10. Secretary (2002)

Who knew sado-masochism could be so darn cute and titillating? When a socially stunted submissive (Maggie Gyllenhaal) finds herself in the employ of a dominant lawyer (James Spader), the sparks fly... or should we say the whips crack? Granted, deeper issues regarding harassment and bullying are skated over by the filmmakers but it's a testament to their vision that audiences can get sucked into a fictional world where spankings by the boss are not only welcome but deeply satisfying.

9. Wild at Heart (1990)

Director David Lynch's kaleidoscopic take on obsessive love should be a cautionary tale of what not to do in a movie. Yet despite its many disparate ambitions (Is it a road movie? A love story? An ode to The Wizard of Oz?) Wild at Heart soars, mostly because everything that happens tilts on the axis of two lovers (Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern) whose chemistry isn't so much a pheromone-induced occurrence as a force of nature. Watching the electric duo in action is riveting.

8. Unfaithful (2002)

Extra-marital affairs are inherently messy and the one at the heart of this film is no exception - indeed, it's really messy, figuratively and literally. But affairs are also exciting, at least at first, and the sparks between Diane Lane's much-married suburban mom Connie and Olivier Martinez's transplanted Euro-hunk book dealer Paul are underscored by Connie's clear distress about what she's doing. Not that she can stop herself, and the shadow of doom darkening Connie and Paul's horizontal get-downs makes them all the more urgent.

7. No Way Out (1987)

Oft-overlooked but seldom surpassed on the hot-o-meter, this neatly crafted thriller featuring a cocky, pre-superstar Kevin Costner and a stunning post-Blade Runner Sean Young all boils down to one unforgettable scene in the back of a limo. That that wanton lustcapade is surrounded by a pretty nifty nail-biter about intense political corruption makes it even more worthy of recommendation. And did we mention the limo scene?

6. Wild Things (1998)

While the conceit of this film starring Neve Campbell, Matt Dillon and Denise Richards is a plot that's a proverbial enigma wrapped in a riddle surrounded by mystery, the key reason to recommend it is plain: steamy, steamy sex, and lots of it. A surprise three-way featuring the above-mentioned trio is pretty enticing but the swimming pool smackdown- cum-snogfest between Campbell and Richards is positively three-alarm.
    5. Say Anything (1989)

A sexy movie squarely in the "knock-kneed" category, writer Cameron Crowe's directorial debut about an underachieving, borderline doofus (John Cusack) smitten with his high school valedictorian (Ione Skye) is 15 kinds of sweet and among the most genuinely feel-good romantic comedies ever made. The infamous scene with the boombox and the Peter Gabriel song still brings a lump to the throat but it's ultimately Cusack, all puppy dog eyes and palpable sincerity, doing the heavy lifting.


4. The Thomas Crown Affair (1968, 1999)

Both the 1968 version with Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway and the 1999 remake with Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo are excellent, offering boatloads of sexual chemistry and multiple memorable scenes of cat-and-mouse-style interplay between the lead characters - he a debonair stud who commits crimes for kicks and she a sassy insurance investigator out to catch a thief. If you've only seen one adaptation, you owe it to yourself to see the other; either provides start-to-finish gooseflesh.

3. The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946, 1981)

Though the 1946 version of this film with Lana Turner is hot, the 1981 remake with Jack Nicholson and Jessica Lange is positively blistering. She - a femme fatale type mopping countertops at a California diner run by her much older immigrant husband. He - a drifter of vague repute but much intrigue.  Their subsequent affair and plot to murder her husband is the film's engine but the grease is definitely the steamy encounters shared by Nicholson and Lange, notably in a kitchen.

2. Y Tu Mama Tambien (2001)

This fantastic little Mexican film has gained something of cult following, mostly because of the subsequent Stateside ascent of actor Gael García Bernal (The Motorcycle Diaries). And because it's freakin' scorching. Best buds Tenoch and Julio befriend an alluring older woman with a knack for playing the two guys off each other... and herself. An ensuing road trip leads to all kinds of life-affirming revelations and culminates in the drunken seduction to end all drunken seductions. ¡Caramba!

1. The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988)

A film chronicling Czechoslovakia under Soviet siege in the late-1960s really has no business being sexy. But leave it to Daniel Day-Lewis, Juliette Binoche and Lena Olin to crank it up in this erotic drama that provides both men and women with eye candy while reinforcing the old saw about the brain being the biggest sex organ. It helps, of course, to have Olin slinking around in a bowler cap and little else while Day-Lewis hungrily watches. Ditto a super-charged scene where Olin and Binoche play round-robin with a camera.