History of Sex in Cinema: 2005, Part 1 |
In 2005, a number of Oscar-nominated films had non-mainstream, challenging sexual roles and identities. Two Best Picture nominees had themes with homosexual-bisexual protagonists:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
All About Anna (2005, Denmark) Co-produced by Innocent Pictures and Dogma 95 proponent Lars von Trier's Zentropa Productions, this foreign film (released in different versions with varying degrees of sexuality) was directed by Jessica Nilsson. It was mostly a story of sexual relationships, especially involving independent, attractive single woman Anna (Danish actress and singer Gry Bay), a theatrical costume designer. Anna was torn between two males:
It skirted the boundaries of pornography as a crossover hardcore adult film, containing explicit unsimulated sex performed by mainstream stars:
|
Anna (Gry Bay) with Frank Anna with Camilla (Ovidie) Sophie (Eileen Daly) |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
American Pie Presents: Band Camp (2005) This fourth film in the franchise-series of teen sex comedies was the first of four American Pie Presents: direct-to-DVD/video releases (eliminating most of the original cast) from 2005 to 2009, coming after the original American Pie trilogy (from 1999 to 2003). As predictably expected, it contained the requisite crude humor (involving bodily fluids), disastrous sexual encounters, and obscenities but only a few tame hints of nudity. Only the 'unrated' version, 190 seconds longer than the R-version with reinstated scenes of naked breasts, contained much more nudity. The film began with a senior high school prank during graduation ceremonies when the original Stifler's younger brother, junior band member Matt Stifler (Tad Hilgenbrinck), was caught washing his pepper-sprayed genitals in a drinking fountain. Facing expulsion, he was sent as punishment to band camp (populated mostly by geeks), where he attempted to fit in. Part of the sometimes endearing plot involved Matt helping tentative girlfriend Elyse Houston (Arielle Kebbel) to win a coveted music scholarship. To amuse himself and to please his notorious older brother Steve (from the previous films), he recorded porno videos ("Bandeez Gone Wild" in the style of Girls Gone Wild) via spy-cams, set up in the shower room where topless counselors sang "I Like Big Butts." Actual toplessness was shown (from Angela Little as Sheree, Rachel Veltri as Dani, and two other unnamed actresses) in a shower cam scene. An additional tacked-on scene involved two naked teens (August 2001 Playboy brunette centerfold Jennifer Walcott as Laurie, and blonde Tara Killian as Patti) gossiping in the bathroom as they were spied upon by two robotic web-cams under the sink.
Scenes from a porno video viewed on a laptop were harmless in the R-version, when compared to the unrated version.
|
Spy Cams in Shower Room Video on Laptop |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Battle in Heaven (2005, Sp.) (aka Batalla En El Cielo) Mexican writer/director Carlos Reygadas' Palme D'Or-nominated film with non-professional actors told "about the mystical erotic pleasure of lost souls in the megalopolis of Mexico City." It caused controversy wherever shown, due to its two major scenes of sexual content - the act of fellatio - in the film's beginning and end dream sequences. At the film's start and ending was the most controversial scene, involving fellatio between two characters:
Marcos was being given oral sex by his boss' daughter whom he had known since she was a child. Kneeling in front of him at crotch level, she was slowly pleasuring him orally, in extreme close-up. When she opened her eyes, a single tear ran down each cheek. Later, Marcos unwisely confessed to her that he and his wife Berta Ruiz (Esposa De Marcos) had kidnapped a baby, but it died before the ransom could be collected (never shown in the film). Later, Marcos made love from behind to his morbidly obese wife - and then told her that he had confided to Ana - she cautioned: "Now you'll have to make sure she keeps her mouth shut. We can't have the princess talking...You f--ked up, you idiot!" During another sexual rendezvous, Ana straddled atop the passive Marcos and made love to him as he laid under her, while the camera panned away from them and backed up through an open window to survey the surrounding buildings, rooftops and neighborhood (with children playing). The camera slowly returned to them after coming 360 degrees full-circle, where they had finished having sex, and she dismounted from being on top of his semi-erect (and fading) penis, and laid next to him -- both completely full-frontal. She told him: "You'll have to turn yourself in, Marcos." Then, there was a close-up full-frontal view of her genital area (full-screen), after which she took his hand in hers. The scene ended with a view of the two side-by-side bodies from above. In the film's tragic ending, Marcos left her place, urinated in his pants outside her door, re-entered, and then abruptly stabbed her in the arm and body with a long butcher knife. He held her bloody corpse in his arms, and then left the building (she died soon after). He joined a religious pilgrimage to the Basilica, where he repentantly walked on his knees with his head hooded (with a blue bag) as penance, and soon after died. The film's final scene returned to the one in the opening, in which Marcos was again receiving fellatio from Ana as he stood in front of her (now more explicitly filmed with a prosthetic penis, without a condom) - he said: "I love you so, Ana" - to which she replied: "I love you too, Marcos" - and the film cut to black before the end credits. |
Marcos Having Sex with Wife Berta The Death of Ana Penance Before the Death of Marcos |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
BloodRayne (2005) In notorious director Uwe Boll's video game adaptation, a vampire sword-and-sorcery action film, Rayne was the title character in 18th century Eastern Europe -- a beautiful but vengeful half-human, half-vampire Dhampir (Kristanna Loken), whose patriarchal father was evil ruler Lord Kagan (Ben Kingsley). In the film's sex scene, she aggressively seduced Sebastian (Matthew Davis), one of three vampire hunters from the ancient Brimstone Society. She opened up her top, stripped down below, and grabbed iron cell-bars that Sebastian was backed up against - and let him lick her breasts and nipple and then proceeded to have sex with him, standing up - similar to the scene in The Last Seduction (1994). The film also featured a blood and sex orgy/harem scene among vampires. |
Orgy/Harem Scene Among Vampires |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Brokeback Mountain (2005) This was the first mainstream gay/bi-sexual romance film, heavily-promoted by the media, to receive multiple awards and critical/public acclaim. It had eight Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, and three wins. The plotline was based on the short story by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Annie Proulx and an Oscar-winning adaptation for the screen by the team of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana. Gustavo Santaolalla's original music score accounted for the film's third and final Oscar win. It was made by major A-list film-maker and Best Director-winning Ang Lee, and featured major stars in a story about a secret lifelong bond and longing for love (forbidden). The two young men were:
The two grew close while herding sheep in the summer 1963 on an isolated area of Wyoming near Brokeback Mountain, including scenes of them skinny-dipping, sharing a hungry kiss, and having an under-one-minute sexual encounter in a shared sleeping bag in a two-man tent. After their summer together, both men married - with scenes of them having sex with their girlfriends/wives:
Four years later in 1967, the two had a reunion in Wyoming. The two hugged each other tightly, as Ennis nervously looked around, then forcefully grabbed Jack and pushed him into a secluded spot by stairs where they secretly and hungrily kissed each other, while Ennis' wife Alma accidentally spied on their embracing passion from above and turned away. Some conservative Catholic organizations cited the film as "morally offensive" for its open portrayal of a homosexual relationship, and others criticized the film as sexually propagandistic. Conservative Christian fundamentalist groups heavily cited the film as glorifying homosexuality and for pushing a sexual agenda. Those who were critical of the film were labeled "homophobic." Although widely hailed as a "breakthrough" film for gay cinema, neither of the film's two lead actors, nor its director, nor its screenwriters were gay, and the film was originally advertised in trailers without specifically referring to the film's 'gay' themes or scenes. |
Skinny-Dipping Together In the Tent Reunited in 1967 - with Ennis' Wife Alma Spying on Them |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Broken Flowers (2005) Writer/director/producer Jim Jarmusch's film won the Grand Prix at the year's Cannes International Film Festival. It starred Bill Murray as perennial bachelor, and wealthy early-retiree Don Johnston (with a t), an "over-the-hill Don Juan" who was being dumped by another girlfriend Sherry (Julie Delpy). He went on a cross-country search after receiving an unsigned, mysterious pink letter that informed him about a 19-year-old son he had supposedly fathered. He visited four possible mothers (all former girlfriends) - the first visit was to Laura Daniels/Miller (Sharon Stone), a self-employed, widowed "professional closet organizer." At her front door, he met her 'jailbait' nubile daughter named, unsurprisingly, Lolita (or Lo/Lola) (21 year-old Alexis Dziena):
She was wearing a pink bathrobe, heart-shaped earrings, and pink platform shoes. As he waited in the living room, she offered him a popsicle! ("Do you want something, 'cause I've got popsicles"). Then suddenly, when her pink sparkly cellphone rang, the young nymphet exhibitionist came out of her bedroom, and non-chalantly and seductively walked into the living room fully naked (without her pink robe) in front of deadpan-faced and unamused Don. She was talking on the home phone and also picking up on her cellphone, deliberately flaunting herself and flirting with him. He abruptly left the house, just as Laura drove into the driveway. Later that night after sharing dinner with them, he slept in Laura's bed, and when he drove off the next morning, the two both bid him goodbye - one in the bathrobe and the other in a bikini. |
Laura's Daughter Lolita (Alexis Dziena) Laura and Lolita Bidding Don Goodbye The Next Morning |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dirty Deeds (2005) This typical high school teen comedy (although rated PG-13) bombed at the box office, but did better when released to DVD as unrated with the nudity reinstated (from three anonymous actresses) and featuring a special nude outtakes feature (with extended alternate takes scenes). It was scripted by first time writers Jon Land and Jonathan Thies. One of the obvious gags was an elderly lady with severe intestinal gas. The film's title referred to the completion of a set of ten challenging "dirty deeds" or pranks (10 Dares in 12 Hours) in the form of a scavenger hunt performed during the eve before a high school's homecoming. The hero was:
Zach decided to complete all ten 'dirty deeds' to win his love interest Meg (Lacey Chabert), the smartest and cutest girl at school. He spared Meg's younger brother Kyle (Wes Robinson) by volunteering himself to take the series of dares. In two unfunny scenes in the unrated version, Zach performed the tasks, including the third one:
The joke, supposedly, was that Vice Principal Fuchs (Tom Amandes) later consumed a sandwich made from the loaf while watching a Hitler Nazi rally on archived video. In a completely unrelated subplot, a high school freshman was conned into throwing a wild keg party at his parent's house - footage to extend the running time and offer a few naked breasts from two topless lesbians who wanted to be filmed on video camera. One of the film's deleted scenes in the special "sizzling" features section of the DVD provided two more minutes of toplessness of the half-naked girls from the house party. |
Fantasizing About Nude Girl Between Two Slices of Bread - Lisa Wheat (Christie D'Amore) Two Topless Lesbians (Supplemental Footage) |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dirty Love (2005) Jenny McCarthy, who first came to prominence as a Playboy Playmate in October 1993 and Playmate of the Year for 1994, and later hosted MTV's Singled Out and two of her own TV shows, was never known for being shy about showing off her body. This self-humiliating film, directed by McCarthy's then-husband John Asher, was a financial disaster, and was critically denounced. It received six Razzie Award nominations and won four of them: Worst Picture, Worst Director, Worst Actress (McCarthy), and Worst Screenplay (McCarthy). Co-star Carmen Electra was also nominated for Worst Supporting Actress (as beautician friend Michelle), and McCarthy was nominated as Worst Screen Couple (for "anyone dumb enough to befriend or date her"). In this gross comedy which she scripted, she appeared as the lead star, Rebecca Sommers, a struggling blonde photographer who caught her hunky model boyfriend Richard (Victor Webster) being unfaithful. After being dumped, her strategy was to cause jealousy in Richard by dating a Woody-Allen-type director. During a runway fashion show where she wanted to be noticed, her drunken date vomited onto her breasts the third time that she pulled him to her bosom. When Richard and others reacted with laughter, Rebecca screamed and became hysterical, shrieking as she ran for the front door:
As she ran, her left breast fell out of her low-cut dress top, and when alerted to her exhibitionism by her friend Michelle (Carmen Electra), "Are you crazy? Your big ol' titty's hangin' out!", she completely went beserk. She grabbed her left boob to cover up, then grasped both vomit-covered breasts and shook them back and forth in front of everyone, while shouting:
|
Rebecca Sommers (Jenny McCarthy) |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Domino (2005, UK/Fr.) Director Tony Scott's excessively-stylish and experimentally-showy film, subtitled "I Am a Bounty Hunter," was a dramatic and violent action-crime thriller. The semi-biopic was "sort of" based on the true story of the life of Domino Harvey, the real-life daughter of British actor Laurence Harvey (who died when she was 8 years old) and model Paulene Stone ("Sophie Wynn" - played by Jacqueline Bisset). The title character was portrayed by:
Domino chose to forego her life as a fashion model, moved to Beverly Hills when her mother remarried, and attended college, where she had to put up with hazing in her sorority. One of the members commented on her flat chest: "Look at these mosquito bites. What's it like to have the body of a ten year-old boy?" She replied: "Have you had a nose job?" to her abusive sorority sister before breaking her nose. The tough-talking chick was expelled a week later and joined the services of "legendary bail bondsman" Claremont Williams III (Delroy Lindo), working as a bounty hunter ('bail recovery agent') in a team along side tough ex-con Ed Moseby (Mickey Rourke), angry psychotic Latino Choco (Edgar Ramirez), and their Afghani driver Alf (Riz Abbasi) - she told them: "I want to have a little fun." She saved the group once by daringly proposing to perform a lap dance for a black gangmember holding a gun on her during her first raid: "Sometimes a girl has to be naughty in order to get herself out of a jam." The incident reflected her life philosophy - everything was a coin toss, with only a 50-50 chance of survival or death. Later she admitted: "We may have been dysfunctional, but we worked. We were family." The hard-to-follow story actually began with her questioning by the FBI's criminal psychologist Taryn Mills (Lucy Liu) after her arrest, describing with flashbacks what had happened. During the questioning, Domino flirtatiously insulted the agent: "It kills you that while I'm coming into my own, you're stuck in some dead-end marriage. Or, worse yet, an unfulfilling job...I'm thinking that when you go to sleep alone tonight, it's my pussy you'll be dreaming of." The film involved a botched scheme by her boss Claremont Williams III (and his "sassy black" mistress - DMV clerk Lateesha Rodriguez (Mo'Nique)) to rob $10 million cash (of mob money being laundered by a Vegas casino) from an armored truck, while Claremont would collect a $300K finder's fee and blame the "inside job" on four college students. The money would be used to pay for an expensive operation (costing $300K) for Lateesha's terminally-ill granddaughter Mika suffering from a rare blood-disease. Unfortunately, complications arose when two of the framed kids were related to a Mafia crime boss. After the group of bounty hunters retrieved the stolen money taken by the armored truck getaway driver and were on their way to Vegas, their coffee was drugged with mescaline and their Winnebago went off the road and tumbled down an embankment. During surrealistic hallucinations, Domino stripped down, embraced, and made love to Choco in the desert. It turned out that there were a series of misunderstandings (the college kids weren't actually killed), double-crosses, and further involvement by the FBI. A bloody showdown occurred at the top of the Stratosphere Casino between the bounty hunters, Drake Bishop and his men, and the mobsters (wrongly believing that Bishop had killed the college boys). Multiple deaths occurred when the Stratosphere Casino was blown up by explosives set by Alf (he had switched the money bags with explosives) - and Domino was the sole survivor. Traitorous Alf had also sent the money to Afghanistan to aid revolutionary freedom fighters there. Afghani children opened bundles of US bills and tossed them into the air - corrupt Las Vegas money fluttered down on them. In the conclusion of the film, Domino narrated (offscreen):
|
Domino Harvey (Keira Knightley) (deleted from film) |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
En La Cama (2005, Chile) (aka In Bed) In the opening of this Chilean drama directed by Matias Bize, a couple were in bed making passionate love to each other - shot in extreme close-up:
The two were in a room (the film's only set location, with a bathroom) with red walls, tiled mirrors and a leather headboard. They had just met hours earlier at a Santiago party, after which they went to the motel. Neither of them could remember each other's names ("We just did it and you don't know who I am?"). In some ways, the film resembled a sexed-up version of Before Sunrise (1995) and Last Tango in Paris (1972). Between bouts of sex, they slowly exposed their emotional sides to each other with talk about diverse subjects, including relationships, vintage cartoons, Reiki massages, fate and the categorization of movies. They revealed various lies and truths about themselves. They continued their coupling after taking a bath together, but when he called out another female's name, she pushed him away. A hole was discovered in the condom he was using and he described how millions of sperm were swimming inside of her. In a post-coital discussion, she described how casual sex meant little to her - and told him she had three prior anonymous one-night motel trysts. However, she was upset (she originally thought that their pairing was pre-ordained) when he announced he was leaving for Belgium in the next week to start a post-doctorate degree. They both fearfully revealed dark secrets to each other - mostly Bruno speaking about his missing brother. Although sympathetic, Daniela recoiled and told him:
|
Daniela (Blanca Lewin) with Bruno |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 40 Year-Old Virgin (2005)
|
Andy - Smart Tech Employee Co-Worker Cal (Seth Rogen) - Bestiality Tale David (Paul Rudd) Complaining to Store Boss Paula (Jane Lynch) Threesome Co-Workers (l to r): Cal, David, and Jay (Romany Malco) Drunk DUI Offender and Date at Bar Nicky (Leslie Mann) Recklessly Driving Home with Andy Jay to Andy: "You're putting the pussy up on this pedestal" Store Customer Trish Piedmont (Catherine Keener) Waxing Lady: "Clear all my appointments in the afternoon" Chest Hair-Waxing Scene - Causing Him to Swear at Waxing Lady "No, Kelly Clarkson!" "This is not a good look for me!" Andy's New Tactic - Asking Questions with Bookstore Clerk Beth (Elizabeth Banks) Carol (Kimberly Page) During Speed-Dating Session Andy's Arranged Transvestite Date Andy's Sex-Obsessed Buddies Playing a Video Game ("You know how I know that you're gay?") Trish's First Aborted Date With Andy Andy Playing With Assortment of Condoms Interrupted by Trish's 16 Year-Old Daughter Marla (Kat Dennings) Andy's Boss Suggesting to Be His "F--k-Buddy" - She Remembered a Love Affair with Guatemalan Gardener Andy's Countdown to 20 Dates Clinic Sex Counselor Judith (Nancy Walls/Carell) Trish Discovering a Stash of Porn Videos in Andy's Apartment ("Are you a deviant or somethng?") Andy to Trish: "I'm a virgin. I always have been" Minister: "Consummate the thing!" |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hard Candy (2005) Music video director David Slade's first feature film was this thought-provoking, exploitative female revenge thriller. It began with seemingly-innocent 14 year old femme fatale Hayley Stark (Ellen Page) (screenname Thonggrrrrrl14) meeting 32 year old photographer Jeff Kohlver (Patrick Wilson) (screenname Lensman319) in an Internet chat room. During their first face-to-face meeting at the Nighthawks coffee shop, the potential jail-bait predator bought her some chocolate cake (which he suggestively wiped from her lips). He also reassuringly told her: "You look older than you are and you, you certainly act older than you are." Later, she accused him of being a pedophile:
With premeditated determination, she turned the tables on him in his Hollywood Hills home (in a tense and suspenseful cat-and-mouse interplay regarding the "predator" and the "prey") when she drugged his drink, tied him up in a chair (told him: "Teenage? Yes. Joke? No"), and then threatened to castrate him (as "preventative maintenance") with a scalpel and anesthetic ice. She told him:
As he both berated her and pleaded with his raging and sadistic captor, she forced her repentant victim to confess to a murder that he may/may not have committed of a young model named Donna Mauer that he once photographed - it was clear that he was definitely an accessory to her murder. In the plot's twist, it was revealed that Hayley had already kidnapped and tortured another pedophile named Aaron, Jeff's partner-in-crime during the murder of Donna (Hayley admitted: "Aaron told me you killed her, before he killed himself"). At the end of the film, as Jeff's ex-girlfriend Janelle Rogers (Jennifer Holmes) arrived at the house, Hayley and Jeff were on the roof, where she had strung a rope off the side. She offered to clean up incriminating evidence of him as a sexual predator in his home (he would also avoid prosecution and clear his name with Janelle) if he jumped and committed suicide, but at the last second when he stepped off the roof and the rope went taut, she promised with a caveat:
|
First Face-to-Face Meeting with Hayley (Ellen Page) at the Coffee Shop Jeff Tied Up in a Chair by Hayley The Castration Scene Pedophile Jeff Kohlver (Patrick Wilson) - Tied Up and Hanging |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Havoc (2005) This unrated, direct-to-DVD independent film (stretched further with seven more minutes of footage than the R-rated theatrical version) was directed by two-time Oscar-winning documentarian Barbara Kopple and scripted by Oscar-winning Stephen Gaghan (Traffic and Syriana). Before being rewritten, the film's script began in 1995 as a screenplay called The Powers That Be, written by 16-year-old high school student Jessica Kaplan. This exploitation film included a prime example of against-type roles played by young female actresses as a rite of passage to more adult roles. The two main characters portrayed slutty, spoiled white suburban girls from Pacific Palisades:
Under the credits, Allison expounded:
Both had affluent boyfriends that they were bored with:
Allison also skipped her classes, went to fancy restaurants where she snorted cocaine, often smoked grass, and removed her red bra to stretch out and deliver oral sex to Tobey in an open convertible. In a scene in which Allison wore a black bra while she was being video-recorded by teenaged documentary film-maker Eric (Matt O'Leary), she moaned on a couch, pretending to be like a porn star. As she collapsed onto the sofa and pulled down both her black top and part of her bra, pretending to be a "different person," she touched her left nipple and put her right hand down her pants to simulate an orgasm, revealing:
He thought she was playing a "f--ked up power game" (or mind-game) and not taking him seriously. The unsuspecting and naive female duo became involved with drug-dealing, tattooed East LA Latino gang members (including Freddy Rodriguez as Mexican drug dealer Hector), when they returned to the barrio after a bad drug deal involving Allison's emasculated boyfriend. The two began to awkwardly flirt with Hector. In a realistically-acted scene, both young women were initiated into the gang in a hotel room, after they agreed to roll dice (to determine how many males each would sleep with). Allison rolled a one - and then became naked and made out with Hector - although decided she'd had enough (before intercourse) and was thrown out of the room. Emily rolled a three, and in the same room with Allison, decided to go all the way - and was penetrated by Hector and anally-raped by another gang member. There were disastrous consequences when Emily vengefully accused the crack-dealing gang of rape. |
Allison During Eric's Video-Recording Allison Lang with Gang Member Hector (Freddy Rodriguez) |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
A History of Violence (2005) Director David Cronenberg's crime-thriller was an insightful view of how one's past life can became a haunting reminder after a heroic act of violence. It concerned the lives of a married couple in the small Indiana town of Millbrook:
They experienced two very contrasting sex scenes in the film - the first contained purportedly the first instance of reciprocal oral sex ever performed in a non-pornographic American film: (First Sexual Encounter: Cheerleader Outfit) After love-making, they were closely embraced, and he reflected: "I remember the moment I knew you were in love with me. I saw it in your eyes. I can still see it." She affirmed: "Of course you can. I still love you." After he replied: "I'm the luckiest son-of-a-bitch alive," she responded: "You are the best man I've ever known. There's no luck involved." (Second Sexual Encounter: On Stairway) At first, she attempted to fight him off, screaming out: "Get off of me. F--k you, Joey! Aah, get off!" He forcibly held her by the throat, and then she succumbed to the rough sex, knowing his violent past, and allowed him to remove her black panties before aggressively thrusting into her, and physically bruising her on the hard wooden stairs. She was repelled and cried out: "Oh God! Oh God! Oh God!" as he climaxed, and then pushed him aside before climbing the stairs. A few moments later, she appeared naked (full-frontal) before him with only a draped bathrobe, when going from one room to another. |
The First Sexual Encounter: Edie (Maria Bello) and Tom Stall (Viggo Mortensen) Their Second Sexual Encounter on Staircase |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hostel (2005) Writer/director Eli Roth's bloody torture-gore horror film was reported to be "inspired by true events." It was mostly viewed by hardcore males. The film was soundly condemned for its visceral excesses, and the detailed torture, dismemberment and mutilation suffered by a group of hedonistic American backpackers in Eastern Europe. They were subjected to debased, medically-graphic, physical, sexual and mental torture.
The uncompromising film began with hedonistic, promiscuous promise for three backpacking college-aged students who ventured to Eastern Europe and a remote Slovakian city for good times, hedonistic sex and drugs:
The three were first in Amsterdam where they found sex in a brothel. They then ventured to a Slovakian city and its hostel in Prague known for debauchery. Almost immediately, they found relaxation and sex (filmed with gratuitous nudity) in a hostel and spa with two Eastern European beauties - the ultimate male fantasy of casual sex with two sexually aggressive girls:
Both aggressively mounted their dates and enticed them to trust them. The two amoral femme fatales would later entrap them. They were lured to become victims of wealthy, sadistic patrons who wished to torture unsuspecting tourists with their "darkest, sickest fantasies." |
Natalya & Svetlana (l to r): Sexy Femmes Fatales |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Jacket (2005) Director John Maybury's sci-fi time-travel thriller was similar in plot to La Jetee (1962, Fr.) and Jacob's Ladder (1990) - a circular plot that brought the time-traveling protagonist back and forth numerous times, enough to provide knowledge that could alter the future. [Note: It was entirely possible that the protagonist had died from a traumatic and mysterious head injury - and everything that he experienced in the film afterwards was just an hallucination.] The tagline was: TERROR HAS A NEW NAME. In the opening, a 27 year-old Persian Gulf War veteran (unidentified) in Iraq in 1991 was shot by a young Iraqi boy at close-range during an ambush. The dead man was tagged in a medical tent, and identified as Marine Sgt. Jack Starks (Adrien Brody) -- "Starks, Jack. Born in Vermont. Hasn't got a family listed. Naval hospital will take care of it." But then, he miraculously opened his eyes. He had luckily survived the bullet wound to the back of his head - importantly, he was not specifically told the circumstances of his death.
12 months later (in 1992), the wounder Gulf War veteran appeared in his home-state of Vermont, where he was seen walking down a snowy road. He came upon a young girl named Jackie Price (Laura Marano), the daughter of drunken mother Jean (Kelly Lynch), whose pick-up truck was stalled by the side of the deserted road. When Jackie asked about his dog-tags from the war (with his name and date of birth), he gave them to her, explaining their purpose: "In case I get lost or can't remember who I am" -- an important plot element. Once Jean revived from her alcoholic and drugged state, she was repulsed by Jack, even though Jackie kept repeating that he had fixed their car, and she drove off with her daughter. Later while hitch-hiking, he was picked up by another driver, but soon after, their car was stopped by a cop for driving too slow. Then without knowing what happened, the scene changed - the policeman was dead, Starks was wounded, and he was falsely accused of the murder of Officer Harrison (who Starks claimed was shot three times by the driver, with the cop's own gun). When questioned about everything, authorities discovered that there was no last name, no physical presence, and no residence or any other records for Jean and Jackie - his sole recollections of the day. Believing he was suffering from Gulf War syndrome with "a damaged mind," the court found him not guilty by reason of insanity, and he was committed to Alpine Grove Psychiatric Hospital - an institution for the criminally-insane. Unde the care of the creepy and deranged director Dr. Thomas Becker (Kris Kristofferson), Starks was injected with an experimental hallucinatory drug and placed in a tight body-length strait-jacket within a basement morgue drawer. He experienced frightening, surrealistic recollections. Jack also became acquainted with another well-meaning therapist, Dr. Beth Lorenson (Jennifer Jason Leigh).
The repeated use of the drug and the apparatus of the mortuary drawer caused Jack to have rapidly-edited visions of the future. He experienced time travel transport to the future for short periods of time, before he would flash-back and return to the past (or present-day). During a psychotic time-travel trip forward, his first major trip, Starks was taken 15 years into the future to the year 2007 on Christmas Eve, where he met up again, in St. Albans, VT, with an older, grown-up version of Jackie Price (Keira Knightley as adult) - now a dark-eyed, sickly, chain-smoking waitress employed at Baillie's Motel and Diner. She picked him up and took him to her place, but had no other option but to have him sleep on her couch. She cautioned as she left to take a bath that she didn't want to get to know him or his name. By chance, he made two remarkable discoveries in her living room. Jack happened to see his dog-tags given to her years earlier in 1992, and a picture of the young girl with her now deceased mother.
Jackie told him that her mother had died: "She passed out with a cigarette and burned to death a long time ago." As a result of her mother's death, Jackie's life had gone into decline and isolation. She was a chain-smoker, a drinker, lonely, sad and depressed, and sickly. Disbelieving him and upset for snooping around, she demanded that he leave immediately. She also insisted that his recollections about meeting them, giving her his dog-tags and his claim that he was Starks were all very inaccurate. Somehow, she knew about Starks' death on January 1, 1993: "...Jack Starks is dead....He's dead. His body was found New Year's Day, 1993, Alpine Grove.... I don't care who or where you think you are, you're not Jack Starks." She screamed for him to get out. Jack realized that he had only about a week until his death - from Christmas Day until News Years Day - it was now a race against time and he realized that he had to get back in the drawer. During another trip to 2007, he learned more about the murder of the cop, and met up with Jackie again at the diner, who unlike his previous trip a few days earlier was now very cooperative and intrigued and had done some research. He learned from her that he had died from a head wound: "Jack Starks died from a wound to the head, January 1st, 1993." Another trip from 1992 to the future year of 2007 added more helpful detail. Jack relived the shooting of the policeman that was blamed on him and sent him to the asylum. The cop was shot dead by the driver who had picked him up, and Jack was also accidentally hit by a stray bullet. With Jackie helping, he met up with the still-employed, older Dr. Lorenson at the hospital, and tried to convince her of his knowledge of future events. They also visited Jack's gravesite where he had been buried - proving he died on Jan 1, 1993. Jack also made love to Jackie before departing, when he told her: "I'm running out of time," as she insisted: "I don't care. You have to come back....Come back to me, Jack." [Did she know of his time travels and that he only had a few days left?] Jack suddenly disappeared from her arms when he was abruptly removed from the drawer. Back in late 1992, Jack was able to convince Dr. Lorenson of his credible story that possibly, he wasn't delusional and had spoken to her in the year 2007 during his time-travels. Jack feared Becker would stop treatments and it would be his "last time" visiting Jackie in 2007. After gaining Dr. Lorenson's confidence, she agreed to smuggle Jack out of the asylum and drive him to the Price home. On the day of his predicted death, January 1, 1993, Jack personally delivered a letter to Jean Price's house (while Dr. Lorenson waited outside), once more meeting young Jackie who recognized him as the guy who fixed the truck. After leaving the house and being driven back to the psychiatric hospital, Jack suffered the predicted serious "blunt trauma" head injury when he accidentally slipped and cracked his head on the icy concrete driveway. Before he died, Jack was rushed into the jacket and drawer, while his voice-over described recollections about being regarded as dead and crazy, but about how he had been given a second chance. It was revealed that the voice-over consisted of the contents of Jack's letter written to Jean, Jackie's mother. He described his knowledge of future events (the death of Jean due to a smoking accident, told to him by Jackie). He gave her a warning about how to prevent future tragedy for her young daughter:
In the conclusion, Jack experienced his last time travel trip to the future (the year 2007) to bring him to Jackie. When he arrived, their initial meeting from 2007 was reprised - as before, she didn't know him. Driving a new VW car and looking healthier, Jackie picked him up awaiting a ride, after she noticed his bruised head with a "nasty cut." He told her: "I slipped, but I'm alive." She offered to drive him to the hospital, since she worked there as a nurse. Immediately, he knew that his letter had altered the future and changed her life for the better. On the drive, Jackie received a friendly phone call from her mother - who was very much alive, and in a better, more functional relationship with her. The screen faded to bright white as Jack and Jackie talked in the car: Jackie: "How you doing?" Jack: "Better now." Jackie (off-screen): "How much time do we have?" Her response revealed that the link to the "previous" future of 2007 wasn't lost. The lyrics of Iggy Pop's closing rendition of We Have All the Time in the World answered her question - "It's never too late." |
Sgt. Jack Starks (Adrien Brody): "I was 27 years old the first time I died." The Court - Believing Jack Was Insane, Jack Was Committed to a Psychiatric Hospital Jack Drugged, Strapped Down and In a Strait-Jacket, and Placed In Mortuary Drawer Jack's Wide-Eyed Reaction to His Mental, Psychotic Excursions During Treatment After First Use of the Drawer Time Travel Into the Future - to Baillie's Motel and Diner in Vermont Diner Waitress - Older Jackie Price (Keira Knightley as Adult) Jackie - Helpful to Jack In Finding Out Information For Him Jack's Gravestone - Showing His Date of Death Jan 1, 1993 Making Love to Jackie Jackie: "Come back to me, Jack" Jack's Voice-Over - His Letter, Warning Jean About Her and Jackie's Future Jackie Picking up Jack - Again Jack's Final Return to the Year 2007 - Reunited with Jackie - Both of Their Futures Had Been Altered |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Lie With Me (2005, Canada) This bleak NC-17 rated sex film from director Clément Virgo, adapted by his wife Tamara Faith Berger from her own novel, further pushed the boundaries of sexuality in film, and was banned in some countries. The independent film explored the distinction between love and lust, and featured two known TV stars (from The O.C., Six Feet Under, and Christy). The sex-filled film included full-frontal nudity, male and female oral sex, masturbation, a stroked erect penis, and fairly graphic sex (no visible penetration, however), with some instances of breathy voice-over narration. The erotic, dramatic Canadian film opened with a sensual scene of emotionally-detached, sexually-hungry 25 year-old redhead Leila (Lauren Lee Smith), a slutty video store clerk in Toronto, masturbating on her sofa to a porn video playing on her TV.
Her favored sexual behavior was promiscuous, anonymous one-night stands, presumably based upon her inherent anger for the divorce of her parents and her damaged psyche. Then she met artistic and handsome David (Eric Balfour) at a club in a non-verbal encounter. To entice his lewd interest in her, she offered oral sex and rear-entry intercourse to another stranger dubbed Shy Guy (Michael Facciolo), witnessed outdoors by David in public as he was having lap-sex with soon-to-be ex-girlfriend Victoria (Polly Shannon) in his nearby car. What followed were numerous emotion-less but explicit sexual encounters between Leila and David to dull the pain of their existences. She expressed her basic dissatisfaction and unfulfillment with sex:
The dialogue was explicit and frank, as when David asked Leila: "I've got a question for you. Have you ever had one man's dick in your ass and his friend's cock in your mouth?" As the film progressed, both struggled in the relationship to become more truly intimate with each other - and at times they became emotionally and psychologically dependent upon each other. She was attempting to decide with David whether a committed, monogamous relationship (including torrid and lustful sex with him) was better than what she usually preferred. |
Self-Stimulation Stimulating Male Partner Many Sex Scenes |