My wife and I have decided that straight-up porn isn’t right for couple’s viewing. Doesn’t do anything for her, basically.
What we’re looking for is hot, steamy, etc. films that aren’t just people banging. The old “Red Shoes Diaries” are in the neighborhood of the right idea. Could be even more explicit than those (the Red Shoes having been intended for broadcast).
Needless to say, the films that are door-opens-to-pizza-guy-in-too-tight-shirt-while-the-silicone-enhanced-blonde-accidentally -drops-the-money-to-boing-chicka-bow-bow music is too far.
Not to say the acting’s particularly good, but Play Time stands out as being particularly hot and fairly uninhibited without being overtly graphic. Plus, Jennifer Burton is absolutely smokin’ (though the rest of the cast isn’t bad either).
When Night is Falling (More romantic, though it’s pretty erotic) Wild Orchid (I prefer the unrated version. Yow.) The Lover (Oscar nominated. Plus, I checked…the actress was 19.) Henry & June (Also Oscar nominated) Original Sin (Unrated version. With Angelina Jolie and Antonio Banderas.) Bound Firelight (Erotic content is sure there, but there’s not a lot of it. The rest of it is cold rooms and corsets. LOTS of corsets. Not that there’s anything wrong with that…) Better than Chocolate (Pretty much ibid. Except no corsets.)
Hey guys, I reviewed Crash once, back when I was the second-best writer on a two-person team of movie reviewers. Seems I didn’t find it all that hot, but I was probably missing something.
9½ Weeks Wild Orchid Body Heat The Last Seduction Final Analysis Bound
Some newer stuff, that isn’t really softcore porn but are very sexual:
Swimming Pool Dreamers Laurel Canyon The Weight of Water
I was never a fan of Michael Douglas or Sharon Stone as erotic leads, but if you are maybe:
Basic Instinct Fatal Attraction Sliver Disclosure
James Spader and Linda Fiorentino both made a career of erotic films. (Though never together.) I’ve only seen a few, but reading through their imdb listings is like walking down a softcore porn aisle at the video store.
I’d offer Crash as good, if a bit strange. Ditto with Secretary. Spader is a freak. The fact that Holly Hunter and Maggie Gyllenhal are the respective female leads in those two films is excellent casting, IMO.
I must also heartily endorse Secretary, which isn’t exactly softcore, but is certainly erotic. I rented this flick with my wife to pass the evening time while holing up in a Bar Harbor B&B during an October rain storm. I certainly expected weird, but not life-affirmingly hot weird. I mean, this is a sweet and romantic dom. flick, which I thought quite impossible, as my personal tastes don’t stray very far from the conventional. Very pleasantly surprised was I.
