Sex. We all do it. Humans do it. The birds and the bees do it. “Love and Other Drugs” (2010) and “No Strings Attached” (2011) are two recent movies that are based on the premise of casual sex. Despite the increasing number of sex scenes found in movies, we avoid talking about them, and they are quickly forgotten like some traumatic memory. But the fact is cinematic history has preserved a multitude of sex scenes. Here are what I consider the 10 most notable sex scenes based on their relevance, popularity and peculiarity.

1.The Notebook

(2004, PG-13)

A film based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks, “The Notebook” is a popular romance that stars Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams. It also contains one of the most romantic sex scenes of all time, including classical piano, rose petal paths, candles and a decent amount of sex. While it isn’t the steamiest sex scene and probably the least realistic of the list, “The Notebook” has one of the most enviable portrayals of premarital sex that any teenage girl or boy could wish for.

2. Vicky Cristina Barcelona

(2008, PG-13)

During their summer stay in Spain, two friends —Vicky, played by Rebecca Hall,  and Cristina, played by Scarlett Johansson — both fall in love with painter Juan Antonio, played by Javier Bardem. While this Woody Allen film has a number of sensuous scenes, the best sex scene in the films contains no sex. In Juan Antonio’s first encounter with Vicky and Cristina, he asks them both to join him on a lovers’ holiday for the weekend.  “…I’ll show you around the city, and we’ll eat well. We’ll drink good wine. We’ll make love,” Bardem’s character says.

3. Nine ½ Weeks

(1986, R):

Mickey Rourke was a sex symbol even before he starred in “Iron Man 2,” “The Wrestler,” and “Sin City,” most notably in the erotic drama “Nine ½ Weeks.” Kim Basinger, who plays the protagonist Elizabeth, was the Angelina Jolie of her era. This film portrays a number of fetishes including cross-dressing, playing with ice, spoon-feeding, strip teasing and having public sex in the rain among a number of other erotic acts. While “Nine ½ Weeks” has been called “soft-core porn,” it has a decent story and cinematography. “Nine ½ Weeks” builds a sado masochistic romance and focuses on the sexual growth of the female protagonist Elizabeth in a delicate, titillating manner.

4. Thank You For Smoking

(2005, R)

Jason Reitman, director of “Juno” and “Up in the Air,” also directed “Thank You For Smoking,” a satirical portrayal of the tobacco industry through the eyes of its main spokesman Nick Naylor, played by Aaron Eckhart. In one scene, Nick and his lover have sex while his lover watches Nick on TV.  The best scene, however, is when Nick Naylor bargains with a Hollywood agent on key cigarette placements in movies. “Brad Pitt. Catherine Zeta Jones. They’ve just finished ravishing each other’s bodies for the first time. They lie naked, suspended in air underneath the heavens. Pitt lights up. He starts blowing smoke rings all around Catherine’s naked, flawless body as the galaxies go whizzing by over the glass dome ceiling. Now tell me if that doesn’t work for you,” Eckhart’s character says.

5.American Psycho

(2000, NC-17)

“American Psycho” is the cinematic adaptation of the novel by Bret Easton Ellis. The film centers on Patrick Bateman, played Christian Bale, who is a narcissistic Wall Street yuppie with psychopathic serial killer tendencies. While he is handsome, affluent and engaged to a beautiful young woman played by Reese Witherspoon, he also has a need that seems to be only satisfied with violent, homicidal acts. There are a great number of critical issues with the film and the novel, including those with gender and humanism. Still, one famous scene is when Patrick Bateman hires two prostitutes and then films himself having sex with them. While having sex, his only concern is his reflection in the mirror and how he looks while with two women at once. The popular Internet image of Christian Bale winking and pointing out of the frame originates from “American Psycho.”

6. Black Swan

(2010, R)

Darren Aronofsky films usually contain sex, from the awkward double ended dildo scene in “Requiem for a Dream” to the flesh pounding bathroom scene in “The Wrestler.” In “Black Swan” he creates the bizarre oral sex scene between the acclaimed Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis. Aronofsky has the capability to shoot a thrilling erotic film, ranging from filming strippers in “The Wrestler,” to prim ballerinas that turn dark in “Black Swan.”

7.Salon Kitty

(1976, NR)

Tinto Brass, infamously known as “Tinto Ass,” is one of the most erotic directors in cinematic history. Some consider his work to be pornographic, while others find him notable in the genre of erotic cinema. Brass has said, “I put two balls and a big cock between the legs of the Italian cinema.” “Salon Kitty,” which falls under the Nazi sexploitation genre, is about a Nazi prostitute who spies on her clients in the Nazi brothel named Salon Kitty. An infamous scene shows young women auditioning to be Nazi agents for the brothel. A string of white, pretty and patriotic German women march onto the stage and then demonstrate their sexual prowess their with Nazi soldiers. The difference between erotic films and pornography can be seen clearly in Tinto Brass films. They include beautiful women, showcase beautiful cinematography and offer offer a visually stunning experience despite the sex. There is more to the sex, which can be seen in the plots, characters and visuals of his films.

8. The Matrix Reloaded

(2003, R)

“The Matrix” by the Wachowski brothers was one of the most technologically advanced films of the last decade. “The Matrix Reloaded” was the highly anticipated sequel that succeeded in entertaining the audience while also being intellectually stimulating. A notable feature is one of the most random, unexpected sex scenes on the big screen. One second the people of Zion are cheering, stomping and having a spontaneous party rife with sexual tension and music, and the next second Neo, played by Keanu Reeves, and Trinity, played by Carrie-Anne Moss, have sex quite explicitly.

9. Splice

(2009, R):

“Splice” is a horror-scifi film that toys with the viewer’s mind. Like “Oldboy” by Park Chan—Work in that it features sexual relationships between parents and child, but in “Splice,” the parents are the scientists and the child is a scientific experiment gone wrong. More specifically, it’s a petri dish of human and animal DNA that lives, breathes and fornicates.

10. Antichrist

(2009, NR)

“Antichrist,” directed by Lars von Trier, is like a Tinto Brass film in that sex plays a crucial theme but is also artistically shown in a visually stunning or a horrifying manner. While some of its sexual scenes have the potential to arouse with their depiction of sexual acts, most of the scenes are horrifying and emotionally numbing. For example, the opening scene of “Antichrist” has to be one of the most beautifully executed but horrifying sex scenes of all time.

Notable mentions: “Fight Club,” “When Harry Met Sally,” “Pretty Woman,” “Zack and Miri Make a Porno,” “Basic Instinct,” “Dirty Dancing,” “Brokeback Mountain,” “Chloe,” “High Art.”