One of the biggest hits of 1992, Basic Instinct was sold as Michael Douglas’s return to Fatal Attraction territory, but its success owed to an alchemy of three other creatives: a writer (Joe Eszterhas) who was driven to become the highest-paid scribe in movies; a director (Paul Verhoeven) who was determined to redefine the amount of sex considered acceptable in a Hollywood movie; and a female lead (Sharon Stone) who had waited a long time for her breakout role, and finally found it in a bisexual murderess with the sheen of a Hitchcock blonde. We’ll talk about all of that, detailing the extremely messy production that was protested by LGBT activists – and its screenwriter – virtually from beginning to end, and examine Basic Instinct as a collision of toxicity and commerce that was emblematic of just-pre-Clinton era.
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The Hard Hollywood Life of Kim Novak — 10th anniversary restoration
Introducing: Talking Pictures from TCM and Max
Eyes Wide Shut, Part 2, and the Sexiest Man Alive in 1999 (Erotic 90s, Part 21)
Eyes Wide Shut, Part 1 (Erotic 90’s, Part 20)
90s Lolitas Volume 3: Wild Things, Cruel Intentions and Britney Spears (Erotic 90’s, Part 19)
90’s Lolitas Volume 2: Adrian Lyne’s Lolita (Erotic 90’s, Part 18)
The Lynch Family: Boxing Helena & Lost Highway (Erotic 90’s, Part 17)
Crash and David Cronenberg (Erotic 90’s, Part 16)
“Lesbian Chic”: Bound and Anne Heche in Wild Side (Erotic 90’s, Part 15)
Introducing: Glitter & Might
Showgirls, Jade, and the fall of Joe Eszterhas. (Erotic 90’s, Part 14)
The Last Seduction, Disclosure, & Fear of the Female Boss (Erotic 90’s, Part 13)
Sliver and Sharon Stone as Superstar (Erotic 90’s, Part 12)
Indecent Proposal (Erotic 90’s, Part 11)
Sex, Erotica and Body of Evidence (Erotic 90’s, Part 10)
Red Shoe Diaries and sex on TV in the 90s. (Erotic 90’s, Part 9)
90s Lolitas, volume 1: Drew Barrymore, Amy Fisher and Alicia Silverstone (Erotic 90’s, Part 8)
Murphy Brown, Dan Quayle and Damage (Erotic 90’s, Part 7)
The Blanks From Hell: Fatal Attraction’s Children (Erotic 90’s, Part 5)
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