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Sundance Channel Blog

Em And Lo

Em & Lo are the Emily Posts of the modern bedroom. They\'ve co-authored six books on the topics of sex and love: their most recent, Sex: How to Do Everything; three A-Z guides, Buh Bye, Rec Sex and Sex Toy; the sex manual The Big Bang: Nerve\'s Guide to the New Sexual Universe; and the handbook Sex Etiquette for Ladies and Gentlemen. They\'ve contributed to numerous publications, including recurring columns for New York magazine, The Guardian (UK), Men’s Journal, and More (U.K.). They were also the hosts of a ten-episode television series called “SEX: How to Do Everything” airing on Fiver in the UK in early 2009. They currently dish about all things love- and sex-related at EMandLO.com.

Top 10 reasons why Don Draper would make a terrible boyfriend

Article: Top 10 reasons why Don Draper would make a terrible boyfriend

Posted March 26th, 2012, 12:03 PM by

The fifth season of MAD MEN premiered last night on AMC with a two-hour special, and Don Draper did nothing to change our minds about his relationship potential. Peggy may worry that he’s a kinder, cuddlier Draper, but we have no such concerns. After all, she didn’t see him resolve a domestic dispute by pretend-raping his wife (what was up with that weird retro porn scene anyway?!). Here are our top ten reasons why Don Draper would make a terrible boyfriend:

LOSING CONTROL: Can scientific principles help you find true love?

Article: LOSING CONTROL: Can scientific principles help you find true love?

Posted March 22nd, 2012, 12:03 PM by

LOSING CONTROL (opening tomorrow, March 23rd, at the Quad Cinema in NYC) is a romantic comedy about a female scientist who decides she wants scientific proof that her boyfriend is the One. Oh yeah, and her science lab day job involves studying an obscene amount of semen. But this is not semen-as-hair-gel slapstick stuff (although there is one tantric-propelled semen gag) — the science in this movie is actually pretty legit, because writer-director-producer Valerie Weiss happens to have a Ph.D. in Biophysics from Harvard Med School (she was also Em’s classmate at Princeton). Weiss founded the Dudley Film Program at Harvard, and while writing her dissertation, she directed her first film. Two weeks after wrapping production, she defended her Ph.D. thesis — and she hasn’t done another experiment since.

A review of FRIENDS WITH KIDS

Article: A review of FRIENDS WITH KIDS

Posted March 20th, 2012, 12:03 PM by

Note: This review is written by Em, who loved the movie FRIENDS WITH KIDS. Lo, who begs to differ, will weigh in tomorrow.

Will a sex strike just give a bunch of liberal guys blue balls?

Article: Will a sex strike just give a bunch of liberal guys blue balls?

Posted March 19th, 2012, 12:03 PM by

Where reason fails, satire sometimes works — hence the sudden trend of tongue-in-cheek proposed sex laws, like the “personhood of semen” bill. And where satire fails — will a sex strike work? That’s the hope of a group called Liberal Ladies Who Lunch (love it!). They are proposing a national sex strike from April 28 until May 5 — tagline, “If our reproductive choices are denied, so are yours.”

Doonesbury's controversial pro-choice strip

Article: Doonesbury's controversial pro-choice strip

Posted March 15th, 2012, 12:03 PM by

This week’s Doonesbury comic (in five installments over the course of the week) is taking a harsh, satirical look at how Republican legislation all across America (specifically in Texas) is undermining women’s reproductive rights — and many papers are either refusing to run it at all or else moving it to their editorial pages.

"Personhood of semen" and other hilarious sex laws

Article: "Personhood of semen" and other hilarious sex laws

Posted March 14th, 2012, 1:03 PM by

Some people hear about all the ridiculous uterus-related legislation being sponsored by Republican lawmakers and they join a protest or they blog about it or they post inspiring images on their Tumblr blogs. Other people — other awesome people — are using their position as lawmakers to go one step further: they’re proposing outlandish penis-related legislation in response.

Eat Chocolate, Pray, Love

Article: Eat Chocolate, Pray, Love

Posted March 13th, 2012, 1:03 PM by

We’re suckers for a good Kickstarter project — all that hope and passion and entrepreneurship, and you can be part of it for less than the cost of a dinner out. The most recent one we heard of is called The Placebo Chocolate Effect (we’re fans based on the name alone). The story reads like the dude version of Eat, Pray, Love: Daniel Jacobs set off on a trip around the world in search of a cure for a deep sadness he felt (hang in there, it gets better). Along the way he met a bunch of people who inspired him, including an old lady in Scotland who gave him a “prescription” for love — actually it was just these words scribbled on a piece of paper: “Take this love I give you, use it as often as you need, and share it when you are ready.” After meditating in Spain, volunteering at an orphanage in Guatemala, building a sustainable farm in Argentina, and writing beside painters in Chile (we’re not kidding), Daniel finally found love (of course he did), and then he discovered that love had been inside him all along (of course it was).

A new look for Lolita

Article: A new look for Lolita

Posted March 12th, 2012, 1:03 PM by

Lolita, such a great book. So deserving of a great cover. One blogger held a contest. Now it’s being turned into a book, with designs from both contest entrants and solicited pieces by well-known designers. Here are all the links to follow:

Not one but three star-studded movies about porn

Article: Not one but three star-studded movies about porn

Posted March 09th, 2012, 1:03 PM by

Yesterday we discussed celebrities with porn names. Today we’re talking about celebrities in porn movies. Okay, not actual skin flicks. No, movies about skin flicks. Just as there are two modern movie versions of Snow White coming out at the same time (our money’s on Charlize Theron’s evil queen kicking Julia Roberts’ queen’s ass), there are also two competing star-studded Linda Lovelace biopics, plus an indie film about a fictional rising pornstar: INFERNO: A LINDA LOVELACE STORY, LOVELACE and CHERRY, respectively. The latter two star James Franco. (Of course they do.) Here’s a more elaborate breakdown of each’s cast:

Celebrities with awesome porn names

Article: Celebrities with awesome porn names

Posted March 08th, 2012, 1:03 PM by

A recent article in Salon about trends in porn names (disturbingly, there is apparently a “direct correlation between trendy baby names and porn stars’ names”) got us thinking about celebrities whose names are perfectly designed for a post-career-slump porno. Here are our top 10 favorite male and female celebrities with porn names:

What your outfit color means on the pick-up scene

Article: What your outfit color means on the pick-up scene

Posted March 07th, 2012, 1:03 PM by

A recent study published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology looked at why men are more attracted to women who wear red — because, according to earlier studies (not to mention the lyrics of one Chris DeBurgh), men sit closer to ladies in red and ask them more intimate questions. Well, it turns out that — stop the presses! — men see these women as more sexually receptive. And according to the study, this sexually receptiveness makes them more attractive to men. Welcome to the 1950s, folks! We hope you packed your red scarf and lipstick and your copy of Sex and the Single Girl. For women who’d rather not send the message that they’re universally, generically up for it, here are a few other color-coded suggestions we think everyone — women and men — should adopt. If we start now, it should take just a few thousand years of social conditioning for the trends to kick in:

Rush Limbaugh says he was just joking – lighten up, you guys!

Article: Rush Limbaugh says he was just joking – lighten up, you guys!

Posted March 05th, 2012, 12:03 PM by

Rush Limbaugh is the master of the non-apology (remember his wishy-washy apologies to Michael J. Fox and Chelsea Clinton, amongst others?). And his way-too-late-to-even-count apology to Georgetown Law student Sandra Fluke is no exception. Let us count the ways that his apology does not count:

Switcheroo, a photo series

Article: Switcheroo, a photo series

Posted March 01st, 2012, 1:03 PM by

photo “Mish & Colin” from the series Switcheroo by Sincerely Hana

“Sincerely Hana” is a self-taught photographer raised in Whistler and currently living in Vancouver, Canada. On her website, she’s got an ongoing project called Switcheroo: dual portraits of two people each — almost always one man and one woman — standing side by side.

Naked News: on gay marriage, artificial wombs, and Zac Efron's prophylactics

Article: Naked News: on gay marriage, artificial wombs, and Zac Efron's prophylactics

Posted February 28th, 2012, 1:02 PM by

This week, Zac Efron manages to distract us from the fact that the Pope thinks he knows more about sex than we do. And also from the fact that for every two steps forward — yay Maine; yay ass-kicking working mothers — there’s always, somewhere, a step back. (We’re looking at you, Family Research Council.)

The Oscars: If the Academy were a little more turned on

Article: The Oscars: If the Academy were a little more turned on

Posted February 27th, 2012, 1:02 PM by

When the Oscars primarily entail being lectured by a bunch of narcissistic celebrities about how awesome and important their jobs are, when the highlight is Sacha Baron Cohen spilling the Bisquick ashes of Kim Jong Il all over “Bryan” Seacrest’s $1000 suit on the red carpet, and when the most scandalous moment of the night revolves around determining whether J. Lo is accidentally (or purposely?) showing areola or not, then you know you’ve got to make things a little more interesting. Here’s how: imagine what movies would have won if the Academy wasn’t so afraid of sex:

Crowdsourced funding for a sex toy? Meet the Duet

Article: Crowdsourced funding for a sex toy? Meet the Duet

Posted February 24th, 2012, 1:02 PM by

There’s a new kid in the luxury vibrator town: The Duet by Crave, a clitoral stimulator created by an industrial designer and an engineer. They submitted the Duet for pre-release funding on the international design funding platform CKIE in August 2011, where they raised $104,000 from over 950 backers – 694% of the original target. And now this discreet and design-y vibe is finally being sold by two of our favorite online retailers, Babeland.com and GoodVibes.com. We must say it looks pretty cool:

What The Economist doesn't get about online dating

Article: What The Economist doesn't get about online dating

Posted February 23rd, 2012, 1:02 PM by

A recent article in The Economist magazine examines a bunch of scientific papers about online dating in an attempt to figure out if any of those fancy matching algorithms are better than old-fashioned matchmakers like your grandmother. Or even if simply all that choice — and all those checkboxes! — improves your odds of finding love. Turns out there’s very little data to support either theory — and what data there is (hi, Malcolm Gladwell) suggests that too much choice means people (a) make bad decisions and (b) feel less satisfied with their ultimate choice. Oh, yeah, and related research shows that, yes, people with similar personalities tend to have happier relationships — but by the not-exactly-earthshaking margin of 0.5%. In other words, if you want to have a 0.5% better shot at happiness, make sure you go online to find someone who checks all the same boxes as you.

Top 10 most realistic sex scenes of the year

Article: Top 10 most realistic sex scenes of the year

Posted February 22nd, 2012, 5:02 PM by

What makes a sex scene great — at least in our opinion — is when there is some genuine realism in it: maybe heads get bonked or tears are shed or body parts fail or giggles erupt. Call it skinéma vérité. Anyway, we hear there is some big, film awards show coming up this weekend, so we decided to honor a few of our favorite, most realistic sex scenes of the past year. These clips are the real deal, so use protection!

We can resist anything except temptation – and Twitter

Article: We can resist anything except temptation – and Twitter

Posted February 22nd, 2012, 1:02 PM by

Researchers out of Chicago University’s Booth Business School recently conducted a study on people’s ability to resist their desires. It turns out that people can resist cigarettes, they can resist alcohol, they can resist sex, and they can resist the urge to spend money… but what they really really can’t resist is the urge to engage in social and other types of media. In other words, checking email, browsing Facebook, posting to Twitter, etc.

Naked News: the women's (dwindling) reproductive rights edition

Article: Naked News: the women's (dwindling) reproductive rights edition

Posted February 21st, 2012, 1:02 PM by

SNL has an actually funny and actually informative round-up of all the bullshit last week.
This is a great cartoon from Jim Morin in the Miami Herald that pretty much sums up last week’s “religious freedom” debate around birth control coverage.

Given a free pass for a fling, women would call an old flame

Article: Given a free pass for a fling, women would call an old flame

Posted February 17th, 2012, 1:02 PM by

We’ve long known that The One Who Got Away makes for great late-night Google fantasies. And that makes sense: you rifle through your memory bank after another bad breakup — or after another inane argument with your spouse — and wonder how life would have been different if you’d stayed with X. Because through your rose-tinted glasses, you forget about how your ex chewed with their mouth open and only remember the grand romantic gestures.