Entertainment
Movies You Couldn't Stop Talking About In 2015
It's not often that Hollywood gets sex right in films. As a cinema lover, I know that it takes a great deal of talent and effort to make those best movie sex scenes look realistic instead of looking overly cheesy or generally absurd. Since Hollywood glamorizes everything, the more unsavory parts of sex are generally left out of films. Filmgoers don't get the see that awkward moment when partners butt heads, or those annoying few seconds where limbs and parts try and rearrange themselves into more comfortable positions. Generally in films, there is some kissing, heavy petting, and, finally, the big shebang.
And yet, as society gets more realistic about sex (certainly about women's expectations in the bedroom), films are working desperately to catch up. As the dialogue about sexpectations becomes more robust, steamier, more realistic, more erotic sex scenes are finding their way into the movies. Films like Nine and 1/2 Weeks and Blue is the Warmest Color unapologetically invited their audience to experience a close up of the multi-sensory experience of sex in the past, and it looks like things are looking up for the future.
So far this year, there have been several films that haven't backed away from the eroticism and realism of sex in their stories. Here are the seven best movie sex scenes of 2015 so far.
1. Fifty Shade of Grey
It's no secret that E.L James' Fifty Shades trilogy has some problematic themes in it. However, Universal Pictures was able reorganize the film so that it focused mostly on consent and the relationship between the two main characters, Ana and Christian. Though the film has a two hour run time, only 10 minutes of it involves sex. The couple's first scene involving BDSM play works so well because it focuses not on sex itself, but on the senses and how they can heighten sexual experiences.
2. The Boy Next Door
In The Boy Next Door, Jennifer Lopez's character Claire Peterson shares a steamy one night stand with her neighbor, who winds up being her student. Though the film itself is more of a thriller than an erotic piece, the scene itself will definitely make you blush. There is a ton of foreplay in the scene, and my favorite part is the fact that the focus is on Claire's pleasure, which isn't necessarily standard in cinema sex scenes.
3. Entourage
If you were a fan of Entourage while it was still on air, then you know the show didn't shy away from sex or raunchy material. It's HBO after all. The long-anticipated Entourage film was recently released, and it nearly had a NC-17 rating attached to it because of one particular scene. In the film, Jeremy Piven's character Ari Gold meets another character in a hotel room where two women are preforming oral sex on one another. The scene probably works so well because two actual porn stars were hired to portray the women.
4. Love
Typically, the French are quite relaxed when it comes to depicting sex onscreen. This was not that case for Gaspar Noé's Love; the film got a strict rating from the French. It's essentially one long sex scene, which celebrates love and sex — in 3D. Though the film won't be available to view on Video on Demand in the States until the fall, this is probably a movie best watched in the comfort of your own home.
5. The Overnight
While The Overnight isn't particularity steamy, it is provocative, hilarious, and has ton of sex. OITNB's Taylor Schilling and Parks and Recreation alum Adam Scott star as a couple who moves to L.A. with their young son and meet another couple, who invite them to dinner. Though the evening starts off innocently enough, things get a lot more interesting and sexy as the night wears on. The best sex scene from The Overnight is in its opening sequence, because it's extremely realistic and awkward. You can watch if the NSFW clip for yourself here.
6. The Longest Ride
The Notebook will always be my favorite Nicholas Sparks adaptation, but The Longest Ride comes in pretty close. During the sex scene for the film, the couple moves from a room into the shower, and, if you've seen Scott Eastwood, you understand why this particular scene is amazing. Eastwood even admitted that he and his co-star Britt Robertson were completely naked while shooting the scene.
7. Trainwreck
Though Trainwreck has several sex scenes, most of which are much more horrifying and hilarious than sensual, there is a fantastic moment with Amy Schumer's character Amy and Bill Hader's character Aaron. In the scene, the duo hook up in what first appears to be a drunken frenzy, but then turns out to be unexpectedly sexy.
Though Hollywood is making restrained steps toward normalizing the depiction of sex onscreen, we have a long way to go. Hopefully the rest of the year, and 2016 and beyond, will birth even better sex scenes on screen.
Image: Universal Pictures
