So a few weeks back, I listed my Top 7 Stars (aka: who I would like to eff).
It’s about damn time I listed some favorite movies. Again, here’s the thing. These are a few of MY favorites. Not the best, but ones I like. So if you don’t like them, I don’t care. At all.
Janine’s Got Male
Studio: Vivid
Producer: Paul Thomas
Stars: Evan Stone, Dale DaBone, Tawny Roberts, Nick Manning, Christian, Kimberly Kane, Shy Love, Christie Lee, Mia Beck, Monique Alexander, Rick Patrick, Tommy Gunn, Janine
Even when she isn’t doing much porn anymore, Janine Lindemulder and her name just can’t seem to stay out of people’s mouths. After having wrapped her 6 month bid in federal prison for tax evasion and losing a nasty custody battle with ex-husband Jesse James, Janine probably wishes she was back in 90’s when life was much simpler and she was only banging other girls. Before her sex tape with Vince Neil, the world had never seen a cock plow into her. Once that seal was broken, she began to release movies featuring her in boy/girl scenes, something that the world had been fantasizing and salivating over for years. Then in 2005 director Paul Thomas shot Janine in her first boy/boy/girl scene in Janine’s Got Male.
This is not the Janine of yours, or her, youth. Certainly and officially MILF material, she is covered with a full color sleeve on one arm, tons of tattoos all over her, pierced tits and a pierced clit. Those bedroom eyes, that mouth and a smoking hot body, for any age. Her fake tits are starting to age as well and it’s a shame those weren’t or didn’t look more natural and some razor-burn I could have done without, but I certainly wouldn’t send her away.
American Swingers
Studio: Vivid
Director: Paul Thomas
Stars: Eva Angelina, Monique Alexander, Tee Reel, Justin Magnum, Lorena Sanchez, Alex Gonz, Gabriella Rossi
They say “don’t judge a book by it’s cover.” Well, I do. I saw the front boxcover of Paul Thomas’ American Swingers and was curious. The vintage style seemed like something out of the 1970’s. Between the black and white newspaper-y shots of the performers juxtaposed with the vertical red stripes and the fonts used, it screamed throwback. And while the actors and actresses did their fair share of screaming, there was nothing in the movie from any other decade. In fact this modern tale of swinging and swapping is so up to date, the Vivid Video title has been nominated for Best Group Scene at the 2010 AVN Awards. The only question is if the movie, or the lifestyle, really works.
King Cobra
Studio: Vivid
Director: Jack the Zipper
Stars: Sledge Hammer, Brian Surewood, Marty Romano, Christian, Jade Starr, Roxy Deville, Page Morgan, Lela Star, Shannon Kelly, Sasha Grey, Lanny Barby, Chapel Waste
If there is one good thing coming out of the years of cookie-cutter gonzo porn, it is there as a new wave of pornographic cinema sprouting up, where studios and directors feeling the freedom to be more experimental and to fuck outside of the box. Segments of the genre are now labeled as alt-porn and seem to appeal to/target/be associated with the goth/punk/scenester/hipster crowd. But that is not the only niche that is being explored. While other typically mainstream studios such as Playboy are beginning to expand their scope, directors such as Eon McKai over at Vivid-Alt has started to enjoy success (see my review of On My Dirty Knees here). Another director who has begun to see his star rise in recent years with unconventional work is the one Jack the Zipper, who has worked with the mainstream studios of Playboy and Hustler. While his work may not fall into the alt-porn category, it certainly does not fall into the mainstream genre either, and his films enjoy the fashionable limbo-land status of being somewhat un-categorical. Such is the case with his 2008 Vivid release, King Cobra.
Look, here’s the deal. Porn is meant to be entertaining. Sometimes that comes from really hot performers. Sometimes it’s maybe average performers but smoking sex scenes. Other times it may because of an original concept. Other times it may be because it is a classic being redone. In any and all of these cases, we watch to get something out. Sometimes it may be a nut, sometimes it may to see how creative a studio/director/actor/actress can get. After releasing Stuntgirl 1 and 2, Squealer, Razordolls and the five time AVN nominated 2006 release, Naked and Famous, Jack was behind the camera again for King Cobra. Visually it is a cross between Mad Max + Grindhouse + Tank Girl. Plot-wise it comes in somewhere near Three Men and a Baby. The second one. But does that matter?
Throat: A Cautionary Tale
Studio: Vivid
Director: Paul Thomas
Starring: Aliana Love, Allie Foster, Beverly Hills, Brynn Tyler , Carmen McCarthy, Emilianna, Evan Stone, Herschel Savage, Jarod Diamond, Jerry, Jordan Lane, Kelly Wells, Lee Stone, Marco Banderas, Megan Monroe, Penny Flame, Pike Nelson, Ricki Raxxx, Rocco Reed, Sasha Grey, Tom Byron, Trent Tesoro, Voodoo, Jasper Knight (non-sex), Darth Franklin (non-sex), Marco Leon (non-sex), Shylar Cobi (non-sex)
By now, the story of Throat: A Cautionary Tale has been well documented. Not only online, but on Showtime’s seven part original series Deeper Throat, documenting the process of making this film. And the making of this film has almost as much plot twists and turns as the movie itself, between picking the right girl to fill Linda Lovelace’s shoes (or throat) to the legal battles with the owner of the rights to the original, Ray Pistol of Arrow Productions. When Pistol withdrew his permission to use the title in the remake when he didn’t like the direction director Paul Thomas was going, it set off a courtroom battle between Ra and Steven Hirsch, co-chairman of Vivid, the studio making the 2009 version. What started out as a remake of the classic Deep Throat morphed into a story of its own, loosely based on and with a few nods to its muse.
Mix an all-star cast, a renowned director, a remake of the classic, throw in some controversy and television series documenting the entire process and the result is a film that leads the 2010 AVN Award nominations with 12 nominations this year. From Best Actress, Best Director, Best Oral Scene, Best Video Feature and everything in between.
