Eyes Wide Shut, Part 2, and the Sexiest Man Alive in 1999 (Erotic 90s, Part 21)

In part 2 of the Eyes Wide Shut story, the movie is finally unveiled, and critics are divided on its quality, and the use of digital effects to evade an NC-17 rating. Where could Hollywood eroticism go from here? We’ll wrap up the Erotic 90s story with some thoughts on Richard Gere’s two-decade journey from American Gigolo to becoming PEOPLE Magazine’s 1999 “Sexiest Man Alive,” and other ways in which time and politics combined to make that which was once transgressive harmlessly mainstream.

(00:00) Introduction and Eyes Wide Shut Ratings Woes

(18:40) Critical Hype and Reckoning

(34:10) Box Office Disappointment

(49:22) Tom and Nicole Divorce

(55:25) Cindy Crawford, Controversies and Gerbil Rumors

(01:07:40) Unfaithful and the End of the Erotic 90s