Film Belly Grades

stevebeaton10

Can we do TV series as well? If so Kaley Cuoco in series 1 of 8 Simple Rules is an absolute A. Literally wears low pants with a range of different crop tops particularly in the first 10 episodes of the series. Even lift her top up to ask her sister in the series how do her abs look

MrL

stevebeaton10
Maybe. TV shows are worth mentioning, but we’re focusing on film for now.

Here’s another franchise I’m gonna grade.
Marvel Cinematic Universe films. There are so many films that I’m not going to mention each one that gets an F grade for belly-baring, because most do. If I missed some belly-baring in an MCU film, please let me know.
Infinity Saga
Phase I
Iron Man: E.
Iron Man 2: E.
Phase II
Iron Man 3: B Some glorious belly-baring of Pepper Potts in the finale and some other belly-baring.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier: E
Guardians of the Galaxy: E
Phase III
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2: E
Black Panther: D. Nakia’s outfit is quite revealing but not focused on. There is also some rib midriff from other characters.
Multiverse Saga
Phase IV
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings: D. Shang’s sister has her navel visible for a decent amount of runtime.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever: D. A little bit of great-baring from Ironheart.
Phase V
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania: B. Jentorra’s one costume is similar to Leia’s metal bikini, but a little less revealing.
The Marvels: B. I love Carol’s belly-baring in this one.

00swatcher

Here are two different movies from the same year.

Scooby Doo (2002): C. There are bikini clad women and there are also a couple of scenes of Linda Cardellini’s belly showing in an unintentional way.

Sorority Boys (2002): C. While there is not a bikini scenes, I lost count of the amount women whose shirts rode up to expose bellies. Even the two major actresses, Melissa Sagemiller and Bree Turner, had a few scenes of their belly buttons showing in the movie. Peak 2000s fashion is really the best time for both intentional and unintentional belly exposure.

MrL

Of the two highest-grossing live-action films this year, let’s talk about Barbie and Oppenheimer a moment. They obviously spawned the Barbenheimer phenomenon.
Barbie probably gets a C. We see Dua Lipa as Mermaid Barbie but I don’t recall even a peek of her navel (we see the rest of her midriff).
Margot Robbie has a cowgirl outfit for some of the movie that shows her navel and just about none of the rest of her belly.
Oppenheimer probably gets a C. Florence Pugh has the only belly-baring in the film (and more than that, but it’s not appropriate to mention in detail in this thread), and to me she is one of the most beautiful people. This is a case of quality being quite high but not much in quantity at all.

00swatcher

Do non-theatrical movies count?

Anyway, one of the movies I found had a limited theatrical release, while the other had a wide release.

The Californians (2005): C. Might be the most belly I have seen from Kate Mara apart from her other film “Shooter”. Since she was playing an environmental advocate, Kate Mara wore these short tops that either showed off her lower midriff or they rode up to expose her belly button.

Stay (2005): A or C. This one is more difficult to categorize. There is a brief scene where Elizabeth Reaser shirt rides up to expose her belly button. However, the lighting actually shows how deep and detailed her belly button is for that limited time.

MrL

00swatcher
But of course.
If they premiered on TV, streaming services, video, etc. they’re still fair game.

00swatcher

Clerks 2 (2006): C or D. There is not much belly baring for most of the movie, but a dance sequence to Michael Jackson’s “ABC” song does have some instances of belly exposure. For example, an emo/scene dancer has a brief shirt lift. An Asian dancer also has a shirt lift that exposes her belly button. There is a Hispanic dancer in a crop top, and an Indian dancer in traditional belly exposing garb.

MikeBrooklyn

Obvious A Grade Films:
Bring It On (2000)
Coyote Ugly (2000)
Blue Crush (2002)
DOA: Dead Or Alive (2006)
B*tch Slap (2009)

00swatcher

Sherrybaby (2006): A or C. While Maggie Gyllenhaal does not wear a bikini, she wears these shirts that ride up to expose her belly button throughout the movie. I posted pictures and time stamps in the ‘Maggie Gyllenhaal’ thread.

MikeBrooklyn

Madame Web (2024): C+.
Set during 2003, bare midriff style is alive and well in this movie. Isabela Merced and Celeste O’Connor wear cropped tops throughout almost the entire movie, and at one point Sydney Sweeney ties her shirt in a knot and wears a cropped top at the very end. Thankfully, all three are usually filmed from the waist up. Dakota Johnson also has a sliver of tummy showing at one point, too. That being said, the movie is best watched on mute and fast forward, because the plot, dialogue, and overall logic of the movie are laughably bad.

00swatcher

MikeBrooklyn Does Dakota’s belly button show in the movie? She seems to wear high rise pants in most of her apperances, be it in real life or movies.

Also this might be a nitpick, but Isabella wears these high rise/mid rise pants that are common in the last ten years. You would think they would make the pants down to hip level like the common fashion of the 2000s or early parts of the 2010s.

MikeBrooklyn

00swatcher

Yes, it’s true, Dakota does wear high waisted pants to the point when the sliver of her tummy is showing, you don’t see her bellybutton. I’m guessing that was either her personal style choice, or it was designed to show her character being more mature than the other girls.

As for low rise/hip huggers, yes, that style isn’t on display. Except that Celeste does have sagging pants with the waistband of her underwear showing, which was a style choice of the early 2000s, and Katy Perry recently tried to bring back. These factors are why the movie doesn’t get higher than a C+.

MrL

The Substance (2024) gets an A. There’s NSFW belly-baring for Demi Moore including a close-up where her finger touches her navel. Margaret Qualley has NSFW belly-baring and clothed belly-baring. If you’re not into body horror, skip it and wait for the high quality HD and 4K clips when it hits digital of the good stuff.
The Killer’s Game (2024) gets an B. Sofia Boutella wears a crop top for over half of her screen time. There’s a bit of other baring as well from a few other women.