'S&M Judge' to open CineKink NYC

The CineKink “Season Opener” selection for our seventh annual film festival, CineKink NYC, running February 16-21, 2010, will be the US premiere of the award-winning drama, S&M Judge.

Directed by Flemish filmmaker Erik Lamens and based on a celebrated Belgian incident, the film tells of a respected judge who, desperate to save his marriage, reluctantly gives in to fulfilling the masochistic desires his wife has been hiding from him for decades. Initially shocked at her revelation, his love helps him overcome his inhibitions, and they begin to enjoy a secret life in the city's underground S/M scene.

But when the two are caught up in a police sting, his arrest and trial cause a national scandal. While their activities have been purely consensual, the court views his participation as criminal, putting his job, reputation and family life in jeopardy.

“S&M Judge is a beautiful and moving account of the conflict many face in balancing their sexual desires with societal views of what is ‘normal’—and with outmoded legal restrictions that are still on the books in many communities,” said Lisa Vandever, co-founder and director of CineKink. “We’re very proud to give the film its US premiere and present it to our audiences.”

S&M Judge will screen on Wednesday, February 17, 6:45 pm at Anthology Film Archives, where the majority of the festival screenings are also unfolding.

CineKink NYC kicks off the previous evening, Tuesday, February 16, with a gala fundraising party, and runs through Sunday, February 21, concluding with an awards ceremony and an AfterGlow closing party.

More info on all that--and advance tickets--coming soon!

Update: Tickets are available here! A donation of 25% from all advance ticket sales will go to support NCSF.

Are you a Dark Odyssey virgin?

We're excited to offer the possibility of a first-time Dark Odyssey adventure to a lucky pair of CineKink fans!



As a participating group, we've been given TWO extra tickets to the sexy organization's next event - Winter Fire - taking place February 26-28 in Washington, DC.

One of our favorite gatherings, you can expect:

* An amazing line up of nationally-known presenters, including sex educators, BDSM masters, top-notch Tantra teachers, relationship experts, and award-winning authors, activists, and community leaders
* Over 60 unique, dynamic workshops on identity, sex, relationships, swinging, polyamory, BDSM, Tantra, spirituality, and lots more
* Special events including a banquet dinner featuring the fabulous The Wet Spots, nightly parties, incredible vendors and, of course, a huge, fully equipped dungeon and other intimate play spaces.

All taking place in the comfort and luxury of a beautiful host hotel located in the heart of downtown Washington, DC - and we'd like to give you the chance to be in the thick of it!

To qualify to win, you must:

* Never have previously attended a Dark Odyssey event

* Be a current CineKink Updates subscriber (if you're not one, you can sign up right here! )

* Send an email to cinekink2010 at cinekink dot com, with "I was a DO virgin!" in the subject line.

* Include preferred email address and/or phone # and/or Twitter name for us to contact you via, should you be a winner.

All entries must be received by 11 pm (et) of Friday, January 29th.

UPDATE: deadline extended until 11 pm (et) of SATURDAY, January 30th!

Winner will be selected at random and receive TWO tickets to the event. Travel, hotel, meals and any other expenses are not included.

And if you're not a virgin? You can still get a slightly discounted rate by selecting CineKink as your participating group when registering!

That whole thing about Mommy kissing Santa Claus?

(Mom is Santa snagged via Erika Lust)

Clearly an argument for a ToiBocks or a locking bag from For Your Nymphomation. Meantime, here's to happy visions of sugar plums--or whatever else you'd like dancing in your head!

Lady Heather alert!

Tonight's episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation will reprise one of our favorite prime-time characters, Lady Heather, the mysterious sometimes love interest of the tortured Gil Grishom.

Are they meant to be? You can weigh in on the program's message-board--but first, check out this CBS-compiled retrospective:



Oh, yeah--and tune in tonight. Soon, even! (Though you can probably also find the episode here...)

Filth and wisdom?

Just as with dating, it might be too much to expect both qualities in one package. And the not-so-mixed reviews don't exactly make a compelling argument for a dash to the cineplex. (Though largely affectionate--"I sort of liked it"--critic Andrew O'Hehir's review also includes the observation that it "...seems like a movie Jim Jarmusch might have started in 1991 and then abandoned because it wasn't going anywhere." Yikes! That's the very fear that has kept us unproductively lodged in our creativity burrow all these many decades.)

But Madonna's directorial debut, Filth and Wisdom, would seem to have enough CineKink-relevant themes to warrant at least a quick go-over--and, who knows, quite possibly a Tribute? We're ever-eager to be happily surprised.

Sizzle sells! (Maybe.)

Mazel tov to one of our favorite CineKinksters, Lolita Wolf, for her prize-winning suggestion in Violet Blue's recent competition to determine the best sex-related ad campaign. Lolita's entry, last year's "Dominate Winter" interactive campaign for the Cooper Mini, which featured a cat-suit clad dominatrix encouraging the user to put the car through its paces.



Violet's criteria for the competition were pretty inclusive - by "sex-related I mean just downright sexy and hot, or incredibly clever, controversial, or just plain fun" - and a slew of tasty examples can be found in both the comments to that post and in her follow-up announcing the winners. (Both of which we've bookmarked and will be pillaging far into the future.)

And this week, Violet moves on to the question of whether sex can actually sell a product, bringing in AdRant's Scott Hall to ruminate with her on how much of it's a help and how much of it is just hype and sizzle.

Well, we're not sure how many Aspvik units it helped move. And we're way late for Violet's deadline. But for our money, our all-time favorite sex-related - and sex-positive! - ad continues to be Ikea's Neighbors.



Scratch that. We totally want an Aspvik, now!

It's 10 pm. Do you know where your children are?

Amazing but true, but give the Midwest Teen Sex Show a few key concepts, some colorful props and several feet of rope and they manage to convey in the space of several minutes what it takes many a fetish-friendly documentarian - self included - a good half hour to express.

Herewith MTSS Episode #18 (Fetishes)



(Though we know they're kidding, our internal safety nazi wishes they'd spent a wee bit of that time literally underscoring the unwisdom of leaving anyone in bondage unattended. Probably the kids just get it?)

Sex on Spout

It's summertime and - much to our delight! - they definitely seem to have sex on the brain over at SPOUTBlog!

Just today, there's a round-up of The 10 Best Masturbation Scenes that will first have you questioning if there's even that many. Then have you rushing to comment on your favorite glaringly obvious omission. (Um, hello. Secretary?!?)

Beyond that, we've been horribly remiss in mentioning the blog's weekly posts by our provocative friend, Lauren Wissot, who began writing regularly for Spout back in June: "We wanted to call her column 'Art Films To Jerk Off To,' but in the end that might be too limiting––after all, who’s to say what qualifies as art?"

Since then, Lauren's missives on the libidinous in indie and mainstream cinema have touched upon such natural candidates as David Lynch, the S/M classic Maitresse and the Five Unsexiest Movies About Sex: The Breillat Awards(!!). And they've incorporated some unlikely subjects as well, from the consideration of Charlie Chaplin as sexy rogue to the BDSM underpinnings of Hitchcock's Marnie:

She was “always pulling her skirt down over her knees as if there were a national treasure,” Marnie’s lecherous employer-turned-victim Mr. Strutt mutters at the beginning of Hitch’s classic, introducing us to Hedren’s character as a trobbing cock-tease – who, of course, needs to be punished like the naughty little girl she really is deep down inside. Enter Connery’s controlling Master Rutland, immaculately dressed in suit and tie (I love a man in a uniform!), a big bad wolf smile on his face as he eavesdrops on Strutt’s report to the police. Is there any doubt that this is the perfect square-jawed, hairy-chest daddy for the B&D job?

We imagine she does - but we can't wait to see if Lauren shares our take on The Sound of Music!

We are on!

We'll check in again with even more detail on this year's wham bam program schedule for Cinekink NYC, but here's an overview to get you salivating:

Tuesday, February 26
8:00 pm - Kick-Off Gala & Opening Night Screening

Wednesday, February 27
7:00 pm - Shortbus Tribute Screening
9:00 pm - New York Stories

Thursday, February 28
7:00 pm - Triple X Selects: The Best of Leszploitation
9:00 pm - Viva

Friday, February 29
7:00 pm - Call Me Troy
9:15 pm - Susan for Now
11:15 pm - Sex Mannequin & Superfreak

Saturday, March 1
1:00 pm - Lust, Animation!
3:00 pm - Chick Flicks
5:00 pm - Women Behind the Lens
7:00 pm - Mix, Match & Mingle
9:00 pm - Give & Take
11:00 pm - The Three Trials

Sunday, March 2
1:00 pm - Annie Sprinkle's Herstory of Porn
3:00 pm - Sunday How-To Sex-O-Rama
5:00 pm - Silken Sleeves

6:30 pm - Awards Celebration
8:30 pm - AfterGlow!

Overwhelmed by indecision in the face of so many kinky cinematic possibilties? Give yourself over to our CineKink NYC All-Access Pass and prepare to submit completely!

An evening of elegant kink

Join us tomorrow for a New Year's double-header of works from Maria Beatty, each offering up the director's signature "erotic noir" style and depictions of a ride between pain and pleasure at the hands of a beautiful temptress. And then around the corner for a cocktail or two.

The Elegant Spanking







The Seven Deadly Sins








"Beatty makes porno into fetishistic film noir; imagine a kinky Louise Brooks, a sadistic Marlene Dietrich (who's the top?), and some nipple clamps and hot wax, and you're beginning to get the idea."
- Tristan Taormino, The Village Voice

Screening:
Tuesday, January 8 @ 7 pm
Two Boots Pioneer Theater
155 E. Third Street (@ Avenue A), NYC
212.591.0434

Cocktails:
China 1
50 Avenue B (@ 4th Street), NYC

More info and tickets are here!