4. Helen Hunt Gets Her Kit Off, A Lot - The Sessions
No film in 2012 was as pleasantly frank and honest about sex as The Sessions, for which both leads John Hawkes and Helen Hunt are widely touted to be awards contenders. Hunt delivers the most brave and provocative performance of her storied career as a surrogate sex worker whose job it is to provide Hawkes' physically disabled character with sexual gratification. Don't let the film's relatively sterile direction trick you into thinking that this is another film about sex that doesn't have any nudity, because The Session is all about the nakedness. Hunt spends the majority of her screen time in the buff, a brave decision given her age - or at least as far as Hollywood goes, she's considered "old" - though one she appears not to have taken lightly, given how freaking fantastic she looks. The nudity itself is worth the pause alone, but given how superbly she's maintained herself, it definitely warrants a second look.