IFC counts down best sex scenes in movie history

Not too far back we published a long look at groundbreaking gay sex scenes in cinema, ranging from Another Country to Taxi Zum Klo. Needless to say, it was an incredibly unpleasant task to have to wade through all that hotness in the name of entertainment journalism.

In conjunction with their in-progress Indie Sex documentary series (which we reviewed yesterday), IFC is running a list of the 50 Greatest Sex Scenes in Cinema. While most of the entries are of the heterosexual variety (and believe us when we say we wouldn't expose you to that kind of "element" if we didn't know you were all mature adults), so far two (or three, depending on how you look at it) gay scenes have popped up on the list, with more possibly to come. Er, appear.

At #44 we find Todd Haynes' groundbreaking Poison, which featured a storyline detailing a sad prison obsession story evocative of Jean Genet's Un Chant d'Amour. The scene in question involves one prisoner copping a feel on his sleeping cellmate, and it apparently caused quite a furor with the Christian right when the film was completed (with the help of NEA funding).

Popping up at #25 is the infamous scene in John Waters' Female Trouble where Divine actually rapes himself, playing both cha-cha-heel-loving heroine Dawn Davenport and a lecherous man. It's the only time I can think of where an actor had sex with himself onscreen -- consensual or no -- and it's definitely memorable.

And at #23 we have the even more infamous "pup-tent" scene from Brokeback Mountain, which must rate as one of the shortest on the list, irregardless of the impact it made and attention it got.

Being basically a guide to dirty bits in movies, there are of course other items of note. At #38 we have a straight sex scene from gay filmmaker John Cameron Mitchell's Shortbus (I'd argue that the gay threeway with The Star-Spangled Banner being sung into one guy's can is more memorable, but whatever).

The list continues with 10 more entries being unveiled today and 10 more tomorrow. We'll letcha know if there's more queer goings-on in the bunch. Any guesses as to what might take the top slot? Er, spot?