Archive for the 'Movies' Category

I just went to see “Coco Before Chanel” last night. Was it sensual? Oh, yes! And French films don’t feature heavily in the Barefoot Aphrodite sensual films for women archives or as much as you would expect. I lived in France and find the language beautiful (although not as sensual as Italian!) but always have found French films in general to be a little cold and cerebral. Coco Before Chanel has an element of that but mostly because, as portrayed in the movie, in Coco’s time wealthy men used women and ran the show and a woman who wanted to be independent had to be cold and calculating.

Coco tries her hardest to be cold and calculating and as uncaring as men and succeeds to some degree but there is always a sense that a warm, passionate, joyful woman is captured inside a body born into the wrong era. The best visual of this is when Coco goes horse riding for the first time and hoists her skirts so she can straddle the horse and then arrives home breathing heavily and undoing all the constraints of a woman’s typically binding clothing. And, of course, when she falls in love and believes it is returned, her face and body suddenly show all the warmth and feeling she is capable of. And then there is the parade of Coco creations with a sudden burst of color (originally only black is acceptable) and passion as a reflection of all she will not be able to express otherwise.

Audrey Tautou is incredible and shows a depth of character way beyond her “Amelie” days. She carries the film but I was also very touched by the performance of Benoit Poelvoorde who is intrigued by Coco, takes her on as a mistress and then falls hard for her. More than the handsome lover, I felt his love and need for Coco and my heart ached for him.

Sometimes a cosy livingroom couch is a better venue for a sensual film but run out and see Coco while you can–she lived large and her life is better seen on the big screen!

Secret confession–I LOVE “So You Think You Can Dance.” Almost more than I love movies. I love the contemporary dance love stories. I love the tango and salsa. I love when the judges are so moved they cry. Shouldn’t there be more movies that flaunt the sensuality of song and dance in the Barefoot Aphrodite sensual movie archives? Our top reviewer pick, The Piano, embraces the music with the rapturous love affair of Ada with her piano that then translates into her sexual passion with Baines. There is a beautiful dance sequence (surprise, with Holly Hunter again) in Living Out Loud where the heroine expresses her full embrace of her life and who she is. And then more obvious movies like Shall We Dance (ah, the instructions from J-Lo to Richard Gere on how to win the dance contest…) but it seems like there should be more. A lot more. It just seems like dance is what it’s all about and you need the music to get there…

For me, this blog is the most unsensual part of the site. Yes, it offers the potentional for a wealth of information and thoughts about sensual films for women but it means I need to sit down in front of a computer and spend some time with a screen and a keyboard. Now that I think of it, there is probably the potential to make even that experience sensual with music, scents or just a general awareness of what is around me.

This morning I had the pleasure of sharing the site through e-mails from visitors. One person noted that the Sensuality Test is not working–the fix is in the works as I write! It’s worth taking if you haven’t yet. Another visitor resuggested the movie “House of Sand” (or, much more sensually, “Casa de Areja”) which I wrote about awhile ago on the blog. I have decided to make it a “Visitor’s Pick” and have the team of reviewers watch it so look for it in the future. It reminded me that another woman who has regular Barefoot Aphrodite movie nights with a group of friends recommended the movie “Bread and Tulips.” Again, look for it as a future Visitor’s Pick.

So this morning the blog has been a little more of a sensual experience just because I had the opportunity to share it with some real women out there. Please keep writing and suggesting films and adding comments to the discussion!

I watched “Away We Go” the other night. It was pay-per-view and my husband and I were looking for something we could both enjoy that was not too serious but not too fluffy either and a friend had recommended it. A perfect choice. It was very funny but it also had some very touching moments and a glowy, feel-good ending.

Something I keep coming back to in my mind is the lead actress, Maya Rudolph, who I know mostly from Saturday Night Live. I can’t watch a film without asking myself if it qualifies as a sensual movie for women and should be selected for the Barefoot Aphrodite site. While this movie had it’s moments (it’s loving one or two shot summaries of the beauty of each place the couple visited, the love between the main couple, the dance of pain by the wife who has miscarried five times), it didn’t have enough depth for me to feel that it was really sensual overall. But something about Maya Rudolph’s eyes and her strength of character really connected with me. She was beautiful in a very natural way but also very beautiful in spirit in the way she loved her husband, sat by a child’s bed and sang her to sleep, let herself be held by her sister and moved to tears by memories of her parents. I could really feel her internal struggle throughout the whole film to figure out how to bring a baby into the world and how to find a place where she and her family would fit in. She really was quite lovely.

Another surprise sensual woman (for me anyway) that comes to mind as I write this is Jennifer Lopez. She shows up in two Barefoot Aphrodite picks: Out of Sight and Shall We Dance. Julia Child is not on the site but she would quaify for sure. Maude in Harold and Maude, Holly Hunter in The Piano…Actually, maybe it should not be a surprise after all. A woman who is who she is with no apologies…that’s sensual.

Yesterday, our nieghbors had a dessert party and I spent most of the afternoon in the kitchen baking an Apple-Cider Caramel Cake while listening to Bob Dylan and Lucinda Williams. It was a rainy gray fall day outside and it was all cosy in the kitchen with the smell of hot cider and the warm kitchen light. In the context of this site, it reminds me of how sensual it is for women to be in the kitchen cooking but how even more sensual it is to meet a man who is comfortable in the kitchen as well. I remember a young French student impeccably dressed flinging pans around in the kitchen with ease at a school party and how sexy that was. In movies, I can think of many examples of men who are at ease and sensually present in the kitchen or with food. Imagine the the gnocchi rolling scene with Andy Garcia and Sofia Coppola in Godfather III or the blindfolded taste test scene in Mostly Martha where the character of Mario feeds a blindfolded Martha soup. Those are just two that immediately come to mind and I am sure there are many more. Any suggestions of other sensual food scenes with men in the kitchen?

Just a plug for Gail Sheehy’s book “Sex and the Seasoned Woman” in the context of Harold and Maude. Sheehy doesn’t mention this film but Maude could certainly serve as the mascot for all the women in her book as well as the movie reviewers on our site. Speaking of age, it’s interesting that the selection of Harold and Maude as a Barefoot Aphrodite sensual film for women was made by our youngest reviewer!

Well, I have to say, I was slightly disappointed in “Bright Star.” High expectations are often a problem when you go to see a film. The preview for Bright Star was breathtaking and, remember, Jane Campion’s The Piano is the number one sensual film for women on the Barefoot Aphrodite web site according to our reviewers. 

Bright Star is exceptionally beautiful in its images from beginning to end. The actors are all superb from the starring roles down to the cat, Topper. The poetry (especially the one read by Ben Whishaw–who plays John Keats–over the credits at the end) makes you want to run home, turn off all the noise and have someone read to you. But, honestly, I did not feel the passion between Fanny and John Keats. Part of me wonders if the director meant it to feel that way, if she wanted to portray them as poets in love with the torture of being in love rather than the banal reality (such as is played out by the scullery maid and John Keat’s friend, Charles Brown–played by a very sensual Paul Schneider) but I doubt it. And some might say that audiences are too used to the physicality of modern romance to be satisfied with the “chaste” version in this film but I don’t think that is the case either. After all, the “hole in the stocking” caress in The Piano is just as sensual as any blatantly sexual scene in something like Sex and Lucia. In my mind, the stunning young actors and the director just aren’t successful in portraying the sizzling chemistry and sensuality of forbidden attraction. A perfect example of what could have been can be found in the film version of Pride and Prejudice (A&E, 1995). What crackles between Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle without even a stolen kiss is what is missing from Bright Star.

All that said, go see it. It’s beautiful and the poetry of word and images will sweep you away. And then go home and have some poetry read to you…

Tonight I am going to see Bright Star with two girlfriends–I hope it is as good/sensual as I expect it to be!

When I first began this site, I thought the target age group would be about 30 to 65. When I mentioned this in a business workshop, all the women over 60 and under 30 wanted to know why they weren’t included. My thought was that with age came a certain comfort with sensuality and a certain knowledge of what satisfies the self rather than a constant need for affirmation from men and a constant effort to please the male sex at the expense of one’s own pleasures. While age may bring about a certain seasoning, the reaction to my attempt to qualify the need for a sensual source made it obvious that women of any age are open to the search for what can make their world more sensual and sexual.

But there is a certain seasoning that comes with age that definitely can contribute to sensuality. Yesterday I was searching for a quote to begin a new feature on the site called “Sensual Words of the Day.” I was definitely drawn to the films with older characters when I started looking for quotes and, sure enough, I was rewarded with one from one of the oldest sensual characters on our site. Maude, from Harold and Maude, a ripe 79. The quote? Well, I’m tempted to ask you to check back when the new feature is live but here it is:

“A lot of people enjoy being dead. But they are not dead, really. They’re just backing away from life. Reach out. Take a chance. Get hurt even. But play as well as you can. Go team, go! Give me an L. Give me an I. Give me a V. Give me an E. L-I-V-E. LIVE! Otherwise, you got nothing to talk about in the locker room.”