus are fresh, interesting and provocative. This is the reason I am recommending this film. Nonetheless, when the actors take off their clothes and begin to touch each other you can almost see them say, "oh my god, what are we doing!"
And now to an even more independent film where the characters do not take off their clothes. "Confusions of An Unmarried Couple" is produced by the Butler Brothers (http://www.subprod.com/). The film is all dialogue and shows the potential quality of independent films from a no budget or low budget platform. The film is about a young couple in a troubled relationship. The couple attempts to reconcile through talking about what went wrong in the first place. The seemingly unscripted dialogue takes on a "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" quality of subject change and loose associations. The words of the dialogue are "let's take off our cloths and make love" but the real communication is "I'm too involved with my stuff to have time for you." Both movies are interesting examples of Indie films about sex. Both films teach to judge erotic and sensual intent by more than spoken words.
Confusions of an Unmarried Couple DVD is now available from our website. http://www.subprod.com/store.php
Hi Paul,
Last evening B and I screened Shortbus. The orgy scenes were about as erotic as we've ever seen. We both remarked that we had been there "in the small" at the Farm and the River. And that five years ago such amovie would have "flipped us out". How things change. This morning we veiwed the extras, namely commentary about the making of the film and deleted scenes, and found them to be even more stimulating and suggestive. It brings to mind the idea that I mentioned some time ago about making an erotic (not porn) movie about people in our age group. It might be very refreshing for young people to know that they have decades of erotic pleasure in front of them.
Warm regards to you and Emily, J and B
Shortbus is an example of an innovative independent film that is about the same people who make independent films and write blogs. The film is a visual journey of the erotic self-discovery of New York City twenty-something year olds. The sex is graphic but not erotic. It is more a story of people discovering their bodies than discovering and loving someone else's body. I don't know if this self-absorption is an indictment of a generation, a stage of development or something unique about physical lovemaking. However, the dialogue and characters in Shortbus are fresh, interesting and provocative. This is the reason I am recommending this film. Nonetheless, when the actors take off their clothes and begin to touch each other you can almost see them say, "oh my god, what are we doing!"
And now to an even more independent film where the characters do not take off their clothes. "Confusions of An Unmarried Couple" is produced by the Butler Brothers (http://www.subprod.com/). The film is all dialogue and shows the potential quality of independent films from a no budget or low budget platform. The film is about a young couple in a troubled relationship. The couple attempts to reconcile through talking about what went wrong in the first place. The seemingly unscripted dialogue takes on a "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" quality of subject change and loose associations. The words of the dialogue are "let's take off our cloths and make love" but the real communication is "I'm too involved with my stuff to have time for you." Both movies are interesting examples of Indie films about sex. Both films teach to judge erotic and sensual intent by more than spoken words.
Confusions of an Unmarried Couple DVD is now available from our website. http://www.subprod.com/store.php
Hi Paul,
Last evening B and I screened Shortbus. The orgy scenes were about as erotic as we've ever seen. We both remarked that we had been there "in the small" at the Farm and the River. And that five years ago such amovie would have "flipped us out". How things change. This morning we veiwed the extras, namely commentary about the making of the film and deleted scenes, and found them to be even more stimulating and suggestive. It brings to mind the idea that I mentioned some time ago about making an erotic (not porn) movie about people in our age group. It might be very refreshing for young people to know that they have decades of erotic pleasure in front of them.
Warm regards to you and Emily, J and B
Monday, May 14, 2007
Kinsey (2004)- R
Dr. Alfred Kinsey tells a New York Times reporter in the film "Kinsey" that we know less about the topic of human sexual pleasure than about the molting habits of the South American butterfly. Today, some 50 years later, much more is known about the physiology of human sexuality. However, I believe we have achieved only a slightly better understanding of erotic pleasure particularly within our most important lifelong relationships.
I am a trained marriage and family therapist and have been licensed in three states. In none of my training or continuing education for my licenses was I required to take a course in human sexuality, much less training in human erotic pleasure. My physician wife in 30 years of practicing medicine has not been required to take even one hour of continuing education in human sexuality to fulfill her board requirements in family medicine. Our daughter is in her second year of medical school and just last semester received her first training in sexuality. The lecture series was a sexual terminology course and was added because a medical student did not know what a patient meant when she reported her boyfriend liked to "eat her." It is because of these facts that the film Kinsey should be seen by all health professionals and all those interested in human sexuality.
Alfred Kinsey and his wife Clara McMillen were champions for research and education not just about human sexuality but human sexual pleasure. "Kinsey" is an important film because it documents our past (and current) taboo of gathering even the most basic information about sex and erotic pleasure. As health professionals we can categorize the 15 color shades of urine but squirm when asking a patient if they enjoy sex. Alfred Kinsey shined a spotlight on this hypocrisy in the late 1940's, a hypocrisy that is almost as true today.
I was first introduced to Dr. Alfred Kinsey at 16 when I was a junior in high school. I was hired as a hospital orderly at Rush-Presbyterian St. Luke's hospital and Medical School in Chicago to work the 5pm to midnight shift. My duties were to move patients from one floor to another and to move expired patients to the morgue. I had access to the medical school library and had much time on my hands. This free time was spent reading about sex in the medical school library and specifically reading Kinsey's and his "Sexual Behavior in the Human Male" and "Sexual Behavior in the Human Female." The literally hundreds of graphs and charts in these two volumes document Kinsey's chief finding. Sex and eroticism in humans is very pleasurable but also varies greatly from individual to individual. Before you say "daa," it is the fact of variety from individual to individual that our society has yet to accept.
Kinsey the movie is about Alfred Kinsey (played by Liam Neeson) and Clara McMillen (played by Laura Linney). It is about Kinsey the couple. The movie tracks their early bond in research biology through their interest in human sexuality, then sexual exploration with other partners and finally the bond of their love for each other. We are inspired by their passion to find "facts and accuracy" about human sexuality and eroticism. Laura Linney is superb in her Oscar nominating performance. Her performance captures the true multi-dimensional aspect of her character. Kinsey is an excellent and inspiring film about sex and one that I strongly recommend.
I am a trained marriage and family therapist and have been licensed in three states. In none of my training or continuing education for my licenses was I required to take a course in human sexuality, much less training in human erotic pleasure. My physician wife in 30 years of practicing medicine has not been required to take even one hour of continuing education in human sexuality to fulfill her board requirements in family medicine. Our daughter is in her second year of medical school and just last semester received her first training in sexuality. The lecture series was a sexual terminology course and was added because a medical student did not know what a patient meant when she reported her boyfriend liked to "eat her." It is because of these facts that the film Kinsey should be seen by all health professionals and all those interested in human sexuality.
Alfred Kinsey and his wife Clara McMillen were champions for research and education not just about human sexuality but human sexual pleasure. "Kinsey" is an important film because it documents our past (and current) taboo of gathering even the most basic information about sex and erotic pleasure. As health professionals we can categorize the 15 color shades of urine but squirm when asking a patient if they enjoy sex. Alfred Kinsey shined a spotlight on this hypocrisy in the late 1940's, a hypocrisy that is almost as true today.
I was first introduced to Dr. Alfred Kinsey at 16 when I was a junior in high school. I was hired as a hospital orderly at Rush-Presbyterian St. Luke's hospital and Medical School in Chicago to work the 5pm to midnight shift. My duties were to move patients from one floor to another and to move expired patients to the morgue. I had access to the medical school library and had much time on my hands. This free time was spent reading about sex in the medical school library and specifically reading Kinsey's and his "Sexual Behavior in the Human Male" and "Sexual Behavior in the Human Female." The literally hundreds of graphs and charts in these two volumes document Kinsey's chief finding. Sex and eroticism in humans is very pleasurable but also varies greatly from individual to individual. Before you say "daa," it is the fact of variety from individual to individual that our society has yet to accept.
Kinsey the movie is about Alfred Kinsey (played by Liam Neeson) and Clara McMillen (played by Laura Linney). It is about Kinsey the couple. The movie tracks their early bond in research biology through their interest in human sexuality, then sexual exploration with other partners and finally the bond of their love for each other. We are inspired by their passion to find "facts and accuracy" about human sexuality and eroticism. Laura Linney is superb in her Oscar nominating performance. Her performance captures the true multi-dimensional aspect of her character. Kinsey is an excellent and inspiring film about sex and one that I strongly recommend.
Sunday, May 06, 2007
Loving Sex- Ultimate Massage (1998) - Educational
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Saturday, April 21, 2007
Frivolous Lola (1998)- NR
Emily and I just returned from our first nude cruise sponsored through Castaway Travel. (http://www.travelnude.com/ ). It was really quite wonderful. In fact we have now signed up for another nude cruise on the Danube River in Europe. This Caribbean cruise lasted 10 days and visited the islands of Bonaire, Dominica, St. Thomas and The Bahamas. The 1500 passengers were allowed to be nude throughout the ship with the exception of the formal dining room and when the ship was in port. The experiences "exposed" us to both the variety of human form and to a new sexual fetish.
Aquaphilia, we learned is the enjoyment of sex underwater. No, I'm not kidding. Look it up in Wikipedia. Our newly found nude cruise friends Susan and Matthew were more than delighted to share their personal experiences of sexual joys from "doing it" underwater. Susan and Matthew also shared with us their library of DVD and still photos documenting other couples who also were Aquaphiliaics. Clearly, we have led a sheltered life which brings me to this current movie review.
Frivolous Lola is a movie about another fetish. This movie is dedicated to the pleasure of the woman's derriere. Frivolous Lola is one of 7 films by the Italian director Tinto Brass, nearly all of which focus on the woman's ass. As with our nude cruise, Brass treats the viewer to all sizes, shapes and views of women's rear-ends. However, unquestionably his favorite presentation is from behind with the women bent over. The plot, if you are interested, centers on two young lover's conflict about pre-marital sex. Lola, played by Anna Ammirati, wants to get started, whereas her boyfriend wants to wait.
Frivolous Lola has all the trappings of a bad movie. Surprisingly, it is a funny and sometimes erotic comedy. Anna Ammirati does very well in playing the movie led and even with the poor English dubbing of Italian, we appreciate her dry wit. Did I mention we frequently get to see her ass and the ass of nearly every other woman is Italy? Finally, for our new Aquaphilia nude cruise friends Susan and Matthew, there is a brief underwater sex scene that is really quite well done.
Aquaphilia, we learned is the enjoyment of sex underwater. No, I'm not kidding. Look it up in Wikipedia. Our newly found nude cruise friends Susan and Matthew were more than delighted to share their personal experiences of sexual joys from "doing it" underwater. Susan and Matthew also shared with us their library of DVD and still photos documenting other couples who also were Aquaphiliaics. Clearly, we have led a sheltered life which brings me to this current movie review.
Frivolous Lola is a movie about another fetish. This movie is dedicated to the pleasure of the woman's derriere. Frivolous Lola is one of 7 films by the Italian director Tinto Brass, nearly all of which focus on the woman's ass. As with our nude cruise, Brass treats the viewer to all sizes, shapes and views of women's rear-ends. However, unquestionably his favorite presentation is from behind with the women bent over. The plot, if you are interested, centers on two young lover's conflict about pre-marital sex. Lola, played by Anna Ammirati, wants to get started, whereas her boyfriend wants to wait.
Frivolous Lola has all the trappings of a bad movie. Surprisingly, it is a funny and sometimes erotic comedy. Anna Ammirati does very well in playing the movie led and even with the poor English dubbing of Italian, we appreciate her dry wit. Did I mention we frequently get to see her ass and the ass of nearly every other woman is Italy? Finally, for our new Aquaphilia nude cruise friends Susan and Matthew, there is a brief underwater sex scene that is really quite well done.
Friday, March 23, 2007
Lie With Me (2005)- NR
Lie With Me is a raw, bold and controversial film. Emily and I found the sex arousing and the characters complex. Netflix's http://www.netflix.com/ 40,000 viewers rated the film 3 out of 5 stars on average, however only 30% of journalism reviews http://www.rottentomatoes.com/ recommended the film. Nonetheless, we highly recommend it.
In this film, we are treated to the inner private thought of Leila, played by Lauren Lee Smith. Her thoughts are about sex- how to get it, how to get it often, and how to get it on her terms. Leila has found it easy to have sex with many men and nearly every man. However, she becomes despondent after having frequent sex with a man named David, played by Eric Balfour of HBO Six Feet Under fame. This relationship causes the blood to move from her genitals to her heart. She now asks herself the question, "how do you have sex with someone you are in love with?"
Lie With Me is a highly erotic film with explicit sexual scenes. It is also a movie with an intense character study of two people who can make passionate erotic sex but become anguished when faced with the opportunity to make love. We meet Leila and David at a seedy nightclub party. This is a place where the music and the bodies are hot. They are with other partners and the foursome escapes to the alley to elevate their hot dancing to hot sex. Leila and David become more aroused exhibiting themselves for each other then the sex they are having with their partners. We follow Leila and David over the next weeks as they engage each other's bodies. Their passionate sex surprisingly turns to affection. Each is also struggling with death and divorce in their families. Maybe this contributes to them allowing affection to sneak-up amidst all their sex. Regardless, it produces more pain then they could imagine.
The frequent romance film shows a couple falling in love and then awkwardly and fearfully moves from affection to sex. Lie With Me moves the couple from erotic sex to awkward and fearful affection. The sex is hot and very real. In one scene the camera shoots from just above Leila's head as she lies in bed. We essentially watch from her eyes as David undresses her and works his way up her legs with his licks and kisses. We watch real oral sex as he licks and opens her labia with his mouth. The camera them moves up and rotates to her face without cutting from the scene. We watch her face as she moves to an orgasm that we know is coming from real sex.
Apart from the sex, there are two reasons to see this film. First, Lauren Lee Smith boldly reverses gender roles by playing a demanding, controlling and even at times, abusive sexual partner. She skillfully develops a female version of a character that changes from being centered only on her genital pleasures to one open to the possibility of a relationship. Second, this movie does an excellent work of filming the nude male. We see all sides. We see the erect penis and the non-erect penis. We see David lovingly bathing his elderly nude (and yes also with a penis) father, shortly before his death. There are so many films where only nude women are shown. This film showing nude men, is refreshing and reason alone to see this film. Lie With Me would be a very good movie without the explicit sex. With the sex, it is an excellent movie.
In this film, we are treated to the inner private thought of Leila, played by Lauren Lee Smith. Her thoughts are about sex- how to get it, how to get it often, and how to get it on her terms. Leila has found it easy to have sex with many men and nearly every man. However, she becomes despondent after having frequent sex with a man named David, played by Eric Balfour of HBO Six Feet Under fame. This relationship causes the blood to move from her genitals to her heart. She now asks herself the question, "how do you have sex with someone you are in love with?"
Lie With Me is a highly erotic film with explicit sexual scenes. It is also a movie with an intense character study of two people who can make passionate erotic sex but become anguished when faced with the opportunity to make love. We meet Leila and David at a seedy nightclub party. This is a place where the music and the bodies are hot. They are with other partners and the foursome escapes to the alley to elevate their hot dancing to hot sex. Leila and David become more aroused exhibiting themselves for each other then the sex they are having with their partners. We follow Leila and David over the next weeks as they engage each other's bodies. Their passionate sex surprisingly turns to affection. Each is also struggling with death and divorce in their families. Maybe this contributes to them allowing affection to sneak-up amidst all their sex. Regardless, it produces more pain then they could imagine.
The frequent romance film shows a couple falling in love and then awkwardly and fearfully moves from affection to sex. Lie With Me moves the couple from erotic sex to awkward and fearful affection. The sex is hot and very real. In one scene the camera shoots from just above Leila's head as she lies in bed. We essentially watch from her eyes as David undresses her and works his way up her legs with his licks and kisses. We watch real oral sex as he licks and opens her labia with his mouth. The camera them moves up and rotates to her face without cutting from the scene. We watch her face as she moves to an orgasm that we know is coming from real sex.
Apart from the sex, there are two reasons to see this film. First, Lauren Lee Smith boldly reverses gender roles by playing a demanding, controlling and even at times, abusive sexual partner. She skillfully develops a female version of a character that changes from being centered only on her genital pleasures to one open to the possibility of a relationship. Second, this movie does an excellent work of filming the nude male. We see all sides. We see the erect penis and the non-erect penis. We see David lovingly bathing his elderly nude (and yes also with a penis) father, shortly before his death. There are so many films where only nude women are shown. This film showing nude men, is refreshing and reason alone to see this film. Lie With Me would be a very good movie without the explicit sex. With the sex, it is an excellent movie.
Sunday, February 18, 2007
The Woodsman (2004)- R
In 1982 Marvin Gay sang the hit song "Sexual Healing." Some of the lyrics include:
I want Sexual Healing
Sexual Healing, oh baby
Makes me feel so fine
Helps to relieve my mind Sexual Healing baby, is good for me
Sexual Healing is something that's good for me
Whenever blue tear drops are falling
And my emotional stability is leaving me
There is something I can doI can get on the telephone and call you up baby, and
Honey I know you'll be there to relieve me
The love you give to me will free me
If you don't know the things you're dealing ohh
Let me tell you, darling, that it's Sexual Healing
In The Woodsman, Kevin Bacon plays Walter, a convicted child molester that is rescued and maybe "healed" through the sexual caring of a newly found adult friend. This is a provocative and well-made film about sexual pain and sexual rescue.
Walter is released from prison after serving a lengthy term for sexual conduct with an 11-year-old girl. We never learn exactly the nature of the sexual conduct. Walter in one scene tells a companion that the girl looked older. Regardless, we do learn that Walter is a troubled man. He is haunted by this inner demon and lives in fear that his desire for very young girls will lead to re-incarceration or worse. His life is secretive and isolated from family, friends and even his therapist. We follow him as he gets an apartment near a grade school and begins spending most of this time watching 10-year-old girls play. The scenes are creepy.
The woodsman who using his axe cut her out of the wolf's belly,
Saved little Red Ridding Hood from the wolf.
In this film the "woodsman" is Vickie played by Kyra Sedgwick. She is a no-nonsense construction worker. We never know exactly her motivation, but she is drawn to rescue Walter even before she knows his full story. Vickie uses her body rather than an axe. Her purposeful erotic seduction rescues Walter by awakening sexual passion for an adult woman.
Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick, who in real life have been married since 1988, create believable characters. Bacon specifically is able to portray the creepiness and unsettling nature of a man obsessed by young children. The sex scenes between Walter and Vickie contain brief nudity and are erotic. I recommend The Woodsman because it puts a human face on a man our culture considers "a sexual monsters", yet still clearly showing him as a predator. However, even more interesting it raises the possibility of redirecting his sexual energy to adult partners. Vickie's role as the Woodsman was truly an example of "sexual healing" as sung by Marvin Gay.
I want Sexual Healing
Sexual Healing, oh baby
Makes me feel so fine
Helps to relieve my mind Sexual Healing baby, is good for me
Sexual Healing is something that's good for me
Whenever blue tear drops are falling
And my emotional stability is leaving me
There is something I can doI can get on the telephone and call you up baby, and
Honey I know you'll be there to relieve me
The love you give to me will free me
If you don't know the things you're dealing ohh
Let me tell you, darling, that it's Sexual Healing
In The Woodsman, Kevin Bacon plays Walter, a convicted child molester that is rescued and maybe "healed" through the sexual caring of a newly found adult friend. This is a provocative and well-made film about sexual pain and sexual rescue.
Walter is released from prison after serving a lengthy term for sexual conduct with an 11-year-old girl. We never learn exactly the nature of the sexual conduct. Walter in one scene tells a companion that the girl looked older. Regardless, we do learn that Walter is a troubled man. He is haunted by this inner demon and lives in fear that his desire for very young girls will lead to re-incarceration or worse. His life is secretive and isolated from family, friends and even his therapist. We follow him as he gets an apartment near a grade school and begins spending most of this time watching 10-year-old girls play. The scenes are creepy.
The woodsman who using his axe cut her out of the wolf's belly,
Saved little Red Ridding Hood from the wolf.
In this film the "woodsman" is Vickie played by Kyra Sedgwick. She is a no-nonsense construction worker. We never know exactly her motivation, but she is drawn to rescue Walter even before she knows his full story. Vickie uses her body rather than an axe. Her purposeful erotic seduction rescues Walter by awakening sexual passion for an adult woman.
Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick, who in real life have been married since 1988, create believable characters. Bacon specifically is able to portray the creepiness and unsettling nature of a man obsessed by young children. The sex scenes between Walter and Vickie contain brief nudity and are erotic. I recommend The Woodsman because it puts a human face on a man our culture considers "a sexual monsters", yet still clearly showing him as a predator. However, even more interesting it raises the possibility of redirecting his sexual energy to adult partners. Vickie's role as the Woodsman was truly an example of "sexual healing" as sung by Marvin Gay.
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Red Shoe Diary: The Movie: Special Edition (1992)- R
This film produced by Zalman King started the HBO series Red Shoe Diaries. This film, though not as explicit and stylish as King's Delta of Venus (1995), still offers a high quality erotic film with a real plot. Though the film launched the HBO series by the same name, there is little similarity between this feature-length film story and the Red Shoe Series. The HBO films usually contain 3 short stories based on erotic encounters with strangers.
This story is of a young attractive woman played by Brigitte Bako who is caught between two lovers and two styles of lovemaking. One lover is a sensitive caregiver seeking marriage. The other lover enjoys rough and controlling sex that borders on sadomasochism. She ultimately is unable to resolve this dilemma and this leads to tragedy.
Though the film contains only brief full nudity, the many sex scenes are erotic and passionate. This is one of three films recently reviewed (the other two are Delta of Venus-1995 and Lady Chatterley's Lover-1981) that is recommended for viewers seeking strong erotic content within a well made film with a real plot.
This story is of a young attractive woman played by Brigitte Bako who is caught between two lovers and two styles of lovemaking. One lover is a sensitive caregiver seeking marriage. The other lover enjoys rough and controlling sex that borders on sadomasochism. She ultimately is unable to resolve this dilemma and this leads to tragedy.
Though the film contains only brief full nudity, the many sex scenes are erotic and passionate. This is one of three films recently reviewed (the other two are Delta of Venus-1995 and Lady Chatterley's Lover-1981) that is recommended for viewers seeking strong erotic content within a well made film with a real plot.
Sirens (1994)- R
Most films about sexual awakening or ?sexually coming of age? focus on teenagers or young adults. The story line perhaps is that once a person reaches 25 they have passed through the experimentation phase and now can get-on with serious relationship sex. The wonderful truth is that sexual awakening and sexual re-awakening frequently (thank God) happens later in life.
Sirens is a wonderfully erotic and often funny film about sexual awakening. Tara Fitzgerald plays the wife of an Anglican Priest assigned to removing erotic art from church sponsored exhibits. The couple travels to visit an artist and his group of nude models to persuade them to remove certain nude paintings from exhibits. Along the way, the clergy's wife is "exposed" to not just nudity but the erotic passions of the models and eventually her own. The wife at first is the picture of a proper religious woman. Yet, she is drawn to the nude images on the painter's canvas and then to watching the nude models in erotic play. Her curiosity leads to desire and then passion ending in erotic affairs with both a male model and the female models.
The film is beautifully filmed in the mountains of Australia that provide a stunning natural background for the many nude scenes. The film ends with a breathtaking shot of the 5 women in the film, all nude, on a mountaintop. The film's sexual scenes are very erotic, not from being explicit, but from the content of a religious wife being naughty. We leave the couple as she brings her newly found erotic passion to her marriage and frankly they are thankful that God created sex.
Sirens is a wonderfully erotic and often funny film about sexual awakening. Tara Fitzgerald plays the wife of an Anglican Priest assigned to removing erotic art from church sponsored exhibits. The couple travels to visit an artist and his group of nude models to persuade them to remove certain nude paintings from exhibits. Along the way, the clergy's wife is "exposed" to not just nudity but the erotic passions of the models and eventually her own. The wife at first is the picture of a proper religious woman. Yet, she is drawn to the nude images on the painter's canvas and then to watching the nude models in erotic play. Her curiosity leads to desire and then passion ending in erotic affairs with both a male model and the female models.
The film is beautifully filmed in the mountains of Australia that provide a stunning natural background for the many nude scenes. The film ends with a breathtaking shot of the 5 women in the film, all nude, on a mountaintop. The film's sexual scenes are very erotic, not from being explicit, but from the content of a religious wife being naughty. We leave the couple as she brings her newly found erotic passion to her marriage and frankly they are thankful that God created sex.
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