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History of Sex in Cinema: 1989 |
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Writer/director Peter Greenaway designed this cruel, over-the-top, truth-telling film as a metaphoric and allegorical criticism showing contempt for the wasteful and barbaric upper-class consumer society in Western civilization (specifically 80's Thatcherism and Reaganism). It established linkages between art, class structure, gastronomy and bodily functions, and sex and death. In all of cinematic history (as of 2020), it remained the fourth highest-grossing NC-17 rated film at $7.7 million, slightly behind Henry & June (1990) at $11.6 million; it was also behind the # 2 NC-17 film, Showgirls (1995) at $20.4 million, and the # 1 film Last Tango in Paris (1972) at $36.1 million. The film's tagline was:
There were many elements of the sensational film that forced the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) to give the film an "X" rating, including:
After being denied an appeal, the film was originally released unrated by the producers, and then given an NC-17 rating by the time of its video release. An alternative R-rated version cut out about 30 minutes of footage. A number of real (but also symbolic) characters, who spent much of their time at a trendy haute cuisine London restaurant called Le Hollandais, included:
Albert dined and presided over a sumptuous banquet every night (over a nine evening period). He held court around a table where he talked about food, excrement and sex, and surrounded himself with various lackeys and henchmen. He harrassed and brutalized both the staff and patrons of the restaurant. The huge restaurant that was the centerpiece of the film was composed of four rooms or sections, each of which was color-coded:
To escape from her abusive husband, the adulterous and unfaithful Georgina snuck away for hungry trysts with her Lover (during visits to a rest-room stall, kitchen and bakery pantry, and in a freezer, filmed with unflattering light). When Albert came upon his wife hiding in the stall with Michael, he asked: "What are you doing in there, Georgie? You playin' with yourself? That's not allowed. That's my property, you're not allowed to fiddle with it. Now come on, open the door, I'll show you how to wipe yourself." On a separate occasion after having sex with Georgina, Michael complimented her eyes, and she responded: "And you have a beautiful prick, Mr. Gynecology." Albert learned of their affair when pimped prostitute Patricia (Emer Gillespie) divulged that Georgina and the quiet man at a nearby table always went off together to secretly have sex:
Enraged, he stuck a fork into Patricia's cheek. Soon after, he went after them, forcing the two to retreat (with restaurant help) into the back of a meat truck with putrid smells of rotting food. They were driven to Michael's home/book depository where they were hosed off. The brutal Albert decided upon savage, cannibalistic revenge upon the man, and ironically stated and foreshadowed:
Michael was killed by force-feeding him with pages from his favorite book. After her lover's death, Georgina asked the cook Richard to recall for her what he had witnessed about their affair, to make it more real for her - and he reminisced: "I saw him kissing you on the mouth, on the neck, behind your ear. I saw him undressing you. I saw him kissing your breasts. I saw him put his hand between your legs." She also asked what he had witnessed she had done: "I saw you kiss him on the mouth. I saw you lying under him on the floor of the pantry. I saw him take you from behind. I saw you take his penis in your mouth." She began to sob. Then, Georgina begged for the reluctant Cook to help her - to bake up her lover's corpse (she even tried to persuade him by offering herself):
The Cook was appalled and thought: "Do you have some idea that by eating him he can become part of you? You can't believe that by eating him you can always be together!" She explained her motive was revenge:
She hosted a private, Friday night function with Albert the prime guest of honor. He was disgusted when he arrived and saw Georgina - he viciously threatened her: "What brings you here, you bitch! I'm very surprised you so brazenly show your face here, you slut... I'll bloody kill you for what you did to me!...And don't think I'm taking you back. I'll make you pay, you slut. Your bottom's going to be very, very sore for weeks. No more books for you, girl. You're staying in under lock and key. There's gonna be no more books or prick-sniffing for you, girl." She only greeted him: "Happy anniversary, Albert," and then clarified: "It's an anniversary that I shall always celebrate, even if you won't. And you won't." She described how she had 'cooked up' a "present" for him. There were other guests in attendance who would soon appear -- "And Richard has cooked it for you. Under my instructions...Knowing how you like to eat. Knowing how you like to gorge yourself. And we've brought a few of your friends around." A formal procession of people (those Albert had wronged) brought in the veiled body on a large platter for dinner - his "special treat." She removed the cover on the platter - and there was a slow-pan up the length of the cooked corpse as Albert gasped: "Georgie! Jesus! God!" She calmly responded: "No, it's not God, Albert. It's Michael, my lover. You vowed you would kill him, and you did. And you vowed you would eat him. Now eat him." She forced him to eat the warmed-up cadaver ("What's the matter? You have your knife and fork. You do know how to use them. Or have all those carefully-learnt table manners gone to waste?"). Albert pulled out his pistol, but was disarmed and the gun was passed around to Georgina, who then added as she held him at gunpoint:
Stunned, Albert took a forkful bite and vomited (he had finally consumed enough), as The Wife encouraged him to eat more: ("Go on, Albert, eat. Bon appetit, Albert. It's French") - and then she shot him to death in the head. He was propelled backward as she condemned him as a "Cannibal." A red curtain closed to end the film. |
 The Wife and Lover In a Restroom Stall     Sex Between Georgina and Michael in Various Back Areas of the Kitchen  Hiding in Michael's Bookstore After Being Found Out  Abuse Toward Patricia (Emer Gillespie) Who Divulged to Albert that Georgina "Screws Around"   Solemn Banquet Procession into Restaurant    The Lover Served on a Platter  Georgina: "Eat, Albert!!"   The Thief Forced by the Wife (at Gunpoint) to Consume The Cooked Body of Her Lover Michael  Georgina: "Cannibal" |
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Dead Calm (1989, Australia) Phillip Noyce's R-rated, taut erotic thriller provided the first leading role for Australian actress Nicole Kidman. Its tagline was:
The film opened with a married couple with their dog Ben, trying to forget and recover from a horrible auto accident (that took the life of their toddler son) by taking a sailing trip on their sailboat-schooner Saracen in the Pacific waters off the coast of Australia:
One morning, the couple spotted and rescued Hughie Warriner (Billy Zane), a panic-stricken castaway. The frantic Hughie claimed that he had survived a sinking black schooner named Orpheus after everyone died from salmonella poisoning. John left the castaway with his wife, while he took a dinghy to the Orpheus to investigate the claims - finding himself on a sinking craft and in danger of drowning himself. Meanwhile, the unstable and domineering Hughie kidnapped Rae and began sailing off. Hughie was discovered to be a terrorizing, psycho-homicidal drifter and mass murderer who had actually slaughtered the entire crew on his vessel. On the disabled ship, John found several murdered corpses (four women and a male) - members of a low-budget film crew. He rushed to get back to his own ship to warn Rae, although he had only a few hours before the Orpheus would sink. Ultimately, after saving himself from the sinking craft, he set it on fire. Meanwhile, Rae was left alone on the Ingram's schooner with the deranged killer who had directed the sailboat away from John's location. Her many efforts failed to prevent Hughie from navigating the boat away from John's location. Rae had no choice but to give in to the sexual advances of Hughie and make love to him - as part of a resourceful strategy to possibly catch him off guard and eventually subdue the psychotic madman. As she laid on top of him, she removed her white T-shirt, and he ripped off her shorts and panties. She told him that first, however, she had to go to the bathroom - she put on a short black robe and went up on deck to assemble a shotgun. Her ploy was aborted, as was a second attempt to use the shotgun, so she finally accepted intercourse and experienced an intense, gasping and faked orgasm. She was finally able to convince Hughie to drink a sedative-laden drink, and eventually he succumbed to the drug's effects, although he was almost able to strangle Rae again when he realized she was sabotaging him with a spear gun. Finally, the resourceful Rae knocked Hughie unconscious with the spear gun, and was able to push and toss his body into a rescue raft and set him adrift. Meanwhile, John had returned to their schooner in a rescue raft from the now-fiery shipwreck close-by. And then, after they noticed Hughie's empty, free-floating raft in the open sea, they believed that he had perished. Rae sank the raft with two flare-gun shots, although a panning shot to the other side of the boat where a rope dangled into the water hinted that Hughie was possibly alive and had climbed on board. The next morning, Rae returned to the deck after a swim, where her husband helped to rinse her hair of the salt water, and shampoo her hair. He left the deck for awhile to prepare a meal, as she put her head back and closed her eyes. When a pair of dirty hands resumed the soothing shampooing some time later, she fantasized what she would like:
Suddenly, she realized that the hands belonged to the vengeful Hughie, who had reappeared in the startling shock 'return-from-the-dead' twist ending. He attempted to cover her mouth to stifle her screams, and to strangle her. As John reappeared with a beautifully-prepared breakfast tray, he saw the 'silhouetted' struggle occurring behind the sail. He dropped the tray, grabbed a flare gun, and aimed it at Hughie.
The fiery flare tore through the sail, struck Hughie in the mouth, exploded, and forcefully propelled him backwards off the deck into the ocean. Presumably, he was now dead (and killed once and for all), floating away face-down, as the relieved couple hugged each other. |
        Rae Ingram (Nicole Kidman) With Deranged Killer Hughie (Billy Zane)   Suspenseful Shampoo Scene |
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Do the Right Thing (1989) African-American writer/producer/director Spike Lee's independent (and breakout) film was a complex, angry and unapologetic social protest film about racism, racial pride, intolerance and oppression, class struggle and violence. It told about racial tensions that eventually erupted into a riot on a sweltering summer day in the multi-ethnic Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. It was presented with vibrantly bright colors, realistic and goofily-named characters and dialogue, a supplementary "Greek chorus" of black men on the corner commenting on the day's events, and energetic editing and quasi-documentary, cocked camera angles. Its tagline was:
The tension began to escalate in this slice-of-life film because of a complaint by a militant activist neighborhood patron named Buggin' Out (Giancarlo Esposito) that there were no pictures of 'brothers' on the "Wall of Fame" - "Hey, Sal, how come they ain't no brothas on the wall?" - there were only photos of famous white Italian-Americans in the white-operated and owned Italian "Famous Pizzeria" restaurant run by Salvatore "Sal" Frangione (Oscar-nominated Danny Aiello). One of the neighbor's residents, Radio Raheem (Bill Nunn) was always accompanied by his gigantic boom box playing Public Enemy and the hip-hop anthem Fight the Power. One of the multi-ethnic relationships in the film was between:
Mookie and Tina had a young son named Hector. During a visit with Tina on this sweltering day of one hundred degree heat, he was frustrating her by wanting to have quickie sex (the "nasty") in her hot apartment bedroom, and then wishing to quickly leave afterwards. She complained:
He proposed instead: "Let's do somethin' else." He had her stand on the bed and strip naked ("Take your clothes off"), while he went to the refrigerator to retrieve two trays of ice cubes.
In the infamous ice-cube scene, he methodically rubbed melting ice cubes over her naked body (forehead, lips, neck, kneecaps, elbows, thighs, and breasts) in full-closeup view, while espousing:
In the original screenplay, it read: "Mookie now has an ice cube on the left and right nipples and WE SEE before our very own eyes both get swollen, red, and erect." Tina responded: "Feels good" before he left her, promising to return later.
Tense scenes were prefaced by Sal's baseball-bat destruction of Raheem's boom box inside the pizzeria. This led to a massive altercation at the pizzeria, ending with:
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 "The Wall of Fame" in Sal's Pizzeria  Mookie's (Spike Lee) Girlfriend Tina (Rosie Perez)   Tina 
Tina's Lips
Neck
Kneecaps
Elbows
Thighs
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The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989) Writer/director Steve Kloves' romance drama (his directorial debut film) was based on the story of two brothers - who were played by two actor-brothers in real-life - who were performers for the past 15 years in an increasingly-stale and outdated cocktail lounge singing act - until they added a sultry female vocalist to their stage act. It featured the tagline:
It told about two struggling, Seattle-based piano-musicians ("The Fabulous Baker Boys") who played together on matching grand pianos:
The film opened with the pair in a restroom preparing for their two-person piano show at the Starfire Lounge. Jack sprayed Frank's hair with black, paint-like Crowning Glory's Miracle Hair to cover his bald spot and conceal his age (Jack: "This is paint, Frank!" - Frank: "No, it's a magical sheath that simulates a dazzling head of hair"). The two decided to enliven their act by conducting a series of awfully-painful auditions in their search to potentially hire a female vocalist to invigorate their show - there were a total of 37 failed auditions, including Blanche "Monica" Moran (Jennifer Tilly) singing "Candyman", and other Bad Singers crooning "Up, Up and Away" and "Tiny Bubbles" - and more. The audition of the 38th vocalist, who arrived an hour and a half late, was performed by:
She explained her entertainment experience: ("The last couple of years, I've been on call for the Triple A Escort Service"). After meaningfully singing "More Than You Know" - she asked: "So?" A montage of singing gigs followed her hiring, showing the singer's improvement with tremendous stage presence and sex-appeal - unexpectedly entrancing audiences, and resulting in an increase in bookings and gigs for the trio. However, there were also developing tensions that emerged in the group when Jack began dating Susie - endangering the relationship between the two brothers. The highlight of the film was its seductive scene of high-heeled sensuous Susie Diamond (Michelle Pfeiffer) in a high-slit, slinky red dress writhing semi-recumbent and draped atop a slippery grand piano. Jack Baker (in Frank's absence) accompanied her as the camera executed a 360-degree circling around her while she sang a sultry rendition of "Makin' Whoopee" during a New Year's Eve gig at a rural hotel. It was reminiscent of Jessica Rabbit's sexy performance of "Why Don't You Do Right?" in Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988).
The following early morning on New Year's Day after the entire hotel ballroom was emptied following their show, Jack and Susie were left alone. Jack proceeded to seduce Susie -- he massaged her shoulders, disattached her red dress straps, and then unzipped the lower part of her dress, rubbed her back, and kissed her neck. When the front of her dress fell down, he grabbed her right breast (and the view of them faded when they sank down and began to have sex on a table). Ultimately, Frank made a major accusation against his brother: "You just had to do it, didn't you, Jackie? You couldn't keep your cock in your pocket." Jack retaliated: "Who I f--k and who I don't f--k is none of your f--king business! You got that!" - and then when the argument escalated, the two became physical with each other. In a scene in Frank's home in the film's conclusion, the two brothers eventually ended up burying the hatchet amiably, although Jack had decided to go his own way: ("I'm not coming back, Frank...I just can't do it anymore. I've been lying to myself long enough"). |
 Frank and Jack (The Baker Boys)  Susie Diamond's Winning Audition ("More Than You Know")    Sex Between Jack and Susie in Empty Ballroom After New Years' Eve Gig  Vicious Brotherly Argument  Ending: Reconciliation Between the Brothers |
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Ghosts Can't Do It (1989) The unlikely title of writer/director John Derek's crime comedy referred to ghosts who couldn't consummate their love through sex. It was producer Derek's fourth and final film directing his naked wife Bo Derek, again featuring her as a sex object who was undergoing some kind of sexual awakening.
It was rated as one of the worst films ever made, and received nine Razzie nominations and four wins, including Worst Picture, Worst Actress (Bo Derek), Worst Director (John Derek), and Worst Supporting Actor (Donald Trump in a cameo as Himself). The film's suggestive taglines were:
The two main characters, a married couple (with several decades of an age difference, reflecting John Derek's own marriage to the very young Bo) who lived on a Wyoming ranch together, were:
Scott was ailing from a weak heart, but was too old to have a heart transplant. When he couldn't perform in bed with Katie, he committed suicide with a shotgun blast to his own head. In a hellish afterlife, Scott met an Angel of Death (Julie Newmar) who told him that he could watch his wife's suffering and anguish for awhile. She was the only one who could see and hear her dead husband. Katie went to a tropical isle for a vacation, where in a memorable scene after scuba diving on a white sand beach, she stripped off her purplish-blue one-piece swim suit and laid down on the sand, while complaining ("It sucks") to the ghost of her deceased Scott:
In another scene while she was soaping herself up next to a jacuzzi and then bathing, and was informed by Scott that she was now chairman of the board of his company (and worth two billion dollars), she responded to Scott:
Eventually, her wish came true as she was bedded down by Scott who had possessed the body of womanizing Fausto Garibaldi (Leo Damian) when he conveniently drowned. [Earlier, she had proposed the idea to him: "My dead husband wants to possess your body." The name Fausto referenced the Faustian bargain.] As she was taken by him, she spoke:
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      Katie (Bo Derek)  With Fausto Garibaldi (Leo Damian) |
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Lethal Weapon 2 (1989) Director Richard Donner's sequel Lethal Weapon 2 (1989) was similar in many ways to the first film in the popular series. The two main characters, now in the year 1989 two years after the original film, were again two mismatched buddy-partners working together:
In the opening car chase sequence, the two discovered over a million dollars worth of gold South African Krugerrand coins (illegally imported into the US). The money was related to a drug-dealing and smuggling gang involving South African diplomats, led by led by LA's Minister of Diplomatic Affairs Arjen Rudd (Joss Ackland) in the South African consulate, who were hiding behind diplomatic immunity. At the same time, the two cops were protecting a star federal witness - an obnoxious and annoying money-launderer named Leo Getz (Joe Pesci), who could testify against the revenge-seeking drug dealers in a pending drug case. A love-making scene came for Riggs with Rudd's South African Consulate Secretary Rika van den Haas (Patsy Kensit), a perky coltish blonde Afrikaner that worked for his enemy. However, she hated her racist boss and was more liberal-minded: ("There are many things I don't like about my boss and my country"). He invited her to dinner and beer in his rocky beach and oceanside trailer. After an extended bout of sex in his upper bunk, he recommended: "It's time for the seventh inning stretch - that's a baseball expression," yet she complained: "I know, but we're only up to the fourth inning" - followed by his sexy reply "batter up" as she got on top. They were alerted to danger by Riggs' collie dog Sam, and interrupted by gunfire from a descending helicopter. Riggs was able to kill four assassins and the pilot from the first chopper before a second chopper appeared. Riggs fled in his truck with Rika from his bullet-peppered trailer as they were attacked by the second helicopter. After eluding the attackers and escaping unharmed with Rika: ("This is the most incredible first date I've ever been on"), Riggs returned her to her apartment (when she promised him that she would quit her job the next day). Back at his truck, he was knocked out by Rudd's sadistic henchman Pieter Vorstedt (Derrick O'Connor), who also kidnapped Rika. Riggs was strait-jacketed next to the LA harbor, and taunted by Vorstedt about the death of his wife. Vorstedt admitted that he had killed Riggs' wife four years earlier in a planned car accident: "I'm the guy that changed the course of your life, man." Riggs was tossed off the dock into the water, and after he wriggled free, he saw the drowned corpse of Rika underwater. Soon after Vorstedt left, an enraged Riggs vengefully and brutally killed the two South Africans left on the dock (Vorstedt had driven off) - he twisted and broke one man's neck, and repeatedly slammed a car door into the second man's head. Riggs phoned partner Murtaugh, distraught about his wife's and Rika's deaths: "They killed her. She's dead. They killed them both." He vowed to take things personally from now on, first by attacking Rudd's headquarters in the stilt-house: "I'm not a cop tonight. It's personal...I'm gonna get 'em and f--k 'em. I'm going there now." |
    Rika (Patsy Kensit) with Sgt. Riggs (Mel Gibson) |
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The Little Mermaid (1989) Representing family-friendly values, Disney executives were continually worried about sexual imagery or subliminal messages conveyed in their animations, whether they were actually visible, coincidental, accidental, or just urban legends (i.e., the dust clouds spelling out the word SEX in the poster for the re-released 2002 version of The Lion King (1994)). Or was the word SFX - a tribute to the special effects artists? More scrutiny was brought to bear on The Little Mermaid when execs feared (implausibly) that there was a disgruntled Disney artist who had deliberately drawn an erect penis nestled among the towering spires of Trident's golden, sparkling castle on The Little Mermaid's VHS video box cover illustration. Another fear of an offending image occurred during the shipboard marriage ceremony sequence between Eric and Vanessa (evil sea witch Ursula disguised as a brunette). Some thought that the animated male character, a priest or minister, sported a bulging penis from his robe, although it appeared to be the character's knobby knee! |
VHS Box Cover for The Little Mermaid  Enlarged Image |
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My Nights Are More Beautiful Than Your Days (1989, Fr.) (aka Mes Nuits Sont Plus Belles Que Vos Jours) Avante-garde writer/director Andrzej Zulawski's sad but dramatic and melancholic romance was pretentious and self-indulgent (semi-autobiographical), and included elements such as parental abuse, drug use and lesbianism. Although derived from a 1985 French romantic novel Night Without Day, it was uncredited to the author Raphaële Billetdoux. The opening title credits were presented over colorful, kaleidoscopic views of X-ray photos of a deteriorating human brain - possessed by the main protagonist who was experiencing declining mental capacity. The two main star-crossed characters, both damaged mentally or physically, met first in a cafe. He then followed her to her job at a seaside Biarritz resort, where they engaged in a disjointed, tragic, all-consuming and doomed affair for several days and nights within a posh hotel suite:
Blanche reluctantly performed - due to the pressures from her manipulative and promiscuous mother (Valérie Lagrange) - as a flamboyant nightclub performer and clairvoyant in a mind-reading psychic and strip act at the luxury hotel.
Ironically, the computer genius Lucas had been diagnosed with a rare debilitating brain disease that was causing him to gradually lose his communication skills and his memory. The unusual and intense erotic Pygmalion-styled relationship that developed between Lucas and Blanche ("Love means pain, lots of pain") was tempered by the mental condition of both, and their flashbacked, deeply painful, haunting and traumatic childhood memories.
When they first met in his hotel suite, she fell asleep draped over his lap. He helped her to undress, and then put her to bed without making any sexual advances. Later as they made love in one of the film's remarkable scenes in their luxury hotel suite, she had the ability to look into Lucas' soul and view his hidden pain.
During one of her psychic acts at the Biarritz hotel while wearing a red silky dress on stage and hypnotized into a trance by her turban-clad partner François (Sady Rebbot) - with the stage name "The Raj de Pondichéry," she broke down and pulled down the front of it to reveal her breasts. In the film's foregone conclusion, the two decided to end their lives together on a deserted beach, when they walked into the Atlantic Ocean surf on southwestern France’s Basque coast. |
 Lucas Sitting With Blanche - Who Was with Her Bi-Sexual Gay Husband (in name only)   On the Beach  Comforting Each Other  Blanche in an Early Clairvoyant Nightclub Act   Blanche Breaking Down On-Stage as a Telepathic Stripper and Mind-Reader  Ending Sequence: Suicidal Drowning |
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Scandal (1989, UK) First-time feature director Michael Caton-Jones' docu-melodrama was set in the swinging Sixties. It told about the British government tabloid scandal in 1963 (aka the Profumo Scandal). The whole debacle of the real scandal led to the end of Prime Minister Harold Macmillan's Conservative government in late 1964. Oddy, it was originally rated X for its notorious after-dinner orgy scene (since re-edited), although it didn't warrant a hard-core rating. The drama opened in London in the year 1959, and began with the introduction of:
Christine Keeler had relocated to London from the countryside, and had begun performing as a chorus girl in a respectable topless revue show at Murray's Club.
In the course of her work in the nightclub while Christine was performing in the chorus line, she was spotted and then closely befriended by:
Shortly after meeting her at Murray's Club, but unable to obtain her phone number, Stephen persistently drove up to Christine's lower-class country home where she was living with her mother (Jean Alexander), picked her up in his luxurious sports car, and drove her to Lord William Astor's (Leslie Phillips) large estate at Cliveden, where he dazzled her by pulling up to a large Tudor style cottage on the grounds. He also toured the immense estate with its outdoor swimming pool and beautiful gardens. His ultimate objective was to groom and mentor her to mingle with the wealthy and powerful, and to introduce her to his high-class mostly-male political friends - described while sketching her:
Stephen pursued her further, and soon after, Keeler moved in to live with him in his row-house, where he insisted that their relationship as "very good friends" was simply platonic. She transformed herself into a brunette, and then participated in a party at his apartment with some of his elite friends to celebrate the Conservative Party's victory in Britain's general election. The table was decorated with a giant ice sculpture of an erect phallus. Christine was introduced to a swingers' party, and after a moment's hesitation, she joined in by stripping off her clothes. The next morning, Stephen claimed that it was only harmless fun: "There's nothing to be afraid of. We're all flesh. There's no harm in it, so long as nobody gets hurt. Trouble with this world is everybody's afraid to enjoy themselves, or they're too ashamed to admit it." A second female character was then introduced into the burlesque show, threatening to take Christine's "place" - by sitting in her backstage dressing room makeup chair:
On her first dance appearance, Mandy upstaged the fully-costumed Keeler, playing a topless American Indian maiden (with a long, black pig-tailed wig) in a kitschy stage number with the repetitive chorus of "Ooga! Ooga! Ooga!" Very soon after, Keeler became friends with Mandy and they were soon being pimped out by Stephen as bed-hopping call girls to wealthy clients. In one of the film's most memorable scenes, to the sounds of Apache by The Shadows, the two beautiful playthings (in a series of extreme closeups) prepared and dressed for a night on the town at "Club 21":
Later after an abrupt cut, they were seen in a bed embracing each other on gold-colored silk sheets, and making very vocal, orgasmic sounds together. It was revealed that they were faking - pretending to be lesbian, when they burst into laughter to tease their male pick-up or john in the same room: American "Matinee Idol" (Trevor Eve) (loosely based on actor Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.), who was watching their arousing performance. Afterwards, they engaged in a menage-a-trois with him. Meanwhile in his doctor's office, Stephen was seducing one of his attractive patients, Mariella Novotny (Britt Ekland) (described by Stephen as "the best-bred harlot in town"), who begged: "Tie me down." Due to Stephen Ward's miscalculation (and the reason for the eventual scandal), Keeler eventually provided sexual favors to those two opposing government officials in mid-1961:
The events evolved from a scene set in 1961 at Cliveden (Lord Astor's estate), where Christine was swimming in the pool one night. To entertain Stephen and Ivanov, and at their urging, she stripped down to perform a naked fan-dance with palm fronds next to the swimming pool. Embarrassed, when she tried to escape and run into the house, she fled directly into the arms of Lord Astor's bald-headed dinner guest John Profumo (who exclaimed: "Got you!"), and sparked his personal interest in her. While sleeping regularly with both Ivanov and Profumo, Christine (with Stephen) also attended an after-dinner orgy (originally an X-rated scene that was re-edited down to R-rated). While Stephen dallied with Mariella again (calling her "the best-bred harlot in town"), a clothed Christine watched as various couples had intercourse all around her. Mandy was also in attendance - she encountered a masked man offering glasses of champagne on a tray with a sign around his neck reading: "PLEASE BEAT ME IF I FAIL TO SATISFY."
As their affair heated up, Profumo insisted that Christine acquire a flat of her own, so that his paranoia of being discovered or watched could be better controlled. She refused to move out and give up Stephen, and became increasingly frustrated with having sex with old men: "I want to go out dancing.... I feel like - I want to have some fun for a change!" In late 1962, after a night out that turned violent, she returned to Stephen's flat and found Mandy in his bedroom! Later in the film's most dramatic turning point, she blamed Stephen for getting her involved in a risky and wild lifestyle, mixing with violence-prone individuals ("around Westbourne Grove") and urging her to be a prostitute:
He decided to let her go: "It's over, little baby. It's over," and left her standing in the rain. That same evening, Keeler confessed her notorious associations to Sunday Pictorial reporter Kevin (Keith Allen) that she had been sexually involved with Profumo, and had been pimped out by Stephen: ("It's all Stephen's fault. It's all his idea"). It soon became public knowledge after the news was in every London newspaper - with the proposed heading: "The War Minister, the Model, and the Russian Spy." To downplay the story and provide cover-up, Stephen proposed to hide Christine away somewhere outside England: "I dreamt her up. I can make her vanish." Predictably, Profumo denied the affair to Stephen: "I never touched her....Never laid a finger on her." Meanwhile, Christine signed an exclusive with the Sunday Pictorial for a 1,000 pounds to sell her tabloid story, and provide for her living expenses outside of England. Shortly later, in January of 1963, Ivanov was recalled to the Soviet Union for being sexually-involved with Christine. The Soviet spy and Stephen knew there would have to be a scapegoat: ("They will be looking for someone to take the blame"). In March of 1963, Profumo lied about his affair with Keeler to Parliament (House of Commons), stating that there was 'no impropriety whatsoever' in his relationship with her. It would become a major scandal and "breach of security" - when it was learned that she had bedded both the British Defense Minister and a Russian military attache at the same time. When Profumo's duplicity was exposed shortly later in June, he was forced to resign and admit in a written statement that he had lied. Christine had already confessed that she wasn't pimped out by Stephen and that they shared as friends: "We were friends, we shared...He didn't keep me....I love Stephen. He's the only man I've ever loved." When they were able to visit together one last time, Stephen told Christine: "Dreaded it. Nightmares. Always been afraid that the day would come when they'd throw me to the dogs."
A highly publicized trial was held and both Mandy and Christine were pressured to testify against Stephen - who was accused of being their pimp (or "ponce"), and that they had received money in exchange for sex. As a result of the scandal and public trial, Stephen suicidally killed himself with a drug-overdose of Nembutal a month later. In his suicide note, he stated (in voice-over): "It's really more than I can stand, the horror day after day in the court and in the street. It's not only fear, it's the wish not to let them get me. I'd rather get myself. I do hope I haven't let people down too much. I tried to do my stuff. But after Marshall's summing-up, I've given up all hope." Keeler was also found guilty of perjury and conspiracy and was imprisoned for a few months. Mandy took advantage of her notoriety and became a cabaret singer and film actress, and opened a string of nightclubs in Israel. |
 Stephen's First View of Christine on Stage  Christine Transformed Into a Brunette  Christine's Observation of a Giant Phallus Ice Sculpture  Christine and Mandy - Close Friends  Picking Up an American Matinée Idol (Trevor Eve)  Faking Lesbian Love-Making  Stephen in His Office Seducing 'Patient' Mariella Novotny (Britt Ekland)    Christine Dancing Naked by the Astor's Estate Pool for Stephen and Ivanov - and in Profumo's Arms   Christine with Profumo  Christine with Ivanov  Christine with Stephen  Christine Discovered Mandy in Stephen's Bedroom  Stephen's Breakup with Christine: "It's over, little baby"  Christine Abandoned by Stephen in the Rain  Ivanov Speaking to Stephen About Being Recalled to the Soviet Union - and The Need for a "Scapegoat"  Profumo Speaking to Parliament: "No Impropriety Whatsoever"  Christine Brought Back to England For Questioning  Profumo's Resignation  Stephen to Christine: He Believed He Had Been 'Thrown to the Dogs'  Stephen Writing A Suicide Note (in voice-over) |
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Sea of Love (1989) Director Harold Becker's Hitchcock-like, erotic, who-dun-it crime thriller told about an investigation into a series of 'lonely-hearts' murders committed by a suspected female serial killer. The suspenseful film opened with a close-up of a spinning 45 rpm record ("Sea of Love") on a turntable, as naked James Mackey (Brian Paul) appeared to be making love to a male, but then was shown to have a gun pointed at him by an unseen assailant before he was shot dead. Each of the murder victims was shot in the head and found face-down and naked on a bed. All of the victims appeared to have listened to a repetitively-playing 45 rpm record of "Sea of Love" by Phil Phillips. There were various clues:
The series of 'lonely hearts' murders committed by a female serial killer were being investigated by:
In order to catch the suspected killer ("a psycho woman killing guys"), Keller also placed his own lonely-hearts ad in New York Weekly magazine: ("Lady- I live alone within myself like a hut within the woods...") and invited each of the female respondents to NY's O'Neals Restaurant, in an attempt to acquire and retrieve matching fingerprints. Acting as a decoy, he had a number of dinner meetings, including with:
During their first dinner encounter, she point-blank told him: "You're just not my type....I believe in animal attraction. I believe in love at first sight. I believe in this, and I don't feel it with you." She abruptly left the table without touching her wine glass to leave prints. Shortly later in the office, Keller also interviewed Cabletone TV cable guy Terry (Michael Rooker), who was in the building's basement around the time of the murder, who reported a suspicious black kid from the supermarket with corn-rowed hair - identified as Quawi Benjamin, nicknamed "Spooney" - an employee who was fired after a week of work. Coincidentally, Keller again met Helen in a local supermarket, and later that evening, they shared drinks and conversation in a bar. In a "desperate and foolish move," he invited her to his apartment at about 3 am, and in his bedroom experienced a tense, torrid tryst scene together.
She ripped off her red jacket, revealing a bra-less white T-shirt as they passionately kissed each other. When she went to the bathroom, grabbing her bag with a gun in it (a "starter's pistol") and commanded "Get in bed," he was both excited and fearful. The female dangerously aroused both his suspicions and lust.
When she appeared from the bathroom in a white bathrobe, he threw her against the wall and frisked her and then tossed her in his closet -- they soon struggled on his bed together as she screamed: "You god-damned son of a bitch...Get off of me." He apologized for his violent reaction to her possession of a gun ("I got scared"), and she ultimately acquiesed. Their rough foreplay led to her frisking him from behind (and lingering at his crotch) as she asked: "What are you looking for, huh? What are you doing?" She removed her bathrobe to reveal her nakedness, and then they began love-making against the wall as the scene faded to black. Later after making a phone call to her home, she rolled over on top of him, and again began making love. While kissing, he murmured: "You're killing me."
By morning, as he awoke, he asked: "Are we still alive?" They again sweet-talked in bed, and he was amazed at her stamina. She called herself a "Wonder Woman" and added: "I wonder how we made it through last night in one piece." Although he wanted more, she insisted that she needed to get home to her daughter. She dressed, complimented him for not being a typical man - a creep, manipulator or liar: ("Guys who wait 'til you're in good and deep before you find out who they really are. Guys who - all of a sudden, you're fightin' for your life. Creeps!") - and soon left. They were beginning to become a serious couple, but when he visited her at her place of work the next day, an upscale shoe store, she learned that he was a cop, and she was incensed that he had lied to her about his occupation. He remained paranoid and suspicious of her, but also couldn't resist her. A bit later, they met at a grocery store aisle where she was naked under her black trenchcoat. In the very sexy scene set to a jazzy score, she fondled hot peppers as he touched her bare leg, before another night of love-making at her place. After awakening in the middle of the night, Frank discovered a suspicious tie between her and the murders:
At the same time, his intention was to go a step further in their relationship and invite her to move in with him. However, she became wary of him when he admitted that he was wearing a wire when they first met, and told him: "F--k you!" After a few stiff drinks, he insisted on seeing her again at her place at 1 am that morning, to fib about wearing a wire, and to take a further step with her: "There was no wire. There was no job, no nothin'. I was just sayin' that to push you away from me. Because I was gonna ask you to live with me. And I got scared, you know?" But then another red flag surfaced. He noticed on her refrigerator door that she had put a posting of circled ads, implying that she had dated all of the lonely-hearts murdered men. She told him that she wanted to think about it: "I think I should be alone tonight." After he told her "Catch you later" and returned home, she then emerged from the dark end of his apartment hallyway. She wondered whether she had been given an ultimatum: "'Catch you later'? Huh? What's that supposed to mean? Is that some kind of brush-off, Frank?" In his apartment after a few kisses, she surprised him by bringing her 45 rpm record of "Sea of Love" to play for him while they danced. This aroused his doubts even further and he thought she was toying with him - he handed her his own gun (after searching her purse and finding her fake one), asking her to finish him off:
He quizzed her about the dates he knew that she had - with James Mackey and Raymond Brown. It was obvious he had been "following" her around as a murder suspect, and she responded: "They were just dates." He then ordered her to confess: "Why'd you do it, Helen? Tell me you did it. Tell me why you did it? I want to know everything, all right?" but she was speechless. He accused her of evading arrest by dating him: "The arresting officer was f--kin' the doer! See? It's a joke. It won't go to trial even. You understand?" He ordered her out of his apartment. In the film's twist ending, after Helen departed, Frank answered his door where he was attacked by Helen's angry 'creep' ex-husband Terry. He lunged at Frank screaming:
He was the cable TV man that Frank had questioned as a witness earlier. With gun drawn, Terry ordered Frank face-down on his bed and asked: "Did you have a good time with her last night?...Show me how you did it to her....You show me and I'll let you go...F--kin' bastard!" Frank retaliated and in the vicious struggle and bloody fight, Terry fell to his death after being thrown through the window. In the denouement, Helen described how she hadn't seen her ex-husband in about a year, but Terry had been shadowing her for eight months: (Frank: "She had that nutcase over one shoulder, me over the other"). Frank realized he had made it almost impossible for them to have a relationship: ("I'm going to let her go. I ran her through a wringer, man"). It was revealed that Terry had killed all of his ex-wife's 'lonely-hearts' dates (Mr. James Mackey, and Mr. Raymond Brown - and "Frank Kellogg" (Keller) was undoubtedly next). In the final scene, Frank felt he must again reconcile with Helen. On a NY street, he told her that she had only known half of him: ("You got to give me a chance, Helen. You never really got to know me, not 100%"). He told her sincerely: "It's killin' me not seeing you. It's killin' me." They walked away as she offered to buy him a cup of coffee. |
  Opening Scene - Male Shot to Death From Behind During Sex  Sea of Love - 45 rpm Record  Frank's 'Lonely-Hearts Ad' to Catch the Killer  Cable TV Guy Terry (Michael Rooker)  Late Night Phone Call    Sweet Talk the Next Morning After Their Previous Evening's Encounter ("Are we still alive?")  Helen Working at Shoe Store   Helen Naked Under Her Trenchcoat in a Grocery Store  Sleeping Together Again at Her Place - Remaining Suspicious and Paranoid  Frank Noticing Lonely-Hearts Ads on Helen's Refrigerator Door  Helen: "Is that some kind of brush-off, Frank?"  Dancing to "Sea of Love" in Frank's Apartment  Ending: Death of Serial Killer Terry - Thrown Out Window  Reconciling with Helen Afterwards on a NYC Street |
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sex, lies and videotape (1989) Writer/director Steven Soderbergh's landmark independent film was the winner of the Palme d'Or at Cannes, and was nominated for Best Original Screenplay. Although it contained considerable discussion of sexual topics, it did not contain any nudity. The film featured explicit dialogue in videotaped discussions and revelatory confessions. There were four individuals intimately involved together in Baton Rouge in August of 1988:
As the film opened, an upset Ann was in consultation with her therapist (Ron Vawter), and was obsessing about problems she had no control over, such as overflowing amounts of garbage, and families of airline fatalities. She added: "Anyway, being happy isn't all that great. I mean, the last time I was really happy, I got so fat. I must have put on 25 pounds." She admitted that she didn't like sexual touch from her husband John:
With great embarrassment, she admitted that she didn't like masturbation:
Infidelity was revealed between womanizing and philandering John and Ann's sister Cynthia. To fulfill one of Cynthia's "perverse thrill" fantasies, she wished to have sex in Ann's bed while she was away. She also added: "I wish I could just come right out and tell everyone Ann's a lousy lay." Graham arrived to visit the Mullanys while looking for an apartment to rent month-to-month (with Ann's assistance). During dinner together, Graham was somewhat at odds with the ultra-successful John, who derided him for his "somber" present condition after nine years. The next day as Ann helped Graham search for an apartment, Cynthia entered the Mullany bedroom where John greeted her with a potted plant hiding his genitals. (It would be an unfortunate decision - she would drop one of her pearl earrings in the bedroom that was later found by Ann.) During a "personal" conversation together after lunch in a restaurant, Ann first offered her views about sex: "I think that sex is overrated. I think that people place far too much importance on it. And I think that stuff about women wantin' it just as bad as men is crap." Then, it was Graham's turn to reveal something personal to Ann:
When Ann told her sister Cynthia about the new visitor to town, calling him sort of "strange" and "unusual," she was intrigued and wanted to meet him. Graham had made it his "personal project" to videotape women speaking about their sex lives. Ann visited his "minimalist" apartment and interrupted him naked while watching one of his tapes. Ann asked about his massive collection of categorized videotape cassettes: "Why do these tapes all have women's names on 'em?" She listened as she pressed him with lots of questions and he answered that she couldn't watch them:
She was disgusted, confused, upset and flustered - that he taped women talking about their sexual experiences (some of whom also masturbated on camera) - and she abruptly left. Cynthia became even more interested in visiting Graham after Ann told her he was "strange." Cynthia arrived in Graham's apartment, noticed his large collection of sex tape interviews, put two and two together, and then she responded to his question: "Why don't you let me tape you?" She agreed to be interviewed as she curled up on the sofa and talked about her sexual history and sexual preferences. He openly told her that he 'got off' (masturbated) while watching his tapes. Graham essentially admitted that videotaping was a substitute for his own emotion-less, impotent and dispassionate life. She spoke about her first sexual experience at age 8 and her sexual awakening when she first viewed a penis at age 14:
Cynthia was so sexually aroused that she immediately called John in his office, and demanded that he cancel his important meeting commitments and have sex with her. Meanwhile, Graham was watching the playback of further parts of the over two-hour interview (intercut with the actual interview) - she removed her skirt and revealed she was panty-less to Graham - to self-pleasure herself. She also indirectly admitted on-camera that she was having an affair with Ann's husband John: ("John and Ann don't have sex any more...He doesn't have to tell me").
Her intense post-interview 'quickie' sexual intercourse session with John led him to compliment her: "You're on fire today." She dismissed him after being satisfied: "You can go now." Shortly later, by phone, Cynthia told Ann about her videotape experience with Graham, but assured her that nothing sexual had happened between them, although she hinted that she stripped and then masturbated on camera for him. Ann's reaction was of total shock: "You're in trouble...You can't trust him. He's perverted." Throughout the course of the film, John convincingly denied to the very suspicious and paranoid Ann that he was having an affair with Cynthia. He persuasively lied and accused his wife of paranoia and conjecture: "Ann, I'm not f--king your sister. I don't find her that attractive, for one thing." After John discovered that Cynthia had made a videotape with Graham, he became worried that the tape might be too revealing: "What if this tape gets into the wrong hands?" He also rightfully suspected: "Did you have to masturbate in front of him?" And he was also concerned that Ann knew about Cynthia's tape, and feared that his affair with Cynthia would be uncovered. Ultimately, the affair came into the open when Ann was vacuuming and she discovered Cynthia's missing pearl earring in her bedroom. It was a dramatic turning point. She drove to Graham's place and confirmed with him what Cynthia had confessed on tape - that she was having an affair with John: ("John and Cynthia have been - f--king"). With internal rage, she spoke out: "My life is s--t. It's just s--t. Nothing's what I thought it was. John's a bastard. Let's make a videotape." He reluctantly began to record her. [Note: The contents of her tape recording would be displayed later.] After the taping, she returned home to demand a divorce from John ("I want out of this marriage") - and he guessed that she had made one of Graham's tapes. John retaliated by beating Graham up and tossing him out on the porch before watching Ann's recent 46 minute long taped recording. He listened to Ann's admission that she never had satisfying sex or an orgasm with her husband, and how she had thought about having sex with Graham: ("I thought about you"). He responded: "I thought about what you would look like having an orgasm," to which she replied: "I'd like to know what I look like havin' an orgasm." When she asked if he could give her an orgasm, he replied simply: "No...I can't because I won't."
John also heard Graham's confession that he had major problems in his past: he was a pathological liar and he often scared people with his non-verbal behavior. His reason for coming back to Baton Rouge involved his idealized ex-girlfriend Elizabeth (Alexandra Root) - to find "a sense of closure." Then, in one of the film's most memorable segments, John watched as Ann was slowly able to reverse roles with Graham. She grabbed the camcorder and turned it toward him to help him with his impotence "problem" - she asked him: "Why do you tape women talking about sex, huh?" He at first resisted her efforts to help him:
But then he admitted: "I've got a lot of problems." She wanted to help: "I didn't wanna be part of your problem, but I am." John saw and heard Ann tenderly and lightly caress and kiss Graham as he laid unresistant on a couch. Graham soon decided to shut off the camera filming them, presumably because they were going to have sex together. The tape went blank. John's reaction to the tape was to spitefully tell Graham out on the porch that he once cheated and had an affair with Elizabeth while she and Graham were still together in college:
This revelation caused Graham to destroy his entire videotape collection and camcorder. While Ann and Cynthia appeared to reconcile with each other at her place of work, and Ann announced that she had taken a new job, John (now separated-divorced) had been fired for his reckless and irresponsible business behavior during his affair, and Ann and Graham were becoming closer to each other as a couple. |
 John's On-Going Affair with Cynthia  Graham Having Dinner with the Mullanys  Sex on Ann's Bed - John Greeted Cynthia With a Potted Plant on His Genitals  A "Personal" Conversation Between Graham and Ann  Graham to Ann: "I'm impotent."  Ann Frigid in Bed with Philandering Husband John  Graham's Collection of Videotape Cassettes of Female Interviews About Sex  Graham Watching One of His Videotaped Sexual Interviews   Cynthia's Visit to Graham's Apartment   Cynthia Curled Up on a Sofa During Her Video Interview   Ann Lied to by John - He Denied That He Was Having an Affair with Cynthia  Ann's Discovery of Cynthia's Pearl Earring in Her Bedroom  Ann to John: "I want out of this marriage"  John Watching Ann's Videotaped Session with Graham   Ann Turning the Tables on Graham With the Camera   Ann Caressing and Touching Graham  Ending: Ann and Graham Together |
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Skin Deep (1989) Writer/director Blake Edwards' R-rated sex farce-comedy (with slapstick and saucy verbal jokes), a battle-of-the-sexes tale, told about the many failures in the life of a male involving his sexual relationships and his work, due to his relentless boozing and one-night stands. It was similar in some ways and could have served as a sequel to Edwards' earlier sex comedy 10 (1979) starring Bo Derek and Dudley Moore. A controversy arose over the ad campaign that played up the film's most notorious scene (the ingenious 'glowing condoms' sequence) when the film aired on network TV. The marketing announcer was forced to advise: "But we can ask you to use your imagination." The posters for the film also had to be revised because they were considered too risque. Its taglines were:
The main male protagonist was:
In the opening scene, the married Zach was caught in bed by his jealous, gun-wielding mistress-girlfriend Angela 'Angie' Smith (Denise Crosby) while he was having sex with her hairdresser Tina (Heidi Paine) in his own home's bedroom. To top it off, during the altercation, he was also confronted by his wife 'Alex' who unexpectedly arrived home at the same time:
Shortly later at his local hangout Barney's, Zach described to his bartender confidante Barney (Vincent Gardenia) his failed sexual encounter, how he resisted monogamy, and that he was helpless to resist all varieties of women:
Zach's divorcing wife threw him and his possessions (including his rarely-used typewriter) out of the house, and threatened a restraining order if he didn't leave immediately after she had caught him being a philanderer. Zach was court-ordered to provide alimony to his ex-wife. He finally realized that he must change his ways, settle down, and stop chasing women, and he worried about suffering from instances of impotence. After he established a relationship with a real-estate broker named Molly (Julianne Phillips) and they moved into a house that he bought through her, he continued to be unfaithful to her as well, and she burned both his piano (while he was playing a Cole Porter tune) and their house down after six months of being together. One of his later bedroom encounters was with blonde female bodybuilder Lonnie Jones (Raye Hollitt from American Gladiators), who flexed in front of him to show her gigantic muscles and pectorals - she asserted:
As she undressed, she asked another question - worrying about his impotence, but he was able to overcome his intimidated feelings about her muscles and performed adequately:
The film was best known (or infamous) for its notoriously memorable glow-in-the-dark 'dueling' condoms scene or 'cock-fighting' (the first of its kind). It began with Zach seducing a new acquaintance - a pretty but battered 25 year-old female named Amy McKenna (Chelsea Field). In the midst of love-making after she invited him into her hotel room (directly above his room) and asked him to wear a condom, he borrowed one of her boyfriend's "kinky" glow-in-the-dark rubbers - it glowed blue as he walked into the dark bedroom from the bathroom. Before they could make love, they were interrupted by the entrance of Amy's jealous, long-haired, British rock-star boyfriend Rick Curry (Bryan Genesse) - the lead guitarist for a band known as Moon Rocks, who barged into the room to apologize to her. As Zach hid in the closet, Rick expressed an interest in making love to Amy, but she refused. He reluctantly left with his box of condoms found in the bathroom. Zach emerged from the closet, joking: "I feel like I'm in the porno version of The Red Shoes." Their love-making was again cut short when Rick returned wearing one of his own luminescent glow-in-the-dark condoms - a bright red color. Their frantic fight scene in the pitch-black dark showed their two erect, colored, and luminous condoms moving about like two radiant Star Wars' light sabers. They knocked each other out, and their condoms went limp.
Later when Zach crossed paths with 'Alex' after they had dinner together, he asked if they could give their marriage another try. 'Alex' explained how Zach was doomed to fail being married to one woman - and how he was on a revolving merry-go-round due to his fear of marriage:
The film concluded with a hopeful situation between Zach and 'Alex' - she had attempted to break away by marrying someone else in Santa Barbara, California, but couldn't go through with it. There was the possibility - over a period of time - that they might find love again due to his reformed self. He had taken the advice of Barney: "You gotta give up the vices to get to the virtues." At a launch party for his new book, he bragged to 'Alex' about conquering most of his major issues: "Alex, I've stopped drinking. I've written a bestseller. In my book, two out of three ain't bad." She wished for him to vanquish all three issues: "In my book, two out of three just ain't good enough." He proudly answered that he had also become celibate:
With his writers' block behind him, and his cessation of drinking and adoption of celibacy for six months, there was real hope. Just before the end credits in the middle of the night in his hotel room, Zach was with 'Alex.' In the darkness, he was erect and wearing a glowing red, white and blue multi-colored patriotic condom, accompanied by the playing of The Star Spangled Banner during the TV's sign-off. 'Alex' urged him to remove the condom, now that they were in a "monogamous relationship." Zach's newly-reconciled ex-wife commented:
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 Zach's Angry Girlfriend 'Angie' (Denise Crosby)   Zach Caught Cheating - Having Sex With 'Angie's' Hairdresser Tina (Heidi Paine)  Also, The Unexpected Arrival of Zach's Wife 'Alex' in the Bedroom   With Real-Estate Broker Molly (Julianne Phillips) Who Burned Down Their House       With Lonnie Jones (Raye Hollitt)   Zach With 'Alex' - An Attempt at Getting Back Together   Zach to 'Alex': "What would you do if I told you that I've been celibate for six months?"  Zach's Unnecessary, Erect Red-White-and Blue Condom |
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The Tall Guy (1989, UK) Director Mel Smith (with his directorial debut along with the writing debut of screenwriter Richard Curtis) brought his experience as a British comedian, writer and TV director to this British-made, satirical romantic comedy, with cute, silly, and often cliched tropes, some physical slapstick, and witty one-liners typical of the comedy genre. After the Miramax film was shot, it took a few years before its UK release in the spring of 1989, and it wasn't until the fall of 1990 that the movie was released in the US. It did extremely poorly at the box-office, earning only $510,000 worldwide. Its tagline was:
Its main male title character was:
As a struggling actor, Dexter had left the US and was forced to take a dead-end job as an assistant (and straight-man) for six years to nasty, mean-spirited, disdainful, obnoxious and abusive hammy-comedian Ron Anderson (Rowan Atkinson) in a West End London vaudeville-music hall show ("Rubber Face Revue") at Duke's Theatre. Dexter was also plagued by personal and medical problems, including a string of bad dates and hay-fever attacks. His apartment mate and landlady-friend Carmen (Geraldine James) was a flirtatious, hat-wearing nymphomaniac. One man who was often seen hanging around was Mr. Morrow (Timothy Barlow), a blind man allergic to his own seeing-eye dog. It also told about Dexter's budding relationship with:
While being treated for acute hay fever and prescribed weekly allergy shots, he opted for pills due to his phobia about injection needles, but one glance at her and he was smitten ("I've fallen in love") by the nurse. He gathered up the courage to submit himself to the shots instead. Then he requested advice from Carmen on how to impress her and find "true love" - she suggested:
His next step was to ask Kate for a date, but he was fearful and seven weeks went by without even learning her name. He began to have nightmares about being a "spineless wimp." Finally, she identified herself as having a "horrid name" - Kate Lemmon - and he inappropriately joked: "Could have been worse. Could have been called Hitler, Tampon, or something." When he eventually asked Kate for a dinner-date, they met up, but she brushed him off with the excuse that she was tired, and he walked her home. She described her apartment by her front door: "Don't be fooled by the grim exterior. It's a good deal grimmer inside." Then she described how she never wasted time getting to sex. She claimed she had sex on first dates rather than having lots of expensive dinners to find out if it would be worth it: "I think it's much better to go to bed with the person on the first date to get it out of the way. There's no point in having ten expensive dinners if I already know I like you." She suggested that they get together the following afternoon. When he arrived the next day at her apartment in the middle of the afternoon, and they both were not tired and completely free, he quipped: "Ideal circumstances for Scrabble." They both tentatively approached each other and kissed. Their first-date afternoon love-making scene in her apartment was noted for being outrageous, comical, and imaginative - plus messy and destructive. It was set to the tune of Rossini's "La Gazza Ladra (The Thieving Magpie)." When they rolled off the bed onto the floor during their sexy, raucous and "wild" maneuverings, they caused the following - in the mostly outrageous, overdone and slightly dumb segment:
As she rose up in ecstasy in front of a wall of pictures, she was pleasured by Dexter. Afterwards, he realized he was late for his show performance. As he rushed backstage from an alley, a sexy prostitute asked: "Care for a f--k, big boy?" He replied: "No thanks, just had one." Shortly later, he and Cyprus Charlie (Emil Wolk) - a backstage prop man, were fired from the show. As he was being let go, Dexter told off his boss Ron: "I hope all your children have very small dicks! And that includes the girls!" Dexter's stage career had come to a quick end, and he was forced to audition for other parts on the London stage. He was cast as the hideous-looking John Merrick in a preposterous and dreadful RSC musical version of The Elephant Man, titled Elephant.
The highlight of the film was in its last half hour - the mocking satire of large-scale musicals produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber (such as "The Phantom of the Opera").
The film concluded, after opening night, with Kate intuitively discovering Dexter's on-going affair (through very subtle clues) with a married cast member, Cheryl (Kim Thomson), and her immediate decision to pack up and leave Dexter. He was devastated by her surprise accusation and their break-up. Two months later, before going onstage for another Elephant performance, Dexter happened to be watching a TV awards show that was presenting the trophy for "Best Comedy Performance." He saw Kate dating and giving a congratulatory kiss to winning nominee Ron Anderson in the audience. Dexter impulsively left his own show (still wearing his makeup), tied up Ron in his dressing room, stole his car, and at a very busy hospital, begged Kate to take him back. After Dexter asked for her forgiveness, he promised to only take Kate to dinner, when she reminded him:
As they hugged and were cheered by patients and other hospital staff, Dexter - in voice-over, described how Charly had taken over his role in Elephant, and that he had attained "a turning point" in his own life: "It's love - and who knows, maybe Kate and I'll get married some day, and for our honeymoon, we could go to Morocco. I mean, I already got the shots." |
 Dexter's Starring Act Partner Ron Anderson (Rowan Atkinson)  Dexter Receiving His Weekly Allergy Injection  Kate's Suggestion to Have Sex with Dexter on the First Date   Kissing (and More) on Their First Date        Destructive Sex with Kate Lemmon  Kate: "What? No sex at the end?"  Dexter: "Well, maybe - sex? Yes! Alright, if you insist!"  Kate: "OK, then." |
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Warm Summer Rain (1989) Writer/director Joe Gayton's (his directorial debut film) strangely odd, confusing, enigmatic and pretentious R-rated, erotic art film was similar in part to Bertolucci's Last Tango in Paris (1972). It was highly probable that the suicidal and psychotic female lead character had actually killed herself - and was experiencing a dream-like experience of what an ideal married life might have been, and also remembering some of the happy highlights of her past life. Its tagline asked a central question:
The pretentious, overly self-conscious, intense and little-seen melodrama told a tale of two troubled and dysfunctional individuals:
The artsy psycho-drama opened with a couple completely naked on an outdoors lawn, and making love near some sprinklers and under a tree - the love-making appeared to be Kate's distant and fleeting flashbacked memory, presented in a montage. There was a dripping sound from a bathtub faucet, and a droplet of water running down a female's face next to her eye. Kate had actually made an unsuccessful suicide attempt to slit her wrists, and was lying on a bathroom floor next to the bathtub. She had been rushed to a hospital for medical care, where she was resuscitated by electro-shock after her wrists were bandaged. When she escaped (wearing only her hospital gown covered by a long black coat and sandals), she bought a Hot Doggers Tour bus ticket (to go "as far as I can") and traveled by bus in a random direction into the desert. She convinced the driver to drop her off at an undesignated stop in the middle of nowhere for $6 dollars. She walked for a few miles along a deserted road, and entered a nearby honky-tonk bar called Vinda's where pool was being played. During her time at Vinda's, she played with a kitten (with an injured left paw) that she had found in the desert and nursed it with a bottle at the bar, and was shown a stuffed, five-legged iguana lizard that she impulsively bought. She soon appeared to become drunk and danced with the tuxedoed stranger.
The next morning, she found herself in bed with the stranger. According to him, she had encouraged them to bust into a rundown, abandoned house in the desert to spend the night rather than stay in a motel. He happened to be wearing her pair of panties. There was an askew painting of Van Gogh on the wall. The dwelling had no electricity or food. She realized that she was married (!) to the stranger (since he had three Polaroids to prove it) - and she was wearing his wedding ring. She couldn't remove the "stuck" ring from her finger, and he quipped: "Like I am on you."
There, the two searched for meaning in their lives through wild and graphic sexual encounters and dialogue - their lives were stripped bare - literally. She told him: "I need a good f--k. You got a good one? I want you to f--k this headache away," and she climbed on top of him and began grinding against him. Afterwards, although he showered and cleaned up, she claimed she wanted to stay where she was until she was "dirtier and stinkier until I'm nothing but stink." He complimented her: "You got a great stink." He quickly dressed and left, and shortly later, he returned with bags of groceries in his arms. After devouring food on their plates without speaking to each other, they again had sexual intercourse. Later as he slept, she went through his wallet and viewed pictures of him with his wife or ex-girlfriend. Their next meal was composed of tuna and mayonnaise.
She recalled her suicidal wrist slashing to Guy, and described how she non-chalantly decided to try killing herself, and afterwards even attempted to brush her teeth but fainted and fell onto the floor: ("I guess I wanted them to find me with clean teeth"). She continued to have flashbacks of her near-death suicidal experience. In one scene while they were coupled together in the reciprocal 69 position of oral sex, they challenged each other to alternately name as many slang euphemisms for male and female genitals as they could:
She admitted that he won their name-game. She added that she always wanted a penis: "I always wanted one, just for a couple of days, to see what it's like to put it in someone. Do you ever wonder what it's like to be the one penetrated?" He replied: "I guess. Sure. But if you got a strap-on dildo, I wanna know about it." Then she commented on his genitals: "Yours is pretty ugly but in a cute kinda way, like a bulldog, one that's been in a lot of fights. What are all these little scars?" He answered: "Herpes, warts, yeah, my pecker's a veritable battleground....I'll tell ya, for something that's supposed to be so pleasant, there sure are a lot of god-damn annoyances." She asked about her own sex parts: "Does mine have any scars?"
He then described what her genitals looked and felt like:
He claimed he had fallen in love 15 times (she was his latest 'love'), but she answered that she never had: ("You don't even know me"). After asking Kate if she ever wanted kids, and to satisfy maternal instincts, Guy stole a baby that she immediately demanded he return, although they play-acted being parents for the dependent infant for a short while: ("There are more important things to think about than yourself"). In comparison to Kate, Guy realized that she was slightly crazy: "You make me look perfectly sane." Kate found a gun hidden by Guy under the bed's mattress. She pointed it at him after he arrived back from returning the baby. She asked him what he was "running from." He dared her to blow his brains out as he accepted the barrel into his mouth. Then, he reversed the gun on her and offered to end her life. He claimed he had used the gun to murder his previous girlfriend who had jilted him. He recalled blood draining from her head looking like a blossoming rose. Similarly, Kate described her own suicide: "You let the rose in you spill out." He kissed her still-bloody bandaged wrists. In another sexual sequence, they both stripped naked and he tenderly began by cleaning her wrist wounds. They sponge-bathed each other on the kitchen table. He stated that their lives would eventually turn "ordinary" although he still regarded her as "extraordinary." During one of their many crazed love-making sessions ("We could f--k ourselves to death") in many parts of the house to the tune of Joe Cocker's "Many Rivers to Cross," she jumped onto him as they recklessly spun around in the kitchen, but she inadvertently bumped into the gas stove and turned it on. They carelessly and accidentally set the entire house on fire, and were forced to flee (she held the kitten in her arms) into the nighttime dark with only a few clothes in their arms.
The scene returned to their initial flirtatious encounter in Vinda's bar when she asked the tuxedoed stranger: "Do you wanna dance?" They were interrupted by two policemen asking about his black convertible parked outside. Guy mentioned he didn't want to go back to jail. In the film's tragic conclusion set at night, the couple sped away and a flat tire caused their car to swerve, and Guy (the driver) was thrown from the car down a rocky embankment. As he lay mortally wounded in her arms, he asked for her name - for the first time - and he learned it was Kate. When she asked for his name, he replied: "I can't seem to remember," and then died. Police at the scene informed Kate that he hadn't murdered his ex-girlfriend, but he had stolen her car - the one he was driving. As the next day's light returned, she was again seen walking down a deserted road. When a police car drove by and asked if she wanted a ride, she declined. She shrugged when asked where she was going. And then she was revealed to be pregnant and delivering Guy's baby (also named Kate or Katie) - seen in a tremendous sweat.
In voice-over, she was now talking to her baby that she was raising (with flashbacks to her time with Guy) - with renewed purpose, in the film's final lines:
The credits followed, to the tune of Sandy Rogers' "Warm Rain." |
    Kate's Failed Suicide Attempt and Hospitalization  A Pensive and Contemplative Moment   The Stolen Baby - Play-Acting as Parents  Kate with Guy's Gun  Her Bloodied Bandaged Wrists     Sponge-Bathing Each Other   Sex On the Gas Stove     Crazy Love-Making Sequence - On the Toilet, Floor, In the Bathtub  Watching the Fire Consume the House and Their Memories Together  Kate to Guy: "Do you wanna dance?"  Guy's Death in Kate's Arms After Car Crash |
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When Harry Met Sally... (1989) Director Rob Reiner's romantic comedy When Harry Met Sally... (1989) featured the most famous (or infamous) orgasm scene ever filmed, without nudity, sex, or a partner - proving that women can easily fake an orgasm. In the notorious, crowded New York deli-restaurant scene, Sally (Meg Ryan) convincingly demonstrated a fully-clothed, stereotyped, simulated orgasm with table-beating and ecstatic moans and gasps to prove to her friend Harry (Billy Crystal) how most women occasionally fake orgasms. After a loud and long display of pants, groans, gasps, hair rufflings, caresses, table poundings, and ecstatic releases, she finally finished climaxing:
The entire restaurant was quieted down and attentive to her realistic act. When she was finished with her demonstration, she calmly composed herself, picked up her fork and resumed eating. Her simulation was foot-noted by an elderly patron, another female customer (director Rob Reiner's mother Estelle) exclaiming to the waiter at a nearby table with the following punchline:
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  Sally (Meg Ryan)  Customer: "I'll have what she's having" |
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Director/co-writer Zalman King's soft-core steamy drama was another in a long string of similar erotic dramas in which he was involved, including:
The glossy and superficial film, partially filmed on location in Rio de Janiero (Brazil), was a hit (grossing $11 million worldwide), mostly in Europe, but tanked in the US. Notoriously, it was forced to be drastically edited to receive an R-rating for US audiences and to avoid a dreaded X-rating. The film was definitely talked about, for its very believable simulated (?) sex scene between its two major stars, presented as the final climax of the film. Otis sued Playboy magazine in 1990 for publishing stills from the film. Their pairing continued to be controversial when bad-boy Rourke married Otis in mid-1992 and was later arrested for spousal abuse in 1994 while Otis wrestled with drug abuse and an eating disorder. Their stormy marriage ultimately ended in late-1998. Otis published a memoir of her life in 2011 titled Beauty Disrupted: A Memoir, which Rourke denounced, calling it written from a "delusional, narcissistic, self-centered point of view." Since their breakup long ago, Otis remarried and raised a family. In 1991, star Mickey Rourke received a Razzie nomination for Worst Actor (also for Desperate Hours (1990)), and Carre Otis was also nominated as Worst New Star. Its tagline was:
It told of a relationship that developed in Rio during Carnival time between:
As the film opened in a rural part of the Midwest, Emily said goodbye to her mother (Kathleen Kaminsky) before boarding a Greyhound bus bound for Kansas City, KS, and further points east. She was being interviewed by six law firms in NYC, and at one of them was hired as a paralegal. As a new hire, she was expected, the next morning, to accompany her boss - extroverted negotiator and businesswoman Claudia Dennis (Jacqueline Bisset) on a Varig flight to Rio. Their objective was to bail out an "under-capitalized" land company that was about to begin construction on a new resort hotel complex in Rio. The law firm was working with a consortium of Chinese investors on the deal. Upon arriving, Claudia was warmly greeted by the black, 5-star hotel concierge Flavio (Milton Gonçalves), and then transported by car to the construction site. The previous dilapidated beachside hotel was to be torn down and replaced. To her shock, Claudia learned that she had to abruptly travel to Buenos Aires, Argentina, to sign the sale of land papers with the hotel’s owner Elliot Costa (Michael Villela) who was there attending a wedding. Claudia instructed Emily to cover her date at 8 pm. She added a warning to her invitation:
The first of the film's four sex scenes occurred as Emily explored the dark interior of the run-down hotel ruins. She happened to witness a bold sexual encounter between a local Brazilian couple (Anya Sartor and Joao Carlos Dos Santos). The male stripped the female's red dress off and grabbed her genitals before she jumped up, wrapped her legs around him, and they had sex against a stone wall as water flowed over them. Emily raced from the scene down an ever-lengthening passageway.
Emily's evening date commenced with James Wheeler, a US businessman flanked by two bodyguards. During a late dinner with him, he creepily admitted he had called her mother to learn her favorite foods so that he could order for her. He spouted various platitudes, such as:
Engaging her in a mind game, she was prompted to fantasize extravagantly about other diners and their sexual behavior, including an attractive young couple (already known to Wheeler) later identified as:
Pressed for more detail, Emily refused: "I really don't want to go any further," although she was urged to continue. On a patio, Emily and Wheeler wore masks and watched a samba dance performed by other masked and frenzied revelers. Finding herself alone, Emily was approached by someone (presumably by Wheeler) with a wolf-mask who bit her neck. She reacted by fleeing from the area back to her hotel. The next morning, Wheeler was strangely present in Emily's hotel room - sitting and staring at her. He reprimanded her: "I'm not used to women running away from me," but he also apologized with flowers. That afternoon to show her around, they traveled by motorcycle, along with Hanna and Otto while they were followed by Wheeler's limo, to a wild Carnival beach celebration. There, a violent altercation occurred that stripped Hanna of the top of her white dress. She was miffed that Otto tried to cover up her nakedness. During the foursome's limousine ride back to town, Wheeler admired Hanna's exposed breasts and told her:
Wheeler surmised that Otto's reaction toward Hanna stemmed from a previous act of infidelity between them.
In the film's second sex scene, Wheeler stimulated Hanna and Otto to have sex in the limo on the seat next to Emily as she (and Wheeler) watched. He asked Emily: "Haven't you ever felt like that - vulnerable, insatiably hungry? Look at them, Emily....Tell me what you see." She answered: "I see two people having sex." He corrected her: "Making love. There's a difference." She was disgusted: "What is this? Some kind of joke?" After they were dropped off at the hotel construction site, he boldly admitted he had gone to a lot of trouble to be with her "because I'm interested in you." She felt that he was uncomfortable with intimacy: "Why do I get the feeling that if I reach out and touch you, you'll disappear?" He dared her: "Why don't you try it and see?" She hugged him, but he seemed uneasy and did not reciprocate with any emotion:
In her hotel room, the topless Emily (her first nudity in the film) admired in a mirror the gold necklace that Wheeler had just given her. There were wild orchids nearby - she was becoming entranced by their scent and the hot sexual atmosphere surrounding her. The film's third sexual scene occurred after Wheeler urged Emily at an outdoor hotel bar to accompany married American Jerome McFarland (Bruce Greenwood) (revealed later to be one of Elliot Costa's lawyers) back to his hotel room. She realized Wheeler was 'pimping' her out for his own pleasure:
To accommodate Wheeler, Emily joined Jerome in his room, for 5 $100 dollar bills, and purposely positioned herself to be undressed at his iron-barred hotel window so Wheeler could watch from below.
The next day, the real estate land deal was finalized with Claudia and Elliot back in Rio. Claudia used the fact that Elliot's lawyer Jerome had committed an infidelity by sleeping with Emily in order to twist the deal to their benefit. Claudia informed Emily about some of Wheeler's "strange" and unusual personality traits - she had previously been involved with him as his ex-flame, when she became obsessed by him, and he exercised power and control over her. The film's main surprises came soon after - Wheeler had already bought the deed to Elliot Costa's hotel in cash, and had thwarted their plans by "piggybacking" on their deal with the Chinese investors, involving Mr. Chin (Mato Chi). However, Wheeler had also signed the deed for the hotel over to Emily in order to save their deal. Claudia was impressed by Emily's power over Wheeler:
A few days later, Wheeler met with Emily in her hotel room to introspectively describe his difficult childhood. Teachers thought he was retarded. He explained how he had adopted a 'remote' persona as a "sign of strength," and regularly "played games" with prospective female partners in order to make himself more intriguing, and to keep it interesting. The film's fourth, very climactic sex scene ended the film. She begged to be touched: ("Come over here and hold me...Touch me") and opened her top to expose herself. He was unmoved by her display - and she realized:
But then he insistently grabbed her, revealing that she had finally convinced him to open up and make love to her. The film's end credits played after a view of Wheeler's motorcycle speeding away with Emily holding on, as they roared by the coastline and through the countryside of Brazil. |
   Emily Reed (Carre Otis) Offered a NYC Law Firm Job  Claudia Dennis (Jacqueline Bisset)  James Wheeler (Mickey Rourke)   Emily Approaching James Wheeler for 8 pm Date  Emily During Dinner Date with Wheeler  Hanna (Assumpta Serna) and Otto Munch (Oleg Vidov) at Dinner  Wheeler and Emily Masked Watching Frenzied Nighttime Samba Dancers   Hanna Stripped Of Her Dress During Carnival Beach Scene  Otto and Hanna Stimulated to Make Love Together in the Limo  Emily With The Necklace and Scent of Wild Orchids  Jerome McFarland (Bruce Greenwood)   In Jerome's Hotel Room        The Sensational and Notorious Climactic Sexual Sequence |
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The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover (1989, UK/Fr.)
