Kiss and Tail: The Hollywood Jumpoff (2009 Video) User Reviews

okay documentary on a hip hop groupie is too long and repetitive for what it is

[dbborroughs · 4/10 · 4 August 2009]

Story of Karrine Steffans who climbed up the groupie/ video vixen ladder in the hip hop and music world by gaining a reputation for doing anything. Eventually she wrote a book and named names. This film interviews Steffans as well as the various people who are her conquests. The film also looks at the groupies/artist dynamic. If you ever wanted to know what things have become since the days of Pamela Des Barres and "I'm With the Band", this is for you. If you've ever wanted a peak inside the sex lives of various hip hop artists this is for you. If you want a down beat look at a life style where sex is a way to get ahead this is for you. Personally I'm not sure its for me, but it sure did open my eyes. As a film and not a purely exploitive look at scantily clad women shaking their assets this is an okay film. There is a bit of information not only on Ms Steffans but life as a groupie and a world where sex is a commodity to be traded for perks and used as a deal maker. Its not really a life I would want the women in my life to choose but there it is. I have no idea how true it is or how fair it is but the film feels reasonably on target, despite being thin and repetitive and much too long at 93 minutes.For my money its too much of the same bad behavior and behind wiggling with no details on the people being interviewed. You have to know who everyone is or you'll be lost. Personally after a little more than half an hour I started to scan through it since the life of Ms Steffans, the life style she inhabits and the beds she shares are not interesting enough for a 90 minute movie. If you're interested in the subject, the life style or the people interviewed give it a go. All others give it a pass.

Great documentary!!!

[harris_sherry · 9/10 · 15 August 2009]

This has got to be one of the best documentaries I have seen to date. It is very entertaining and a nice rebuttal to Karrine's book. Thomas Gibson, the director, is clearly a black version of Michael Moore. The actors chosen for the film also did a great job of portraying the characters. One person who stands out to me in the film is "Suave". That guy needs his own television show. He kept it real all the way throughout the film. He seemed to have know Karrine and understood just what kind of person she really is. My other favorite person in the film was Ma Barker. She spoke on behalf of ladies everywhere when she broke it down about how Karrine really is versus how she likes to portray herself in the media. I wish Oprah would have Peter Spirer and Thomas Gibson on her show since she aired Karrine's side of the story just to keep things balanced and to show both sides of the coin.

The Hollywood Jump Off

[danceability · 10/10 · 8 October 2009]

Kiss and Tail: The Hollywood Jump Off

Kiss & Tail is narrated by animated radio/TV talk show diva Wendy Williams. This documentary about the seedy side of the hip-hop industry investigates the rarely seen side of the backstage rap culture. Infamous party-girl Karrine Steffans leads viewers through an intimate look at the world where sex is a means of control - though it can sometimes be a source of power - and offers her insights on how the groupie lifestyle routinely leaves unsuspecting women in shambles It is an inside look into the Hip Hop video industry. A must have if you are curious about what goes on behind the curtains! It's not a pro-Karrine Steffans at all although it is very fair in balancing the point of view of the video vixen. Lots of sex going on and Wendy Williams should give up her day job and narrate docs! The title sequence is hilarious. The DVD extras are great as well and unless you are a total prude you'll really enjoy this.

Hilarious, disturbing, fascinating and eye-opening!

[klockski · 9/10 · 8 August 2009]

Oftentimes documentaries are able take a subject which I might otherwise have never really thought twice about and manage to wrap me up in that world completely. "Kiss and Tail" is a movie like that. I rented this upon the advise of a friend who saw it at a premier screening and he was raving about how wild it was. He was right. I'm not particularly knowledgeable or even interested in Hip Hop video girls or groupies, and I've never read Karrine Steffans's books ( though I'm very familiar with her reputation, and I've seen a few of her very tasteless and annoying homemade video diaries on you tube), but this movie was so unique and irreverent that I just was utterly fascinated. The interviews are at the same time hilarious and truly illuminating (even if a bit surreal), with "experts" ranging from super-pimps, to porn stars, to academic journalists, to celebrities, to the video girls and groupies themselves (both current day groupies and old school groupies, featuring insight from the charming and incredibly "hip for her age" Pamela Debarres (SP?) who apparently banged members of The Doors, The Who, Led Zeppelin and every other classic rock band back in the day). But the real draw of the film and the character at the heart of the story (if "heart" is the right word to use) is Karrine Steffans herself. This movie does her no favors in exploring every seedy facet of the grimy world she created for herself. It presents a pseudo-biography of her life, talking to the people who knew her, and some who screwed her (or got screwed over by her), along with interesting interviews with the woman herself. She comes across as very intelligent, very conniving, and more that just a little bit psychotic. I don't want to ruin anything except to say by the end of the movie I really felt that I understood what makes this woman tick, and it is really kind of sad. Ironically, it makes me want to read her books now, just to see more how her twisted mind works. the woman is sick and unstable, but again, that is a little bit fascinating, and what I love about this movie! I gave the movie 9, because as much as I love it, it's not trying to change the world or anything, so I can't justify a 10 just for entertainment value, but I will give the DVD itself a 10, because the special feature are amazing and plentiful. As I said, when it ended I was so wrapped up in these people and their stories and I wanted to know more about them, and the special features afford you that opportunity. there are special segments dedicated to almost all of the main interviewees, giving you a deeper and even funnier look into their bizarre worlds and extreme persona's. I especially recommend "The Principals of Pimping" and "The Tale of Nasty-Fat-Nasty." I'll say no more... you have to see it to believe it!