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Sexual Intelligence
Docurama // Unrated // January 31, 2006
List Price: $26.95 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
Lets start off this review with some honesty, shall we? I sat down to watch Kim Cattrall's new DVD (the companion piece to her book, apparently, which I've not yet read) wondering how Cattrall is now marketing herself as a sexpert aside from that she was on "Sex and the City" for a few years. How deep or revealing (in terms of being informative) would a documentary or book from the actress be?
This HBO production is hosted by Cattrall (who also narrates) attempts to explore the thought process behind how men and women operate in terms of sexuality, as well as discussing the "stereotypes" of the male and female (mostly male) thought process in the department of sexuality. The interviews come from various regular folks and some experts. Cattrall also visits various sites around the world throughout the program to discuss the history of sex in various cultures around the world.
The segments on the history of sexuality in art and culture have their interesting moments, but the show is kept a little too light for its own good by Cattrall's hosting segments, which are a bit too "wink wink" (and a couple of moments plain goofy) for a documentary that's otherwise pretty dry and attempting to be something educational. Maybe the book handled the delivery of this material a bit better. Her narration is a bit more straightforward and works better.
While I thought the segments exploring history and mythology were interesting, the remainder of the segments do play (and I'm not saying this in a negative way, but just a matter-of-fact way) to women - not entirely, but this certainly seemed geared more towards female viewers. Some of Cattrall's segments have her flirting with guys and the interviews mostly have either women discussing men or, less frequently, men discussing their own thought process.
There are certainly some worthwhile insights occasionally presented here on attraction, intimacy and relationships. However, with a running time under 90 minutes (that includes some host segments, clips and discussion of history and mythology), a lot of discussions about communication and other issues are more touched on than discussed in deep detail.
Overall, I didn't dislike this documentary, but I thought it could have either used more focus or be turned into a miniseries that could have looked at the multiple aspects covered in more depth.
The DVD
VIDEO: Docurama presents "Sexual Intelligence" in approximately 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen. The presentation quality is perfectly adequate. The picture does show some softness, although given the material, I'm sure this was an intentional choice.
As for issues with the presentation, some minor shimmering appeared at times, but the picture otherwise looked clean and clear. No edge enhancement or artifacts were spotted, nor were any instances of wear on the source elements. Colors appeared bright and vivid, with no smearing or other issues.
SOUND: The show's stereo soundtrack is more than adequate for the documentary-style material.
EXTRAS: A 22-minute interview with the crew behind the animated segments, a music video for Teagan and Sara's "Speak Slow" and a bio for Kim Cattrall.
Final Thoughts: A documentary regarding many aspects of sexuality, "Sexual Intelligence" provides some interesting looks at historical elements regarding the subject and offered some insights into relationships. Cattrall's hosting could have been a bit more straightforward to fit with the rest of the piece (her attempts at humor didn't work for me) and the documentary could have used a bit more focus, but women may find this an appealing look at relationships and sexual history/mythology.
Note: For the guys reading this wondering if there's female nudity, that'd be a no.
Lets start off this review with some honesty, shall we? I sat down to watch Kim Cattrall's new DVD (the companion piece to her book, apparently, which I've not yet read) wondering how Cattrall is now marketing herself as a sexpert aside from that she was on "Sex and the City" for a few years. How deep or revealing (in terms of being informative) would a documentary or book from the actress be?
This HBO production is hosted by Cattrall (who also narrates) attempts to explore the thought process behind how men and women operate in terms of sexuality, as well as discussing the "stereotypes" of the male and female (mostly male) thought process in the department of sexuality. The interviews come from various regular folks and some experts. Cattrall also visits various sites around the world throughout the program to discuss the history of sex in various cultures around the world.
The segments on the history of sexuality in art and culture have their interesting moments, but the show is kept a little too light for its own good by Cattrall's hosting segments, which are a bit too "wink wink" (and a couple of moments plain goofy) for a documentary that's otherwise pretty dry and attempting to be something educational. Maybe the book handled the delivery of this material a bit better. Her narration is a bit more straightforward and works better.
While I thought the segments exploring history and mythology were interesting, the remainder of the segments do play (and I'm not saying this in a negative way, but just a matter-of-fact way) to women - not entirely, but this certainly seemed geared more towards female viewers. Some of Cattrall's segments have her flirting with guys and the interviews mostly have either women discussing men or, less frequently, men discussing their own thought process.
There are certainly some worthwhile insights occasionally presented here on attraction, intimacy and relationships. However, with a running time under 90 minutes (that includes some host segments, clips and discussion of history and mythology), a lot of discussions about communication and other issues are more touched on than discussed in deep detail.
Overall, I didn't dislike this documentary, but I thought it could have either used more focus or be turned into a miniseries that could have looked at the multiple aspects covered in more depth.
The DVD
VIDEO: Docurama presents "Sexual Intelligence" in approximately 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen. The presentation quality is perfectly adequate. The picture does show some softness, although given the material, I'm sure this was an intentional choice.
As for issues with the presentation, some minor shimmering appeared at times, but the picture otherwise looked clean and clear. No edge enhancement or artifacts were spotted, nor were any instances of wear on the source elements. Colors appeared bright and vivid, with no smearing or other issues.
SOUND: The show's stereo soundtrack is more than adequate for the documentary-style material.
EXTRAS: A 22-minute interview with the crew behind the animated segments, a music video for Teagan and Sara's "Speak Slow" and a bio for Kim Cattrall.
Final Thoughts: A documentary regarding many aspects of sexuality, "Sexual Intelligence" provides some interesting looks at historical elements regarding the subject and offered some insights into relationships. Cattrall's hosting could have been a bit more straightforward to fit with the rest of the piece (her attempts at humor didn't work for me) and the documentary could have used a bit more focus, but women may find this an appealing look at relationships and sexual history/mythology.
Note: For the guys reading this wondering if there's female nudity, that'd be a no.
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