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All Forums > The Porn Pool > The Porn Pool Forum Page 588 > Blinded by the Light - John Leslie movies

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rjk13 Member peace, love and revolution 321 Posts 10/02	Posted - May 28 2004 : 12:28PM I've avoided his movies recently. I got tired of the skummy warehouses, the freight elevators, the often robotic performances, the mediocre jazz, the nightmarish black and white slow-motion intervals, the continually swirling camera. In other words, this is one talented director awash in his own affectations. But I picked up Drop Sex 2 to see whats up lately. All the above still apply, plus the most annoying affectation of all - shooting directly into blinding light! Constantly! The girls, luckily, in this volume (including Teagan, Dana Vispoli and Shawnie) are all hot, and give energetic performances, that is when you can see them. Whenever Leslie gives you a clear, colorful view of the action and the starlets, he quickly goes searching for the nearest window, or reflection, so he can effectively obscure the action, and blind the poor wankers at home. Is there some aesthetic epiphany at work here that I am missing? Just looks crude to me. [Link]
Harri Patel Senior Member #SDNY he's all yours. -- Michael Steele 5110 Posts 3/03	Posted - May 28 2004 : 12:43PM Whether you like what he's doing or not, he's at least trying to take porn shooting in new directions. [Link]
skronker Notable Legendary Icon Scopophiliac 9780 Posts 9/02	Posted - May 28 2004 : 1:06PM Hey, I like the jazz! You would prefer really lame techno or disco cheese or fake grunge they use on all the other movies? I agree about the light, though -- it's like every scene in that movie is washed out in the overexposed blinding whiteness .... My complaint would simply be that Leslie found a style, beginning with movies like "Fresh Meat ... A Ghost Story," and "Dogwalker," and has pretty much stuck with it for the next 45 movies to follow and it's now predictable, and no doubt annoying to some. However, I really appreciate the effort made to come up with a look that no one else even bothers attempting. I know from the first frame that I'm watching a "John Leslie" movie, and there are not many directors in porn you can recognize at all, because most have no imagination or signature at all. They're just hacks with a VX2000 who might be rolling burrittos for a living otherwise ... [Link]
rjk13 Member peace, love and revolution 321 Posts 10/02	Posted - May 28 2004 : 1:17PM Harri Patel wrote: Whether you like what he's doing or not, he's at least trying to take porn shooting in new directions. Click to expand As Skronker said, Leslie has been doing this stuff for a long, long time. I get annoyed with the lack of variation and range. The only new direction I see is pointing the camera towards windows even more than he used to. I only bring up the topic because Leslie has talent and originality, but is stuck in some hellacious never ending groove, with seemingly no interest to get out. He is one of the guys that actually could move porn to a more creative realm. I apologize for the jazz dig though, I got carried away. [Link]
M.B. Senior Member 1679 Posts 2/01	Posted - May 28 2004 : 1:47PM He shoots some decent angles but the camera is often shaky. I also don't like the scene in which he shoots beside a huge window in natural sunlight that makes a lot of it unwatchable. I've also noticed he shoots quite a bit in Europe. While the girls are beautiful, I find their performances are often cold, mechanical and uninspired. [Link]

-Kelly- Senior Member 2517 Posts 5/03	Posted - May 28 2004 : 2:03PM Hey, how's it going, I, too, have never been enamored with John Leslie's work. I rented "Drop Sex 2" because it had a remarkable cast but was real disappointed. If this is any indication of what his current stuff looks like, it would seem that his lighting issues have only gotten worse. Kelly [Link]
skronker Notable Legendary Icon Scopophiliac 9780 Posts 9/02	Posted - May 28 2004 : 2:32PM He obviously CHOOSES to light the scenes this way. I don't think HE has an "issue" with it. He just does it too much. I agree, too, about the Euro scenes: I don't even bother buying a title of his if it's mostly Euro stuff. A few years ago, I did because they were great, zesty and sassy. "Crack Her Jack 2" is pretty good, though, and "Voyuer 23" was, too. [Link]
-Kelly- Senior Member 2517 Posts 5/03	Posted - May 28 2004 : 3:24PM Hey, how's it going, I clearly needed to phrase my previous post a little more carefully. I know that the lighting is intentional. From an auteur standpoint, it is a trademark of John Leslie and has been for as long as I know. I can appreciate his artistry and effort to create a unique atmosphere. But, put it this way, I think it sucks. It just doesn't work for me. Never has. I've never liked any of John Leslie's stuff but the newest stuff I've seen from him like "Drop Sex 2" was worse than I expected. Kelly Edited by - tscfan317 on 5/28/2004 3:40:04 PM [Link]
picman Senior Member Nothing says I love you so much as a tongue in the ass. 2884 Posts 1/03	Posted - May 28 2004 : 5:32PM John Leslie is like the prototypical home run hitter in baseball. Sometimes he swings and sends one over the stands and into the street and sometimes he swings wildly at a ball in the dirt and looks like a fool. Still, I want him in my lineup because he drives in a lot of runs. [Link]
rjk13 Member peace, love and revolution 321 Posts 10/02	Posted - May 28 2004 : 5:37PM The aspect of Leslie's gonzo career that has surprised me the most is his attitude towards women. For those who recall his VCA days, the movies he directed are memorable for the best starlets of the era, and how well they were presented. Much of this, no doubt, was due to the studio, but Leslie must have had alot to do with it, as some gorgeous babes were at their best when he was directing. These included Rachel Ashley, Selena Steele, Brittany O'Connell, Victoria Paris, April West, Ashlyn Gere, Lauren Hall, Kathleen Gentry, Tori Welles and many, many more. Conversely, in the gonzo movies, the starlets are virtually interchangeable, they rarely speak, never show any personality outside of the "Fuck You" attitude Leslie seems to demand. I think that is why he shoots so much stuff in Europe as the Euro babes are much more amenable to robot sex. Am I being unduly harsh? Maybe I still hold an ancient grudge against him from the "Golden Age" of porn days, when I had the hots for Annette Haven, and had to pay money to sit in a dinghy theater and watch Leslie fuck her. [Link]
Coyote Member Daylight Savings Time, is it really Necessary? 972 Posts 3/04	Posted - May 28 2004 : 5:44PM I like the jazz and think it works really well. Hell I hate the other music in porn (for the most part). It's either really loud rock music or retro crap. The jazz fits better The way he shoots against the sunlight is annoying as is the robotic performances but at least it works.... sometimes. I feel that if only he would use some of his ways but make things more heated I would like his work more. And one thing that I have noticed (in Voyeur 26,Crack her Jack 1) is that he moves around a lot without cutting even when he leaves the action. I find this more annoying than the sunlight. I don't watch a lot of his stuff so I don't know if this is a new thing or not but I wish he would stop it. [Link]
Renee Member 765 Posts 8/03	Posted - May 28 2004 : 9:37PM I've only seen one John Leslie film, Voyeur #8 from 1997, which was shot in Hungary. Even then, a lot of the scenes had the strange direct sunlight camera work. I guess things haven't changed much. But the film contains the all time funniest scene I've ever laid eyes on. It's the one with a couple having a romp in a horse stable. The big problem - the horses won't stay quiet. First one horse starts stamping and scraping his hooves on the floor, making this loud sound for about 2 minutes. Then he's walking around his stall (clop, clop, clop), whinnys a couple of times, loudly slurps (slurp, slurp, slurp) some water from his bucket, then finally quiets down. But then halfway throught the scene, another horse starts up with some whinnying, and romping around his stall, then pokes his head into the frame, like he's the Voyeur (or Mr. Ed the Talking Horse). I can't even remember if the sex was any good, I was laughing my head off so much. I think this is available on DVD now. Don't miss it! [Link]
davecummings Member 368 Posts 12/02	Posted - May 28 2004 : 10:16PM I often select videos of his (from my collection of John Leslie videos that I've appearded in)for my personal masturbatory enjoyment---he has a way of getting the best out of the girls:-)) Dave www.davecummings.com [Link]
aspergian Member no not that one 45 Posts 5/04	Posted - May 28 2004 : 11:07PM I like the "vintage" John Leslie appearing in movies of the 70s/80s such as Nothing To Hide ;) [Link]
Lazerus Member 187 Posts 9/03	Posted - May 29 2004 : 5:46AM It's funny; between 1987 and 1995, Leslie was state-of-the-art as a porn director; the gonzo genre has seemed to sap his creative energy, and most of the stuff he has made in the last few years seems to be mailed in. I think he would rather be blowing harp in a club somewhere than shooting porn these days. Of course, in most of his older pre-gonzo stuff, he had the advantage of Jack Remy as his photographer. His creepy, dark, morose style, comprised of mostly unhappy people fucking the shit out of each other for no particular reason in creepy, dark, morose settings, doesn't really work without the accoutrements of story and character to support it. He is still a great eroticist, but he seems totally bored nowadays by the conventions of the genre he's working in. As far as the Euro girls go, I think John looks for a certain sophisticated elegance in the women he shoots (particularly since most of his stuff aspires to a hardcore meets film noir pretentiousness); the European models can give him that look better than Cali chicks. I don't find them any colder than the settings, the obscure lighting, or the general mood of his work. I don't think John sees sex as a very happy-go-lucky subject. So what's a matter, you don't like existentialist gonzo? [Link]

Cumwhipper Senior Member 4050 Posts 3/04	Posted - May 29 2004 : 9:10AM I was almost blinded a couple of times recently, and that was enough for me. I don't remember which movie it was (probably one of the Fresh Meat series), but after having views of Jayna Wood's beautiful ass washed out for most of her scene, I'll never rent or buy another John Leslie movie. Enough with the pretentious bullshit --- this is gonzo porn for God's sake! [Link]
shark1 Senior Member 1219 Posts 5/04	Posted - May 29 2004 : 9:19AM I agree - I avoid all John Leslie titles due to the fact there is WAYYYYYYYYY too much light. The skin tones are horrible due to this and a lot of the time it looks like 2 or 3 pale ghosts fucking. [Link]
laura turner New Member 5 Posts 1/04	Posted - May 29 2004 : 3:40PM Leslie was a giant during his VCA days - films such as 'Oh What A Night' took porn to a new level for a while where it was actually fun to watch a adult movie -he discovered Selena Steele amongst others. But he moved away from VCA because he wanted to do darker pictures and they have been really dark with emphasis on people watching other people fucking. However my best memory is of the scene (I forget the title) where Angelica Sin gets fucked in a diner and she turns in an incredibly comic performance with the most amazing southern states drawl. She has never been better... [Link]
Ramsey Senior Member Trina Michaels fan 10332 Posts 10/02	Posted - May 29 2004 : 4:07PM I never liked John Leslie when he was with VCA, too much story and not enough hot sex (not counting Chameleons which was a masterpiece) but I loved his work after he joined Evil Angel. I think Dirty Tricks 1&2 are some of his best movies he ever did. Leslie has a great eye for details and his movies are like great paintings, that's how I see his directing and that's why I always think of John Leslie as the Rembrandt of adult movies. [Link]
dac David Aaron Clark Just another WKW wannabe 574 Posts 2/04	Posted - May 30 2004 : 4:24AM I agree, Ramsey, everybody to their own taste, of course, but I find it telling that even a diehard super-hard hardcore fan such as yourself sees that what Leslie is doing isn't "obscuring" the action (except in the most literal of ways) but in fact REVEALING its psychological depth and context by working with such dramatic lights and darks. He is a painter, where a great many of today's gonzo directors would rate as perhaps a staff camera man on COPS. If that. I agree that he has become rather lazy and rote lately; it's like watching Miles Davis diffidently skronking away at the white folk, while he's really thinking of something else entirely inside his head .. Who can blame him? He's maybe the only one ever who has made at least a few movies that are both pure art and pure stroke material! But I wish he would get inspired again, too! DAC (who steals at least half his visual riffs from Mr. Leslie) davidaaronclark.com asianmouthclub.com "The objectification and commodification of human sexuality beats flipping burgers or selling real estate any day. Even if it smells worse." [Link]
JAGnLA All-Star Member people pay me NOT to get naked 1944 Posts 2/04	Posted - May 30 2004 : 3:30PM I've often enjoyed Leslie's previous work because of his talent as an auteur - it was nice to see someone bringing something new to the table and at least attempting! It does get a little old, though, when viewing alot of his work. I guess he tastes best in small bites! The thing s, I feel he's lost now. Gonzo porn just isn't the right medium for what he likes to do and it becomes annoyingly clear. Perhaps he's best to leave the medium alone and try mote "atrsy" work for the people who will appreciate it -- I'd take a look now and then, the entire porn industry doesn't have to go gonzo. "Corruptio optimi pessima..." [Link]
valjean4876 Member 953 Posts 3/04	Posted - May 30 2004 : 9:31PM dac wrote: I agree, Ramsey, everybody to their own taste, of course, but I find it telling that even a diehard super-hard hardcore fan such as yourself sees that what Leslie is doing isn't "obscuring" the action (except in the most literal of ways) but in fact REVEALING its psychological depth and context by working with such dramatic lights and darks. He is a painter, where a great many of today's gonzo directors would rate as perhaps a staff camera man on COPS. If that. I agree that he has become rather lazy and rote lately; it's like watching Miles Davis diffidently skronking away at the white folk, while he's really thinking of something else entirely inside his head .. Who can blame him? He's maybe the only one ever who has made at least a few movies that are both pure art and pure stroke material! But I wish he would get inspired again, too! DAC (who steals at least half his visual riffs from Mr. Leslie) davidaaronclark.com asianmouthclub.com "The objectification and commodification of human sexuality beats flipping burgers or selling real estate any day. Even if it smells worse." Click to expand Okay. John Leslie sounds like another director I need to check out. Which series or titles would you recommend, DAC? Edited by - valjean4876 on 5/30/2004 9:31:14 PM [Link]
dac David Aaron Clark Just another WKW wannabe 574 Posts 2/04	Posted - May 31 2004 : 1:09AM Well, I do have to agree that his current work is just a diffident shadow of his best E.A. stuff -- I'd recommend the original features FRESH MEAT: A GHOST STORY and DROP SEX: WIPE THE FLOOR as two wonderful landmarks, and early episodes of THE VOYEUR series (or, as Vince would have called it, "THE VOYUER"). Having interviewed Mr. Leslie and casually spoken with him over the years, it is true that at a certain point (actually, I think it was after the original DROP SEX came out) he tired of the fact that he could labor over a masterwork and it would still sell the same as one of his more tossed-off, "notebook" kind of shows ... And also might mention to everyone that Mr. Leslie actually worked as a magazine illustrator in the early '60s, and up to this day still does very elegant, understated watercolor paintings .... about eight years ago, I saw a series he was working on of the BACKS of buildings in San Francisco which somehow made perfect sense in the context of the feel of his porn ... best, dac [Link]
skronker Notable Legendary Icon Scopophiliac 9780 Posts 9/02	Posted - May 31 2004 : 6:21AM He is perhaps THE mst taletended pornogafer alive. I am drubnk howsomeever asd cannotr typr typre type [Link]
CoreyBoy Member 47 Posts 7/05	Posted - Jul 16 2005 : 8:26PM What exactly happened between him and VCA. I have heard that he left on his own will, but have also heard that he was asking for too much money per film (exactly how much does a director make from a porn studio anyway)? But either way, I think VCA has gone steadily downhill since his departure. I remember Jim Holliday being the big director after Leslie and he was one of the worst adult filmmakers of all time. I heard Leslie was supposed to do the Nighshift Nurses sequel, but instead it was another unarousing movie from Holliday, who should have just sticked to his day job. [Link]

Tinaka Member 953 Posts 8/03	Posted - Jul 16 2005 : 11:07PM I heard that he took the idea for Dog Walker to VCA and they didn't want it. Then John Stagliano stepped in and said he'd sell it. [Link]
Do Not Filter My Results Member 173 Posts 6/05	Posted - Jul 17 2005 : 8:53AM His stuff sometimes leaves me cold like Euro stuff. True always hot girls, but often very mechanical performances. I think he has the action very deliberate for effect, but I prefer energy and personality. [Link]
juha Senior Member 2752 Posts 3/05	Posted - Jul 17 2005 : 11:09AM It's hard to believe that the VCA films and his nowaday stuff are directed by the same person. This man directed some of the true classics of adult feature film. What has happened to John Leslie? [Link]
CoreyBoy Member 47 Posts 7/05	Posted - Jul 18 2005 : 4:58PM While I'm interested to see his gonzo stuff, I also have some serious hang-ups about it. I mean, this guy directed some true classics, and his films were known to have incredible stories as well as great sex, and to see a legend make plotless films (despite how good the sex is) to me just sounds a little sad. [Link]
skronker Notable Legendary Icon Scopophiliac 9780 Posts 9/02	Posted - Jul 18 2005 : 5:41PM Even when Leslie's movies are "plotless" there's a kind of "ghost plot" -- I like his stuff best when it suggests David Lynch at his least coherent. There's parts of Leslie's pornos that could splice into a Lynch scene and no one would know different. But I confess that I have not seen much in a long time that really jazzed me in his work. He created this mad-cool style and now it's a formula for him. I'd love it if he did another feature. But I still enjoy seeing new actresses dropped into his framework. I did a little fan's note to Leslie in this week's "Fix". It says everything I think about why he's important. I was certainly paying more attention to his stuff at the beginning with Evil Angel than anyone else except for the Buttman movies. [Link]
CoreyBoy Member 47 Posts 7/05	Posted - Jul 19 2005 : 10:58PM That was a great little article. Are there any of Leslie's "plotless" movies that you would most recommend? [Link]
JohnLeslieFan Member 6 Posts 9/05	Posted - Sep 8 2005 : 5:40PM Hi. I'm a new member and am a John Leslie fan (if you couldn't tell by my screenname). His stuff is the only stuff I can really get into at all anymore. I check out an occasional feature or gonzo now and then, but find the features really aren't features anymore and most gonzo is just more of the same. Leslie, on the other hand, always keeps me interested, even though he doesn't do plots anymore. I'm pretty sure at this point that I own everything he's done and he's had some disappointments over the years, but I can't say he's done anything which I would consider remotely bad. I first got into him as an actor, as still have to say he's the greatest adult performer of all time. Then I got into his VCA features, which by far are some of the best plotted wonders out there. His plotless Evil Angel videos are great. Even though there are no plots, there's still something about them that seperates them from most other gonzo. I would love to see him do another feature again, even though the talent was much better when he was doing features than it is now. Until then, I'll check out anything he does for Evil Angel. [Link]
-Kelly- Senior Member 2517 Posts 5/03	Posted - Feb 3 2006 : 7:27PM Naomi-There is Only One comes out on the first of March. It will be a film featuring Naomi in every scene, and being an obvious Naomi fanboy at the moment I am definitely excited. However, I keep thinking about this very thread, which has been dormant since September. Will my distaste for John Leslie's lighting distort my affection for Naomi? Chances are yes, but with two hours or so of Naomi on one DVD I'll get over it. However, that's not the real reason I revived this thread. I read my previous comments in it now and I feel like an idiot for resorting to absolutes: "I've never liked any of John Leslie's stuff." The truth is when I said that I had only ever seen Leslie's work with EA, and that's not even including his early stuff with EA. Now that I've freed myself from gonzo's embrace and turned to features from the golden and video age I have been far more exposed to Leslie, both as a performer and a director. Hell, just last night I was blown away by his scene with Veronica Hart and Samantha Fox in Dixie Ray: Hollywood Star , an impressive film noir spoof that would make anyone who says "Fashionistas is the only porno I've ever seen that actually looks like a mainstream movie" think twice. Now, the truth is that I would love it if Leslie were still doing features like Chameleons-Not a Sequel , but the reality as explained by DAC is completely understandable if somewhat depressing. Even with a greater appreciation for his body of work and increased understanding of his current philosophy, I still don't enjoy the work I see him put out now. The harsh lighting and robotic sex he utlizies seems to connotate a cynical (or perhaps sobering is a better description) view on human sexuality and, more importantly, the art of watching sex that renders enjoyment difficult for me. Then again, maybe I feel that way just because European-based performers turn me cold. Naomi-There is Only One should be very interesting indeed, at least for me it should. Edited by - -Kelly- on 2/3/2006 7:52:48 PM [Link]
shark1 Senior Member 1219 Posts 5/04	Posted - Feb 3 2006 : 7:46PM Havent seen a John Leslie movie in years - way too much light in his movies - flesh tones are all but gone. [Link]

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