Movies
Pop Culture
In Defense of Maleficent

Since the sequel to 2014’s “Maleficent” — “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil” — is currently out in theaters, my family just rewatched the first one. Five years ago, “Maleficent,” starring Angelina Jolie, received a green-splat score of 53% on Rotten Tomatoes, with a review by the Chicago Sun Times’ Richard Roeper calling it “plodding and utterly unconvincing.” But […]

Pop Culture
Top 10 Funniest Sex Scenes of All Time

  Funny sex scenes — at least, those that are meant to make you laugh — are often the best kind. Ironically, they tend to portray much more realistic on-screen sex than their serious, sultry counterparts. In funny sex scenes, you get weirdness, kink, awkwardness, jealousy, fantasy — oh yeah, and condoms. For some reason, […]

Pop Culture
Best Actor, Best Actress — Why Differentiate?

A 1995 study called “The Role of Classification Skill in Moderating Environmental Influences on Children’s Gender Stereotyping” showed that the simple organizational technique of separating kids by gender in elementary school classrooms has a profound effect on the way those kids think about gender. In her excellent book, Parenting Beyond Pink and Blue: How to Raise Your Kids […]

Pop Culture
Single? 10 Fun Movies to Stream About Platonic Love

Edie Freedman is a student at New York University studying social and cultural analysis, politics and psychology. There she is a writer and editor for The Tab NYU.   Rom Coms are such a popular film genre, they get their own cute moniker. But comedies exploring less romantic and less lusty themes of love often get short […]

Pop Culture
10 Things We WON’T Miss from the Fifty Shades Franchise

We finally got closure on our seriously unhealthy relationship with the Fifty Shades juggernaut this past weekend. Fifty Shades Freed, the third and final cinematic adaptation of E.L. James’ best-selling erotica trilogy, was released on Friday — much to the chagrin of hardcore fans and to the relief of movie critics everywhere. The success of […]

Pop Culture
The 20 Most Disturbing Sex-Themed Movies

We were going to do a top ten list but there are so many disturbing sex themed movies made, we had to bump it up to 20. Let us know if there are any others you think should have made the cut. Irreversible If you can get through the first ten minutes of hard-core sex […]

Pop Culture
13 Snowy Movies to Watch During a “Snowmageddon” (Video)

A snow day for the two of us means repeated sing-a-long screenings of Frozen with our respective kids. But for all of you who are lucky enough to enjoy a snow day (or at least a snow night) without kids, here are thirteen fun movies to cuddle up with. Pour a little whiskey in your hot cocoa, grab a blanket […]

Movies
The Top 10 Most Romantic Holiday Movies

We’re suckers for Christmas. The bright lights, the gingerbread houses, the cheesy music, the British “crackers,” the ability to eat and drink to excess without being considered a glutton or an alcoholic!  We especially love that cozy feeling that comes from watching favorite movies with a wintery vibe — not necessarily official Christmas movies, but […]

Pop Culture
The 10 Sexiest Scary Movies

A lot of horror movies just throw in the obligatory topless scene and consider that “sexy.” We’re raising the bar here. All the movies below (except one) receive fresh ratings on RottenTomatoes.com’s Tomatometer and were seminal contributions to the horror genre in some way. Or else they just tickled our fright fancy. (There was some […]

Pop Culture
The 10 Most Romantic “Monster” Movies

It’s Halloween time, when every network piles on the scary movies. We’re not ones for blood and gore, but give us a good love story, and we’ll happily take a fright or two. Not that these ten flicks are all that frightening, or blood-curdling, or horrifying — they’re mostly pretty tame compared to the usual […]

How To
How to Cultivate a Sexual Fantasy

If you don’t have a favorite sexual fantasy, then you haven’t spent enough time dirty–day dreaming. Inspiration surrounds you — you just have to seek it out. Browse a sex toy shop, in person or online, for some new gadgets, accessories, videos, or books. Kinky erotica like Anne Rice’s The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty or […]

Pop Culture
Movie Critic Debbie Edelstein’s Review of This Summer’s New “Spider-Man”

What a critique of a summer superhero blockbuster might look like in a matriarchal world (inspired by David Edelstein’s sexist review of Wonder Woman): The only grace note in the generally clunky Spider-Man: Homecoming is its star, the five-foot-eight-inch, barely legal, English actor and dancer Tom Holland, who is the perfect blend of teenage day-dreaminess and balls. The 21-year-old […]

How To
The 5 Worst Places to Learn About Sex…and the 5 Best!

by Sarah Marcantonio THE WORST 1. The Movies Most sex scenes in mainstream movies ain’t exactly cinéma vérité: the male lead sweeps the girl off her feet and whisks her away to bed, clothes fall away, abs are sculpted, sweat glistens, birth control is abandoned, discussions about sexual health histories are never had, and simultaneous […]

Pop Culture
“Magic Mike Live” in Las Vegas

The live cabaret version of the “Magic Mike” movie franchise officially premiered at the Hard Rock Cafe (natch) in Las Vegas (where else?) this past week. Magic Mike Live was conceived by Channing Tatum, who starred in and produced the movies, and is co-directed by him and Alison Faulk, the films’ choreographer. They worked together […]

Pop Culture
The Light Touch of Love in “Moonlight”

– A Review of the Best Cinematic Love Story This Year –  By now you’ve heard about the royal fuck up at the 2017 Oscars: the presenters of the Best Picture award got the wrong envelope (the one pronouncing Emma Stone as Best Actress for La La Land), they announced La La Land as the winner […]

Pop Culture
Movie Review: Fifty Shades Blah-er

Fifty Shades Darker, the second movie in the trilogy based on the best-selling erotica series by E.L. James, certainly looks darker — the shadows are blacker, the skies are grayer, the rain is heavier. Every day in this movie feels like Sunday. But if you’re looking for an exploration of the more unnerving and dismaying aspects of […]