well, see, y'all are getting into PEOPLE. now, yes, by default, if you find big rough men like Russell Crowe sexy, you might assume that any role he ever played was, because he is, and that every movie he was ever in, is. but that ain't so. i find the man very sexy, but not always - we're talking about a mood here. he was raw and frighteningly sexy in Romper Stomper but mostly unsexy in Raw Magic (or whatever that was called) and barely sexy in Virtuosity and magnificently human and humbly sexy in Gladiator. So, you can't go by the generic "sexiness" of the person, and that most certainly can't make the movy sexy or unsexy.
now, yes, a girl (or guy) can see a hot bod walk by and be like - hey, yo, I like that. As in, that person has a physical appearance that appeals and that if they ever took you somewhere naughty, you'd love to go and *assume* you'd enjoy yourself. another argument is you could meet JLH, whom you find physically attractive now, and in real life she could have a horrible personality and from then on when you looked at her your thermometer would not heat up nor twitch an inch. she would become very unsexy.
now, then there's a film in which people need not be physically attractive - mainstream. but their manner, the script, their chemistry, suddenly makes everything unbelievably sexy and a moment can be so very simple - just a glance, the way someone holds open the door, etc - can hold more fuel in the oner drop than any of the pretty faces y'all have mentioned here so far.
i'd like to bring up Paul Newman. Long Hot Summer. There is no way to fight a man who looks at you like that.
then there was that other movie he did with his wife, the one where she pretends to be an exotic prostitute and SHE feels unsexy and he's a sportswriter who falls for her. there are a couple breathless instances - though for the most part, in that film both of them were unsexy.
Shakespeare in Love ... was romantic to me, but not sexy. and it catered to women, flirted, rather than explored. but it wasn't meant to, it was a light romantic comedy. This also ties to me and how I feel about Gwyneth Paltrow, who is more gamine and delicate than womanly and sexy, to me. But some men find that sexy, so more power to them. However, I agree that Joseph Fiennes as a way about him - his eyes, really, have a very easy "sultry seductive" mode, whereas Ralph has "intense seductive" down.
another example of how a film set up to be sexy can fail - Belle du Jour, which was fascinating, but moved me not an inch.
unattractive characters becoming sexy - Monsieur Hire, a bug-eyed little Napoleon who develops an erotic obssession with a beauty in the apartment across from him. the man's intensity made his interactions with her erotic and even she was influenced by his attentions.
I agree that Bound was sexy. flat out.
i think a major point go by is not necessarily the physical attractiveness of the characters to US but their OVERALL attractiveness to EACH OTHER, which is developed by the film and has nothing to do with us. we simply watch and learn and slowly absorb the desire that the others develop and we leave feeling it, assuming - oh, so and so was so rich looking, so handsome, he turned me on - but really, so and so was all hot and bothered for another character and person with whom he had chemistry and THEIR interaction was what turned us on. the tension, the suspense ... the dance. that's what makes a film erotic and sensual.
the Basic INstinct sex scene was intense. but not sexy.
The Thomas Crown Affair - sexy, and tasteful. almost over the line with the desk thing, but i let that slide cuz they developed the repartee so well with their clothes on, too.
Ma Saison Preferee ... there was a very sensual undertone to the sibling's relationship. a very delicate eroticism, both Catherine Deneuve and Daniel Auteuil are very good at restraint, which most European films are, which is KEY in making a film erotic. "Romance" (at your local video store) is VERY unsexy though there's plenty of sexual exchange.
Chris, I know what you mean about an undertone. but like i said, sexuality being present in the characters (as in anyone in real life) doesn't make a film sexy. the film itself - how the cinematographer plays with focus, lighting, fabrics, design, the script, the way the characters deliver lines, the way they interact - everything together must work to weave this web, and Starship Troopers may have contained hormones, but that does not make it sexy.
Kama Sutra - sexy, yes, but not as much as the title would imply.
Angels and Insects - The setup was very sexy but the siblings were so albino-looking i kept feeling ill. there was a crudeness to the character interaction that made things seem false and i could not fall into the mode they were reaching for.
Remains of the Day - Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson. That film drove me MAD. The way those two circled one another, and never acted - to this day, this is at the top of my list, most likely because they never acted. Anticipation is also very key to eroticism. You want what you cannot have. When a film plays on the the audience's AND the character's desire to consummate, when it teases, indulges, then retreats - THIS is a film that knows what's what when it comes to sensuality.
The Age of Innocence, etc. the ones that turn me on are usually the ones where lovers are forced to wait or some obstacle is put between them so that their desire grows exponentially an intensely and quickly.
there's a sexy MOMENT - so this isn't a sexy film to me - in Schindler's List. That's where I first fell for Ralph Fiennes. He was overweight and evil, shooting Jews from his balcony, but the way he behaved around his maid ...
And "Captives" - a british flick with Tim Roth (not necessarily a mainstream sexy man, but ever since that movie, he won me over).
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(sorry, couldn't resist).
