Gee ookz, I always thought ADT was the best review site, but I did click on your link to check it out , and just my opinion, wasn't impressed. It's really a misnomer to call it a review site, as the "reviews" read more like something that could be used on the box cover. No ratings are given, the reviewer is not named, and the all-VHS movies are few in number with no pictures. When I clicked on the "buy me" links, half led to "not found". Granted, it did a thorough job of listing every single sex act, but gave no clue whether it was performed well or not. Personally, I go for quality over quantity.
But, like ookz, there are a lot of porn fans who do prefer this style, as they know exactly what they're getting as far as sex acts.
Sample partial review of Stop! My Ass Is On Fire #5 Director:: Mike Quasar *I know, I know, people. The fact that he's offered me a part in his next movie has nothing to do with it, honest! Besides, I haven't told him yet - I don't do anal.
Sample partial review : Scene One: Tavalia Griffin, Ryan Connor and Mark Davis. The sex begins with the girls giving Mark a nice looking blowjob on what appears to be an outdoor futon. He licks Tavalia's pussy while Ryan blows him. Ryan starts licking down by his asshole as Tavalia blows him. Mark licks and fingers the girls pussy's and assholes. Ryan sits over his face while Tavalia rides his cock reverse cowgirl (Ryan then moves to lick his balls). Ryan again licks his asshole as Tavalia blows him. Mark and Tavalia fuck anally on their sides while Ryan rubs Tavalia's pussy before licking his asshole. Ryan sucks his cock straight from Tavalia's asshole. Mark chokes Ryan as they fuck reverse cowgirl (condom used). He fingers Ryan's asshole before sliding his cock in her ass while Ryan licks Tavalia's pussy. Mark cums on both their tongues as he jerks off. They taste his cock before kissing after the cumshot.
And so it continues in grocery list type descriptions of every single sex act performed. While it sounds like there's a lot of good sex going on, and I doubt if the reviewer left anything out, I find the descriptions rather clinical, and found myself thinking of well, my grocery list!.
I sometimes use Lenny's reviews as a reference-for performer identity-when I'm stuck. He is a bit easier to read (ie: not quite so wordy) as a few others out there although I disagree with his conclusions much of the time. If he were to add a section on the technical qualities and a few minor things, I'd read him a lot more often. For the mechanic's of a scene though-he's pretty reliable (ie: he usually gets the characters correct).
He has almost as many reviews as ADT and has been reviewing since 1996 so he has some perspective to offer as well. I think he still reviews mostly(all?) VHS though which limits his appeal to me but not many others.
DB, I see your point. Still, as a resource-he's more accurate than a number of others out there. Like all things, it depends what you look for in a review. I prefer Astro's reviews over Lenny's but acknowledge each has something to contribute.
I often found some links to LSB-reviews after doing a search on RAME, but after having read some I now avoid them. Like DB I rather like some rating since the descriptions of the scenes don't really say anything about how well everything is done. You can take an LSB review and after having read it you could make several movies implementing the described scenes exactly, and some of them could be real winners, and others could be not worth mentioning although the content of the scenes was exactly the same. It depends on how they are done and the actors' attitudes and many other things which don't get described in detail by LSB. So his reviews are worthless to me. Although I have to admit they are certainly the most objective reviews available because he seems to know that his opinion about a film doesn't have to meet other peoples' opinions. On the other hand - are reviews really reviews when they are objective without any rating ?
Several times though I've found films that were given a top-rating by one reviewer and a Zero-rating by another. I also found films which got great ratings by all the people who viewed them. I got them (the films ) and was totally disappointed. So these reviews weren't helpful either. It's a difficult thing to decide for a film to buy.
I find Lenny's reviews are good for the blow-by-blow description of who does what to whom. After all, so much of it is subjective anyway and if I like the sound of the action and I know the performers, then it helps a lot for me.
I also find Zypher's and Peter Ramezap's reviews (mostly of private stuff )really useful as well. Succinct and to the point.
Rog's reviews on the other hand, while a lot of people find them to be really good I personally find too long and florid, along with being a bit too overwhelmingly positive towards everything.
I get to my reviews for the most part through rame.net. While I can't be bothered wading through rame anymore, it's still the best source of reviews on the net as it links to so many diverse reviewers' work. (and it includes the ADT reviews as well)
As Spesedy points out, reviews are SO subjective, that you really have to decide for yourself to an extent. To this end I find a combination of rame's reviews, screenshots from dvdxtreme and/or www.sex.se are as good an indication as I can get before actually seeing for myself.
I like the Rogs review page myself. The reviews are well written giving a good description of the action. I also like this site clicking on a boxcover on the homepage here and reading the review given so those two are my choices.
For what it's worth, I think Lenny does a good job on the info side of reviews. As far as I'm concerned, the king of net reviewers is Den from www.cavr.com He and Lenny have a similar style so if all you want is a list of scenes, who did what to whom and a cast list, there you go.
Since I believe that porn is A- 99.9999 subjective and B- Entertainment, I tend to enjoy reviews that state more opinion and are fun to read. I may not like the opinion stated, but when I read a Riley interview I am always entertained. (and I know where he stands, so I can base my decision on his review even when we disagree.)
I did kind of laugh at one of the replies that felt my reviews were "too long and florid (Flowery)" No question, mine are long. You have to read them rather than just looking at a list, but it's a style thing. I couldn't write like Den if I tried. I couldn't write for AVN because I felt cramped. Florid? I guess. I'm not sure how one would approach that. Be less descriptive? Be more plain? (She strips, she sucks, they screw?) Again, if I were reading that, I would fall right asleep. And as to being overly positive towards everything, that's just a lack of context. Obviously I was positive to the 'wrong' movies for that poster. That's the risk in stating subjective opinion in reviews of any kind. When the reader disagrees, he/she may want to dismiss the work as 'wrong.' (Impossible since it's an opinion, right?) I happen to think that most porn is pretty average, so when I get a box of 20 movies, I'm going to pick the stuff I think I'm going to enjoy. If that tips the scales a bit, so be it. Better than having me watch all the real crap that's out there and never want to watch smut again. Besides, when I do give a negative review, I get the exact same slam on the other end. It just depends on whether or not you agree.
So, in conclusion....(and those of you missed the joke, I am being intentionally too long and florid) critiquing reviewers is exactly like critiquing porn. You like what you like, I like what I like and in the end, it's all good.
Rog
PS- Was this better than the alternative post. "I rule, everyone else sucks, OUT!"
What exactly is "florid/flowery"? I think if there were a contest between Roger and a few others (in regards to being wordy), Roger might hold his own (no pun intended) but he'd lose out to a few others.
I suppose, looking at it with the fresh perspective gained from taking a long break from reviewing, each of us fills a niche. I prefer reading some reviews solely for the writing itself, others as a resource, still others for a second opinion. Roger can be a great resource. Nuff said!
I think most of the review sites blow. They are either to wordy or just a laundry list of the sex scenes. Call me crazy, but I still like to be surprised even when I watch porn.
I appreciate the fact that Rog does take the time to write detailed, informative reviews. I've been a longtime fan of his site and hope that he keeps up the great work!
Diesel
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Diesel-- I have to agree with your piece on Nikki Dial. She is incredible, way better than any of the girl's currently in the industy (yes, especially Jenne J.).
DVDMAN101 --- Thanks for the kind words! I'm glad that someone else is reading my stuff besides my editor!
Anyhow, I don't mean to be hard-on [pun intended] on today's superstar actresses (like Jenna Jameson), but I miss the freshness that girls like Nikki bring to their scenes. I am not at all partial to implants, or tattoos, or multiple piercings, so watching Nikki at work was a sheer pleasure (visually and in other ways).
By the way, I wanted to write that piece with lyric's from "Darling Nikki" (from Prince's PURPLE RAIN album) as headers. Y'all know the song? "I knew a girl named Nikki/I guess you could say she was a sex fiend/I met her in a hotel lobby/Masturbating with a magazine/I said "how'd you like to waste some time?"/And I could not resist/When I saw little Nikki Grind!"
But my editor wisely advised me that such use could prompt a lawsuit from the The Artist (who is one of the most litigious musicians against people on the internet...so if Step and Drew get sued for this post, feel free to delete it!] but that's a different matter entirely...
