Another 9 1/2 Weeks (aka Love in Paris) (1997)

The successor to Adrian Lyne's 9 1/2 Weeks (1986) was this direct-to-video release by director Anne Goursand.

[Note: Another inferior sequel was The First 9 1/2 Weeks (1998) - a prequel taglined: "A Journey Beyond Pleasure" - directed by Alex Wright, with Paul Mercurio and Clara Bellar.]

This first sequel, set ten years later, starred Mickey Rourke (as obsessed, depressed and suicidal John Gray) journeying to Paris to attend an art exhibit. He was also there to find Elizabeth (from the first film), where he paired up instead with her red-headed best friend, mysterious high fashion clothing designer Lea Calot (Angie Everhart).

The film opened with Gray using a cold straight-edged razor to play with and tease the prominent nipple of a blindfolded blonde (Philippa Matthews, credited as Beautiful Blonde). Later, he poured wine over the naked, rose petal-covered body of Lea.

There were also scenes of orgasmic lesbian sex with Lea's assistant Claire (Agathe de la Fontaine) (who was in an abusive relationship with her own boyfriend), and the pouring of hot wax on a half-naked woman (Sasha Van Duyn, credited as Girl in Night Club) on a spinning wheel in a night-club.

Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)

The first in a PG-rated series of James Bond spoofs was Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997).

Mike Myers portrayed a cryogenically frozen 60s spy, Austin Powers, who battled the villainous Dr. Evil (Myers also).

In one classic honeymoon scene which teasingly hid their private parts with strategically-placed objects, Austin Powers cavorted naked with "shagadelic" Vanessa Kensington (Elizabeth Hurley).

This was also the film that featured the "ultimate weapon" to defeat Austin Powers, Fembots. Fembots (introduced with Nancy Sinatra's singing of "These Boots Were Made For Walking") were beautiful blonde android replicants, wearing white boots and two piece outfits. They were "the latest word in android replicant technology. Lethal, Efficient, Brutal. No man can resist their charms." They had protruding gunbarrels that emerged from their bikini-covered breasts [the Fembots' brassieres were based on the one worn by Ursula Andress in the cult Italian sci-fi movie The 10th Victim (1965)]. They demonstrated their lethal breast-weapons on emasculated guards.

Later in the film, the Fembots wore purple fuzzy teddy-bear nightgowns - they asked Austin: "Care to have a little fun?" - one of them jumped onto his shoulders, while the others protruded tubes from their breasts ("jumblies," British slang) (he asked: "Is it cold in here?") and sprayed him with a pink-colored gas. Powers found himself lying in bed with the Fembots, who stroked him to tantalize him, as he attempted to think of distracting things: "Baseball, cold showers...Margaret Thatcher naked on a cold day..." When they challenged him: "You can't resist us, Mr. Powers," he performed a sexy strip-tease dance (down to Union Jack red underwear and hairy chest) to the tune of "I Touch Myself," causing them to short-circuit with sexual electricity as their heads twitched violently and then exploded. He explained later how he defeated the Fembots with machine-gun boobs:

"...All of a sudden, the Fembots came by and smoke started to come out of their jumblies. So I'd thought I'd work my mojo, right, to counter their mojo. We got cross-mojonations, and their heads started exploding"

Fembot (Cheryl Bartel)	Alotta Fagina (Fabiana Udenio)
Fembot (Cindy Margolis)

There was also an attempted seduction of Austin by busty "Italian confidential secretary" Alotta Fagina (Fabiana Udenio). When Alotta arrived, she suggested "let me slip into something more comfortable" - and Austin watched her strip silhouetted behind a screen before she emerged in a tiny bathrobe. She summoned him to join her as she approached her hot-tub and stripped naked ("Come in, and I'll show you everything you need to know"). As she washed him, she found his business card and discovered his true identity -- Austin Powers -- causing her to further seduce him ("In Japan, men come first, and women come second (or sometimes not at all)") with sake ("Sake it to me, baby") and her proposition: "Let's make love, you silly hairy little man."

Bliss (1997)

Writer/director Lance Young's directorial debut film was an honest and frank erotic drama that explored marital sexuality. The film initially earned an NC-17 rating from the MPAA.

It told about the sexual problems of a married couple after six months, during which time the wife continually faked orgasm ("I-I have a confession to make. Uhm, I fake my orgasms"):

• Maria (Sheryl Lee), an unfulfilled wife
• Joseph (Craig Sheffer), a repressed architect

Unlicensed, unconventional marriage counselor and tantric sex specialist Baltazar Vincenza (Terence Stamp) treated them, encouraging Joseph to refrain from love-making for awhile, but instead to express his intimate feelings while holding her, to practice the "nurturing position," and to gently caress Maria's entire body with a light blissful touch ("You are sensitizing her body, awakening her ecstatic responses").

Eventually, Joseph was taught how to use his ring finger to find her "sensitive" and "raw" G-spot ("the sacred spot") and then told to: "Never break eye contact with Maria."

"The first few times the sacred spot is touched, it can be frightening. She may experience pain... Just keep stroking, the sensation will change."

Afterwards, Maria appeared to begin enjoying sex so immensely and aggressively that it frightened Joseph, and after one particularly intense bout of sexual intercourse, Maria panicked, cried and suffered severe throat swelling (as she pictured past emotional child abuse called a "body memory") that required hospitalization and further hospital group therapy - it eventually caused their temporary separation. Due to her repressed history of sexual abuse, Maria remembered her childhood trauma:

"I remembered that my father's favorite thing was to kiss my vagina when I was a baby. I remembered that sometimes I'd wake up in the middle of the night sucking his penis. I didn't even know what it was."

Her father first penetrated her when she was five and told her: "That's what Daddys and little girls do." When it inexplicably stopped at age 11 or 12, she admitted she still "loved him," and had enjoyed the sexual feelings, but had continually blocked her feelings and pain by pretending to be happy.

She courageously admitted to husband Joseph that she had to confront her self-hatred, to separate him from her previous abuse, and to find self-understanding - and they were eventually reconciled.

Boogie Nights (1997)

Director Paul Thomas Anderson's fact-based film was about the LA adult film industry in the late 70s and early 80s and the empty search for fame, wealth, and hard-core sex. This was an acclaimed film with three Oscar nominations (Best Supporting Actor and Actress, and Best Original Screenplay).

It followed the story of well-endowed busboy Eddie Adams/'Dirk Diggler' (Mark Wahlberg) who became engaged as a young 17 year-old superstud in the porno film industry, under the direction of Jack Horner (Burt Reynolds). It also featured starlet Heather Graham giving an audition as a receptive and naked high-school dropout and porn star Rollergirl (she claimed as she stripped and jumped on top of Eddie: "Are you ready?...Oh yeah...I don't take my skates off - and don't f--king come in me").

Rollergirl (Heather Graham)

The nervous male newcomer Dirk appeared in a starring role in his first hard-core film scene with maternalistic, red-headed lead actress Amber Waves (Julianne Moore). Supposedly, he was applying for an acting job, and as part of the hiring process, she requested: "Why don't you take your pants off. It's important I get an idea of your size." She hired him ("I think you have the job"), but then added: "But why don't I make sure of something. (She inspected him) This is a giant cock."

In the tawdry scene, they hungrily kissed, stripped, and began to couple together on her desk, although they paused when a new film magazine needed to be loaded. She assured him as he was about to come: "Don't worry, I'm fixed" and that he was "a wonderful actor." When she urged him to climax inside of her ("Come in me... I want you to come in me"), the crew missed the 'money shot.'

The film ended with an impressive full-frontal screen view of Diggler's main claim to fame, although he had now become damaged by persistent drug use: his 13" penis (a prosthetic), as he viewed himself in a mirror and intoned:

"I am a star. I'm a star, I'm a star, I'm a star. I am a big, bright, shining star. That's right!"

Breast Men (1997)

This dark comedy and psuedo-docu-drama first aired on HBO-cable TV in late 1997 with an attention-grabbing title. It was about the history and commercial exploitation of silicone breast enhancement surgery. The film was advertised with taglines: "They changed the shape of the 20th Century," and "Two young doctors with a dream of making it big...Really big!"

The two medical personnel who opportunistically thought up the idea of boob jobs in the early 1960s were:

• Dr. Kevin Saunders (David Schwimmer), idealistic medical intern
• Dr. William Larson (Chris Cooper), older, Houston, Texas cosmetic surgeon, business partner

It showed chemical company Dow Corning's product development and how the two men were impacted by the consequences of implanting gelled silicone into women's chests, both positively and negatively.

Prospective Female Patients For Breast Enhancement Surgery
Lisanne (Gail Matthius)	Terri (Beth Broderick)
Pleased Post-Op Girl (Mary Deno)	Unknown

It included mostly non-sexual scenes of prospective clients showing their before (Gail Matthius as Lisanne) and after (Judith Hoag as Valerie) breasts, and consultations of patients (Rena Riffel as swimming pool girl and Mary Deno as Pleased Post-Op Girl, who exclaimed: "They're beautiful") with the doctor and comments on their body image.

Valerie (Judith Hoag)	Eileen (Heidi Swedberg)
Unknown

In one scene during Dr. Saunders' first pre-boob job consultation with his future wife Laura Pierson (Emily Procter), she asked: "So, what do ya think?" with his downplayed reply: "I think they're super," although he added: "I think we can go bigger." Later, she showed off her larger breasts - enhanced with CGI trick photography and allowed another patient (Jennifer Lyons to sample them), but suffered the tragic consequences of a ruptured implant.

Laura Pierson (Emily Procter)
Before
After

In another slightly improbable scene, Dr. Saunders breast-massaged another gorgeous patient, credited as Sexy Patient (Playboy TV's Night Calls co-host Tiffany Granath) by demonstrating a particular technique: ("Push in, lift up. OK? Then you want to massage them gently clockwise like this, and counter-clockwise like this (pause) everyday, several times a day, OK?") -- she became visibly turned on and when asked for questions, purred: "Yeah! Show me again."

The film ended on a more tragic note, with competition between the two rival doctors, self-absorbed Saunders debauched by wealth and drugs (and entering the sordid sex-industry world of porn stars and strippers, enjoying lap dances from Savannah (Lisa Falcone), and resorting to snorting cocaine off stripper Dawn's (Julie K. Smith) enhanced breasts), and an increase in lawsuits against Dow-Corning due to disfigurement and disease. The credits sequence showed even more examples of breast enlargements.

Chasing Amy (1997)

This low-budget comedy-drama was an honest and appealing story of a love triangle between New Jersey comic-book enthusiasts and a lesbian-identified bi-sexual also in the profession. Critics of the controversial film felt that her 'conversion' to heterosexuality was writer/director Kevin Smith's assertion that lesbianism was reversible:

• Holden McNeil (Ben Affleck), heterosexual comic book writer
• Banky Edwards (Jason Lee), Holden's homophobic buddy, a comic book artist
• Alyssa Jones (Joey Lauren Adams, Kevin Smith's offscreen girlfriend, a Golden Globe nominee for her role), lesbian, another comic book creator

In a scene in a dyke bar after performing on-stage, singer Alyssa began passionately kissing an admiring platinum-blonde dyke wearing a tight white T-shirt from the audience named Kim (Carmen Llywelyn). Holden looked on in disbelief and his friend Banky applauded and then said about the pairing ("Hot! Now that, my friend, is a shared moment"). As the two guys shared their table in the bar while the couple continued to kiss each other, the wide-eyed Banky confessed: "When are we ever gonna get a chance to see this kind of s--t live without paying for it?"

Later at the bar, as their honest sexual banter (typical of the entire film) continued, Alyssa described to an incredulous Banky how she could 'f--k' the other woman without strap-ons, explaining:

"F--king is not limited to penetration, Banky. For me, it describes any sex when it's not totally about love. I don't love Kim, but I'll f--k her. I'm sure you don't love every girl you sleep with."

One of the film's most memorable scenes followed - a parody of a similar scene in Jaws (1975), in which Banky and Alyssa revealed their sexual scars from past oral sex encounters (a broken tooth, a back scar from a heel wound, an injured neck, a scarred knee).

Soon, Holden was pursuing Alyssa even after learning of her sexual leanings, professing in a long speech: "You are the epitome of everything I have ever looked for in another human being," and she responded to his heart-felt feelings and had sex. Banky began to develop feelings of romantic jealousy, and Alyssa was regarded as a traitor by her lesbian friends.

A roadblock to their gender-transcended relationship surfaced when Holden questioned her sexual past (he learned that it was one of wild experimentation), when he revealed his own sexual hang-ups, and when Banky's jealousy completely risked their own friendship. Holden's suggestion of a threesome (with Banky) was proposed as a solution, causing Alyssa to say no and leave him -- and they were all left to live their separate lives.

The Devil's Advocate (1997)

Taylor Hackford's sexy, supernatural suspense thriller proto-typical of the 90s was about a young couple from a small Southern town:

• Kevin Lomax (Keanu Reeves), an aspiring Florida attorney
• Mary Ann (Charlize Theron), his wife

They were plunged into a life of sex, money, and power after moving from Florida to Manhattan and coming under the perversely seductive, tempting, corruptive mentoring tutelage of diabolical law firm head John Milton (Al Pacino).

It featured an hallucinatory scene of Lomax beginning to make love to his wife and finding himself also making love to red-headed co-worker Christabella Andreoli (Connie Nielsen) at the same time, as he sucked on her toes.

The Hallucinatory Love Scene with Mary Ann (Charlize Theron) and Christabella (Connie Nielsen)

In another scene (possibly Kevin's own hallucination), Lomax' troubled and agonized, increasingly distressed and mentally-ill wife Mary Ann confessed the reason for her bloodied and bruised naked body in a church: "He did this to me" - meaning that Milton forced himself upon her, but Milton had an alibi. After Mary Ann was sent to an institution, with the fear that she was mutilating herself, she eventually committed suicide by slashing her throat.

Milton, who was revealed as Kevin's father - and the charismatic, evil Satan - further tempted and seduced Lomax with Kevin's nude half-sister Christabella in his office in the fiery conclusion, offering him the possibility of fathering the Antichrist ("It's time to step up and take what's yours").

The wall sculpture mural with naked people came to life - when Lomax spoke of his own free-will and shot himself in the head as Milton screamed: "NOO!" -- and the wall mural erupted in flames. The naked Christabella was age-withered and died.

Eight Days A Week (1997)

Early 90s ex-Mickey Mouse Club star Keri Russell (in her first major film role before starring in the WB series Felicity for four years) appeared in this teen romantic sex comedy by director Michael Davis. It signaled the gross trend toward American Pie type humor. The film only found an audience after video release and after Russell's fame on the popular TV show serial.

The film opened with the voice-over of socially-inept, love-struck nerdy neighbor Peter (Josh Schaefer) gawking and fantasizing over his next-door-neighbor Erica (Keri Russell) - the unattainable, gorgeous, girl-of-one's-wet-dreams:

This is more retarded than when I got that gumball stuck up my nose. Or the time I wanted to be the first white Harlem Globetrotter. And this has got to be more embarrassing than the time my mom walked in on me while I was trying to simulate vaginal friction by rubbing my boner between the mattress and box springs... No, this tops it. And it's all because of Erica. Erica. It sounds so much like "erotica." And it's fitting: She's a walking wet dream. The kind of girl whose mere glance at you could get your pecker to stand up and say, "Howdy." And not your normal, run-of-the-mill erection. We're talking the kind that could be picked up on radar. The kind you could hang a flag from. And her breasts. They must have tractor beams in them. They pull my hands toward them like the Death Star dragging in the Millennium Falcon.

This film leered at the sexy and cute Russell in many of the film's segments, including a wet tank top and cut-off shorts romp under a front lawn sprinkler, and during sunbathing in a skimpy pink bikini.

Erica (Keri Russell) - Sunbathing

The Fifth Element (1997, Fr./US)

Writer/director Luc Besson's science-fiction techno-thriller set in a futuristic NYC (2263 AD) was noted for its exceptional sets, visual effects and costume designs.

Actress/model Milla Jovovich played the role of an extra-terrestrial female named Leeloo who was the actual "Fifth Element" -- the human embodiment of love as a Perfect Being who would be involved in the plot to stop Evil from ultimately destroying Earth.

In the memorable regeneration or body reconstruction scene in a NY laboratory, the Perfect Being was resurrected as a beautiful nude woman with orange hair. She wore a white cut-out costume and was teamed up with cab-driver Major Korben Dallas (Bruce Willis) after literally diving off the multi-story Manhattan building into his vehicle.

The Full Monty (1997, UK)

Peter Cattaneo's fresh, highly-celebrated comedy was about an unlikely group of unemployed, down-on-their-luck Yorkshire (Sheffield, England) men, some of whom were steelworkers with not-so-perfect, flabby bodies, who took to stripping as "Chippendale"-like dancers as a money-making scheme. For its time, it was a buoyant, celebratory and enjoyable film with discreet nudity that displayed working-class blokes who stepped outside their stereotyped definition of masculinity to perform rhythm-less dances.

The title meant to 'take it all off' and show everything (or the real thing).

One of the best scenes was in line at the unemployment office when they spontaneously practiced their routine to the tune of Donna Summer's "Hot Stuff" before the real show. When they performed for "one night only" in the film's conclusion, they promised to go for the "full monty" - dancing to Tom Jones' bump-and-grind "You Can Leave Your Hat On."

They quickly stripped from dark blue uniforms to skimpy red thongs, and then when they removed their underwear, they covered their privates with their hats - the last remaining article of clothing. They only displayed their nude cheek bottoms when they were viewed from the rear.

The image froze on the group when they tossed away their hats - seen from behind.

In & Out (1997)

Director Frank Oz's PG-13 rated romantic comedy featured a remarkable cast of characters for a mainstream Hollywood film about homosexuality - it included Kevin Kline, Tom Selleck, Oscar-nominated Joan Cusack, Matt Dillon, Debbie Reynolds, Bob Newhart, and Wilford Brimley.

The story was about the repercussions following the revelation of the gayness of a high-school English literature teacher Howard Brackett (Kevin Kline) in a small, fictional Indiana town. One of Howard's former students, Cameron Drake (Matt Dillon), had been chosen for an Academy Award Best Actor nomination for his portrayal of a gay soldier. During Drake's winning acceptance speech at the Oscars, he thanked his teacher, and impulsively outed him by declaring that Brackett was gay. [The incident was based upon the real-life occurrence, when Tom Hanks won for Philadelphia (1993) and during his 1994 acceptance speech thanked two homosexual individuals: high-school drama coach Rawley Farnsworth, and his former classmate John Gilkerson.]

Bi-sexual Howard was about to be married to co-worker/fiancee Emily Montgomery (Joan Cusack) after a 3-year engagement, so the revelation was shocking to the town. Celebrity gossip TV reporter/journalist Peter Malloy (Tom Selleck), a gay man who was covering the story, tried to reassure Howard about being outed, after smelling out Howard's sexual proclivity by asking the question:

"What was Streisand's eighth album?"

The film was most striking for its prolonged (10-second) same-sex kiss between Howard and Peter. When Howard's wedding fell apart (he had never made love to his fiancee), and he was fired from his school, he garnered the support and attention of students, his family and other townsfolk, including Hollywood star Cameron Drake - who had divulged the outing.

Jack Frost (1997)

This below-par, straight-to-video serial killer horror comedy was not to be confused with the fanciful dramatic family film Jack Frost (1998) with Michael Keaton.

It featured a unique and repulsive misogynistic scene of extremely bad taste - a giant demented snowman with violent murderous tendencies had just lethally injured aspiring actress Jill Metzner's (pre-American Pie Shannon Elizabeth in her feature film debut) boyfriend Tommy (Darren O. Campbell) with an icicle to the forehead.

Then during Jill's hot bath, he added his own frozen form to her bath (hinted at by his floating phallic-shaped nose carrot), then re-formed himself and attacked/raped her with his carrot-nose. As she screamed, he pounded her head against the shower wall, and then as she collapsed dead on the floor, joked:

"Looks like Christmas came a little early this year. Well, hope it was good for you, honey. (Jack Frost replaced the carrot into his face) Oh, I must remember to send flowers." (Laughter)

Lawn Dogs (1997)

Actress Angie Harmon, who later achieved recognition for her serious legal aide role in TV's Law and Order, appeared in this John Duigan-directed drama as neighborhood Pam. It was about the life of a 10 year-old precocious and excitable neighbor girl named Devon Stockard (Mischa Barton in her feature film debut role).

The story was partially about her formation of a friendship with a local outsider who mowed lawns in the affluent but rural suburban Kentucky neighborhood of Camelot Gardens, a new housing development.

The movie opened with her enigmatic voice-over:

Once upon a time in a far-off land lived a girl and her mother and father. Their village was surrounded by a high wall. Outside the wall was the forest, home of Babi Yaga, the witch. Babi Yaga had iron teeth that could bite through trees. His legs were like chicken legs and he ate little girls for dinner. But inside the wall, the girl was safe.

In one of the film's scenes, 21 year-old, trailer-dwelling lawn cutter and loner Trent Burns (Sam Rockwell) was making love to Pam (Angie Harmon), when they were interrupted by a noise at his trailer window, caused by his kindred spirit Devon.

In another scene, Devon reacted to her mother Clare's (Kathleen Quinlan) sexual encounter with a fraternity-college kid by urinating on her father's car windshield, and by removing her nightgown on her roof and howling wildly at the moon.

Also, Trent blocked traffic when he stopped on a one lane bridge, stripped naked (with full-frontal nudity) and then gracefully dove (with flips) into the river.

In a slightly controversial, non-sexual scene, Devon opened her shirt to show Trent her long pace-maker surgery scar and have him touch it.