On movie sex and movie love...

Category: Romcom (Page 1 of 2)

Wimbledon

  • YEAR: 2004
  • DIRECTOR: Richard Loncraine
  • KEY ACTORS: Kirsten Dunst, Paul Bettany 
  • CERTIFICATE: 12A
  • IMDB SCORE: 6.3
  • ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE: 61%

SEX SCORE: 4/5
✔️ I watch this most years so, yes, it is rewatchable!
✔️ And I’d absolutely fuck the cast! Who wouldn’t?!
✔️ It did inspire fantasies, but they’re not that specific to this film – to be inspired by love, to have a whirlwind romance that means I achieve my life’s ambition…
✔️ And I am giving it a point for being sex positive! Sex is fun, sex is joyful, and (at the beginning anyway) sex is just about sex and not about love. Lizzie’s father may not approve…but its the distraction he doesn’t like, not the sex itself!
❌ But it doesn’t pass the Bechdel Test. There’s a conversation between Lizzie and a female interviewer that isn’t about men…but she isn’t named.

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How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days

  • YEAR: 2003
  • DIRECTOR: Donald Petrie
  • KEY ACTORS: Kate Hudson, Matthew McConaughey
  • CERTIFICATE: 12A
  • IMDB SCORE: 6.5
  • ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE: 42%

SEX SCORE: 3/5
✔️ It is cringeworthy and dated, but it remains surprisingly rewatchable!
✔️ And I would fuck the cast. They’re so 00s and definitely flawed, but both stars are undoubtedly at their hotness peak!
✔️ Incredibly, it does pass the Bechdel Test, which I was not expecting!
❌ It didn’t inspire fantasies though, except perhaps of owning a yellow dress and having that figure!
❌ But it’s not sex positive. It’s not explicitly said that having casual sex means you won’t have a meaningful relationship but it is definitely implied, and I can’t get over the gender stereotypes.

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Pretty Woman

  • YEAR: 1990
  • DIRECTOR: Garry Marshall
  • KEY ACTORS: Julia Roberts, Richard Gere, Laura San Giacomo
  • CERTIFICATE: 15
  • IMDB SCORE: 7.1
  • ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE: 65%

SEX SCORE: 5/5

✔️ This passes the Bechdel Test easily, but there are really only two named female characters so it’s good that they talk about a lot!
✔️ And it is rewatchable. It’s a classic for a reason!
✔️ I also would fuck the cast. Both Gere and Roberts are at their hotness peaks and are stunningly beautiful!
✔️ It probably did inspire fantasies too. Sex without kissing, sex on a piano, being so overtly and overwhelming desired…
✔️ And I think it is sex positive! It’s not a straightforward decision – sex is tangled inextricably with love but it sends good safe sex messages, it understands consent, and it shows that sex is pretty joyful and therapeutic!

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The Worst Person in the World

Or Verdens verste menneske

  • YEAR: 2021
  • DIRECTOR: Joachim Trier
  • KEY ACTORS: Renate Reinsve, Anders Danielsen Lie, Herbert Nordrum
  • CERTIFICATE: 15
  • IMDB SCORE: 7.9
  • ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE: 96%

SEX SCORE: 4/5

✔️ I’ve only seen this once but I can’t wait to see it again, so I’m going to say that it is rewatchable!
✔️ And it did pass the Bechdel test, but only just… This isn’t an ensemble cast movie though and is specifically about one woman’s relationship with the men in her life so it’s not surprising that there is only one conversation between women.
❌ I didn’t really want to fuck the cast, but this is my preference rather than a problem with them. They are objectively hot and fuckable, but just not for me!
✔️ It did inspire fantasies – of having that kind of perfect first meeting when everything feels new and exciting and the potential is intoxicating!
✔️ And it is sex positive. And feminist and, well, excellent!

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Happiest Season

  • YEAR: 2020
  •  DIRECTOR: Clea DuVall
  • KEY ACTORS: Kristen Stewart, Mackenzie Davis, Aubrey Plaza
  • CERTIFICATE: 12
  • IMDB SCORE: 6.8
  • ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE: 83%

SEX SCORE: 3/5

✔️ Of course this passes the Bechdel Test!
✔️ And I would definitely fuck the cast. I’m pretty much entirely straight and yet I would still definitely fuck either Kristen Stewart or Aubrey Plaza!
❌ But it didn’t inspire fantasies. I’ll admit that sneaking along corridors for secret sex at your parents house is kind of hot, but this is just too awkward…
❌ And the awkwardness means that I don’t think it is rewatchable. I’m not a huge fan of romcoms for exactly that reason and this is too much
✔️ But I will give it a mark for being sex positive – it’s queer positive and inclusive and, eventually, accepting!

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The Apartment

  • YEAR: 1960
  • DIRECTOR: Billy Wilder
  • KEY ACTORS: Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine
  • CERTIFICATE: PG
  • IMDB SCORE: 8.3
  • ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE: 93%

SEX SCORE: 4/5

✔️ This passes the Bechdel Test, although the site I use to check described its passing as ‘by accident!’
✔️ And it is definitely rewatchable. I’d even say that I’ve not watched it enough!
✔️ Just like Mad Men, it did inspire fantasies of being wined and dined in 1960s New York but they are probably not very healthy fantasies…
❌ But I didn’t want to fuck the cast. Although Lemmon is less sycophantic and more likeable by the end, he’s still not for me!
✔️ I thought a lot about the question of sex positivity and I’ve decided that it is sex positive. Even within the constraints of the Hays Code, the women are having consensually fun sex lives and any consequences are blamed on the toxic men rather than the sexually liberated women!

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The American President

  • YEAR: 1995
  • DIRECTOR: Rob Reiner
  • KEY ACTORS: Michael Douglas, Annette Bening
  • CERTIFICATE: 15
  • IMDB SCORE: 6.8
  • ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE: 91%

SEX SCORE: 2/5

✔️ This does pass the Bechdel Test, but it’s one of those passes where the exact conversations that qualify can be listed so it’s not a strong pass!
❌ But I don’t think it’s rewatchable. I don’t mean that it’s not good – I enjoyed it a lot – but I don’t think you could pick it up halfway through and watch from there, and I don’t know that I’d go out of my way to see it again
❌ And I don’t want to fuck the cast. Sorry Michael Douglas, you’re still not for me, although this is much closer than any other movie you’ve done!
✔️ It is sex positive! The plot essentially revolves around whether it is appropriate for the President to have a girlfriend, but any opposition to the relationship is appropriately judged!
❌ It didn’t inspire fantasies so is only getting 2/5, which feels low for a movie I enjoyed. But I simply don’t want to fuck the American President – either in real life (MY EYES!), in the movie or in fantasy.

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Four Weddings and a Funeral

  • YEAR: 1994
  • DIRECTOR: Mike Newell
  • KEY ACTORS: Hugh Grant, Andie MacDowell
  • CERTIFICATE: 15
  • IMBD SCORE: 7.0
  • ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE: 96%

SEX SCORE: 5/5

✔️ This movie is definitely rewatchable! Sadly, it’s not on TV as often as other Richard Curtis movies as I could watch it every day!

✔️ It’s difficult to know if this movie is the source of wedding dress fantasies or not, but this was certainly my first exposure to the idea of fucking while wearing a wedding dress.

✔️ And it does pass the Bechdel Test, but only just!! Apparently the only qualifying line between two named female characters is this one: Scarlett: Isn’t she beautiful? Fiona: Scarlett, you’re blind, she looks like a big meringue.

✔️ I contemplated this one for quite a long time but I have concluded that the cast are fuckable. None are at their hotness peak but they’re all looking pretty good!

✔️ And it is sex positive. The characters all fuck around and have a lot of sex and, while it may be greeted with humour and hilarity, the characters are never judged for it. And I like that!

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Hitch

YEAR: 2005
DIRECTOR: Andy Tennant
KEY ACTORS: Will Smith, Eva Mendes, Kevin James, Amber Valletta
CERTIFICATE: 12A
IMDB SCORE: 6.6
ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE: 68%

SEX SCORE: 3/5
✔️ This is rewatchable. It shouldn’t be. It should have aged very badly and be too annoying to watch now…but it’s still pretty enjoyable!
✔️ I’d definitely fuck the cast! Will Smith may not be at his Independence Day era peak but he’s still looking great and Eva Mendes is stunning. STUNNING!
✔️ And it did inspire fantasies but they’re ones that make me a bit sad now – I would simply fantasise about someone liking me enough to make that much effort like the men in the film. Oh dear…
❌ But it definitely fails the Bechdel Test. I don’t think there are any conversations at all in the film that aren’t about dating!
❌ And I can’t give it a mark for being sex positive. It may be relationship positive and encouraging of sex within a relationship, but casual sex is less acceptable. It’s something desperate woman and sleazy men do, not something good people do. Yeah, not great…

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An Affair to Remember

YEAR: 1957
DIRECTOR: Leo McCarey
KEY ACTORS: Cary Grant, Deborah Kerr
CERTIFICATE: U
IMDB SCORE: 7.5
ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE: 62%

SEX SCORE: 5/5
✔️ Of course I want to fuck the cast. It’s Cary Grant at his suave best!
✔️ It’s definitely rewatchable – it’s a simple story but it still keeps me enthralled right to the end. And it makes me cry every time!
✔️ Considering the restrictions of the Hays Code, I think it is sex positive – although their implied sexual transgressions add a complexity to their choices, I didn’t feel the film judged them. It simply accepted them as stumbling blocks.
✔️ I’m going to say that it does pass the Bechdel test, although it’s surprisingly controversial. The website I use to check says it fails but Terry and Janou at least talk about a scarf so I’d say that’s a pass!
✔️ And it did inspire romantic fantasies! Who doesn’t want the person they thought had jilted them to still love them after all? Who wouldn’t want their hopes of reunion to be fulfilled in such a satisfying fashion?

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