Due to the unsurprising popularity of our “10 Movies Sold on a Sex Scene” list a few weeks back, I’ve decided to unleash a sequel. However, catering to both Spoutblog’s traffic and the interests of ever-abundant sex-attracted internetters is only half my reason for this follow-up list. I was mainly motivated by the outcome of the release of Woody Allen’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona, a film that also initially inspired the first list. While Vicky was partly sold on the promise of a threesome between Scarlett Johansson, Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz, it is now fortunately being celebrated, and it will likely be remembered, primarily for Cruz’s performance. Not for the threesome or for the lesbian kiss.
Other movies sold on a sex scene, though, are not typically so blessed with accolades. And even some that are recognized with high praise at time of release are often later forgotten as anything but fodder for MrSkin and other followers of onscreen sex and nudity. Obviously this means that most of my selections for the previous list may also qualify here, yet I’ve chosen to ignore some certainly fitting titles, including The Brown Bunny and 9 1/2 Weeks, so as not to repeat myself.
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There apparently are other reasons to see Woody Allen’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona besides the infamous lesbian kiss between Scarlett Johansson and Penélope Cruz or the threesome between these actresses and Javier Bardem. But as the first things most of us heard about the movie, the sex scenes are certainly a big sell (the ménage à trois is even being used in a promotional contest to win a “threesome” with ScarJo). Even if they’re reportedly underwhelming.
Promise of tantalizing footage has been an appeal for moviegoers likely since the dawn of cinema, with film pioneer Eadweard Muybridge’s The Human Figure in Motion - Descending Stairs and Turning Around featuring nudity as far back as the 1880s. And if you’ve seen any of the titles included in today’s list, chances are their respective sex scenes were at least part of what made you buy a ticket (or rent the video).
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Video game blogs have a way of reminding me that I’m a big girl. The boys at Joystiq (some of whom are former colleagues and friendly acquaintances of mine) drop terms like “microtransactions” and “exergaming” and suddenly my brain turns off and I have an overwhelming urge to watch Tyra. Funnily enough, I picked up the former term (which still means nothing to me) from reading this story about a perspective game that would ostensibly be tailored to the girly market. Yes, apparently Juno, the little indie choo-choo train that could, the crossover underdog that scraped up $100 million thanks to a cleverly oppressive marketing campaign on pure pluck alone, is in the process of being turned into a video game.
We could speculate for hours as to what this game might actually look like (you get a jug of Sunny Delight every time you get Michael Cera to wear a blueberry condom!), but I thought it would be more fun to think about what it would be like if actual indie films were to have their brands extended into the gamer realm. Bearing in mind that my knowledge of video games pretty much begins and ends with Mario Kart, check out five ideas, for films including Gummo and Mutual Appreciation, after the jump.
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Blue, Bunny Trailer #2
Sometime last week, YouTube removed a trailer for a movie called Blue, Bunny, in response to a request from Vincent Gallo, who apparently complained that the clip violates his copyright on his directorial effort, The Brown Bunny. As you are probably aware, The Brown Bunny is an experimental art film in which Chloe Sevingy famously administers real live oral sex on the fearless director himself. Blue, Bunny is apparently a sunny comedy that takes place on the set of an independent film in which the director/lead actor attempts to convince his blonde starlet that filming her administering real live oral sex on the fearless director is, in fact, necessary.
But aside from the obvious inspiration for its parody, Blue doesn’t look much like Brown at all, nor does it directly reference Vincent Gallo. And perhaps rightly, its makers are somewhat puzzled as to how/why Gallo was able to justify its removal from YouTube. “Frankly, we’re stunned that the trailer tickled Gallo’s radar,” reads a blurb on Blue, Bunny’s website. “Surely a celebrity of his stature doesn’t have the time to scan the internet for every obscure reference to his name.”
It’s also not entirely clear which trailer Gallo demanded YouTube remove. Two are currently available on MySpace. The first barely explicates its narrative connection to The Brown Bunny before the title appears. The second trailer, embedded above, is a little more explicit, but it also directly references the copyright act protecting fair use, indicating that it might have been put together in response to Gallo.
Regardless: not only does Gallo come out of this looking like a trigger-happy ass, but is YouTube so lawsuit-scared that they’re now removing every clip they get a complaint on without bothering to consider actionable validity? You be the judge.
