Lovefilm customers ranked the spanking scene between Lee (played by Maggie Gyllenhaal) and her boss Edward (James Spader) as the best sex scene. Secretary, and Gyllenhaal's performance in particular, deserves to be acknowledged for its relatively complicated and at times realistic portrayal of a sexual relationship based on consensual power exchange. In any dramatic feature we can expect some representations that don't really fit with reality, but I particularly liked the fact that the movie emphasized (by the end) the loving nature of a relationship which on the surface looks like it's just about pain and control.

It's a sign of our society's deeply ingrained homophobia that the sex scenes between Jack (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Ennis (Heath Ledger) in this film were parodied, critiqued, and dissected in far more intense way than any other movie sex scene in recent memory. But it's a tribute to the skill of the writer, filmmaker and actors that audiences largely related to Jack and Ennis as if they were any other couple struggling with their feelings. Lovefilm viewers singled out the kiss between Jack and Ennis as their number two pick.

Out of Sight is something of a study in sexual tension, and clearly Lovefilm customers who put this movie at number three are the kinds of people who prefer a slow teasing build-up to sex instead of getting right down to business. It's no surprise then that viewers chose the fully clothed scene between Jack (George Clooney) and Karen (Jennifer Lopez) when they are locked in the car trunk over the sex scene proper in a bed with some skin.

But in case anyone thought Europeans were all about the slow burn, there's Betty Blue's incomparable opening sex scene between Betty (Beatrice Dalle) and Zorg (Gean-Hughes Anglade). Shocking at first in its raw intensity, the seemingly never ending intercourse scene eventually elicits laughter along with arousal, fear and confusion. It's a beautiful portrayal of how sex can be both creative and destructive, and a perfect set-up for what's to come.

The manipulative kiss between Selma Blair and Sarah Michelle Gellar in this teen remake of Dangerous Liasons (itself a remake of Liaisons Dangereuses) may lack the passion of other scenes on the list, but it offers a good example of two other aspects of sex most of us can relate to -- the thrill of first sexual experiences and the fact that not every kiss is planted out of love.

The line between movie sex scene and pornography sometimes gets blurry, and the choice of this movie -- and the infamous car washing scene featuring Neve Campbell and Denise Richards -- is as good a proof as any that sometimes moviegoers would like a bit more porn in their mainstream movies.

If it's been a while since you've seen Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window all you need to do is watch this clip of the Grace Kelly/James Stewart kiss and you'll be rushing out to the video store. The kiss, and the description by many viewers of the classic sex scene as one of the best ever, also serves as a reminder of what a great director can do with sex: Every subtle movement and look is captured and seems to last for minutes instead of seconds (not unlike the way we remember our own favorite sex scenes).

Michelle Pfeiffer's memorable rendition of "Makin' Whoopee'" while writhing on the piano is beautifully shot and in some ways feels like a weird kind of public sex scene between her and Jeff Bridges as the camera moves around the piano and we're reminded that the whole scene is taking place in front of a few hundred people. One viewer commented that this was the sexiest scene involving a fully clothed actress.

The obvious parts of sex may be explicit and conscious and these are the parts that get the most press. But the really interesting stuff is what lurks beneath the surface, and David Lynch is arguably the master of this domain. Lovefilm viewers singled out Betty (Naomi Watts) and a mysterious brunette (Laura Harring) sharing a bed together as their favorite sex scene, but could easily have chosen the whole film or any number of other scenes given the intense and lush sexual energy Lynch creates. In some ways you could say that David Lynch shows us what sex is like from the inside out.

The sexual act is one of both creation and destruction, and vampires who both live forever and are constantly taking the lives of others make for a powerful metaphor, particularly if they happen to be David Bowie and Catherine Deneuve. The seduction scene between Deneuve and Susan Sarandon is found on almost all top sex scene picks list, and rounds out this one.