Sex in Cinema 2007

HOLLYWOOD'S MOST GIFTED ACTRESSES ARE SHOWING THAT LOVE, PASSION

AND SEX MAKE THE WORLD GO ROUND

he culture wars are over. If the fact that the

¦ leading candidate for the GOP presidential nomination is pro-choice, pro-gay rights and thrice married doesn't tell you that, then go to the movies. There you will see women—serious award-winning actresses—strutting their sexy stuff with a healthy abandon not seen in Holly­wood since the 1970s. Kate Winslet in Little Chil­dren bares more than her soul as a suburban mom hungry for excitement, Hilary Swank shows the dorsal view of a femme fatale in The Black Dahlia*

Rachel Weisz flaunts her passion in The Fountain, and Lena Headey

shows the softer side of Sparta in 300. Minimal wardrobes showcase the beauty of Scarlett Johans­son in Scoop (above), Jessica Biel in I Now Pro­nounce You Chuck & Larry and Jessica Alba in Good Luck Chuck, while the lovely Radha Mitchell wears nothing at all in Feast of Love. On the small screen, actresses also take big risks. The volup­tuous Zuleikha Robinson impresses on Rome, and actors of both genders are physically and emo­tionally naked on Tell Me You Love Me. With censo-riousness on the wane, audiences are remembering

that no special effect is more excit­ing than the female form.

Bottoms Up

Widespread rumors that Jennifer Aniston might finally expose heretofore hidden friends in The Break-Up (below) proved highly exaggerated, but even a hazy glimpse of the tush that launched a thousand Schwimmers helped turn the comedy into a hit.

Factory, Flawed and Flawless

It's hard to believe Hollywood could grind the raucous life of 1960s Warhol supernova Edie Sedgwick into a Lifetime-style bio flick, but even while gab­bing on the phone in Factory Girl (below), Sienna Miller leaves every nerve exposed.

Lohan Behold

Lindsay Lohan plays a pole dancer in / Know Who Killed Me (right). It's good somebody does—there weren't many people in the au­dience to serve as witnesses. Although Lohan looks occupation-ally overdressed, the landscape in view seems worth exploring.

Henry VIII, I Am, I Am

The Tudors (above) offers cocksman Henry VIII (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers) a flagonful of nubile beau-

ties. Alas, Rhys-Meyers seems more drawn to the camera than to chambermaid Nika McGuigan.

Dutch Treat

Halina Reijn helps the irrepress-ibly sexy Carice van Houten display the secret weapons that will undermine the Third Reich in director Paul Verhoe-ven's WWII resistance thriller Black Book (above). If Ameri­can audiences were as cosmo­politan today as they were in the 1960s, the charming Van Houten would be a maior star.

Mistress of the Universe

French director Catherine Breil­lat's films are known for pro­vocative scenes of female sexuality. The Last Mistress (above right) is no exception. Asia Argento is on abundant display in the title role.

Sock Puppet

Newlywed Kate Hudson blows a gasket when she discovers Owen Wilson, as a house-guest harder to get rid of than a chocolate stain, pleasuring himself inside a sock in You, Me and Dupree (right). In fairness, the sock seems to be enjoying itself too.

The Sex Files

On Showtime's Californication, writer David Duchovny enjoys the pleasures of Michele Nordin (above left) and

Madeline Zima (right). The show proudly bucks the reality-TV trend, which explains why the writer gets the girls.

I Spy

Audiences who caught the Taiwanese-made Help Me Eros (above) proba­bly zoned out on its story about a guy who feels suicidal after going broke, but they no doubt recall its gymnastic sex scenes. Not feeling so depressed now, are you, sport?

Loving the Law

In Breaking and Entering (below), Jude Law catches Juliette Binoche's son burglarizing his office. There's your breaking part. Binoche retaliates by taking the Law into her own hands. There's your entering. Then she black­mails him. There's your exiting.

Languid Lady

Playing the once but no longer repressed lady in Lady Chatterley (below), the latest screen version of D.H. Lawrence's famously erotic novel, Marina Hands lolls in bed, carefully avoiding the wet spot after a romp with her studly gamesman.

Focus, Man, Focus!

Yes, Nicolas Cage, we know you can see the future in the film Next (above). Yes, we know the FBI wants you to help pre­vent a terrorist nuclear at­tack. But that's just a flim­sy sheet between you and the luscious Jessica Biel. Can't you see that?

Dangerous Curves

The hard-nosed 1940s cop­per Josh Hartnett plays in The Black Dahlia (below) should have known better than to get mixed up with a dangerous dame like Hil­ary Swank. But then again, his agent should have known better than to get him mixed up in this film.

Vice Is Nice

In Miami Vice: Unrated— The Director's Cut (bot­tom), Colin Farrell, playing the intense vice detec­tive Sonny Crockett, goes deep undercover to bang a Gong (Gong Li, that is), who plays a drug-cartel leader. Hey, what­ever duty demands.

Retro Raunch

Sleaze with ease? Class with sass? Rose McGowan's turn as a dancer is one of the best reasons to see the Quentin Tarantino-Robert Rodriguez opus Grindhouse (below). Just remember: If she un­screws her leg, you've gone too far.

Exotic Asia

In Go Go Tales (above), a screwball comedy from director Abel Ferrara set in a Manhattan strip club, the dances, including one with a rott­weiler, are simply astonishing.

Check Your Oil?

By exposing her midriff and spouting a lot of car talk concerning "headers" and "high-rise double-pump carbu­retors," Megan Fox raises tempera­tures in Transformers (top right).

Grecian Formula

King Leonidas does some very special push-ups with Queen Gorgo in 300 (upper middle left) to help prepare for his upcoming anti-Xerxes exertions.

Weak for Weisz

In the metaphysical head trip The Fountain (upper middle right), Hugh Jackman is so powerfully drawn to Rachel Weisz both in and out of the bath that he pursues her over time, space and a confusing story line.

Something for Everyone

"Honey, it's true! I went to the execu­tion, and an orgy broke out!" It's all part of Perfume: The Story of a Mur­derer (lower middle right), the weird tale of an 18th century peasant whose superhuman sense of smell turns him into a scent snob and a serial killer.

Trailer-Park Party Girl

In Black Snake Moan (right), Christina Ricci plays a Southern (ahem) debu­tante who has a fondness for (ahem) crewcut lettermen. Said weakness, of course, later causes Samuel L. Jack­son to introduce her to his radiator.

Women in Love

Erin Daniels (above left, with dark hair) soaks up the love, and Leisha Hailey (above, far right) seem-

ingly does a comparison test of antiperspirants on The L Word, Showtime's sexy lesbian melodrama.

Monstrously Hot

In Alexander, Angelina Jolie plays the mother of a mega-lomaniacal conqueror. In Beowulf (above), she plays the mother of a monster. Take heed, boys: Should fortune ever be Angelina-ly generous with you, wear a condom.

One Sexy Mother

Sexy Angie Harmon, playing a dangerously deranged MILF in The Good Mother (right), seems to think this really isn't the best time to have her picture taken.

Let Them Eat Cake

Playing the Viennese pastry that conquered France, Kirsten Dunst in Marie Antoinette (below left) shows what happens when the wigs come off and the fun begins.

Man of Steel

In Hollywood/and (below right), Robin Tunney meets TV's Superman (Ben Affleck). Though faster than a speeding bullet, he's more powerful than a multiple orgasm.

Sopranos? Who Dey?

HBO insists its new series Tell Me You Love Me (above), about three couples dealing with their sex lives in ther-

apy sessions, isn't just about sex. Do you think the net­work is referring to that stuff in between the sex parts?

Happiness Is a Warm Gun

In Shoot 'Em Up (above), Clive Owen plays a man who, like us, is an adept multitasker: He can snuff out assas­sins while pounding Monica Bellucci into paroxysms of pleasure; we can read e-mail and talk on the phone.

Kate the Great

Suburbia proves to be a hotbed of desire in Little Children (below), in which the curvaceous Kate Winslet discovers the tube steak at Pantry Pride is no match for the neighborly offerings of Patrick Wilson.

Who Is Stupider?

Kerry Washington, as a wife of the ruthless dictator Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland (below), cannot stop herself from indulging in an ex­citing but risky encounter with a nit­wit doctor played by James McAvoy.