A couple of recently viewed movies: Operation: Desert Stormy I am surprised how much I enjoyed this; it is a very fun and often funny movie. Well performed, especially by Stormy Daniels and Steven St. Croix as a bickering, troubled married couple trying to succeed as spies. Stormy in particular plays her character with fine comedic flair. St. Croix, as is common in his bumbling roles, tends to overbumble, but still makes the struggling husband quite endearing. There is a sequence early on where the two of them wake up in the morning and go about preparing for their day that is so charmingly choreographed that it put me in a good mood for the rest of the movie. The few negatives I would note: it seems to lose a little inventiveness as it goes on, and some of the sex scenes are not well integrated into the plot (though they are into the setting). But, I am carping; this was entertaining enough to weather a few weaker parts. I would say that I enjoyed the movie more than the sex. New Barbarians 1 This is an Henri Pachard movie from around 1990. For anyone expecting a Pachard effort along the lines of Budding of Brie or Sexcapades, ... this ain't it. New Barbarians is laugh-out-loud bad. Epically awful. Acting that's atrocious even by porn standards. There is a continuation, New Barbarians 2, to wrap up the cliff hanger ending, but I don't have the stomach to tackle it.
pornography wasn't sex but fantasies of an impossibly hospitable world 12377 Posts 9/07
Posted - Jun 3 2011 : 4:49AM
Recently watched Slave of Pleasure by Shaun Costello (not to be confused with the similarly titled Prisoner of Pleasure by Costello). The story is that a man (Dave Ruby I believe) is cheating on his sexually demanding wife with C.J. Laing, the wife's best friend. To get the wife out of the picture Laing hires Gloria Todd and Jamie Gillis (pretending to be french, or pretending to be a guy pretending to be french, if you know what I mean) to kidnap and drug her with a CIA mind control drug to turn her into a sex slave for Middle Eastern sheiks. After his wife disappears off a city street the husband rejects Laing and hires a detective (Roger Caine) to find her. This falls somewhere in the middle for me when it comes to Costello's films, the noir/detective narrator is very haphazardly introduced to try and tie the story together and the inconclusive ending feels anti-climatic instead of ambigious and dark. The most notable sequence is at the end when C.J. Laing is 'punished' in a pretty heavy S&M scene featuring what looks like some real whipping, nipple torture, etc although I know Costello has talked elsewhere about how he faked this on other shoots. Gloria Todd's 'performance' as Sultana is hilariously inept and whenever she's on screen I was chuckling. I was watching this on an old VHS boot but this film has recently been put out on DVD from original film elements by After Hours Cinema with two other Costello films (Prisoner of Pleasure and My Mistress Electra). Prisoner of Pleasure, which I've also seen, is probably the best of these films and I'm going to be picking up this set soon.
I watched superman xxx last night. It was really good, im not normally a fan of parody but the calibre of performers made up for it. The first scene, with Lexi Belle in it, really stood out for me. I would have liked to see abit more of Zoe Voss though, she was only in one bbgg scene and didnt get fucked by one of the guys in the scene. Edited by - libertine on 6/4/2011 10:21:49 AM
This Ain't Ghost Hunters XXX. I'll admit that I wasn't expecting much going in, but it ended up being slightly more enjoyable than being a human chair for Oprah at the local Scarf N Barf. "I do not as a rule seek advice about food from thin people..." - Jeffrey Steingarten
Screwed from James Avalon and Penthouse. Very fun and very hot little adult feature that reminded me about somebody (think it might have even been earlier in this thread) commenting on James Avalon being one of the most overlooked directors in adult today. I think I had a smile on my face from start to finish here. It's a well acted light story and sex filled with chemistry and playfulness. Review should be coming sometime in the next week... "I do not as a rule seek advice about food from thin people..." - Jeffrey Steingarten
Ever since discovering the Jamie Gillis/Gloria Leonard commentary track on The Opening of Misty Beethoven DVD three years ago, I have been on a kick to give other adult titles (mostly VCA) with commentary tracks a listen. Some that my ears have enjoyed are (with commentators in parentheses): Barbara Broadcast (Jamie Gillis/Gloria Leonard) Private Afternoons of Pamela Mann (Eric Edwards/Veronica Hart) Naked Came the Stranger (Jim Holliday/Shayla LaVeaux) Misty Beethoven-The Musical (Veronica Hart/Maxwell Hart [no relation]/Sunset Thomas) Alexandra (Eric Edwards/R. Bolla) Torn (Veronica Hart/Ginger Lynn) Dark Chambers (Veroncia Hart/Marilyn Chambers) Still Insatiable (same as above) Insatiable (Gloria Leonard), (Marilyn Chambers/female moderator) Neon Nights (Cecil Howard/male moderator) Babylon Pink (same as above), (Henri Pachard) Devil In Miss Jones (Gerard Damiano) Devil In Miss Jones 6 (Stacy Valentine/Tina Tyler) Debbie Does Dallas (Robin Byrd/male moderator), (Phillip Charles Bernstene [who?]/male moderator) Inside Deep Throat (Randy Barbato/Fenton Bailey) Wadd: The Life & Times of John C. Holmes (unidentified by name but rumor is that it is Cass Paley, the dircector) The Budding of Brie (Jim Holliday/Shayla LaVeaux) Barbara Broadcast Too (Veronica Hart/Chloe) Dangerous Games (same as above) Gonzo: The Feature (Chloe/male associate) Crime and Passion (Veronica Hart/Ashlyn Gere) Love And Bullets (Veronica Hart/Ginger Lynn) Sunset Stripped (same as above) White Lightning (same as above) New Wave Hookers 6 (Ginger Lynn/Antonio Passolini/Tina Tyler/Kylie Ireland) New Wave Hookers (Traci Lords/Gregory Dark) [OK, does not exist. Just seeing if you're still reading!] Cafe Flesh 3 (Antonio Passolini) Aces In The Holes (Jim Holliday/Selena Steele) Cheerleader Pink (same as above) Cheerleader School (same as above) Little Town Flirts (Jim Holliday/Felecia/Allysin Chaynes) Melted Pink (Jim Holliday/Selena Steele/Monica Mayhem) Paradise Hole (Jim Holliday/Sydnee Steele/Allysin Chaynes) She Devils In Pink (Jim Holliday/Katie Morgan) - I needed to have my hearing tested after listening to Katie's voice Sorority Sex Kittens 5 (Jim Holliday/Sydnee Steele/Shayla LaVeaux) Sorority Sex Kittens 6 (Jim Holliday/Selena [not Sydnee] Steele/Shayla LaVeaux) Johnny Wadd (Bob Chinn) Shortbus (John Cameron Mitchell/Justin Bond/Sook-Yin Lee/Paul Dawson/PJ DeBoy) I apologize if this was TMI that derails the nature of this thread, but I thought it might be beneficial for some folks who want some ear candy to go along with their eye candy. If this was helpful in any respect, I have a dozen or so more titles with commentary tracks I'll be watching over the course of the summer, so let me know if you want me to list them too.
pornography wasn't sex but fantasies of an impossibly hospitable world 12377 Posts 9/07
Posted - Jun 11 2011 : 10:45PM
These are great commentaries that I've heard from your list. Edwards comments for Private Afternoons... are particularly insightful, I'd like to hear more from him. I'd also add: Jamie Gillis/Gloria Leonard - The Opening of Misty Beethoven St. Vincent/Chin/Leonard - Exhausted Lustig - Sylvia
Two more recent viewings: Three Musketeers 1 and 2, a two part film from the early 90s. The ratio of story to sex is unusually high here. However, with enough story for one good movie stretched out over two, the plot is pulled too thin. Indeed, part 2 recapitulates many of the same elements as part 1. Add in some dicey acting to further weaken the movie. Still, there is much to like here: a lot of humor (as well as ridiculous silliness; e.g., a bit part played as a Bogart impression??), a beautiful female cast, attractive settings, both inside and out, and very nice sex scenes -- enough to recommend it. An example of the light hearted approach is a scene with Deidre Holland, Steve Drake as the Queen of France and an English Duke. This being, after all, a costume drama, the scene begins with the two lovers, frantic in their passionate eagerness, trying to wade their way through dense, multiple layers of garments and undergarments, and having a very difficult time of it. It had me laughing out loud. Once Deidre starts sucking his cock, though, it immediately shifts from humor to steamy heat. Trial By Copulation A James Avalon effort from about a decade ago. This movie is artsy, often sexy, and surreal -- someone has been reading too much Kafka. The sex, potentially very good, is marred by a lot of dark sets. Given the gorgeous female cast, it's a shame that excessive, awful makeup and hideous wigs and clothes make some of them look very unappealing. Ultimately, I felt the film didn't have enough substance to hold up (but then, I felt the same about Kafka's The Trial.) Still, entertaining enough to warrant a look see if you are interested in highly stylized films. Edited by - alphadachs on 6/12/2011 6:47:54 PM
Never knew that film had a commentary track. Would have seen it years ago if I did. Edwards and R. Bolla were great on the Alexandra one, and I always liked Veronica's commentary on her own films.
I personally thought James Avalon did a wonderful job with Trial By Copulation it had an outstanding cast and was a lot of fun to watch.I might be partial because I absolutely love James Avalon's movies.I would love my favorite company Evil Angel to hire him to direct features or company like VCX to do remakes of some of their classics as well as direct his own features.I wouldn't mind if he were to direct for Vivid.
Finally saw this about a week ago after your warning. Well unfortunately I can't say I disagreed with much of what you said. Well I thought the Jennifer Dark scene was hot-in-spots. Interesting thing to me, is that I watched the behind-the-scenes stuff first. It made the film sound and seem more interesting than it actually was. Like something got lost in translation. A great waste of some really hot female talent in it too. Looked great on paper though, and Jessica is always interesting to watch and look at. This is a very long (2 hours, 45 minutes) film by modern standards too. Usually films that have like 9 sex scenes are enough for me, but nothing helped me really enjoy this one. I think I'll always have issues with Wicked films though. For some reason their films seem almost over-produced to me. Everything in them! Just wish they'd adopt a less-is-more approach more often.
Neon Nights (Cecil Howard, 1981). 1981: my favourite year for porn. This film is great -- confusing and somewhat nightmarish, but all the better for it. I loved it.
Excellent call Gore Gore Girl. Neon Nights Directed By Cecil Howard (1981)this film has very special meaning to me. I went to see Neon Nights at a theater The Shirley Duke in Alexandra,Virginia in 1982 a friend and I played hooky from school one day I was in the 10th grade.It was only my 6th time viewing a porn film. To me everything about the film Neon Nights is absolutely amazing I love how the DVD version includes the fisting scene with Jamie Gillis (R.I.P.)and Linda Vale.Also the theme song who Cecil Howard in commentary mentions it was done by a professional signer who he would not mention the signers name well it was well done a very catchy tune. Now the commentary for Neon Nights on the DVD version took what was already a film with special meaning to me and made it all that much more special what a wonderful job by everyone.I loved how Cecil Howard would mention that his film Neon Nights was done before computer graphic images that in itself is quite impressive.Cecil Howard would go on to mention his films were always different from others because he didn't watch other peoples work he would go on to mention paying $5 at theater when The Devil In Miss Jones was released. As far as my favorite year in porn I have to go with 1980 so many great films came out that year Talk Dirty and Exposed immediately come to mind. 1981 was an awesome year too with Nothing Hide,Neon Nights and Night Dreams. 1984 the year I graduated from high school was a great year too with such great films as Firestorm and Every Woman Has A Fantasy.
^ 1984 is my second favourite. :) Don't forget, Taboo: American Style. Also in 1981: American Desire and Amanda By Night There are a ton more that I'm not remembering. Plus, I was born!
Wholeheartedly agree about 1981. For the longest time I thought the Golden Age began in 1980, so plentiful was the crop of memorable films bearing dates thereabout.
The Masseuse: Episode Three Directed by Robby D. for Digital Playground I didn't catch either of the first two episodes of Digital Playground's series but I couldn't resist this one after seeing the [ invalid url ]. Kayden's quite the performer, stuffed and 'unstuffed.' It makes for a very light story but a highly entertaining one centering on her multiple, horny personalities. But she's not alone and the entire cast, particularly Samantha Ryan and Francesca Le, turn in top notch performances. However, I know some people here like their features light on sex on heavy on story. Well, this isn't that film. The sex scenes are all at least twenty minutes, twenty scintillating minutes. But if you're a fan of DP's light features, hot sex scenes, and beautiful women then I highly recommend checking this title out. It's sure to be one of my favorites.
Hands down the best year for XXX was 1976. Just look at all the masterpieces that were either made or released that year: 3 A.M. (Made '75, released in '76) Alice In Wonderland Autobiography of a Flea Baby Rosemary Double Exposure of Holly (made in '76, released in '77) Easy Alice (Made in '75, released in '76) Eruption (made in '76, released in '77) Expose Me Lovely Midnight Desires (Made in '75, released in '76) Opening of Misty Beethoven (made in '75, released in '76) Overnight Sensation Taking of Christina (Made in '75, released in '76) Through the Looking Glass
Haven't watched much in a while, but just finished My Mother's Best Friend 3 Given that this movie had a few traits that for me are normally buzz killers, I enjoyed it WAY more than expected. It's almost a reach to call it a feature. The story is less plot than context, more slice of life than dramatic arc, and after the concluding sex scene it just ends without the cadence of resolution. But, it gives enough context to make the sex feel like it's between two real people instead of just a couple of porn workers before a camera. My early impression wasn't positive: an opening non-sex scene was full of dialogue with annoyingly bad timing; it sounded like a conversation by radio transmission with someone in near space, a fraction of a light-second distant. But, that was a minor and transient flaw. The scenes are all too long for my taste, but never felt stagnant or dragging. A couple of them still ran somewhat too long, but all had amazing chemistry and heat. Most of all, Darla Crane and Nica Noelle both feel so alive and sexy and passionate that I could watch them all day. I found myself surprised that I would watch scenes this long without ever reaching for the fast forward button. A few favorite parts: Nica Noelle and Christian X. As her husband, he makes a series of outrageously insensitive comments to her, but eventually he overcomes her disgruntled feelings. The sex here is beautiful lovemaking. And Nica -- wow, as well as being a very lovely lady, there is just something about her that I find intensely exciting. In spite of the length of the scene, my ardent interest never wavered; she was truly magnificent. Christian then did a scene with Darla Crane. She is his wife's best friend, whom he pressures into sex. She is initially unwilling, but once she gives in, she shows herself to be very needing and responds with heated intensity. Darla was marvelous; though I confess I find her breasts unappealing, she is an extremely beautiful woman who brings tremendous passion to the scene (as she also does in her final scene). And, I was happy to have Veronica Hart in a brief, non-sex (obviously) part. It's always worth seeing her -- even just sitting around a table talking, she remains my all-time favorite adult film star.
More or less sounds like my impression of most of the Sweet Sinner films I've seen. Light on story, hot on sex. These days that is how I prefer my features though. Just think it tends to work better given the low budget and restricted time-frame to shoot the entire films. I like Nica's films that way. Just wish she'd maybe cut the sex scenes sometimes, and maybe add 1 or 2 more. Luckily the main star/subject usually gets two scenes, but still sometimes I feel cheated. 30-35 minute sex scenes are even long for me sometimes, and I generally love long sex scenes, even when they flow well like Sweet Sinners.
Ribald Tales of Canterbury This is a Bud Lee film from the mid-80s. Having seen some more recent Lee movies, I wasn't expecting much, but was quite pleasantly surprised. The film consists of a series of short stories -- well, duh; it follows the pattern of Chaucer in having travelers to Canterbury pass the time and compete by telling tales. I was mildly disappointed that no effort was made to connect with any of the real stories, though that's hardly surprising (although the Miller's Tale would certainly have been doable; as it is, in the movie the miller is too drunk to even tell a story). The Knight and the Wife of Bath are both here; one could imagine adapting their tales to an adult movie, but it would have required way more story development than went into the film. As it is, the stories here were sufficient to sustain a good sex scene each, enough to make the context and the characters interesting. The movie looks very good -- attractive costumes and sets, reasonable acting, nicely shot if not stunning cinematography. Although a couple of the sex scenes were annoyingly limited to alternating close ups of faces with close ups of genitals, on the whole they were very satisfying. And especially, my gonads alone would give this a strong thumbs up for the marvelous women. The big names were Hyapatia Lee and Colleen Brennan, but really, top to bottom, they all looked wonderful. Which tempts me into a completely extraneous digression. I recently read again the oft-expressed opinion that women in porn are more beautiful today than in the past. I understand the sentiment, and on average might even agree with it. And yet ... when I watch movies from the 70s and early 80s, virtually every woman excites me, excites me a lot, be it a classic beauty like Annette Haven or an obscure girl-next-door type. In comparison, of the myriad gorgeous women today, somewhere around a half turn me off completely, for a variety of reasons. The biggest is breast implants (yecchh!!); or, excessive amounts of hideous makeup (especially when coupled with trashy porn-slut attire); other women are attractive, but I find their manner or style in sex to be coarse, grossly unappealing, totally devoid of sensuality or eroticism; etc. Okay, mini-rant concluded, I should offer my apologies to the other half of today's stars, the ones whom I watch, rapt and captivated. But especially, I love them old time porn stars.
Just finished Killer Bodies from director David Lord released through Adam & Eve. It features a great Tori Black performance as we see her undergo quite the transformation from being a trophy wife basically to being a cold blooded killer. How she arrives to this finale change is well worth checking out in this film which also gives you a choose your own adventure option which helps you make decisions as to how the story plays out. It is often regarding who has sex with who but you have a couple other kinds of choices that are included. It was an interesting ride to say the least and Tori Black fans will definitely want to snap this one up.
^ That sounds intriguing. I'll have to check it out. I watched the Wildside release of Plato's: The Movie. I don't know what I was expecting -- some sort of reality-ish docu-drama film, I think. It was actually a tightly-plotted and well-directed/performed feature, with some narrative twists and turns, and the charismatic Seka in a lead role. The dvd itself is beautiful too -- great picture/audio. I don't know what the existing transfers are like, but this struck me as top notch. [Image not found DB]
Wow, sounds very intersting. Hope it plays out as well as it's sounds. Love the idea of alternative options in porn, plus it's higher sex quota definitely appeals to me. I pretty much thought A&E was out of the feature business, glad to see it's not true. Is Tori Black a contract player now, because I'd probably see anything they featured her in if true. Now I don't necessarily want to see Tori go contract, but just saying she's a great choice for feature work.
^ Yeah, I have all of them but two. I'm not gonna divulge the total cost. I will say that if you buy in bulk, the shipping is less, so that's the way to go.
Sweet Sinner's The Teacher 3: To Die For. Easily one of the best features I've seen this year, and the review should be coming sometime this week... "I do not as a rule seek advice about food from thin people..." - Jeffrey Steingarten
The past few days, I watched a bunch of classics so I'll do some mini-reviews. LITTLE ORPHAN DUSTY (1978) Out in the woods, bikers (Turk Lyon and others) rape and fist runaway Dusty (Rhonda Jo Petty) then artist John Holmes finds her and brings her back to his beachfront place with odd interiors. Those "bad" bikers keep showing up, which means an armed Holmes must take action. Bob Chinn directs but it's all a bit strange with three different fisting bits tagged onto other scenes. Washed-out colors and bad sound didn't help---!! 1/2 BLUE ECSTASY IN NEW YORK (1980) It's one of those NYC-lensed features that scores until a dumb final third but the coke-snorting parties and sex scenes with Samantha Fox, Leslie Bovee, Candida Royalle make this a must-see. Bovee's good girl/bad girl split personality (and how that's portrayed) might lure a few female viewers as might Jamie Gillis as the tempting bad boy----!!! 1/2 DESIRE IN MEN (1981)---10 years after her appearance in DEEP THROAT, Carol Connors teams with the Mitchell Brothers to direct and star as sneaky nympho, Jean. Many great erotic scenes here (even a few Carol Connors solos) except the strange dream sequence finale (with Long Jean Silver's stump leg making an appearance) seems to be an excuse for the Mitchell Brothers to shock. (Serena's stunt pussy gets credit for taking the stump leg) A fantastic flick until that last scene---!!!! DIVERSIONS (1976, UK)---It's quite simply one of the best xxx films. Imogene (lovely redhead Heather Deeley) is handcuffed to a police woman and ushered onto a tram to take her to prison. On board, other passengers and her captors trigger Imogene's dreams, fantasies and flashbacks that are wonderfully realized by director Derek Ford. Too bad this DVD came from such a scratched-up source; some sound issues, too. Still, don't miss it---!!!!!
Some brief notes on a few recently viewed movies. The first two suffer IMHO from fairly weak sex, a serious complaint for porn (in the term BlackSix used re another movie, these weren't very wankable); however, both were reasonably entertaining stories -- watch them for that, not for working the crank. Randy The Electric Lady (ca 1980) Desiree Cousteau, that adorable ditz, goes to an institute for non-orgasmic women. There, she becomes not just massively orgasmic, but is found to produce a chemical in her bloodstream when she comes that is a powerful aphrodisiac. She then finds herself a pawn in the struggle between scientists who want to study her and an evil schemer (played by Judith Anderson) who wants to use the chemical to rule the world (and who apparently has never heard the tale about killing the goose who lays golden eggs). Light in tone (in spite of the threat to Desiree's life), this is a moderately entertaining movie, but again the sex disappoints -- it certainly doesn't showcase Desiree as well as many of her other efforts. There is a woman here, Monica Sands, who according to IAFD has only two movies to her credit (not counting non-sex roles); I found her to be very hot (and a lovely cocksucker, not that this is featured in a major way); I wish she had done much more work Charli (1981) A well told story about a marriage (between Jesie St James and Eric Edwards) gone stagnant; both parties want to rekindle the fire, but neither quite knows how to go about it. (Edwards finally figures out that not being an insensitive jerk will help.) Each is tempted into unfaithfulness, though neither goes beyond fantasies, and eventually they do light that fire. With Jesie St James, for me as sexy a woman as has ever appeared in adult movies, and Annette Haven, the most beautiful ever, this should have been much hotter. The sex isn't bad, just mostly routine. Still, a good script and certainly a more romantic tale than most of porn. L.A. Lust (directed by Veronica Hart, late 1990s) I have mixed feelings about Veronica Hart as a director. On the plus side, she makes great sex scenes: they are directed/shot/edited in a way that never grows stagnant or loses my interest. Sex being sort of central to porn, this is a very good thing! On the other hand, her movies often don't hold up as a whole, in spite of excellent scenes. Furthermore, she is very fond of casting women with enormous fake tits, which for me has ruined not just individual scenes but some entire movies, including this one (only one brief, throwaway scene is not soiled by silicone). Lea Martini was gorgeous, but most of the rest of the cast left me cold. My first impression of LA Lust (an impression which never faded) is that it could serve as a parody of bad porn. It isn't helped by atrocious acting from non-native speakers whose English sounds not only nonidiomatic but often incomprehensible, made worse by dialogue routinely getting swamped by background noise. The plot, such as it is, barely registers, the characters are non-existent. Compared to such fine Hart films as Taken, White Lightning, and a few others, this is a dog. The Siblings (early 1980s) I wasn't anticipating much here, but enjoyed it far more than expected. A thin comic tale of convoluted family relationships -- Honey Wilder has been cheating on hubby Eric Edwards for ages, their daughter was sired by her boyfriend's father, and complications ensue. Not a richly developed plot, but sufficient to hold the movie together. Generally very good sex scenes -- fanciers of eating pussy (such as me!) will be especially pleased, as it is featured lovingly and at length in just about every scene. Not as good a movie as, say, Charli, but entertaining and sexy.
pornography wasn't sex but fantasies of an impossibly hospitable world 12377 Posts 9/07
Posted - Sep 2 2011 : 3:15AM
Thanks for the reviews Tomb and Alpha, there's always something worth checking out! Just saw Graham Travis' Portrait of a Call Girl, my thoughts are over in this thread.
Two more classic era films: Tropic of Desire This movie takes place in 1945 as the war in the Pacific draws near a close, set in a Honolulu brothel run by Georgina Spelvin, catering to servicemen as they came through on the way toward or returning from the war. Great care is taken to establish time and place, from the music in the background to the women's clothes (down to their undergarments) and hair styles. I am one who loved the recent HBO production of Mildred Pierce, primarily for its leisurely paced, loving evocation of the 30s, while many found it slow moving and dull. Tropic of Desire called it to mind for me: it isn't afraid to take its time, establishing atmosphere and mood. I am sure many will get impatient, wondering if sex or story will ever show up, but I luxuriated in the era. While the sex is there, director Bob Chinn is willing to sacrifice some of it for effect. I think, for example, of an interesting masturbation scene -- short and very non-explicit. One of Georgina's hookers just got word her fiance was killed in the war. Georgina, distraught, smokes a bit of hash, then fingers herself briefly before she turns over onto her knees, thrusts a throw pillow between her legs, and humps it hard with a feel of desperation before breaking into a bitter cry. Lest you conclude from this that the movie is a downer, don't worry: soon the fleet hits port, and the rest of the movie consists of sailors hurrying over to be with their favorite girls in the establishment. There is a lot of cutting between various encounters, with attention to sensuality and developing heartfelt characters. The hookers included such era stalwarts as Jesie St. James, Dorothy Lemay, and Starr Wood, amongst others. The sex was typical of the times. The first scene had Kitty Shayne with a soldier; while attractive, I wouldn't say she looks gorgeous here, but she manages to make the scene incredibly sexy, setting the tone for the rest of the film. Tropic of Desire will appeal to a limited audience. Let's face it, if you want 20 minute sex scenes lit by floodlights showing every detail of raunchy sex, you'll hate this. If you are up for a movie that will take its time creating color and atmosphere, you might want to give it a look. The Filthy Rich Featuring Jesie St. James, Samantha Fox, and Vanessa Del Rio, this movie has hotness covered nicely. Samantha Fox and Jake Wrangler are a wealthy couple with the sad problem that Samantha can't climax. She tries whatever hubby suggests with no success, so they agree to go to an Esalen-like group for the orgasmically challenged. But, before leaving, she insists on switching clothes and identities with their maid and butler, Jesie St. James and Herschel Walker. (This makes no sense as I tell it here, nor any more in the movie, but Fox pulls it off with such artless ditziness that one doesn't question it.) The rest of the way is split between the servants in the masters's roles and Fox/Wrangler off to the sex workshop. The movie gets a split decision from me: the first half is quirky, funny, very enjoyable. Then, midway through the wheels come off, and the back half is one of the worst films I've seen in some time. It falls apart around the time a couple of biker hoodlums show up to threaten the husband of the house for non-payment of a debt. As dangerous gang types, these guys are right out of West Side Story (When you're a Jet you're a Jet all the way ... step and kick). Unfortunately, the movie can't decide if they are comic or thuggish. We then shift to Fox and Wrangler at their psychobabble conference, which goes from gratingly buffoonish to a closing scene of half naked people doing gross things with food while Jake Wrangler jerks off in the middle. By the way, I generally dislike having two sex scenes intercut -- while it might make sense in the plot, I usually think it weakens both. This movie has one of the worst examples of this: it alternates a scene with Jesie St. James and Randy West that is all steamy sensuality, and one with Herschel Savage and Lisa Deleeuw that is over-the-top, crass farce. The drastic clash in tone made each cut between scenes so jarring it was almost impossible to get back into each scene. By themselves, both would have been fine, but woven together they destroyed each other. Anyway, I give thumbs up for the front half and thumb's way down for the rest. In total, I feel the dreadful finish has to give the call to the downward direction.
That sentence just cracks me up. I agree with you assessment of both films, though I do like FILTHY RICH a bit more than you. The second half is definitely much weaker than the first half, but that's partially due to the XXX version eliminating a couple key plot scenes which cause the second half to make a bit more sense and not feel quite as jumbled. I have a 35mm print of the 'R' cut of the film (it's never come out on tape as far as I know) and it works way better than the XXX version except the sex scenes are made up entirely of B-roll (in fact, I've considered splicing the sex scenes out of my XXX print and inserting them into the R print to create an unofficial director's cut). With the missing footage in the XXX version re-inserted, the movie flows much better but is still far from a genre classic. I also have no issue with two sex scenes being intercut, especially when both scenes have distinct styles. It might not work as well for eroticism, but it often makes for better cinema as the uniqueness of each scene is heightened through contrast. TROPIC OF DESIRE was one of Bob's favorite films that he made. It's an undeniably beautiful and atmospheric film even if it's a bit light on plot. My personal favorite of Bob's South Pacific films is actually his all but forgotten 1980 gem, SADIE.
Thanks for the additional information. Was the original release of the XXX version also missing the key plot scenes, or is that only in the more recent DVD release? (Your unofficial director's cut sounds like the best of both worlds; would love to see it happen!)
As was somewhat customary in the late 70s and early 80s, many bigger budget XXX features would have alternate R/soft versions produced which would remove a fair amount of the sex in exchange for additional narrative footage. These non-hardcore cuts were often preferred by their directors as they made for better cinema. THE FILTHY RICH is an excellent example of this sort of thing occurring as both the X and R cuts feature significant amounts of footage that are not in the other. Sadly, there is no official 'composite' version of the film with the missing plot scenes re-inserted into the hard version and the edit you've seen is likely identical to the original theatrical release of the X version (however, some light censorship to the 'rape' scene might have been performed). Sadly, audiences are most likely to blame for these types of silly alternate versions in which important narrative content is sacrificed. Because printing 35mm film was (and still is) an expensive undertaking, many producers and distributors didn't see any reason to spend more money to print up a longer film when most audience members couldn't have cared less about the plots anyway, so they often mandated that such "extraneous" footage only be used to pad the running times of the soft versions.
I just watched "Runaway" a feature from Vivid and it was really a good movie. It is one the the first porns I have watched in a long time that I actually got caught up in the story. The sex is great as well. I never saw Tom Byron in an acting roll and I was shocked at how good he was in this. I also think Capri is really cute and a great little actress also. I recommend this movie to anyone who watches porn.
A parody I've viewed recently: Star Trek: The Next Generation- A XXX Parody I was half expecting a campy, fun, tongue-in-cheek parody, but mostly got a more serious parody of the hit television show. If was a nice surprise. This "take" has a non-porn English actor, named Giles, in the lead role as Picard. Guy looks and sounds just like him, if only taller. He does a great job, as does all of the cast. Some cast members appear to be too young for their chosen parts, but no real complaints. Wasn't familiar with director Sam Hain, who remains cloaked behind-the-scenes, but thought he did a great job all-around. Story was fairly simple and straight forward, much like a weekly episode. As with most porn features you get a scene or two, that isn't developed totally because a sex scene has to be shown too soon, but all-in-all I thought it flowed well. The story was interesting enough, although I thought some of the sex scenes were too long. The lead actor Giles doesn't perform sexually onscreen, and has to be stunt-cocked by Xander Corvus in a non-seen P.O.V. BJ scene. That took away slightly from film for me, but this was an enjoyable voyage for me.
