Nerve's 50 Greatest Female Sex Symbols In Movie History: My Best and Worst Picks

Nerve.com came out last week with a list of the 50 greatest female sex symbols in movie history. Like any list, there are hits and there are misses, though such a thing varies by person. Here's my take on the good choices and the lame.

From Nerve: "A style icon is one thing; a great actress another. A sex symbol can be neither, though our favorites are both. The women on this list inflamed the lusts of entire generations. Many of them changed the cultural history of sex itself. Ranking them was not easy, but we can't say it wasn't fun." 

HITS

CHARLIZE THERON

The versatile Theron was as comfortable in the absurd universe of Arrested Development as she was in the gritty North Country, proving that true beauty lies in adaptability. And also in incredible bone structure. (Nerve)

HELEN MIRREN

A highly-lauded and wise English actress like Helen Mirren should hardly be diffident, but when today asked about her notoriety as a '60s and '70s sex symbol, she blushes. Demure as she may be now, looking at her in Age of Consent, we have to think that she knew exactly what she was doing. (Nerve)

JACQUELINE BISSET

Jacqueline Bisset's breasts, glimpsed through a soaking wet white t-shirt, are pretty much all anyone remembers about The Deep. (Nerve)

PAM GRIER

In 1974, one fine slit in a red dress in Foxy Brown introduced the world to Pam Grier's majestic decolletage — and we're still thinking about it. With audacity, bodaciousness, and abdominal muscles, she was an action superhero and an incomparable sex symbol. (Nerve)

MONICA BELLUCCI

Monica Bellucci has the kind of objectively undeniable beauty and genetics-defying figure that make you a sex symbol; that she happens to be a great actress is a considerable bonus. (Nerve)

SALMA HAYEK

Salma's gorgeous face and probably award-winning breasts would be enough to unzip the collective flies of straight men globally. But her daring performances, from serious takes in Frida to outright zaniness in 30 Rock, make Salma Hayek the preferred choice of the thinking sex enthusiast. (Nerve)

BRIGITTE BARDOT

We owe this icon of the French New Wave for more than just her staggering loveliness. She may have also given us the Beatles — the young Paul McCartney and John Lennon bonded over their Bardot-lust. And Bob Dylan once confessed that the first song he ever wrote was to her. The greatest popular music ever recorded was basically inspired by this one bombshell, and if you look at pictures of her, it's easy to understand why. (Nerve)

MISSES

CAMERON DIAZ

The Mask was the first and last time Diaz was sexy.

MELANIE GRIFFITH

This is a joke, right? Not even in my top 100.

DARYL HANNAH

Dude name. Dude face.

MEGAN FOX

Pretty? Yes. Movie sex symbol? No. She's done, what, four movies? Come on.

SCARLETT JOHANSSON

Big boobs, small talent. She bores me.

DEMI MOORE

No. Demi less.

FARRAH FAWCETT

One, she was more TV star than film star. Two, she never did it for me.


See the full list at Nerve.
.

Halloween Video Of The Day

You knew it was coming. Halloween doesn't start until Jan Terri sings.


.

Creepy-Ass Halloween Costumes Of The Day

From Rachel H.


Bette Davis guards the pumpkin patch


Rosemary's baby and his dad


Whaddya mean, "not wearing masks"?




Walter Matthau, a Sand Person and Jigsaw head out for trick-or-treating


The world's first "green" costume, made from recycled aprons and donated pubic hair.


This is what you get for eating hot wings, watching The Shining and listening to Abbey Road right before bed.


Welcome back...to that same old creep you had nightmares about


Do I smell bacon?


Deleted scene from either The Karate Kid or A Clockwork Orange.


On behalf of (clockwise from bottom right) H. H. Holmes, Emmett Kelly, Nathan Bedford Forrest, Moses, Ben Willis, Jigsaw (again), Pancho Villa, Blackbeard, Donnie Darko, Harvey and Al Jolson, welcome to Hell.
.