Taking the director's chair, lesbian superstar Elexis Monroe fashions a fascinating, at times way out exploration of personal issues arising in lesbian drama. For me it was unique and at the end, moving, though many fans may tune out entirely.
Issue is basically, how personal can you get in what is after all entertainment, without alienating your audience? Indie filmmaker Henry Jaglom, who has divided viewers into extreme pro and con camps for decades, put so much of his personal relationships into his films that they became torturous to watch unless you were squarely a member of his fan club.
For most of this feature Elexis dives uncompromisingly into taboo territory, namely sex with a pregnant woman for all to see. Heterosexual films and videos dealing with this were traditionally tucked away on a bottom shelf in the back of the Adult Video store with fetish items marked with headings like Dwarfs or Amputee Sex. But Elexis's relationship with Alicia Silver is not presented as an exploitation subject but rather sensitively and even educational (sort of).
Fictional segment has ready-to-pop Alicia on the phone with her doctor, who tells her that her severe cramps can be alleviated by her having orgasms (!). Taking that at face value, she phones ex-girl friend Elexis, who comes over and induces said orgasms for her friend in her own special way. This is more of a stunt than romantically erotic, but Elexis the auteur is not done there.
Afte giving birth, Alicia is visited by Elexis, who complains that A has not kept in touch with her, and feels slighted by the lack of followup to their 1-nite stand. She cajoles the still chubby lady (Silver evidently has no Hollywood trainer to instantly remove that baby fat a la Jessica Simpson) to have sex with her again, and it turns into a breast worship/lactation session which I found a bit indulgent on Elexis' part but still fascinating. The various lactation films and videos, with stars like Angel Cash and Trinity Loren famous for their abilities, were popular and not totally divorced from mainstream porn, but Elexis seems to have broken through here in making the subject human rather than gonzo. Silver is a pro though comes off on screen resembling an amateur; nearly all her video work is strictly fetish, with titles like PANTYHOSE PAIRS and TIGHT! TIGHTER!! TIGHTEST!!!.
Remainder of the video is adventurous in a different way, as Elexis explores a dark relationship between her and superstar Samantha Ryan. (I took it to be fictional, but who knows?) Video opens intriguingly with Sam breaking into Monroe's home while Elexis is in the shower, and pretending to be a nude, strangled corpse on her bed. This odd practical joke leads to lovemaking, as Ryan is anxious to begin again what years ago was a love affair of theirs.
Final vignette has her angry at Elexis for dumping her again (seemingly replaced by Alicia), so Sam phones yet another pal of both of theirs from the past, Deauxma (arguably the primo lesbian icon of the three) to visit Monroe, seduce her and tape the sex for mailing to Alicia, thereby nipping that romance in the bud.
Deauxma goes through with the plan successfully, and I expected some twist, but instead, she dutifully posts the incriminating sex tape to Silver. The video ends quite creatively and sentimentally with Ryan alone at her piano, singing a sad autobiographical song of hers "Now That You're Gone" in a plaintive wail -not a professional singing voice but a truly heartfelt fashion, ending in tears, that beautifully reflects filmmaker Elexis's own heart-on-sleeve passion on the subject of love and loss, lesbian division.
Issue is basically, how personal can you get in what is after all entertainment, without alienating your audience? Indie filmmaker Henry Jaglom, who has divided viewers into extreme pro and con camps for decades, put so much of his personal relationships into his films that they became torturous to watch unless you were squarely a member of his fan club.
For most of this feature Elexis dives uncompromisingly into taboo territory, namely sex with a pregnant woman for all to see. Heterosexual films and videos dealing with this were traditionally tucked away on a bottom shelf in the back of the Adult Video store with fetish items marked with headings like Dwarfs or Amputee Sex. But Elexis's relationship with Alicia Silver is not presented as an exploitation subject but rather sensitively and even educational (sort of).
Fictional segment has ready-to-pop Alicia on the phone with her doctor, who tells her that her severe cramps can be alleviated by her having orgasms (!). Taking that at face value, she phones ex-girl friend Elexis, who comes over and induces said orgasms for her friend in her own special way. This is more of a stunt than romantically erotic, but Elexis the auteur is not done there.
Afte giving birth, Alicia is visited by Elexis, who complains that A has not kept in touch with her, and feels slighted by the lack of followup to their 1-nite stand. She cajoles the still chubby lady (Silver evidently has no Hollywood trainer to instantly remove that baby fat a la Jessica Simpson) to have sex with her again, and it turns into a breast worship/lactation session which I found a bit indulgent on Elexis' part but still fascinating. The various lactation films and videos, with stars like Angel Cash and Trinity Loren famous for their abilities, were popular and not totally divorced from mainstream porn, but Elexis seems to have broken through here in making the subject human rather than gonzo. Silver is a pro though comes off on screen resembling an amateur; nearly all her video work is strictly fetish, with titles like PANTYHOSE PAIRS and TIGHT! TIGHTER!! TIGHTEST!!!.
Remainder of the video is adventurous in a different way, as Elexis explores a dark relationship between her and superstar Samantha Ryan. (I took it to be fictional, but who knows?) Video opens intriguingly with Sam breaking into Monroe's home while Elexis is in the shower, and pretending to be a nude, strangled corpse on her bed. This odd practical joke leads to lovemaking, as Ryan is anxious to begin again what years ago was a love affair of theirs.
Final vignette has her angry at Elexis for dumping her again (seemingly replaced by Alicia), so Sam phones yet another pal of both of theirs from the past, Deauxma (arguably the primo lesbian icon of the three) to visit Monroe, seduce her and tape the sex for mailing to Alicia, thereby nipping that romance in the bud.
Deauxma goes through with the plan successfully, and I expected some twist, but instead, she dutifully posts the incriminating sex tape to Silver. The video ends quite creatively and sentimentally with Ryan alone at her piano, singing a sad autobiographical song of hers "Now That You're Gone" in a plaintive wail -not a professional singing voice but a truly heartfelt fashion, ending in tears, that beautifully reflects filmmaker Elexis's own heart-on-sleeve passion on the subject of love and loss, lesbian division.