Publications
Partners
1. Boogie Nights
Between: Rollergirl (Heather Graham) and Dirk Diggler (Mark Wahlberg)
It may be a movie about porn stars, but the best sex in PT Anderson’s fascinating drama has nothing to do with earning a living. Dirk, still young and endearingly innocent, arrives at his new boss’s house for a “try-out” and is greeted by the gorgeous Rollergirl. In a flash she is naked and on top of him, Dirk’s new boss watching all the while. As far as teenage fantasies go you don’t get much better, but it’s really the unexpected naivete of the scene that makes it so memorable.
2. The Dreamers
Between: Matthew (Michael Pitt), Isabelle (Eva Green) and Theo (Louis Garrel)
Is there anything more enchanting than watching these three nubile 20-year-olds making passionate love to ideas, life and each other? This was the ‘60s after all – free love and all that. There are many memorable scenes, but the one in which the trio lounge in the bath together, titillating each other and the audience, is unforgettably erotic.
3. Secretary
Between: E. Edward Grey (James Spader) his secretary Lee Holloway (Maggie Gyllenhaal)
James Spader, n. defn: king of kinky sex. Combine that with Maggie Gyllenhaal in pussy-bow tops and pencil skirts, and sadomasochism has never looked so good. When Attorney E. Edward Grey tells his secretary Lee that there “are seven typing errors on this page”, you know she’s going to be punished for her sloppy work. And even better, you know she wants to be... No wonder spanking went mainstream after this film.
4. Monster’s Ball
Between: Hank Grotowski (Billy Bob Thornton) and Leticia Musgrove (Halle Berry)
"Make ... me ... feel ... good" gasps Halle Berry in the build up to the most candid and disturbing of our choices. This is screen sex at its most raw and animalistic. But what really gives the scene power is the context – Berry’s character is having sex with the hard-drinking, racist prison guard that executed her husband. Gives the phrase “screwed up” new meaning.
5. Y Tu Mama Tambien
Between: Zapata (Gael Garcia Bernal), Tenoch Iturbide (Diego Luna) and Luisa Cortes (Maribel Verdu).
Take two gorgeous, sex-obsessed teenage boys, add one luscious 28-year-old Spanish beauty, place on a road trip to one of Mexico’s most beautiful hidden beaches and stir in a good helping of homoeroticism. Alfonso Cuarón’s sultry coming-of-age tale is full of glorious (if brief) sex scenes, but it’s the one where the two boys suddenly discover an unexpected lust for each other that really stands out (or is that up?).
6. Mulholland Drive
Between: Betty (Naomi Watts) and a mysterious brunette (Laura Harring)
Just how and why the gorgeous Naomi Watts ends up in bed with Laura Harring is never explained, but this is a David Lynch film, it’s not supposed to make sense. And who cares anyway? An icy blonde beauty in a passionate clinch with a voluptuous brunette temptress, both of them topless…who needs reasons?
7. American Pie
Between: Jim Levenstein (Jason Biggs) and a warm apple pie
Ok, ok, so it’s not a real sex scene, but who can forget Jason Biggs mounting that pie. Or the expression on his Dad’s face? And the whole thing was just so silly and human and even a little sweet. Pity about the rest of the film…
8. Brokeback Mountain
Between: Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) and Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal)
This may be the sex scene where the least amount of skin is shown, but that doesn’t make it any less intense. Who knew two stinky, whiskey drinkin’ cowboys in a tent could be so sexy? Then again it’s got the whole “forbidden love” thing going for it. And this is Heath “hot stuff” Ledger and Jake “baby face” Gyllenhaal after all.
9. Basic Instinct
Between: Detective Nick Curran (Michael Douglas) and Catherine Tramel (Sharon Stone).
Sure, it’s old. And sure, it’s cheesy. But damn if it isn’t the hottest girl-on-top scene ever filmed for the big screen. Watching Sharon Stone arch her naked body over Michael Douglas is as good today as it was 15 years ago. Pity she has to get out the ice pick and ruin the mood.
10. Unfaithful
Between: Connie Sumner (Diane Lane) and Paul Martel (Olivier Martinez)
Intense, obsessive, seductive – Diane Lane shows us how even the happiest married woman can give in to temptation. Blushing and dishevelled on her train journey home, Connie has a flashback of Paul tenderly kissing her stomach, his lips moving down her navel as he carefully removes her panties, sliding them inch by agonising inch down her creamy thighs, while she gasps… shew, it’s getting hot in here.
Well, those are our favourites, but we had dozens more we could have included. Why not tell us your own steamiest sex scenes below. Go on – don’t be shy…
- Alistair Fairweather & Amanda Whitehouse
