Sex in the Cinema

SPOILER WARNING: This episode contains spoilers through episode 4 of HEATED RIVALRY
 
Reference Links:
The Rite of Spring: Joffrey Ballet 1987 Rite of Spring (1 of 3)
Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun: L'Apres-midi d'un Faune Ballet performed by the Joffrey Ballet

Torie and special guests Chelsey Morin and Thien-Y Hoang return to the 50 Shades of Grey garbage dump for the second installment in this stinking landfill of a film franchise, 50 SHADES DARKER. Don't bother to bring a shovel.
After being broken up for 2.5 seconds, newly deflowered Anastasia Steele and hunky millionaire Dom Christian Grey rekindle their love and get into a full-on relationship. As their "intimacy" grows, Anastasia learns more about Christian's dark past and meets some of the (many) skeletons in his closet.
What ensues is two hours of even more sociopathic behavior, somewhat less sexy "S&M" sex scenes, a dash of gun violence, a lavish masked ball fundraiser, a pair of Ben Wa balls, even more Hollister men's jeans, poor restaurant etiquette, workplace sexual harassment, and more. We also meet a less-than-colorful cast of new characters, including Christian's former Mommy Dom "Mrs. Robinson," played by Kim Basinger, Anna's misogynistic new boss, Jack Hyde, and one of Christian's former pets/hostages, Leila.
 

Welcome back, cinephiles and perverts, and welcome to Season Two of Sex in the Cinema!!!
To kick off Season Two, Torie is joined by Angelenos and expert hate-watchers Chelsey Morin and Thien-Y Hoang to demolish the cultural phenomenon that was the 50 Shades of Grey trilogy. From its humble beginnings in a Twilight fanfiction forum, to the published printed page, all the way to the silver screen, this gross disservice to the kink community turned on the world.
For SITC’s Season Two Premiere, we’re tackling the first installment of the trilogy, 50 SHADES OF GREY. Released in 2015 and directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson (wife of Aaron Taylor-Johnson, mind you), this film launched the careers of usually good actors Dakota Johnson and Jaimie Dornan.  
Mousy brunette super-virgin Anastasia Steele’s simple life turns upside down when she meets sexy billionaire (and apparent Never Nude), Christian Grey. Anastasia soon finds out Christian doesn’t do relationships, but he does enjoy “various physical pursuits.” Namely, kidnapping women and coercing them into dom/sub relationships of very questionable ethics.  
What ensues is two hours of sociopathic behavior, painful lack of chemistry, horrifically awful dialogue, NDAs and contracts, too many needle drops, countless glasses of unconsumed white wine, mostly vanilla sex, an apparent proclivity for Hollister men’s jeans, a dusting of taboo slap & tickle, one impressive den of iniquity set, and wayyyyyy too many red flags.   
So bust out those handcuffs and settle in for the long haul because, in the words of Christian Grey, there’s “no escaping now…”

Fasten your seatbelts, cinephiles, because it’s SITC’s Season 1 Finale!
Thanks to a few renegade, paintbrush-wielding perverts from New Hollywood’s anarchic yesteryear, you’re in for a full 411 on some of the most disturbing, disruptive, and innovative works of sketch-to-celluloid since Mickey Mouse first wet his wittle whistle in Steamboat Willie. As of this episode, your childhood nostalgia for Saturday morning cartoons is OVER. 
Bored with the pretentious loftiness of his collegiate education, a privileged cat named Fritz acts like an ignorant a**hole who thinks he’s an anarchist in one of the most enduring masterworks of guerrilla satire, FRITZ THE CAT (1972). Don Jurwich, legendary heavyweight at Hanna-Barbera and Marvel Productions (this is not a joke), subverts your favorite fairy tales into gonzo softcore parables that will haunt you for the rest of your life (also not a joke) in the bombastic, cheeky ONCE UPON A GIRL (1976). A peasant woman’s quest for social and sexual freedom is manifested through tragedy, rupture, and rebirth in Eiichi Yamamoto’s kaleidoscopic, transcendent epic, BELLADONNA OF SADNESS (1973).
 

Friend of the pod and glamor-trash gay man-about-town Billy Weston joins Torie and Maggie to unpack three of the sexiest, messiest, and most titillatingly trashy erotic thrillers of the 1990s.

Jessie Spano trades textbooks for stripper poles to dance her way through a 24/7, nipple tweaking tantrum in Paul Verhoeven's infamous, eternally iconic TRASHterpiece, SHOWGIRLS (1995). Neve Campbell and Denise Richards, whose aquatic escapades inaugurated a million Millennial boners, continue to masterfully mindf**k us in WILD THINGS (1998). Sick of bad sex and surmised of murder, smoky siren Linda Fiorentino is suspected by CSI's OG sunglasses guy, David Caruso, in William Friedkin's convoluted, surprisingly sterile flop, JADE (1995).

UPDATE, MAY 2025: This is a re-release of our premiere episode originally published on 8/9/23. As of May 2025, actor Michael Pitt was indicted for horrific sexual and physical abuse suffered by one or more partners. If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233.  
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Torie and Maggie dive into cinematic rarity of films bold enough to tackle the taboo of full frontal male nudity. Torie has difficulty separating the art from the artist with Vincent Gallo's THE BROWN BUNNY (2003) whereas Maggie mines empathy for toxic masculinity. We celebrate the wonder of prosthetics in Paul Thomas Anderson's BOOGIE NIGHTS (1997), talk twincest (and the double D showcase) in Bernardo Bertolucci's THE DREAMERS (2003), and tackle the ever-burning question - does size really matter?
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UPDATE, MAY 2025: This episode features some panty creaming for actor Michael Pitt, who as of May 2025, was indicted for horrific sexual and physical abuse suffered by one or more partners. At the time of this episode's publication in August 2023, Michael Pitt had history of bizarre explosive behavior spurts like many talented actors ("perhaps the sexy sad boy has untreated mental illness! or addiction! hopefully he figures it out!") but in light of these allegations, his SITC Hall Pass is now officially revoked. We will continue to do our best to separate the art from the artist but unconscionable acts should not be disregarded. We stand with the victims. If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233.  

SITC is back in the studio with this long-awaited episode covering the softcore juggernaut that is the Emmanuelle film franchise! 
Expert Bryan Connolly joins Torie to dissect this smutty phenomenon which is SO expansive and SO diverse, it's basically an ecosystem. From Thailand to Africa, to Outer Space, Emmanuelle knows no bounds.
In the original EMMANUELLE (1974) starring Sylvia Kristel, we watch Emmanuelle the girl become Emmanuelle the woman thanks to a few trips to the Mile High Club and guidance from a mansplaining creep named Mario. We take a detour outside of official Emmanuelle "canon" with EMANUELLE AND THE WHITE SLAVE TRADE (1978), one of the many (and one of the best) ripoffs that make up the multifaceted Emmanuelle universe. Starring Laura Gemser, Emanuelle with One M is a slick and ambitious journalist with the savvy and sexual appetite to rival James Bond. We conclude our journey with the first installment of Emmanuelle's Skinemax/ straight-to-video era, EMMANUELLE: FIRST CONTACT (1994). Starring Krista Allen, Emmanuelle takes her sage-like knowledge of sex to outer space where she educates hunky alien Haffron and his brethren about the joys and politics of human sexuality.   
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Bryan Connolly is a writer and filmmaker in Austin, TX. Thanks to a lifelong obsession with the Emmanuelle films, his encyclopedic knowledge has cemented him as a de-facto Emmanuelle expert. Bryan has contributed to Severin Films' Black Emanuelle Box Set, the Emmanuelle comic book series from Fantagraphics, and is currently writing a colossal tome covering every Emmanuelle movie ever made. Bryan's cinema expertise also extends well beyond the boundaries of Emmanuelle. He is the co-host of the podcast The Directors Wall alongside A.J. Gonzalez, the author of Destroy All Movies: The Complete History of Punks on Film, a feature filmmaker, and much more. 
LINKS!
Listen to The Directors Wall podcast here!
Check out Bryan's feature film MAKE POPULAR MOVIES free on Tubi here!
Snag a copy of Bryan's book Destroy All Movies: The Complete History of Punks on Film on eBay for a mint here!

Torie and Maggie go full-on Siskel and Ebert for this special episode reviewing Nicole Kidman's latest in a series of steamy, psychosexual cinematic narratives, BABYGIRL.
Torie hated it and Maggie loved it but both ladies agree this flick with a feminist bent made a valuable contribution to the conversation around women, age and sexuality (aka debunking the myth that women become sexless empty vessels as soon as the baby farm closes). 
 
PS - follow Torie on Letterboxd @Torie88 !!

Awards season is here is SITC is kicking off 2025 with our inaugural *AFTERGLOW AWARDS*!! With winners selected from the pool of every film covered on SITC to date, all winners of these prestigious awards have been carefully chosen by an esteemed panel of two (aka us). We also go into some long tangents around NOSFERATU, THE BRUTALIST, and movie theater hot dogs.
 
Check out the categories below and tune in to reveal the winners of ! -
Best Sex Scene in a Motion Picture
Hottest Actor in a Motion Picture
Hottest Actress in a Motion Picture
Hottest Couple in a Motion Picture
Best Unconventionally Hot Sex Scene in a Motion Picture
Best WTF Unsexy Scene in a Motion Picture
Best Masturbation in a Motion Picture
Best Full Frontal in a Motion Picture
Best Orgasm in a Motion Picture
Sexiest Sound in a Motion Picture

Happy Yule, cinephile freaks! This holiday season we're celebrating the Winter Solstice in this very special episode starring wonton, willful and wonderful witches!
Self help goes lethally awry in Anna Biller's ingenious meta-Technicolor treasure THE LOVE WITCH (2016). Sexploitation is style over substance in the VIRGIN WITCH (1972). Cinematic art finds a new masterstroke in the haunting, enigmatic (and f**king awesome) folk horror fable HAGAZUSSA (2017).