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Served as Chairman, New York Film Critics Circle: 1993/94.
Favorite interviews were with: Michael Douglas, Sophia Loren, DeForest Kelley, Joan Chen, Joe Henderson, Ismail Merchant, Klaus Kinski, Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Spike Lee, Malcolm McDowell, Zoe Lund, Melvin Van Peebles, Ultra Violet, Wolfgang Petersen, Claudia Cardinale, Serge Silberman, Margarethe von Trotta, Alec Guinness, Leonard Nimoy, Susan George, Joseph Losey, Gale Anne Hurd, Dennis Hopper, Peter Greenaway, Katt Shea, Ken Russell, Maggie Greenwald, Jim Jarmusch, Peter Brook, Jurgen Prochnow, Andy Warhol, Judy Davis, Chuck Vincent, Fred Zinnemann, Wim Wenders, Max Von Sydow, Michael Moore, Terry Gilliam, Rita Jenrette, Karen Lynn Gorney, Bruce Beresford, Jack Thompson, Russ Meyer, Sam Raimi, Abel Ferrara, John Sayles, William Greaves, Nino Manfredi, Lee Van Cleef, Michael Cuscuna, Bille August, Jewel Shepard, Andy Sidaris, Michel Deville, Claude Sautet, Claude Lelouch, Alfonso Arau, Alan Parker, Reinhard Hauff, Traci Lords, Jim Jarmusch, Martha Coolidge, Candida Royalle, Giuseppe Tornatore, Edward James Olmos, Paul Hogan, John Mackenzie, Peter Hyams, Jennifer Beals,, Adrian Lyne, Samuel Fuller, Dario Argento, James Toback, Lasse Hallstrom, Fred Williamson, Gabriel Axel, Joe Bastianich, Aaron Sanchez, Danny Meyer, Steve Hanson, Matthew Kenney, Douglas Rodriguez, Simon Oren, Stanley Donen, Lindsay Anderson, Helena Bonham Carter, Edward Pressman, Harold Becker, Larry Cohen, James Ivory, Jack O'Connell, Michael Phillips, Kevin McClory, Jackie Mason, Joan O'Brien, Stanley Donen, Joseph B. Vasquez, Don Bluth, William Lustig, Al Goldstein, Simon Wincer, Valeria Cavalli, Dave Fishelson, Lizzie Borden, Roberta Findlay, Rob Cohen, Doris Wishman, Robert Tapert, Bruce Campbell, Bill Cosby, Pasquale Squitieri, Menahem Golan, Yoram Globus, Tim Kincaid, Joel M. Reed, Gregory Dark, T.L. Lankford, Fred Olen Ray, Victoria Paige Meyerink, Lawrence D. Foldes, Rick Marx & Ted V. Mikels
Reviews
Transfixed: Domestic Flight (2024)
Something for everyone
Despite the utterly dumb dialogue during the 2-minute story set-up of the vignette (courtesy of hack writer Penicio Del Toro), this Transfixed segment of a stewardess seducing her pilot is a pleasant novelty in the series. Veteran director Jim Powers delivers more than usual.
TS newcomer Carrie Emberlyn is a tall, attractive redhead who proves her abilities by not only pegging Jay Tee near the end of the scene but also cumming on cue for a novelty simultaneous cum shot climax. That's perhaps a first in this successful Bree Mills series.
Fans subscribe to Transfixed for the promised trans lesbian content, but this episode makes up for the absence of a beautiful cis-female thanks to the novel content. Perhaps it's about time that the website's home page alters the "lesbian" hype, as Bree has now firmly added more traditional Guy/Trans scenes to her rotating program of updates.
Hotel Sex (1992)
Corny rom-com
The cast tries hard, but they're stuck in an utterly trite porn video by Stuart Canterbury. He provides plenty of story material about sexual stuff occurring at a hotel, but it's all silly.
Despite his billing last in the credits, Rocco Siffredi is the central character, playing a horny bellboy who we're supposed to identify with as he pretends to be a guest in order to win over a beautiful girl who's a real guest -Taylor Wayne. He ends up in the sack with her, even though his being unmasked as a lowly employee rather than some Italian prince is part of Canterbury's plot twists. And oddly enough, his cum shot on Taylor's face that concludes the movie is one of those "invisible" ones -implied but not visually shown.
His pal is the hotel bartender Jerry Butler, overacting as usual. Before bedding down with Rocco, Taylo has lesbian sex with her pal Cameo, latter immediately written out of Canterbury's script. Another subplot of front desk clerk Dominique Simone ending up humping Butler when in fact it's Rocco she longs for makes no sense at all.
Alexandria Quinn plays a busty nude sunbather who gets humped outdoors by the meanie hotel manager Biff Malibu. Her name is missing from both the opening and end credits, likely because she was involved in a famous "working while underage" scandal that broke a year before this VHS was released.
House Party (1996)
Funny sit-com
Toni English directed this feature for Vivid's Wave Films subsidiary, a sitcom about the hijinks when a porn company rents out a house to shoot a movie without telling the owners what type of film it is.
Vince Vouyer stars as the home renter who has just lost the rent money in a poker game, hence is thrilled when production manager George Kaplan signs him up for the use of the place as a location.
It's fun and pleasantly corner when the problems ensue, befitting a light comedy. Director is played by Tony Tedeschi, known as C. T., doing a vague but amusing parody of PT a/k/a Paul Thomas, Vivid's leading director. Vince's roommate Bobby Vitale is understandably angry to find out how their house is being used and his girlfriend Jill Kelly also gets mad, but changes her tune when she's chosen to fill in participating in a threesome lesbian scene with Crystal Breeze and Jenteal. Later, when the shooting's done, Jenteal seduces Bobby, sort of equal time.
A pair of activist neighbors, Jordan Lee and Michael Knight, threaten to get Vince evicted, but in a final plot twist they are caught misbehaving, defusing the situation. It all leads to a happy ending for Vince, just in time.
Hot Wired (1996)
Platinum?
The late not so great porn label VCA released some of its product as VCA Platinum and even Platinum Plus -supposedly to indicate top of the line quality. This lousy VHS feature from an unknown producer-director "Decadent D" is stamped Platinum, an insult to the unsuspecting viewer.
It's basically in the format of a loop carrier. Johnni Black stars as the hard-nosed boss of a TV outfit that has just executed a merger and now has access to satellite delivery. They've decided to use their new status to feature hardcore porn programming, free of the restrictions limiting broadcast and cable companies.
With a deadline looming just a few weeks off, she calls a meeting of her execs to show & tell the pilot shows hoping to make it on the new schedule. We watch porn vignettes representing each, all of them given thumbs down as crap by Johnni.
Katilyn Ashley stars in two of the proprosed show -one a stupid porn comedy in which she has sex with repairman Tom Byron, and the other a lesbian-themed show in which she uses a dildo on Celine Devoux. Other shows feature a forgotten blonde star Dalny Marga.
It all adds up to nothing, the story merely reflecting a previous era when cable, dish and pay-per-view were in heavy competition, and the concept of "streaming" was not yet dreamed of.
Naughty Butt Nice (1993)
Random loops
The correct spelling on screen is "Naughty but Nice", and there is no emphasis at all here on posteriors, just a wishful thinking typo in the database. What you get is an hour or so of porno loops slapped together as a lousy VHS release.
Sole point of interest is the excellent makeup effects for vignette #1. It stars Samantha York doing a fine job servicing Tony Martino, as she performs a novel form of double penetration by taking his two cocks, yes he's got two, in her pussy at once. There's no story or set-up for why he is such a freak of nature, but impressively it is difficult to discern which of the two is real and which is a prosthetic. The answer is finally given when he has a fake cum shot that is extremely copious, all coming from the fake dick.
Other scenes are throwaways: superstar Savannah playing a maid in a sexy costume servicing Randy West on his couch; a pair of unknowns Jesse (girl) and Brian having silent sex starting off with Jesse using a dildo to help masturbate, and a foursome starring Cal Jammer with three ladies, heavy on the lesbian sex.
Loud music frowns out whatever dialogue is present.
TNA TV (1999)
Funny spoof
Jonathan Morgan is in fine comedy form with this parody of television programming, in particular one of those Public TV pledge week telethons in which viewers are asked to subsidize the station's operating expense and some fine musical special is shown, the type of programming commercial networks don't provide (ranging from doo-wop to a Joni Mitchell concert).
In this case, Kyle Stone emcees and shows porn programming vignettes, while Tabitha Stevens, looking remarkably like a porno version of Vanna White, delivers a touted (on the video box) first-ever double-penetration scene for the fans.
Vignettes include Brad Armstrong as an astronaut getting sex in outer space from hot Emily Jewel; a spoof of those Aussie wildlife shows by the late Steve Irwin featuring Morgan himself doing the Aussie accent while Mr. Marcus is cast as an aborigine (!) humping Cortknee. You can't accuse Jonathan of political correctness.
Pat Myne plays a doctor humping nurse Melanie Stone in "Chicago Hopelessness", while Tabitha predictably ends the telethon by servicing Kyle on the air.
I was surprised to see that this Wicked feature has become a collector's item, with its DVD reissue selling for anywhere from $175 to $400 a pop on the used market. You know the saying: there's one born every minute.
Transfixed: Swapping Panties (2024)
On with the sex!
Lapis Afterglow gets a writing credit on this Transfixed segment, but there's no story or dialogue. Instead, fans get to see TS star Emma Rose and the beautiful Octavia Red completely into each other, having sex in the bedroom without any set-up.
Their lingerie is the star, Octavia in orange and Emma in powder blue, enhancing each one's allure. A definite playing to panties fetichism is evident, as they take each other's garment and stuff their mouths and exercise their sniffers throughout, while not neglecting the XXX fellatio, cunnilingus and intercourse.
Payoff is a copious cum shot by Emma on Red's fabulous breasts, definitely a happy ending. For Transfixed fans it's a welcome return to realism, instead of the phony money shots (or absence of such "proof of purchase" climaxes) the label has been delivering of late.
Scarlett's Truth or Dare (2024)
A great team
Ryan Driller and Scarlett Sage have worked together several times before and it's safe to say they represent a Dream Team when it comes to an Adult "daddy" scene. This flirty vignette cements the evident chemistry that exists between the two performers.
Story begins with conflict: stepdad Ryan grounds his daughter for having been disrespectful to his date last night. She's none to pleased with this development, but tries to make the best of it by challenging daddy to a game of Truth or Dare.
That breaks the ice between them and the game soon turns to intimate conversation and truths that lead inevitably to taboo sex. Scarlett's skill at inhabiting a character means that there's no doubt when she's once again a virgin learning all about sex from her daddy, after hundreds of performances for her fans in Adult Cinema roles.
With a creampie in store at the end of the rainbow, chalk up another winner from Missa X.
Erotic Obsession (1995)
Fine is fine
This straightforward romantic porno gives Jeanna Fine a chance to shine, as she convincingly demonstrates that porn stars can act.
It opens with her looking rather elegant doing housework: hoovering and dusting. She accidentally finds her hubby Mike Horner's collection of VHS porn videos, and that sets her off on a quest of sexual exploration.
After watching one of the tapes with her pal Felecia, she's aroused enough to masturbate after Felecia's left. Then she watches beautiful neighbor Rebecca Lord cheating on Lord's suare husband with handy stud Mark Davis.
Inevitably, Jeanna gets down and dirty with Felecia next, two pros at selling a lesbian scene. And next on her hit parade is to seduce handyman Tony Tedeschi.
Finale is a switcheroo, instead of the current craze of hotwifing, Jeanna catches husband Horner making love to Vanessa Chase at his office, and instead of getting angry, she instructs Mike in hotw it's done, geting pleasure watching them hump. Of course, Jeanna gets the last laugh, announcing her divorce plans.
This is quintessentially a couples movie, epecially when it includes the scene of Fine and Felicia watching a porn movie for presumably the first time and commenting on the action, a userful icebreaker for viewers deciding to watch some porn together.
Heartbeat (1995)
Introspection can be annoying
This is the most pretentious feature by Mitch Spinelli I've ever watched (I've seen over 50 so far), and it was very, very hard to sit through.
That's primarily due to the casting. Jon Dough is the star, playing a womanizer who is hard to get along with but all the women want to f*ck him, and when he turns serious the movie becomes unbearable. It begins as a phony rom-com but becomes more and more downbeat and "serious", as if director Mitch thought he was the next Cassavetes.
Totally sinking the project is the knee-jerk casting of Joey Silvera as a down and out, noncummincative bum Dough befriends as a sudden Good Samaritan when he finds him lying by the side of the road. He takes him to his home in his sports car, and despite ridicule from his friends like Steve Hatcher, puts up with Joey's usual improv and creepy behavior. Yes, Spinelli consciously crosses the line (and blurs the line) between porn and indie filmmaking, displaying the worst self-indulgence of both.
Six mechanical sex scenes justify "Heartbeat" as a disposable VHS release, but Mitch insists on trying to pump substance or "a search for meaning" into the projects. Its ironic ending is corny and stupid -the entire movie designed to annoy the viewer rather than to provoke involvement in Dough's problems. Is his character leading an empty life? Yes. Is his acting poor? Yes.
The 66th Day (2024)
A fable of submission
The actors turned filmmakers team of Siouxsie Q and Michael Vegas try their hand at a feature film, after making hundreds of vignettes for Gamma Entertainment's various Bree Mills labels, with this glossy but unconvincing Wicked Pictures movie. Clearly aimed to please fans of BDSM lite porn, its misogynistic defense of the Submission school of brainwashing left me cold.
The movie reminds me less of the "50 Shades" novels (and crappy films) that made it possible, but leans back toward the "Pauline Reage" (Anne Desclos) novel "Story of O" that started it all, seven decades ago.
It's a fable, replete with a happy ending (if you buy into Siouxsie's rather ridiculous, topsy-turvy notion of what self-realization for a woman means) as star Vanna Bardot is put through the wringer as basically a sex slave for over 3-1/2 hours of running time only to emerge as a young lady with a very bright future and unlimited possibilities. The key is that two hissably evil men (Codey Steele and Lexington Steele -I guess their bearing the same stage surname is a happy coincidence) plus one deliciously sarcastic domme (Penny Barber -I'm a fan!) have painstakingly taught her over a period of 65 days how to face and overcome pain, greed and mistreatment to become a "complete" person. Sort of a toughening up process. She also has the vast largesse promised by Lex at her disposal.
The first half of the show is a perverted romance, with ice-cold Codey Steele quite a villain (think of those wonderful Gainsborough British melodramas with James Mason from the 1940s) as he picks her up at a flea market (with a key uncredited cameo role there by the movie's production assistant Daphne, who made an impression on me with her couple of bit parts in Transfixed episodes) and quickly makes Vanna a willing slave. The whole movie falls apart rather quickly, as it's very, very difficult to suspend disbelief at how easily Vanna gives up her freedom (cue the Beyonce music in your head) to the young creep.
Lexington, of course, is far creepier when Codey turns his slave over to him on the 19th Day for "further training". Both men are equally callous and oblivious to Vanna's need for love - one supposes that the Submissive Handbook says you have to beat that out of her. At any rate, once Lex is through manhandling and humiliating poor Vanna, he sends her on the 44th Day in a sleek Mercedes to Penny Barber's chateau (Story of O reference??) for final training, which porn fans will be glad to find out is a lesbian orgy with her and her female slaves Hazel Grace and Demi Hawks.
Considering the BDSM subject matter, the endless sex scenes are surprisingly vanilla, no doubt to appeal to Wicked fans (like myself -it was my favorite top-drawer porn label back in its heyday) who can find sleazier porn everywhere else with ease.
The pair of directors do a slick job, but make some rookie errors. At the very outset, one of a dozen or so title cards to mark the passage of time (with flashbacks and flash-forwards abounding) reads "The 21th Day"! That goof startled me, but two more bloopers awaited me: in future segments we have "The 35rd Day" (equal time mixing up oh-so-familiar suffixes) and finally a real doozy: "The 65td Day". The other disconcerting defect is in the photography/editing: Vegas and Sal Genoa (who used to work for Filly Films) man the A and B cameras, and in many scenes the shots edited together from their simultaneous work doesn't match: one camera has sharp focus and the other is soft focus -like those horse-blanket shots one associates with shooting aging Hollywood divas (in my memory, Lucille Ball's blurry closeups in the ill-fated movie of "Mame" were the most glaring, mismatched against the crisp focus elsewhere). This back and forth mismatch was not fixed in post-production, as Wicked, like most if not all porn labels, doesn't really care about the quality of the NonSex footage, assuming fans will skip it anyway.
Online Hookup (2024)
Fine pairs
Adult Time recycles some nice lesbian scenes from six or seven years ago (all directed by Stills By Alan) in this new VOD release.
One scene appeared on the Girlsway subscription website in 2017 but never made it to a feature-length DVD or VOD: ttled "Two's Company", it stars Aaliyah Love and Kissa Sins getting ready to attend one of those corporate "Team Building" exercises. Perhaps it didn't get the wide release because it's basically an all-sexer. (Its immediate sequel named "Two's Company, Three's Allowed -Part 2" in which Chanell Heart was added for a 3-way did make it onto DVD.)
The all-time great Lana Rhoades resurfaces opposite Celeste Star in the title segment "Online Hookup" in which Celeste is on the rebound from a breakup when she hooks up with beauiful Lana. The vignette was on the 2018 DVD "Lesbian Hookup".
"The Science Experiment" is the goofiest scene, with Cadence Lux at her laptop as a test subject for an experimental study, fitted out with electrodes near her pussy getting orgasms as a result. Mom Mona Wales observes this and insists on getting into the act, humping the girl. It showed up on the 2018 DVD "Managing My Daughter".
"The Naked Life" was on the 2018 DVD by that name. It has MILF Alexis Fawx embracing nudism and a New Age approach that comes as a shock to her kid Dillion Harper, and the show is made engrossing by Dillion's convincing resistance, though of course giving in to the inevitable Sapphic sex with its intended incestuous overtones.
When Did You Get So...! (2024)
3 quality seductions
Three quality vignettes from "Mommy's Girl" are united on this Adult Time VOD.
Cute little Myra Moans seduces her zoftig stepmom Lauren Phillips in the title segment. The highly contrasting team (physically) of actresses end up making beautiful music together.
This segment has no writing credit, and it has very little point to the set-up scene preceding the sex. Myra keeps begging her mom to let her buy some new clothes, and in fact the sweater they youngster is wearing is quite shabby, with tears and holes in it. One of Myra's nipples is sticking out of the sweater (she doesn't wear a bra or need one), so Laura starts to criticize.
But Myra uses the opening to come on strong with her stepmom, who, a is usual in porn, complains about her acting "inappropriate". That's code for taboo, but it doesn't take long to talk her into a Sapphic romp on the living room couch while daddy's away.
The players are quite convincing in their lovemaking, creating an arousing scene.
Chloe Surreal and her stepmom Serene Siren seem awfully chummy during the intro section of this well-written "Mommy's Girl" episode titled: "No, YOU go fitst", a clue as to what direction the little story will take. Chloe's in the kitchen preparing dinner for the duo, with Siren arriving home from work and helping out.
It seems both of them have a big announcement to make, and the segment's catchy title derives from their brief politeness as to who gets to speak. They decide to do it simultaneously, declaring together: "I'm a lesbian".
This dual revelation causes Chloe to wonder. What about dad? Stepmom says she's already told him, and they might be breaking up as a result. But she pledges that she'll always be there for Chloe, feeling like her real mom.
Each one admits to having an unrequited crush on the other, and now that the cat's out of the bag, intimacy is the next step for them, and a very strong XXX Sapphic sex scene results, very nicely performed by the two busty pros. This is a high-quality scene, benefitting from establishing two solid characters before the action gets going.
A marvelous segment titled "Lonely Lunchtime" brings an all-time great fetish model Jewell Marceau back to a mainstream role as cute Freya Parker's stepmom. The faux incest scene is extremely well-acted, and then builds to highly erotic cunnilingus by the girls.
Marceau is an impressive addition to the growing ranks of Adult performers who play MILF roles. She started in porn making bondage and fetish videos in 1996, and at age 47 is perfect for this role. I have seen her before on rare occasions in story-oriented Adult movies, notably Nick Orleans' classic "Return to the Edge", and whoever cast her here deserves kudos.
She visits her daughter at lunchtime at school, bringing her the lunch Freya forgot at home, and is surprised to see her studyng alone in a classroom while everybody else is in the school cafeteria. It turns out that Freya has been bullied lately by her classmates recently for having come out as a lesbian and feels threatened dining with them.
Marceau is quite sympathetic to her stepdaughter's plight and backs her up in her decision to come out. When Freya thanks her with a kiss, the teen notes that mom has expressed bicurious feelings and at this point the show moves swiftly to XXX lesbian sex.
Both performers are believable in their acting and I especially liked a subtle (but effective) moment when Jewell licks her lips in anticipation as the porn content begins to unfold. Fans of the genre will want to see this one, amidst a constant flow of literally thousands of lesbian vignettes lately.
My TS Stepmom 7 (2024)
Slim pickings
Only two stepmom/kid scenes in this edition, plus an unrelated sex scene spoofing the Brad Pitt hit "Fight Club".
In a segment shot at the "Immoral Proposal" mansion (upstairs only in the bedroom), Lucy Hart is the new stepmother, dealing with beautiful kid Gal Ritchie, who has a habit of stealing "mama"''s clothing. She doesn't mean to do wrong, just admires her new mom's fashion sense.
After Lucy has a tough talk with the youngster, she is flattered by the attention and realizes that Gal has a crush on her, feeling neglected by her daddy. Pretty soon the two of them are making love, and it doesn't hurt that Gal digs her stepmom's hard cock.
The scene is fairly standard trans lesbian content, but I was struck by the transformation of Lucy, as I had seen her as Lance Hart many times, both in Gay Porn assignments and with trans-females. Here Lucy has a new look, enhanced by wearing glasses and an attractive hairdo, plus a new voice -the net effect reminded me of the '80s star Margaux Hemingway, whose tragic career was in the shadow of her successful sister Mariel Hemingway.
The other stepmom scene is much better, benefitting from fine acting by Ariel Demure and Tony Genius. It's a simple storyline, the young man catches his mom masturbating, and when they discuss this she discovers he's still a virgin. In porn that means only one thing -time to take matters in one's own hands (so to speak) and conduct sexual initiation.
The scene delivers excellent pegging for fans, with interracial sex thrown in and a real cum shot from Ariel (Lucy's scene featured a fake "cum in the mouth" ending.
With the rapid decline of interest in DVDs, Transsensual seems to be phasing out its feature-length releases, evidenced by this 2 stepmoms scenes plus a random third scene. Titled "Fu*k Club", it's an entertining nod to David Fincher's iconic "Fight Club". Lovely Anna De Ville arrives and chooses Zariah Ariah as her opponent (there are five women present, but Zariah is the only trans-female). After Anna playfully has a bit of sex tease with a dildo used on XWife Karen, the two ladies square off, but instead of some bloody punching, they have half an hour of gonzo sex. What makes it different is the other four actresses giggle a lot and are extremely vocal as their audience throughout. What is lousy is that it's a bare, undecorated set, porn at its chintziest.
Zariah's big dick is on display, with deep throat action by Anna and a surprise "fountains of squirt" by Anna near the end. Once more, the fans are (mis)treated to a fake "in the mouth" cum shot by Zariah at the finish. The NonSex performers are unidentified, but I immediately spotted Aussie actress Charlie Forde among them.
The Hungry Heart (1996)
Rick Blaine's magnum opus
RIck Blaine was a top porn editor, but had only a handful of opportunities to create Adult features. This is a very ambitious BDSM-subject matter movie, billed as "a love story by Rick Blaine''- definitely something different for the genre. I greatly enjoyed another classic he made for Adam & Eve: "Tatoo", one of the best fictional stories on that topic.
Shanna McCullough stars in "The Hungry Heart", playing a woman scorned who becomes a dominatrix, but not your usual one -she's a domme looking for love! Most of the movie is told from her point-of-view: we witness in flashback the key trauma that changed her life: she caught her husband Mickey G. Being a sex slave to Missy -who pegged him, not the usual content for an Adult Movie. Then we see her helping various couples, ranging from Alex Sanders & Sid Deuce to Tom Byron and Lovette, to experience BDSM lite, intensifying their romantic relationships. Ultimately she finds true love with her pool guy, Mark Davis (how sweet and porno-corny).
Despite its unusual nature and interesting content, "The Hungry Heart" was missing from IMDb for 28 years, until I added it this afternoon.
My Wildest Date (1995)
Crappy twice
Buck Adams made a lousy video with this title in 1989, starring Victoria Paris, and decided to remake it six years later with Kelly Jaye. The second one is even worse!
With poor continuity, terrible acting and every single comedy bit falling flat, it's tough to watch. Per the title, it begins with a soft-focus memory by Buck, heavy on his voice-over, presenting a date that went wrong. He humps Holly Body, so far so good, but after his cum shot she complains and gives him a bit of her lip. So what! Get over it, Buck.
Next, Buck's friends Tabitha and Bobby Vitale fix him up with another blind date, which he needs because he's meeting with a big-deal winery client (no-talent actor named Toby Dammit) and wants to impress him and his wife Crystal Gold. Buck directs the scene of the four chatting at the dinner table (including date Kelly Jaye) so poorly anyone else would have rejected it. The followup of him losing the client is also botched, all designed just to generate three sex scenes: hot lesbian sex between stacked blondes Crystal and Kelly, then Vitale humping Crystal (for no good reason) and finally Buck having sex with Kelly.
And there's a ridiculous little subplot that goes nowhere -any one with a bit of sense would have left it entirely on the cutting room floor. Another lousy actor Phil Shitz (dumb phony name time) jumps out of a Porta Potty grabbing his jeans and going crazy. Then he drives a car next to Buck's and keeps screaming at him crazily. Kelly admits the guy is an ex-boyfriend. Another pointless "comedy bit".
In the Arena: Serena Williams: Out of the Shadow (2024)
Riveting telling of how it all began
I was busy typing some material, watching this new documentary series unfold, expecting to manage the two operations back & forth, my usual TV habit these days. But I couldn't go back to my writing: even though as a fan I had watched the rise of the Williams sisters in real time this documentary depiction was so concise and well-paced that I couldn't turn away.
Having both sisters provide the narration and points-of-view was the not-so secret sauce of the documentary's success. So many docus suffer fatally from lack of participation of the principals, often emerging as hostile or revisionist, but this one gives fresh insight into what the spectacular athletes were going through and feeling at the time.
The interaction between Serena and Venus is at the heart of the story, and I was initially surprised that this documentary was premised upon Serena rather than both. Is this for commercial reasons, in that Serena ultimately became the greatest tennis player of all time? At any rate, the documentary gives Venus and her own story plenty of coverage so I can't complain. And of course, it's also wonderful to see snippets of so many great opponents of the 1990s: Hingis, Graf, Seles, Davenport, Mauresmo - certainly no cakewalk for either sister on their way up.
Cheating with My Wife Volume 2 (2024)
Effective rom-com
Sweet Sinner filmmaker Mike Quasar continues the storyline in this sequel but changes the cast: divorcing couple switches from Lexi Luna and Tommy Pistol to Melissa Stratton and Ryan Driller. Binge watchers viewing the two videos back to back will have to forgive the confusion since Melissa played Tommy Pistol's mistress in the first movie.
Story picks up with the divorcing couple forced to remain living together in the famous "Immoral Proposal" mansion due to financial problems involved in the divorce, and their bickering is intense. Things are complicated by husband Ryan Driller's new girlfriend Leana Lovings living with them, and her young age compared to his wife Melissa Stratton, 34, is also much annoying to Melissa.
Stratton's best friend advises her to compete by getting back into the dating pool, and she fixes Melissa up with Codey Steele, who also moves into the mansion after hitting it off with our heroine. The rom-com antics increase as the title comes true: Melissa cannot resist having sex with her virtual ex Ryan, thus cheating with him on boyfriend Codey.
The personable cast makes for some fun, leading predictably to Codey and Leana getting fed up with the "all under one roof" living arrangements and becoming a couple themselves. And the re-casting, with Driller replacing Pistol, is a vast improvement on Volume 1.
Route 66: Even Stones Have Eyes (1962)
Barbara Barrie brings the show to life
Barbara Barrie guest stars in a segment otherwise devoted to Maharis, whose accident on the job as a construction worker causes blindness. His immediate reaction is in character -going nuts!
Obviously aimed to give the fans of the show some thrills, the story doesn't conform to the Route 66 premise., as instead of our boys reacting to local people and butting in (via being Good Samaritans) to help them out with their problems, this is just about Buz's problem, with Tod doing his best to help and support his buddy, but quickly sidelined and literally driving away in the Corvette early on. It might as well have been a script for "Ben Casey".
Barry Trivers' predictable screenplay has George wallowing in self-pity, and then later our representative everyman learning to live with disability. Barrie comes to the rescue, with a memorably moving scene of her giving him a terrific pep talk about how being blind allows one to react to (and appreciate) the world in a whole new way, leading to romantic smooch between her and Maharis. It's touching but not enough to make up for the melodramatic and painfully contrived climax to the episode, leading to the most corny final line of the script, that I could sense coming a mile away.
Mommy's Girl: When Did You Get So...! (2024)
Seducing mommy
Cute little Myra Moans seduces her zoftig stepmom Lauren Phillips in this lightweight "Mommy's Girl" episode. The highly contrasting team (physically) of actresses end up making beautiful music together.
This segment has no writing credit, and it has very little point to the set-up scene preceding the sex. Myra keeps begging her mom to let her buy some new clothes, and in fact the sweater they youngster is wearing is quite shabby, with tears and holes in it. One of Myra's nipples is sticking out of the sweater (she doesn't wear a bra or need one), so Laura starts to criticize.
But Myra uses the opening to come on strong with her stepmom, who, a is usual in porn, complains about her acting "inappropriate". That's code for taboo, but it doesn't take long to talk her into a Sapphic romp on the living room couch while daddy's away.
The players are quite convincing in their lovemaking, creating an arousing scene.
My Stepsister's Girlfriend (2024)
Alan is back!
Four golden oldies directed by Stills By Alan several years ago for the Girlsway label return courtesy of this Adult Time VOD, and with them some favorite actresses also return center stage.
Title segment, previously issued in 2020 on the DVD "In Bed with My Stepsister", was made a year before Alan left the Bree Mills fold to become "Alan X" working for Jules Jordan. It has two top talents, Katie Morgan and Jenna J. Ross cast as sibling-rivalry stepsisters, with Katie bringing home Chanell Heart as her sexual partner.
Jenna objects, but soon we see her masturbating in the doorway as voyeuse (in time-honored porno cliche fashion, dating back to theatrical films and loops of the 1970s) watching the duo make love. And of course a torrid 3-way Sapphic sex scene results.
This vignette is loaded with obvious defects: first off bringing Katie at this late date away from her firmly established MILF status to role of sister to Jenna -even though Jenna is only 8 years younger than Katie she clearly presents on screen as more of a daughter figure; blithe obliviousness to Chanell being a Black actress, as irrelevant to the "story" even though race (via the popularity of interracial sex in porn as a selling point) is exploited by pornographers routinely. And the dramatic potential of Jenna as both on the wrong side of both racial and LBGT issues is typically papered over by the Stills & Mills' propensity for cutting to the chase (XXX sex) without proper scripting credibility.
"Girlsway's Newest Makeup Artist", issued in 2018 on the DVD "Girlsway Crew", has Chloe Cherry as a makeup assistant, working for real-life (and larger than life) makeup lady Lisa Sloane, who has a substantial and credited acting role here more or less playing herself. Chloe creates jealousy for veteran star Kristina Rose when she keeps flirting with scene co-star Riley Reid, but of course it all ends up as a strong three-way.
"B&B with Benefits" was on the 2018 DVD "Voyeur Stories". Reena Sky is an airbnb hostess (or should we say host??) who casts her eyes overmuch on sweet young things Whitney Wright and Emily Willis when they vacation at her home. They resent her eavesdropping, but once the 3-way sex starts the objections disappear in favor of mechanical "how many different or repeated positions can I throw in" by director Alan.
"While the Boss Is Away" appeared in 2018 on the DVD "Who's the Boss". Shyla Jennings plays the boss in a threesome sex in the office scene opposite Jenna Sativa and Samantha Hayes. Suffice it to say it's great to see the all-time girl/girl superstar Shyla, who retired from the porn wars a couple of years ago.
Kaatskill Kannibals (2020)
Show biz is not for amateurs
This amateurish horror video is a bit of an anomaly. Director Michael Rose has put plenty of research and sweat equity into the project of an historical horror movie set in Upstate New York and reflecting the history of his home turf, but the result is a mess. Its allegiance to schlock cinema, notably the '60s achievements of Herschell Gordon Lewis right through the genius (by comparison) of George A. Romero is one more evidence of wasting time and talent on a dead end -namely adding to the thousands of crappy horror features saluting bad influences (throw in Franco, D'Amato Deodato and innumerable low-end Euro schlockmeisters). Oh for the days when budding film students/filmmakers worshipped Fellini and Bergman instead.
The nearly hour-long (padded with endless credits) video is rendered hard to watch at first due to inept post-synch dialogue, either ADR or dubbed or just botched, which fortunately improves to direct-sound later on. The amateur-night acting (perhaps proudly amateur) is awful, and the requisite gore merely ridiculous. If this were a teaching moment about New York history, that doesn't sit well with a gorefest. The show reminded me of the historical horror movies from England like Witchfinder General starring Vincent Price, but those were professional productions.
The video is a YouTube freebie linked to director Rose's website, where he indulges in crazy self-promotion, including a silly fake biography of himself and an even goofier (and pretentious or mock-pretentious?) manifesto about "post-contemporary art", apparently to justify the portfolio of paintings of his for sale at about $1,000 a pop.
Payback's a Bitch (2024)
Rom-com starts well, ends poorly
Marvin Love is producing and directing content for the once-mighty porn label Digital Playground, and his work is not up to snuff. This rom-com starring Kira Noir began with an intriguing, light and fluffy opening segment, but quickly deteriorated to gonzo filler and the corniest of stupid endings. It makes one yearn for the days when DP made some very fine videos, ranging from the hit "Pirates" movies to many comedies by the late Robby D.
Kira, who constantly turns to the camera to make dumb asides commenting on the action, is plotting to get back at her ex-boyfriend Ricky Johnson by marrying his dad, played by Lexington Steele. How this scheme backfires is the subject of the story by Kelly (according to IMDb, a mainstream actress-writer who also scripts many Digital Playground porn features), but it's insultingly unfunny. Watching this latter-day scripted porn often makes me into a conspiracy theorist: are they bad on purpose to help speed up the rush of porn toward the all-sex gonzo mode?
Also appearing are relatively new talent Chanel Camryn and Jasmine Sherni in merely okay scenes. By the end I was hard up for entertainment, but spotting a fave of mine, Brit porn actress Katy Jayne pop up in a fleeting bit part at the end was all I got.
Payback's a Bitch: Episode 4 (2024)
Dumb D.P.-filled conclusion
Kira Noir gets down and dirty to end DP's "Payback's a Bi*ch". DP stands for Digital Playground, the porn provider, and also Double Penetration, the content.
Alex Mack is the lucky guy who arrives at the party celebrating the upcoming nuptials, and his crush on Kira, before she became Ricky Johnson's girlfriend, is rewarded by her seducing him. Kira is avenging Ricky having gotten a new girl (Chanel Camryn, featured in prior segments of the 4-parter), and she's caught in the act by Ricky.
He gets mad and then watches as she continues f*cking Alex to taunt him, but joins in for a very lengthy 3-way, stressing anal sex and double penetrations in various positions including standing up. A real trouper, Kira takes copious money shots in her face.
To wrap up the show, there's an extremely corny plot twist, ending the series on a sour note. It's meant to be amusing but fails.
Girlsway Originals: My Stepsister's Girlfriend (2018)
Miscast Sapphic 3-way vignette
This segment has two top talents, Katie Morgan and Jenna J. Ross cast as sibling-rivalry stepsisters, with Katie bringing home Chanell Heart as her sexual partner.
Jenna objects, but soon we see her masturbating in the doorway as voyeuse (in time-honored porno cliche fashion, dating back to theatrical films and loops of the 1970s) watching the duo make love. And of course a torrid 3-way Sapphic sex scene results.
This vignette is loaded with obvious defects: first off bringing Katie at this late date away from her firmly established MILF status to role of sister to Jenna -even though Jenna is only 8 years younger than Katie she clearly presents on screen as more of a daughter figure; blithe obliviousness to Chanell being a Black actress, as irrelevant to the "story" even though race (via the popularity of interracial sex in porn as a selling point) is exploited by pornographers routinely. And the dramatic potential of Jenna as both on the wrong side of both racial and LBGT issues is typically papered over by the Stills & Mills' propensity for cutting to the chase (XXX sex) without proper scripting credibility.