9 Songs (2004)

From Shortbus to The Brown Bunny, movies featuring actual sex are experiencing something of a mini-renaissance. But while the thought of watching Chloe Sevigny go down on Vincent Gallo again is far from alluring, even snobbish movie goers must admit to being titillated by 9 Songs' love scenes. In between concert vignettes featuring the likes of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and The Dandy Warhols, Matt (Kieran O'Brien) and Lisa (Margo Stilley) enjoy a veritable buffet of sex acts, including intimate moments with hand ties and "Adults Only" bath time. Their rise and shine encounter is especially rife with steamy vibes; Lisa's "Aw, baby, pay attention to me" cooing is all the encouragement Matt needs to strip down before going down on her on the kitchen table. Full on intercourse follows, and when the episode is through, Lisa happily chirps, "Coffee?" before immediately running off to brew a pot. A wake up call, indeed.

The Last Seduction (1994)

"F*cking doesn't have to be anything more than f*cking." So says Bridget Gregory (Linda Fiorentino), The Last Seduction's icy, self-confessed bitch of a heroine. Confined to a sleepy town after pinching $700,000 from her husband (Bill Pullman), Bridget chooses clueless local Mike (Peter Berg) as her "designated fuck" for the duration of her stay. From the moment she slips her hand down his pants to assess his anatomic worth, we know this is a woman who doesn't screw around when it comes to, well, screwing around. The scene in question is a no-frills hookup devoid of romance - just the type of sex you'd expect a nymphomaniac New Yorker to thrive on. Clamping her legs around his waist and pinning him to a chain link fence with her stilettos, Bridget introduces Mike to the wonderful world of alleyway quickies. No foreplay, just some good ol' fashioned rough sex, the kind that keeps a puppy dog like Mike running back for more.

Live Flesh (1997)

The title of this Pedro Almodovar flick makes it sound like an AVN award contender, but we promise that you won't have to suffer through any poorly written dialogue or pool boy sex. The lives of Victor (Liberto Rabal) and drug addict turned doting wife Elena (Francesca Neri) are forever entangled after one fateful night that leads to Victor's imprisonment. When they reunite in all their fleshy glory years later, the results are spectacular. Victor's quest to become "The World's Greatest Lover" certainly paid off, as evidenced by the batches of sweat that drip from Elena's brow onto his chest. Their bodies fit together like jigsaw pieces, and they clasp onto each other for dear life with each undulating rise and fall. When the session of afternoon delight is through, Victor shoots Elena a knowing "Was it good for you?" glance, and it's clear the answer is a moanful "Yes!"

Mulholland Drive (2001)

This David Lynch thriller is a melange of confounding plot twists featuring Tinseltown power players, menacing hit men, and one very steamy girl-on-girl love scene. From the moment aspiring actress Betty (Naomi Watts) befriends amnesiac "Rita" (Laura Harring), they delicately teeter the line between "just friends" and lesbian lovers. After an emotional evening at Club Silencio, Betty and Rita return home and open up to each other beginning with timid, experimental caresses and ending with full-throttle physicality. With wide-eyed innocence befitting of her small town roots, Betty asks Rita, "Have you ever done this before?", to which she replies, "I don't know." But Rita's forgetfulness far from hinders their love making; Betty seductively whispers "I'm in love with you" in between slow, deep kisses, and the music swells as things get progressively more erotic. Surely both Watts and Harring needed a post-filming cigarette - borrowed from Lynch, no doubt.

Secretary (2002)

Wanted: one organized, professional office assistant for busy lawyer. Quick typing skills, personable phone manner, and light S&M required. Troubled Lee Holloway (Maggie Gyllenhaal) fits the bill perfectly, gladly bending over and receiving punishing spanks from her stoic boss, E. Edward Grey (James Spader), that leave her scarlet-bottomed and eager for more. While the film is peppered with many examples of handcuffed fun, it's only at the end that the pair's pain-as-pleasure relations evolve into a (somewhat) normal state. In a sequence that's both tender and twisted, Edward bathes Lee's curvaceous figure before lying her on a grass-covered bed and going all the way sans slave collar. The euphoric smile decorating Lee's face says it all; damn, that was good, and without a typo in sight! Pervy viewers will be happy to know that ropes and bugs still play a part in their happily ever after future.

Risky Business (1983)

Hearing the first dreamy notes of Phil Collins' "In The Air Tonight" conjures up one image, and one image alone: that of a pre-couch jumping Tom Cruise and leggy Rebecca De Mornay going to the end of the line, so to speak, on the Chicago "L". Call it every teenage boy's fantasy; gorgeous call girl introduces you to her bevy of equally hot friends, you run a successful one night suburban brothel, and afterward, she suggests you play exhibitionist in a darkened train car. "Who was I to say 'no'?" Joel (Cruise) aptly puts it. He and Lena (De Mornay) ignore the stares of elderly passengers and unload one creepy drunken man before partaking in slow motion gyrations as the "L" snakes across the tracks. Suddenly thoughts of Guido the Killer Pimp and dad's busted Porsche melt away, causing Joel to bite his bottom lip with delight. All this, and he gets into Princeton, too.

A History of Violence (2005)

When we first meet Tom Stall (Viggo Mortensen), he's living in his own halcyonic universe, one where he's a proud father, restaurant owner in an idyllic town, and his smokin' hot wife, Edie (Maria Bello), dresses in cheer gear and they tackle the act of 69-ing each other with adolescent fervor. But when Stall's sordid and, yes, violent past comes to light, his sex life takes an equally dark turn. Physical blows and stairway-side screwing must go hand-in-hand, because this example parallels the aforementioned Unfaithful scene in many ways. Delivering a slap in the face and venomous "Fuck you, Joey (Tom's real identity)!" to her husband, Edie catalyzes the animalistic meeting of their bodies, complete with kicking, hair pulling, throat grabbing, and brutish pants and grunts. It's not pretty, romantic, or lacquered with a slick Hollywood veneer, but it is real, which is what makes the sex so compelling.

Boogie Nights (1997)

Before there was Blood, there was Boogie, director Paul Thomas Anderson's sprawling cinematic probe (pun intended) into the operatic rise and fall of porn star Dirk Diggler (Mark Walhberg), John Holmes' fictional doppelganger. Plucked from the depths of dishwashing obscurity by Jack Horner (Burt Reynolds), baby faced Eddie Adams assumes his smutty alter-ego with the help of co-star Amber Waves (Julianne Moore). Visibly nervous, Dirk sheepishly asks Amber if he can try to "make it sexy" with the help of his 13-inch member, and they proceed to go at it in true adult film fashion. We're privy to a gritty, realistic view of Eddie's hard core deflowering, with Amber offering guiding cues and verbal reassurance that, yeah, baby, it feels "so good." If you choose to ignore the semi-incestuous overtones of the scene, it's probably the closest thing to guilt-free pornography you'll find this side of the black curtain at your local video store.

Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

Back in 1999, the first glimpse the public got of Eyes Wide Shut was a 90-second teaser featuring Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise groping each other in front of a bedroom mirror. Forget the hyped masked orgy, it's this sensual tableau, set to Chris Isaak's baritone voice crooning "Baby Did A Bad Bad Thing", that survives as the film's defining sex scene. It starts with a long, lean and nude Nicole Kidman jutting her hip forward while gently shimmying back and forth. She's joined by Cruise, who clasps his arms around her body, runs his fingers across her breasts, and commences fervid mouth-to-mouth contact. The camera slowly tracks in on the couple's reflection, lingering on Kidman as she twists her mouth into a sly smile and turns toward the mirror to shower herself with narcissistic attention. The triple threat team of "Cruise. Kidman. Kubrick." delivers haunting psycho-sexual imagery that feels authentic and induces heart palpitations.

Unfaithful (2002)

A multitude of scenes in Adrian Lyne's thriller could have qualified for this list, but it's the slap-happy hallway encounter between lovers Connie (Diane Lane) and Paul (Olivier Martinez) that trumps the rest. Though the memory of her first extra-marital tryst - which, coincidentally, also featured an exchange of pre-sex jabs - left Connie giggling and reaching for damp paper towel relief, it's in the hallway of Paul's apartment building that their lust reaches a new apex. After an argument in which she declares things "over", Connie storms out of Paul's place and the two engage in roughhousing that ultimately leads to a make out tug-of-war. Soon enough, Paul grabs her from behind and she pulls off rain soaked clothing while pleading for an untamed romp. ("I want you to f*ck me," Connie repeatedly whispers, and Paul happily obliges.) This charged intensity makes it impossible to watch without clenched fists and tense muscles.