5. Scarlett Johansson Vs Penélope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Woody Allen isn't exactly known for being a titillating film-maker, despite the importance of sex, or at least the idea and threat of sex in his neurotic comedies, but in Vicky Cristina Barcelona, the auteur took advantage of a sexually charged cast featuring Scarlett Johansson, Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem for an atypically sexy movie. Or more specifically, for an atypically sexy sequence, bathed in the red light of a photographer's dark room, in which warring love rivals Johansson and Cruz ignore the man who brought them together to share an intimate exchange without him. The film plays a lot like Allen's unspoken attempt to convince someone that he should be allowed to bring another person into the bedroom: the relationship between Bardem's artist and his ex-wife only thrives when Johansson's Cristina is introduced to their sex lives, and then as soon as she leaves, they fall apart again. Tiny bit insistent there, Woody. The scene is beautifully shot, and Allen's application of the red light is a wonderful addition that adds another level to the scene that doesn't require as explicit focus as some of the other examples on this list.