Every so often a nude scene gets paired with a song that, for better or worse, ends up making it that much more memorable, and this Tunes-day we add another notorious 90s film to the list of bad movies with soundtracks that slap - the erotic thriller Sliver starring Billy Baldwin and Skin Hall of Famer Sharon Stone.
Sharon Stone Nude in Sliver
The year was 1993, and hot off the success of their neo-noir nude classic Basic Instinct, Sharon and writer Joe Eszterhas re-teamed for another drama that promised to deliver more scandalous skin for those who “like to watch.” Only it turned out people didn’t like to watch, and though it took the top spot at the box office in week one, its numbers fell dramatically after being pretty universally panned by critics.
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The iconic 90s sex symbol strips down four times in the film about a newly divorced book editor who moves into a swanky Manhattan high-rise filled with secret security cameras, including two skin-stances with ear-catching background bops. The first is at fourteen minutes in, when Sharon flicks her bean in the bathtub to Antonin Kubalek’s 6 Piano Pieces Op 7: No 4 Idyll in F Minor. The music masterfully swells as she climaxes, surely as male members did everywhere she flashed her left funbag while flailing in the water.
00:14:00 Brief close-up of Sharon's left chest-Stone in a bathtub. (1 min 31 secs)
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The second is Sharon and Billy’s sex scene at forty-three minutes in set to the Massive Attack song “Unfinished Sympathy,”a song that sounds not only very much of the era, but also of the genre - it’s the precursor to The Weeknd inFifty Shades of Grey, along with every single one of its unfortunate copycats.
00:43:00 Shazza gets bunged by Billy Baldwin in bed. Ignore his hairy heinie and focus, instead, on her smooth succulent one, along with some brief partial boobage. (2 mins 4 secs)
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Both scenes aren’t without their awkwardness though. The many complaints of audiences and critics alike included the undeveloped characters, the acting, the dialogue, and the ending, which had been changed when the original was poorly received. The general consensus is that even when Ms. Stone is showing off her stones, people prefer to watch her in control a la Basic Instinct rather than playing more passive characters when it comes to nudity.
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But it’s safe to say the music isn’t the issue here, especially when you look at the soundtrack as a whole. With contributions from The Verve, Neneh Cherry, Enigma, not to mention a bangin’ UB40 cover of Elvis Presley’ “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” the songs are probably the only sliver of sexiness there that exists in this film.
