image of antique vibrator from GoodVibes’ Antique Vibrator Museum

Back in the 1800s, hysteria (literally, “womb disease”) was considered the most common “disorder” among women; its symptoms were mental and emotional distress, thought to be brought on by the womb’s revolt against sexual deprivation. (Live in a sexist society where you can’t vote or work and you have to submit to the uninspired jackhammering of your owner/husband, and you’d be distressed, too.) The “cure” was a doctor-administered genital massage that would lead to “hysterical paroxysm”—in other words, an orgasm. Talk about bedside manner. Not surprisingly, these treatments never provided a permanent “cure”; rather, doctors found that their “frigid” female patients kept returning in droves for regular manual administrations. Doctors who ran out of elbow grease would fob off the work to midwives. Then, in 1869, an American doctor invented a steam-powered mechanical device to replace the manual genital massage—and, behold, the world’s first vibrator!

When the forthcoming movie “Hysteria” is touted as “based on a true story,” this is the story. The indie rom-com, set to begin shooting in October, stars Maggie Gyllenhaal (natch) as the daughter of a Victorian doctor (Jonathan Pryce) who specializes in treating “hysteria.” The doc’s young and good-looking assistant (Hugh Dancy), with the help of his friend (Rupert Everett), experiments with a new electrical device to help with treatments. Sex, love and hilarity ensue!

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It’s getting hotter,  clothes are getting skimpier, work load is starting to ease up, and everyone’s minds turn to summer lovin’, either the future potential or the past nostalgia of it. So here are some great movies about summer love and lust to help get you into the spirit of the season. Click on the images below to view the trailers from each movie…

1. Body Heat

2. Adventureland

3. The Man in the Moon

4. Bull Durham

5. Dirty Dancing

See movies #6 through #10 after the jump…

There’s a new documentary out this summer from the director of TREKKIES  called THE NATURE OF EXISTENCE (it opens this tomorrow in NY at The Quad Cinemas), in which various philosophers, history scholars, religious leaders and fanatics from all over the world are asked tough questions about the purpose of human beings on Earth. The filmmaker has several clips online, and of course, being who we are, we’re drawn to the sex-related ones, like the clip with the confrontational Evangelical singing an anti-gay song on a college campus (positively antiquated, and what the director calls “the oddest moment of making” the movie) and the medley of thoughts on premarital sex (if you can get through the cheesy New Age music, listen for the creepiest description of a threeway between a husband, his wife and God).

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Thanks in large part to a video made last December by Anita Sarkeesian of FeministFrequency.com that’s been making the rounds recently on the Internet, more of the world knows about the Bechdel Test. Back in 1985, Alison Bechdel’s comic “Dykes to Watch Out For” mentioned “The Rule,” one character’s three simple requirements for whether or not she would see a movie:

1. It has to have at least 2 women in it
2. Who talk to each other
3. About something besides a man

You will be amazed at and horrified by how many movies, even in this day and age, do not pass this test…

Read the rest of this post on SUNfiltered

It’s getting hotter, clothes are getting skimpier, work load is starting to ease up, and everyone’s minds turn to summer lovin’, either the future potential or the past nostalgia of it. So here are some great movies about summer love and lust to help get you into the spirit of the season. Click on the images below to view the trailers from each movie…

1. Body Heat

2. Adventureland

3. The Man in the Moon

4. Bull Durham

5. Dirty Dancing

See movies #6 through #10 after the jump…

We were too young to realize it at the time, but Corey Haim’s Lucas (1986) showed us exactly why the band geek makes a better boyfriend than the captain of the football team. Rest in peace, Corey Haim — you may not have been the most eloquent cast member of the reality show The Two Coreys, but the wisdom of your characters continues to ring true. Here are our top ten favorite on-screen Corey moments — heavily favored toward Lucas, of course. What can we say? That kid was a hero:

1. From Lucas (1986)

Maggie: You know how wonderful you are?
Lucas: Yeah, but it doesn’t turn you on, does it?

2. From Dream a Little Dream (1989)

Bobby [Corey Feldman]: Dinger! Dinger, wake up for a minute. I gotta talk to you, Buddy.
Dinger [Corey Haim]: Bobby, I’m asleep. I’m fast asleep, Bobby. I’m dreaming. Apache women. Mai-tais. Vanna White and a whip.
Bobby: I’m in love.
Dinger: That could be a problem.
Bobby: I don’t think you understand.
Dinger: No, no, I do understand. I really do. Which hand is it this week, pal?

3. From Lucas (1986)

Lucas: If you’re so depressed, how come you’re eating pizza?

4. From Lost Boys (1987)

Sam Emerson [Corey Haim]: So where’re we going?
Michael Emerson [Jason Patric]: Nowhere.
Sam Emerson: So what’s the rush? You’re chasing that girl aren’t you? Come on, admit it. I’m at the mercy of your sex glands, bud.

5. From Lucas (1986)

Lucas: They say that aggression is an expression of sexual feeling.

Read the rest of this post on SUNfiltered

photo by miss karen

• Most Disappointing Sex Scene: The Na’vi love scene in “Avatar.” Um, how could their tails NOT mesh? We’re waiting for the unrated version on Blu-Ray and it better deliver.
• Couple with Least Chemistry: Meryl Streep and Steve Martin in “It’s Complicated”
• Best Love-Conquers-All Message: “District 9″
• Worst Treatment of Genitalia: “Antichrist”
• Best Fodder for the Fantasies of Women Married with Kids: “17 Again”
• Sweetest Love Story: “Up” (Also wins for Best First 10 Minutes of Any Movie Ever)
• Best Idea with Worst Execution: “Jennifer’s Body”
• Most Romance: “(500) Days of Summer” (Lo loved it)
• Least Romance: “(500) Days of Summer” (Em hated it)
• Most Unattractive (Yet Oddly Appealing, If You Ask Em) Love Interest: Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart.” The Dude should get an Oscar just for being willing to look so gross (e.g. the passed-out-in-his-underwear-next-to-the-toilet scene)
• Sorriest Excuse for a Romantic Comedy: “Ghosts of Girlfriends Past”
• Best (Albeit Cringe-worthy) Discussion of the G-Spot: Ethan Hawke in “New York, I Love You”
• Best Gender Role Reversal: “Up in the Air”
• Most Inspiring On-Screen Marriage: “Julie & Julia” (and we don’t mean the blogger’s)
• Least Inspiring Use of Pen as Motif: “He’s Just Not That Into You” (sorry Justin Long, you are no Lloyd Dobler)
• Special Recognition for Giving Hope to Teenage Virgins Everywhere: “Adventureland”

Discuss, disagree, debate in the comments below!

• This post is a part of Sundance Channel’s Naked Love Blog
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photo by Annie Mole

*besides those flicks by the worst rom-com actors ever

In honor of Valentine’s Day, we’re rerunning a series of lists dedicated to the film-genre equivalent of those little heart candies: the romantic comedy. We’ve covered classic rom coms, alternative love stories, the best overlooked ones, romantic comedies from the olden days, the most overrated ones, and actors who should never be allowed to make another romantic comedy again. And now, we close out the series with the 25 remaining worst rom coms ever made. We saved them for last since you wouldn’t have time to Netflix these for Valentine’s Day anyway. (Remember, if you don’t see your all-time most-hated rom com below, it’s probably here.)

1. Forgetting Sarah Marshall – How this predictable and unfunny movie got any favorable reviews is beyond us. (Okay, it’s beyond Lo — Em actually found it kind of funny, but as we’ve stated before, she has a very high tolerance for cheese.) Lo thinks people have just gone Apatow crazy. Usually any movie that has full frontal male nudity automatically gets a thumbs up from the two of us, but even that can’t make Lo care about this snoozer.
2. Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason – When you start off so high, you have so much further to fall. Even Em couldn’t get through this one.
3. Xanadu – This almost made our top ten list of classic rom coms. But despite the fondness we have in our hearts for this movie from when we were kids, even we can’t delude ourselves into believing this is even remotely watchable for grownups. However, we stand by the assertion that Xanadu has one of the best movie soundtracks of all time. ELO + Olivia Newton John = magic.
4. Good Luck Chuck – Dane Cook, you were so funny on your first Comedy Central special. Even your follow-up stadium shows rocked. And Dan in Real Life made one of our favorite rom coms lists. So why, why, for the love of all that’s holy, did you agree to make this piece of cinematic doodie? It only got a 3 on Rotten Tomatoes. That’s worse than Gigli!
5. Elizabethtown – When stuck on a plane, the bar for what’s passable entertainment is automatically lowered because you’re just so grateful for anything that makes the time go by faster. This made our flight actually feel longer. And we did the in-flight equivalent of walking out of the theater: we took our headphones off.

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photo by Ovidio Cordero

In honor of Valentine’s Day, we’re rerunning a series of lists dedicated to the film-genre equivalent of those little heart candies: the romantic comedy. We’ve covered classic rom coms, alternative love stories, the best overlooked ones, romantic comedies from the olden days, and the most overrated ones. Today we give you the 7 actors who should not be allowed to make another romantic comedy again by listing their body of sappy work. (And later this week we’ll close out the series with the 25 remaining worst rom coms ever made.) Behold these actors’ criminal rom-com oeuvre:

1. Jason Biggs – My Best Friend’s Girl; Saving Silverman; Boys and Girls; American Pie; Loser; Anything Else; Wedding Daze; Over Her Dead Body
2. Jennifer Lopez – Maid in Manhattan; Gigli; Jersey Girl; The Wedding Planner; Monster-in-Law
3. Cameron Diaz – What Happens in Vegas; The Holiday; The Sweeetest Thing; There’s Something About Mary; A Life Less Ordinary; My Best Friend’s Wedding; Feeling Minnesota
4. Matthew McConaughey – Fool’s Gold; Failure to Launch; How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days (actually, if we’re being totally honest, we kinda liked this one); The Wedding Planner; Ghosts of Girlfriends Past
5. Freddie Prinze Jr. – She’s All That; Boys and Girls; Down to You; Head Over Heels; Summer Catch
6. Ashton Kutcher - Just Married; My Boss’s Daughter; Guess Who; A Lot Like Love (actually, if we’re being totally honest, we kinda liked this one too); What Happens in Vegas; Valentine’s Day (we’re guessing it’s gonna suck Whitman’s)
7. Drew Barrymore (the worst of the bunch!) – Everyone Says I Love You; The Wedding Singer; Ever After; Home Fries; Never Been Kissed; Duplex; 50 First Dates; Fever Pitch; Music and Lyrics; Lucky You; He’s Just Not that Into You