Sex in Cinema 2008

IN A HOT TUB, DURING A CATTLE DRIVE OR AFTER FLEEING GUANTANAMO BAY, IT WAS A SEXY YEAR AT THE MOVIES

¦f egardless of politics, most of us com­pletely support the surge. No, not the .one in Iraq—we're talking about the surge in eroticism and nudity that swept back into entertainment this year. A brigade of comedies led the way, among them Forgetting Sarah Mar­shall, featuring the hilarious hotel gymnastics of Kristen Bell and Russell Brand; The House Bunny, with the innocently sexy Anna Faris; Vicky Cristina Barcelona's hot international tri­angle of Scarlett Johansson, Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem; and on cable TV the sharp sat-

ires of modern L.A. Entourage and Californication.

Dramas certainly kept pace. Viewers won't soon forget the sight of Keira Knightley emerging from a fountain in a clingy slip in Atonement, Angelina Jolie's tough, tattooed assassin in Wanted (above), Nicole Kidman losing her upper-class cool with cattle driver Hugh Jackman in Australia or Tom Hanks—no kidding!—nakedly filibustering some constitu­ents in a hot tub in Charlie Wilson's War. This year film imitated life in showing that the hot­test sparks can be generated between the least likely partners and in the least expected places.

Just see for yourself in this review of Sex in Cinema 2008.

Arresting Development

Vicky Cristina Barcelona (above), Woody Allen's sun-drenched, made-in-Spain comedy-drama, turns muy caliente when fiery Penelope Cruz persuades Ameri­can tourist Scarlett Johansson to tongue wrestle in a darkroom.

Space Girls Are Easy

No, there's no Denise Richards, but Starship Troopers 3: Marauder (below) shows off enough inter-galactic skin to suggest that casu­ally sensuous earthlings of the future will find our insistence on clothing inexplicably bizarre.

Sex and Politics Do Mix

In Charlie Wilson's War (below) Tom Hanks's rascally congress­man interrupts a personal hearing with some strippers to launch into his study of the Soviet Union's occupation of Afghanistan. Only in the movies.

The Healing Touch

In Borderline everyone wants to lay hands on Isabelle Blais as she comes to terms with her turbulent past.

Grind to a Halt

In The Heartbreak Kid Ben Stiller manages to interrupt his honeymoon with his pursuit of another woman.

Platinum Bond

In Quantum of Solace (above), Daniel Craig's 007 pauses in a program of fights and chases long enough to plant some kisses on fellow agent Gemma Arterton's back. Fear not: It's just a quantum of romance.

Overbite

In the disturbingly funny horror com­edy Teeth (below), a chastity-minded student learns that her vagina can lit­erally put the bite on her attackers. Should the DVD's special features include a demonstration of flossing?

Cough It Up

In an adaptation of Chuck Palahniuk's novel Choke (below) con man Sam Rockwell hooks up with a woman he meets in sex-addiction recovery and later hangs at a strip club where he meets deadpan beauty Gillian Jacobs.

Terminal Bliss

In the thriller Boarding Gate Asia Argento is up to her neck in tattoos, trouble and, fortunately, lovers.

Bad News, Good News

Sadly, Marisa Tomei is underused in Before the Devil Knows You're Dead. Happily, she is also underdressed.

Boil Before Using

Talk about having your priorities out of whack. In Serbis (left), set in a family-owned porn theater in the Philippines, Coco Martin ignores the charms of his girlfriend Mercedes Cabral so he can attend to the boil on his hip. ....

Feast for Some, Famine for Others

In Feast of Love (above), a romance about the erotic affairs of couples in a college town, Alexa Davalos plays a dimpled coffeehouse waitress who almost effortlessly whips men into a froth that would do any barista proud.

Hot to the Touch

In Things We Lost in the Fire Halle Berry lights a spark in her soon-to-be-late husband David Duchovny (near left) before igniting powerful feelings in his pal Benicio Del Toro.

Secret Policeman's Ball

In Eastern Promises (far left, top) investigator Viggo Mortensen is forced to push himself deeply under­cover in order to remain disguised as a henchman for a crew of ruthless Russian restaurateurs.

Paris When She Sizzles

In the comedy The Hottie & the Not-tie (far left, bottom) Paris Hilton slips into lingerie and strikes a number of fetching poses. Surely, it was the feel-good movie of the year.

Rub a Dub Dub

In Doomsday Lily Anderson plays "Bathtub Blonde," and we defy anyone to criticize her performance.

South of the Border

In Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay we see why escaping a tropical prison is such a good idea.

Special Dishes

In the visually sumptuous / Served the King of Eng­land (left) Ivan Barnev's ambitious waiter strug­gles to keep his mind on his work. The upside: Sometimes he gets to eat the leftovers.

Slippery When Wet

When heiress Keira Knightley emerges from a dip in a fountain in Atone­ment (below left), she demonstrates the chief irony of the class system: The richer the dame, the skimpier the underwear.

Saddle Up

Forget Forgetting Sarah Marshall? We couldn't. The Judd Apatow production was one of the year's sig­nature hits, with the gym­nastic couplings of supple Kristen Bell and limber Russell Brand (below right) among the film's most memorable moments.

A Breath of Fresh Air

How sexy and funny does Anna Faris think she is in The House Bunny? When an actress invites the world to compare her to Marilyn Monroe (above), you know she's confident she's got game.

Prime Rump

It's hot work driving thousands of cows across the outback, but things get a lot hotter when Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman pause for some serious snogging in Baz Luhrmann's beefy epic Australia (right).

It Doesn't Take a Mind Reader

In Passengers (below right) Anne Hathaway plays an acutely sensitive grief counselor, and Patrick Wilson plays a man with paranormal abilities, but a wheel of Cheddar would know what these two are thinking about.

Feeling No Pain

In / Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry (below) gorgeous attorney Jessica Biel graciously lets her pretending-to-be-gay client Adam Sandier sample what he has con­vinced her he has been missing. Talk about attorney-client privilege.