If you're telling a story, do it well and do it enthusiastically. If you take a classic and see a boring performance, it's not really a fault in the story. It's more the director's fault in not being able to tell the story very well.

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Maybe I'll get what I want when "Nine Songs" is released next week?

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the celebration between the Spartans and the Greeks in the beginning could easily move into an orgy scene which flips back and forth between Paris and Helen upstairs getting it on.

I can't believe no one has ever done a cowboy type film that incoporated all the whorehouses they had back then. could've been like a classic scene out of Fanny Hill when she was learning more about her new home. going from peephole to peephole and seeing all the different sex acts taking place in each room.

damn, that sounds like a film that needs to be made into an adult film, Fanny Hill . that is unless John Clevland's descedants still own rights to the novel.

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Edited by - M.B. on 3/6/2005 12:09:14 PM

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I don't necessary think it is the money factor as much as it is whether or not the film in question will actually recoup all those expenses. you'd need a diriving force behind the investment not just the investment itself.

just think Waterworld, The Chronicles of Riddick, and T3 , all of which had HUGE budgets but did poor to fair at the box office. a name and a catchy title alone just don't get it done.

I think a film like Gone in 60 Seconds would do nicely, but again it would have to stick to the storyline and not have orgies pop up because the scene takes place in a room large enough for it.

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Maybe I'm wrong. If anyone knows some figures I'd like to hear.

Personally I'd love to see a porn version of Showgirls, although that film was already half way there.

Phil

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-T.C.

Comstock Films: Red State Values, Blue State Visuals

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Maybe I'll get what I want when "Nine Songs" is released next week?

I'll add this one to my list. (Which is already way too long!)

Phil

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the biggest problem I would say is the dilemma of making an artistic and compelling adult feature that isn't boring. very difficult to do, but if the story line is there ...

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I'd love to see more features where the sex drives the narrative instead of being stuck on like a pair of unconvincing novelty ears . Where the sex means more than just another opportunity to show more flesh - where we the viewer are complicit in that lack of ambition . Most of all though I'd like to see more performers who are at ease on camera . I don't mean that they have to be great actors , just not awkward or straining to 'perform' at every given opportunity .

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if you're going off on this tagent for a second tell me how they get such "good actors" to do adult films. as far as I could tell the acting in Fashionistas was pretty good. I had no idea that Caroline Pierce was in the industry, I just thought she was some B movie actress. when she started getting spanked I couldn't believe it was happening.

good acting a storyline have been the holy grail of those who wish to see "couples porn," for years. if you have other examples by all means send them forth.

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lets see it.

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Love to see suspense/action driven porn, car chases, gun fights...intermingled with explicit sex. That would be awesome.

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Hmmmm... sounds kinda gay




cobalt60 said:
"As long as there is air in my lungs, there will be Nonsense."

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It had long been my assumption that (rare and notable exceptions not with standing) that people who will do hardcore couldn't act, and people who can act won't do hardcore. Recent experiences have caused me to call this assuption into question.

If fact, right now at this moment (I may feel differently in the cold clear light of day) I'd venture that $5,000 (plus maybe a point or two) could get you some very fine, very attractive young actors. Keep things concise and you could have nice little cast for only a little more than Tony T gets (used to get?) to make his little videos.

Going the other way, I bet there's more than one porn performer that if properly cast and directed could turn in a credible performance, and would consider working by the day, instead of by the sex act, as long as they knew the producer wasn't going to try to chisel them out of an extra blowjob.

Either way, shoot Kodak 7289 to keep the filmstock and set-up costs down, and you could be half way to a hot little hardcore arthouse flick.

People used to stand in line to see hardcore in the theater. It used to be chic. Maybe someday someone will make it chic again.

-T.C.

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Edited by - Lee O on 3/7/2005 4:37:29 AM

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The most interesting contrast to me is live broadcast NFL football vs. NFL Films footage. If a live game looked like NFL Films footage it would be all wrong, but I love love love NFL Films highlight reels and retrospectives – especially if there's footage of the Steelers from the Seventies! (BTW, NFL Films experimented with HiDef and went back to 16mm.)

I don't know if it will be the one to finally bridge the gap between porn and mainstream however. I always expect to be disappointed...

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On the plus side, the coverage/editing were good (except in the sex scene I saw which had some really jarring cuts that I don't think were meant to be jarring). The production design was also good; small, but not thin.

On the negative side, the acting/writing/directing (I have trouble distinguishing these) was flat. Better than porn, but not as good as an average indie. The videography was unconvincing, at least as much the fault of a medium unsuited to the production style as the D.P.

But then isn't shooting on video the whole Dogma thing? I seem to remember reading about Lars or one of his cohorts burning through a low seven figure budget and still not being able to find the money to shoot film. It's not that you absolutely can't make video work in a scripted, narrative style feature, but it's a tremendous limitation.

-T.C.

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Oh, I don't know. I have lots of ideas. Almost none of them really fit into any style of porn that exists now. It would probably involve a mix of casting -- something like what TC does, overlapping with some actual porn stars -- and be a lot more experimental in terms of techniques. I'd want it to stand on its own as a film, besides the sexual content, and be wickedly hot despite the avant-indie vibe.

I'm really psyched to see if John Cameron Mitchell can pull of his "Short Bus."

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It's a third generation Caberet re-do, last exit Brooklyn.

It'll work at $250,000 as a guerilla, $2.5m as an indie, and Hollywood would think it was a steal at $25m. (Which big-name star do you want to see take in the ass? My vote goes to George Clooney.)

Now all we need is a balance sheet and a script!

-T.C.

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It's a pity that the only attempts (that I know off) to bridge the gap from the non-porn side have been art-films with a fairly limited target audience.

I may well be in a minority here, but if I had to choose, I'm sure I could find a few porn movies, that I'd prefer to watch with the hardcore bits cut out, rather than All About Anna with them in.

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This site made me think of Blondie for some reason ...

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Structurally, the film is divided into a prologue and four chapters. The four chapters can be watched as sensual bed-time stories, alone or with one’s partner of choice; each has an erotic highlight but climaxes in sexual frustration as Anna and Johan almost manage to get back together, and yet not. Unfulfilled desire is as much a part of life as those magic moments of total rapture. This film has both.

Appreciate the feedback, Kperv and Tony. And Lee O, those people must be stopped!

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I'd like to see who comes out on top, and how.

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Even still, I doubt the shot on video British equivalent of E.R is shot with a Sony VX2100. Broadcast video cameas still look like video, but they look way better than handicam. There's a reason that professionals pay $25K or more for a camera and $12K or more for a lens. It does make a difference.

At any rate, it's not fair to entirely dimiss a film that's trying something new on the basis of a trailer and a couple of short scenes. Sometimes the total is more than the sum of the parts.

-T.C.

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TonyC - I get what you're saying about ANA, but just because someone tries something new, doesn't mean I have to give them the benefit of the doubt when I talk about whether I enjoyed it or not. My philosophy - Do something new, but stay within your capabilities, because something creative that isn't good STILL isn't good. Just my opinion.

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IIRC, Katja Kean had some less than flattering things to say about those productions.
Ranging from nervous guys with termite problems to inexperienced crew (including director and producers) with no experience or knowhow of making porn.

@DB:
As I said, I may be too reluctant to give anything from Zentropa a fair chance, but from what I've seen so far, online or off, it's certainly been more "Unfulfilled desire" than "magic moments of total rapture".

@TonyC:
Damn, you really have got it in for video, huh?

Mind you, the video look is definitely not what causes me to dismiss AAA.
If I want to watch top notch acting, I always go straight to British TV.
They really have some fantastic actors and directors. Perhaps it's all that theatre training, but they act the socks off all but one or two Hollywood stars.

When I on occasion settle into watching a Brit TV drama, it's exceedingly rare to be reminded that I'm just watching actors do their thing. That's not at all rare with US TV or Hollywood blockbusters.

Of course they have their stinkers, but even when a script sucks the big one, the Brit actors often manage to deliver a surprisingly credible performance.
When a US script sucks, the movie sucks.

And no, it's not that I have anything against US TV series and movies specifically. Danish ones are certainly no better.
It's just the quality of the British actors that continuously impresses me.

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I am suggesting that although the information I have available to me suggests that Ana is unengaging, and probably unwatchable, if the opportunity to view the film presented itself, I would try to watch with an open mind. (At least until seeing the film itself, in all of it's pretenteous badness finally slammed it shut!)

-T.C.

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A director friend of mine (features, theater) says that British actors are a totally different breed from American actors. According to him, their whole approach is far more technical ("My dear boy, have you considered trying acting?"), as opposed to the Stanislavsky's Method Acting, which still holds tremendous sway over American acting style.

When I fantasize about making a scripted movie, it's the thought of working with the actors that I find the most intimidating. So much easier to tell people "Do your thing. We'll try and keep up!"

-T.C.

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Truly bad acting can ruin even the best material -- I wince at the memory of our 10th grade English class reading Twelve Angry Men .

What kind of feature do I want to see next? What pil008 said. Toss in some good sexual tension, a conflict, a (non-orgasmic but satisfying) climax, and a credible (and hopeful) resolution.

That, or pain porn. Meatholes with a Hollywood budget. And zombies. Must have zombies. And machine guns. And big explosions.

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Oh, and I want to rescind my previous statements about features. I've been inspired.

cobalt makes three sides of a square with his fingers:

OK, OK, instead of some tired vision of 'big budget with explicit sex scenes,' which vision puts me in a tiny minority of people who actually think that could work, here's what I'd like to see:

Porn Star Evolution - a series in which a young starlet, an up-n-cummer to coin a phrase, begins her career innocuously enough by perhaps posing for some stills for a low budget magazine or website, just after her 18th birthday. The only sex scene would be her and her high school sweetie or a college boy (no sleazy old men, not yet). That's Vol. 1.

Vol. 2 picks up with her getting off the bus in sunny CA. She meets Chico Wang or Rob Spallone or whomever. She's a bit leery, but still game. Her freshness, innocence and naiveté is still mostly in place.

We intersperse interviews - real interviews - of what she's considering, what offers she's received, how she feels about what she's doing, etc. As the volumes progress, we see her worldview shift a bit, watch that freshness and eagerness slowly drain away. If you're going to do meatholes, this is how you do it ... over time. Let's watch the horror sink in in slow motion, so we can really savor it.

Next: Vol. 3 - will she do IR? Will she do anal? Does she swallow?

Each volume goes further down the rabbit hole, until...

Vol. 21 - will she OD and collapse on the trade show floor? Will she require surgery on her colon? Will she be able to afford her $1000 a day drug habit? Who will backstab her? Will she get a contract? How will the fans react? What about surgery? Who will vindicate her? Who will protect her? What will ADT say?

Never mind. That's just reality TV with fucking and things I've read on ADT tossed in. It'd never fly.

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-T.C.

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Hasn't happened yet. There were moments here and there, but nothing more.



TonyC said:
"If you've never been buttfucked while getting a blowjob, you quite simply have never lived."

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