10) Fantasy of Phoebe Cates coming out of the pool and taking off her bikini top in slow motion from FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH (1982)
Yet another one of those early film moments where I first saw women's breasts, this was one of the seminal films of my generation. Almost every American male, particularly those in school and around the same age as the students portrayed in this film, have such fond memories of this scene. In the scene, a young Judge Reinhold pleasures himself in the bathroom while having a fantasy involving the beautiful Phoebe Cates. We watch along with Reinhold as the fantasy plays out. Phoebe Cates rises from the swimming pool, and then in slow motion, slowly unfastens her bikini top from the middle, letting her breasts free (and those beautiful nipples!) I know, I know, it's one of those great adolescent moments you never forget, but hey, seeing it now just brings back the memories. The scene ends hilariously, as the real Phoebe Cates barges in on Reinhold in the bathroom to his embarassment. So sue me, it may not be one of the most truly erotic sequences in film history, but it deserves to be remembered.
9) Julianne Moore, arguing with Matthew Modine, while nude below the waist in SHORT CUTS (1993)
Robert Altman, one of the greatest directors of all time, assembled a wonderful portrait of humanity in the epic film Short Cuts. One of the most notable scenes in the film in this incredible yet strangely erotic sequence involving the couple portrayed by Julianne Moore and Matthew Modine. The film follows the lives of several people as they interact with each other on occasion, and simply live parallel lives more often. In the sequence I've mentioned, Moore and Modine are preparing to go over to a friend's house for dinner. Moore ends up spilling wine on her dress she had planned to wear. Modine has already started an argument, questioning Moore on a possible affair she had with another man. The tensions are already rising, when Moore simply takes the bottom of the dress off and tries drying it off with a hairdryer. In the meantime, she continues the argument with Modine as if she is not even aware that she is naked below the waist. The camera stays on Moore in her semi-nudity for a very long time as the argument continues, and it's brilliant how the eroticism of seeing Moore's vagina exposed runs counterpoint to the sexual argument they are having. Modine finally yells at her that she has no panties on, but the argument continues. It's a very unique use of nudity (showing just the vagina and no breasts) while an argument about sexual desire and possible infidelity goes on.
