Category Archives: Sex Scenes

Casino Royale (2006)

From IMDB:

After earning 00 status and a licence to kill, secret agent James Bond sets out on his first mission as 007. Bond must defeat a private banker funding terrorists in a high-stakes game of poker at Casino Royale, Montenegro.

From Netflix you can stream this 2 hour 24 minute old favorite.

No need to critique such a familiar and famous film.  Instead I just remind you that the film is currently (Nov 2022) available on Netflix.

Probably what is most memorable for me is the plot twist at the end. Just when you relax and think “Ah, happy ending” , then WHAMMO!

The Awakening (2012)

From Kanopy:

This haunting thriller is set in 1921, in a post-war England where many of the bereaved seek solace in spiritualism. Haunted by the death of her fiancé, Florence Cathcart (Rebecca Hall) is committed to debunking supernatural claims. When she is asked to visit a boarding school in the countryside to investigate the alleged sightings of a ghostly young boy, she feels compelled to take the job.

She sets to work, laying traps and gathering scientific evidence. Gradually secrets begin to unravel and the mystery surrounding the ghost appears nothing more than a prank. As Florence is set to leave, however, she experiences a chilling encounter that defies all reason.

From Kanopy you can stream this 1 hour 47 minute English ghost story.

As opposed to many ghost films which are often somewhat clichéd, this film presents a serious drama full of well-known British actors some of whom were:

  • Rebecca Hall (Florence Cathcart) played Loretta in “Tales From the Loop”.
  • Dominic West (Robert Mallory) was chilling as Noah Solloway in “The Affair”.
  • Imelda Staunton (Maud Hill) was unforgettable as Nora in “Nora Drake”.
  • Shaun Dooley (Malcom McNair) was Ricky Gillespie in ”Broadchurch”.
  • Joseph Mawle (Edward Judd) was Benjen Stark in “Game of Thrones”.

Worthwhile as this year’s Halloween entertainment.

 

 

Chefs (2015)

From IMDB:

Chefs in France. Competition drama and more.

From MHz Choice you can stream 2 seasons of this French soap opera centered around the competition between chefs. Season 1 offers 6 episodes whereas season 2 offers 8 episodes. Each episode is a bit under one hour. In French with English subtitles.

Where to begin!  This over-the-top melodrama is something only the French could conjure and runs the gamut from vegetables to love to murder.  Name a topic and it is probably involved. Still the gist of the series is:

  • Le Chef (we never hear his name) is the chef of Le Paris, an expensive and renowned Parisian restaurant who oversees and bullies his expert staff to achieve perfection.
  • Romain is out of jail for burglary and gets a job with Le Chef. We learn later that Romain does not know that he is the estranged son of Le Chef, whereas Le Chef recognizes his son. For most of the series Romain hates Le Chef, especially when he learns more about his father.
  • One constant theme is the fierce and unlawful competition to purchase various properties on which restaurants are located. For example,  Monsieur Edouard, a major villain in the story, manages to purchase Le Paris and force Le Chef to accept as a manager
  • Delphine, a beautiful and ruthless woman, whom Le Chef hates at first glance. Needless to say they eventually fall in love.
  • Yann is a superb kitchen culinary technician that is yet another villain.  Eventually we learn to sympathize with Yann.
  • Additionally there are far too many beautiful young women to record.  As the story proceeds each woman manages to love and leave various men.  Did I mention that this drama is a soap opera?

You will not learn a single recipe even as you watch zillions of meals go by that are too precious or exotic to believe.  Expect burglars, loan sharks, hired thugs,  Russian roulette poisoned meals,  betrayals, attack dogs, apprenticeships in using knives and preparing Chinese food,  unwanted pregnancy,  love affairs,   murder,  and difficult stays in prison to name a few.  Did I mention over-the-top?

If this milieu appeals to you then, DO NOT MISS!

 

Department Q (2013)

From Kanopy you can stream 3 full-length episodes of this series of intense crime Danish dramas. Unfortunately each episode will cost you one viewing credit.  There are many more Department Q episodes which are not available on Kanopy.

As you learn in the first episode,  chief detective Carl Mørck is such an oddball, that the police assign him to a dead-end job in the basement running Department Q where he is supposed to merely catalog unsolved cases.  Instead, he and his new partner Assad prove to be determined detectives doggedly solving difficult and ugly cases.

  • The Keeper of Lost Causes (2013) 1 hour 36 minutes

Police inspector Carl Mørck is put in charge of a department of cold cases, joined only by his assistant Assad. They dig into a case about a missing woman.

  • The Absent One (2014) 1 hour 59 minutes

The murder of young twins initially implicates a group of upper class students as the killers, though the case takes a turn or two from its starting point.

  • A Conspiracy of Faith (2016) 1 hour 52 minutes

Two intertwined cases linking the past with the present require the aid of Department Q to catch an elusive serial killer while time is running out.

All these stories involve brutal, ugly crimes. If  you can stand the nasty tension, then

DO NOT MISS!

Firebird (2021)

From Amazon Prime:

Firebird follows a handsome, soulful young soldier who embarks on a clandestine sexual affair with a charismatic fighter pilot on a Soviet Air Force Base at the height of 1970’s Communist rule.

From Amazon Prime you can stream this 1 hour 47 minute film in spoken and subtitled English.

This true story takes place in 1977 Soviet occupied Estonia as well as in Moscow. Both the love story and the details of life under Russian (military) rule are interesting.

Exile (2011)

From PBS Passport:

Tom Ronstadt’s world has fallen apart. Tom returns to his hometown and begins to unravel the mystery that drove him away years ago, unaware that he is unearthing a devastating crime that will reveal secrets he could never have imagined.

From PBS Passport you can stream the 3 episodes of this mystery drama series. Each episode lasts about an hour.

With a cast of British actors “to die for”, you cannot go wrong:

  • Tom Ronstadt (played by John Simm) is a washed-up reporter who returns to his hometown where he finds that
  • his sister Nancy (played by Olivia Colman) has devoted her life to caring for
  • her father (played by Jim Broadbent) who is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.
  • Tom, ever on the prowl, hooks up with the barmaid Mandy Eldridge  (played by Claire Goose) who turns out to be the wife of
  • Mike Eldridge (played by Shaun Dooley) who was Tom’s best buddy while they were growing up.
  • Mike works for Metzler (played by Timothy West) who, we learn bit by bit, is a horrible but well disguised monster.

Only warning in sight: Expect a constant stream of vulgar banter.

Sound intriguing?  Expect shocking plot revelations.

DO NOT MISS!

Lady Chatterley (2006)

From IMDB:

A French adaptation of the second (and much less well-known) version of D.H. Lawrence’s erotic tale.

From Kanopy:

Kino is now proud to present Lady Chatterley in a new, two-part, Extended European Edition featuring nearly an hour of additional material excluded from the film’s theatrical cut that explores the emotional and sensual borderlands uniting sex, love, and loyalty with even more intelligence, passion, and power than before. Through extra footage never seen in the US, director Pascale Ferran’s “rapturous visual tone poem” (New York Times) becomes both a highly erotic immersion into Lady Chatterley and Parkin’s passion and an equally frank and unsentimentally provocative portrayal of a marriage hobbled by war and ultimately torn apart by hypocrisy.

From KANOPY you can stream 6 hours and 5 minutes of this French adaptation with English subtitles. Actually it is 3 versions of the same film where each runs for 2 hours.  Whatever difference there is between the first and the other two I could not find. Watching just the first 2 hours is more than sufficient.

When was the last time your watched a naked man and naked woman frolic in the rain? When was the last time you watched a naked man and woman in front of a blazing fireplace where he decorates every part of her body with wildflowers?  Clearly this version of “Lady Chatterley’s Lover” is the most explicit  and also the most photographically beautiful  version I  have ever seen

Merlí Sapere Aude (2019)

From IMDB:

Pol Rubio starts to study Philosophy at the University of Barcelona while the relationship between Bruno and him begins to strengthen. Pol will meet new friends, new colleagues and new teachers apart from having to face conflicts in his new student stage, his complicated family and his new relationship with Bruno Bergeron in this way until becoming a Philosophy teacher.

From Netflix you can stream the 8 episodes of the second season of this Spanish (Barcelona) young adult soap opera. Each episode lasts about 45 minutes. Catalan is the original language of the series.

Season one was entitled  simply   “Merlí” and is not available. Merlí is the name of a favorite teacher who dies at the end of season one. Season two takes up from there with Pol grieving over the loss of his teacher Merlí.

All episodes center on a group of students studying philosophy at a university in Spain.  This group of friends quickly formed at the beginning of their studies.  Another notable character in particular is one of their teachers María Bolaño who is lonely and struggles with alcoholism. Each student has his or her own story to tell.  Relationships, sexual and otherwise, are formed and fought over.

My recommendation for this forgettable series is that it is a light-hearted young adult snapshot of the culture of 21st century Spain.

No Strings Attached (2011)

From IMDB:

A guy and girl try to keep their relationship strictly physical, but it’s not long before they learn that they want something more.

From Netflix you can stream this 1 hour 48 minute comedy drama.

Want to relax and watch some vulgar, fun semi-trash? Have I got a film for you! It’s wonderful when there is absolutely nothing to take seriously in a move.

Natalie Portman (as Emma) and Ashton Kutcher (as Adam) are a nice, funny couple. Kevin Kline as Adam’s thrice-married father about to marry someone his son used to date also deserves a mention.

When I catch myself grinning while watching some scene, is that a positive recommendation or a lapse of judgement on my part?

 

The Boys (2019)

From Amazon Prime:

THE BOYS is an irreverent take on what happens when superheroes, who are as popular as celebrities, as influential as politicians and as revered as Gods, abuse their superpowers rather than use them for good. It’s the powerless against the super powerful as The Boys embark on a heroic quest to expose the truth about “The Seven,” and their formidable Vought backing.

With the help of Amazon Prime you might be willing to waste your idle time streaming 3 seasons of this super romp.  Each season consists of 8 episodes. Each episode lasts about 1 hour.

Calling all “adolescents at heart.”  There is very little point in being serious about this endless 24-episode mindless fantasy,  although I am forced to admit that despite all the nonsense, the acting is at times (but only at times) in the ranges acceptable to good.  Moreover, if you are interested in pornographic nudity, you will not be disappointed in this often raunchy farce.