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Served as Chairman, New York Film Critics Circle: 1993/94.
Favorite interviews were with: Michael Douglas, Sophia Loren, DeForest Kelley, Joan Chen, Joe Henderson, Ismail Merchant, Klaus Kinski, Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Spike Lee, Malcolm McDowell, Zoe Lund, Melvin Van Peebles, Ultra Violet, Wolfgang Petersen, Claudia Cardinale, Serge Silberman, Margarethe von Trotta, Alec Guinness, Leonard Nimoy, Susan George, Joseph Losey, Gale Anne Hurd, Dennis Hopper, Peter Greenaway, Katt Shea, Ken Russell, Maggie Greenwald, Jim Jarmusch, Peter Brook, Jurgen Prochnow, Andy Warhol, Judy Davis, Chuck Vincent, Fred Zinnemann, Wim Wenders, Max Von Sydow, Michael Moore, Terry Gilliam, Rita Jenrette, Karen Lynn Gorney, Bruce Beresford, Jack Thompson, Russ Meyer, Sam Raimi, Abel Ferrara, John Sayles, William Greaves, Nino Manfredi, Lee Van Cleef, Michael Cuscuna, Bille August, Jewel Shepard, Andy Sidaris, Michel Deville, Claude Sautet, Claude Lelouch, Alfonso Arau, Alan Parker, Reinhard Hauff, Traci Lords, Jim Jarmusch, Martha Coolidge, Candida Royalle, Giuseppe Tornatore, Edward James Olmos, Paul Hogan, John Mackenzie, Peter Hyams, Jennifer Beals,, Adrian Lyne, Samuel Fuller, Dario Argento, James Toback, Lasse Hallstrom, Fred Williamson, Gabriel Axel, Joe Bastianich, Aaron Sanchez, Danny Meyer, Steve Hanson, Matthew Kenney, Douglas Rodriguez, Simon Oren, Stanley Donen, Lindsay Anderson, Helena Bonham Carter, Edward Pressman, Harold Becker, Larry Cohen, James Ivory, Jack O'Connell, Michael Phillips, Kevin McClory, Jackie Mason, Joan O'Brien, Stanley Donen, Joseph B. Vasquez, Don Bluth, William Lustig, Al Goldstein, Simon Wincer, Valeria Cavalli, Dave Fishelson, Lizzie Borden, Roberta Findlay, Rob Cohen, Doris Wishman, Robert Tapert, Bruce Campbell, Bill Cosby, Pasquale Squitieri, Menahem Golan, Yoram Globus, Tim Kincaid, Joel M. Reed, Gregory Dark, T.L. Lankford, Fred Olen Ray, Victoria Paige Meyerink, Lawrence D. Foldes, Rick Marx & Ted V. Mikels
Reviews
When Did You Get So...! (2024)
3 quality seductions
Three quality vignettes from "Mommy's Girl" are united on this Adult Time VOD.
Cute little Myra Moans seduces her zoftig stepmom Lauren Phillips in the title segment. The highly contrasting team (physically) of actresses end up making beautiful music together.
This segment has no writing credit, and it has very little point to the set-up scene preceding the sex. Myra keeps begging her mom to let her buy some new clothes, and in fact the sweater they youngster is wearing is quite shabby, with tears and holes in it. One of Myra's nipples is sticking out of the sweater (she doesn't wear a bra or need one), so Laura starts to criticize.
But Myra uses the opening to come on strong with her stepmom, who, a is usual in porn, complains about her acting "inappropriate". That's code for taboo, but it doesn't take long to talk her into a Sapphic romp on the living room couch while daddy's away.
The players are quite convincing in their lovemaking, creating an arousing scene.
Chloe Surreal and her stepmom Serene Siren seem awfully chummy during the intro section of this well-written "Mommy's Girl" episode titled: "No, YOU go fitst", a clue as to what direction the little story will take. Chloe's in the kitchen preparing dinner for the duo, with Siren arriving home from work and helping out.
It seems both of them have a big announcement to make, and the segment's catchy title derives from their brief politeness as to who gets to speak. They decide to do it simultaneously, declaring together: "I'm a lesbian".
This dual revelation causes Chloe to wonder. What about dad? Stepmom says she's already told him, and they might be breaking up as a result. But she pledges that she'll always be there for Chloe, feeling like her real mom.
Each one admits to having an unrequited crush on the other, and now that the cat's out of the bag, intimacy is the next step for them, and a very strong XXX Sapphic sex scene results, very nicely performed by the two busty pros. This is a high-quality scene, benefitting from establishing two solid characters before the action gets going.
A marvelous segment titled "Lonely Lunchtime" brings an all-time great fetish model Jewell Marceau back to a mainstream role as cute Freya Parker's stepmom. The faux incest scene is extremely well-acted, and then builds to highly erotic cunnilingus by the girls.
Marceau is an impressive addition to the growing ranks of Adult performers who play MILF roles. She started in porn making bondage and fetish videos in 1996, and at age 47 is perfect for this role. I have seen her before on rare occasions in story-oriented Adult movies, notably Nick Orleans' classic "Return to the Edge", and whoever cast her here deserves kudos.
She visits her daughter at lunchtime at school, bringing her the lunch Freya forgot at home, and is surprised to see her studyng alone in a classroom while everybody else is in the school cafeteria. It turns out that Freya has been bullied lately by her classmates recently for having come out as a lesbian and feels threatened dining with them.
Marceau is quite sympathetic to her stepdaughter's plight and backs her up in her decision to come out. When Freya thanks her with a kiss, the teen notes that mom has expressed bicurious feelings and at this point the show moves swiftly to XXX lesbian sex.
Both performers are believable in their acting and I especially liked a subtle (but effective) moment when Jewell licks her lips in anticipation as the porn content begins to unfold. Fans of the genre will want to see this one, amidst a constant flow of literally thousands of lesbian vignettes lately.
My TS Stepmom 7 (2024)
Slim pickings
Only two stepmom/kid scenes in this edition, plus an unrelated sex scene spoofing the Brad Pitt hit "Fight Club".
In a segment shot at the "Immoral Proposal" mansion (upstairs only in the bedroom), Lucy Hart is the new stepmother, dealing with beautiful kid Gal Ritchie, who has a habit of stealing "mama"''s clothing. She doesn't mean to do wrong, just admires her new mom's fashion sense.
After Lucy has a tough talk with the youngster, she is flattered by the attention and realizes that Gal has a crush on her, feeling neglected by her daddy. Pretty soon the two of them are making love, and it doesn't hurt that Gal digs her stepmom's hard cock.
The scene is fairly standard trans lesbian content, but I was struck by the transformation of Lucy, as I had seen her as Lance Hart many times, both in Gay Porn assignments and with trans-females. Here Lucy has a new look, enhanced by wearing glasses and an attractive hairdo, plus a new voice -the net effect reminded me of the '80s star Margaux Hemingway, whose tragic career was in the shadow of her successful sister Mariel Hemingway.
The other stepmom scene is much better, benefitting from fine acting by Ariel Demure and Tony Genius. It's a simple storyline, the young man catches his mom masturbating, and when they discuss this she discovers he's still a virgin. In porn that means only one thing -time to take matters in one's own hands (so to speak) and conduct sexual initiation.
The scene delivers excellent pegging for fans, with interracial sex thrown in and a real cum shot from Ariel (Lucy's scene featured a fake "cum in the mouth" ending.
With the rapid decline of interest in DVDs, Transsensual seems to be phasing out its feature-length releases, evidenced by this 2 stepmoms scenes plus a random third scene. Titled "Fu*k Club", it's an entertining nod to David Fincher's iconic "Fight Club". Lovely Anna De Ville arrives and chooses Zariah Ariah as her opponent (there are five women present, but Zariah is the only trans-female). After Anna playfully has a bit of sex tease with a dildo used on XWife Karen, the two ladies square off, but instead of some bloody punching, they have half an hour of gonzo sex. What makes it different is the other four actresses giggle a lot and are extremely vocal as their audience throughout. What is lousy is that it's a bare, undecorated set, porn at its chintziest.
Zariah's big dick is on display, with deep throat action by Anna and a surprise "fountains of squirt" by Anna near the end. Once more, the fans are (mis)treated to a fake "in the mouth" cum shot by Zariah at the finish. The NonSex performers are unidentified, but I immediately spotted Aussie actress Charlie Forde among them.
The Hungry Heart (1996)
Rick Blaine's magnum opus
RIck Blaine was a top porn editor, but had only a handful of opportunities to create Adult features. This is a very ambitious BDSM-subject matter movie, billed as "a love story by Rick Blaine''- definitely something different for the genre. I greatly enjoyed another classic he made for Adam & Eve: "Tatoo", one of the best fictional stories on that topic.
Shanna McCullough stars in "The Hungry Heart", playing a woman scorned who becomes a dominatrix, but not your usual one -she's a domme looking for love! Most of the movie is told from her point-of-view: we witness in flashback the key trauma that changed her life: she caught her husband Mickey G. Being a sex slave to Missy -who pegged him, not the usual content for an Adult Movie. Then we see her helping various couples, ranging from Alex Sanders & Sid Deuce to Tom Byron and Lovette, to experience BDSM lite, intensifying their romantic relationships. Ultimately she finds true love with her pool guy, Mark Davis (how sweet and porno-corny).
Despite its unusual nature and interesting content, "The Hungry Heart" was missing from IMDb for 28 years, until I added it this afternoon.
My Wildest Date (1995)
Crappy twice
Buck Adams made a lousy video with this title in 1989, starring Victoria Paris, and decided to remake it six years later with Kelly Jaye. The second one is even worse!
With poor continuity, terrible acting and every single comedy bit falling flat, it's tough to watch. Per the title, it begins with a soft-focus memory by Buck, heavy on his voice-over, presenting a date that went wrong. He humps Holly Body, so far so good, but after his cum shot she complains and gives him a bit of her lip. So what! Get over it, Buck.
Next, Buck's friends Tabitha and Bobby Vitale fix him up with another blind date, which he needs because he's meeting with a big-deal winery client (no-talent actor named Toby Dammit) and wants to impress him and his wife Crystal Gold. Buck directs the scene of the four chatting at the dinner table (including date Kelly Jaye) so poorly anyone else would have rejected it. The followup of him losing the client is also botched, all designed just to generate three sex scenes: hot lesbian sex between stacked blondes Crystal and Kelly, then Vitale humping Crystal (for no good reason) and finally Buck having sex with Kelly.
And there's a ridiculous little subplot that goes nowhere -any one with a bit of sense would have left it entirely on the cutting room floor. Another lousy actor Phil Shitz (dumb phony name time) jumps out of a Porta Potty grabbing his jeans and going crazy. Then he drives a car next to Buck's and keeps screaming at him crazily. Kelly admits the guy is an ex-boyfriend. Another pointless "comedy bit".
In the Arena: Serena Williams: Out of the Shadow (2024)
Riveting telling of how it all began
I was busy typing some material, watching this new documentary series unfold, expecting to manage the two operations back & forth, my usual TV habit these days. But I couldn't go back to my writing: even though as a fan I had watched the rise of the Williams sisters in real time this documentary depiction was so concise and well-paced that I couldn't turn away.
Having both sisters provide the narration and points-of-view was the not-so secret sauce of the documentary's success. So many docus suffer fatally from lack of participation of the principals, often emerging as hostile or revisionist, but this one gives fresh insight into what the spectacular athletes were going through and feeling at the time.
The interaction between Serena and Venus is at the heart of the story, and I was initially surprised that this documentary was premised upon Serena rather than both. Is this for commercial reasons, in that Serena ultimately became the greatest tennis player of all time? At any rate, the documentary gives Venus and her own story plenty of coverage so I can't complain. And of course, it's also wonderful to see snippets of so many great opponents of the 1990s: Hingis, Graf, Seles, Davenport, Mauresmo - certainly no cakewalk for either sister on their way up.
Cheating with My Wife Volume 2 (2024)
Effective rom-com
Sweet Sinner filmmaker Mike Quasar continues the storyline in this sequel but changes the cast: divorcing couple switches from Lexi Luna and Tommy Pistol to Melissa Stratton and Ryan Driller. Binge watchers viewing the two videos back to back will have to forgive the confusion since Melissa played Tommy Pistol's mistress in the first movie.
Story picks up with the divorcing couple forced to remain living together in the famous "Immoral Proposal" mansion due to financial problems involved in the divorce, and their bickering is intense. Things are complicated by husband Ryan Driller's new girlfriend Leana Lovings living with them, and her young age compared to his wife Melissa Stratton, 34, is also much annoying to Melissa.
Stratton's best friend advises her to compete by getting back into the dating pool, and she fixes Melissa up with Codey Steele, who also moves into the mansion after hitting it off with our heroine. The rom-com antics increase as the title comes true: Melissa cannot resist having sex with her virtual ex Ryan, thus cheating with him on boyfriend Codey.
The personable cast makes for some fun, leading predictably to Codey and Leana getting fed up with the "all under one roof" living arrangements and becoming a couple themselves. And the re-casting, with Driller replacing Pistol, is a vast improvement on Volume 1.
Route 66: Even Stones Have Eyes (1962)
Barbara Barrie brings the show to life
Barbara Barrie guest stars in a segment otherwise devoted to Maharis, whose accident on the job as a construction worker causes blindness. His immediate reaction is in character -going nuts!
Obviously aimed to give the fans of the show some thrills, the story doesn't conform to the Route 66 premise., as instead of our boys reacting to local people and butting in (via being Good Samaritans) to help them out with their problems, this is just about Buz's problem, with Tod doing his best to help and support his buddy, but quickly sidelined and literally driving away in the Corvette early on. It might as well have been a script for "Ben Casey".
Barry Trivers' predictable screenplay has George wallowing in self-pity, and then later our representative everyman learning to live with disability. Barrie comes to the rescue, with a memorably moving scene of her giving him a terrific pep talk about how being blind allows one to react to (and appreciate) the world in a whole new way, leading to romantic smooch between her and Maharis. It's touching but not enough to make up for the melodramatic and painfully contrived climax to the episode, leading to the most corny final line of the script, that I could sense coming a mile away.
Mommy's Girl: When Did You Get So...! (2024)
Seducing mommy
Cute little Myra Moans seduces her zoftig stepmom Lauren Phillips in this lightweight "Mommy's Girl" episode. The highly contrasting team (physically) of actresses end up making beautiful music together.
This segment has no writing credit, and it has very little point to the set-up scene preceding the sex. Myra keeps begging her mom to let her buy some new clothes, and in fact the sweater they youngster is wearing is quite shabby, with tears and holes in it. One of Myra's nipples is sticking out of the sweater (she doesn't wear a bra or need one), so Laura starts to criticize.
But Myra uses the opening to come on strong with her stepmom, who, a is usual in porn, complains about her acting "inappropriate". That's code for taboo, but it doesn't take long to talk her into a Sapphic romp on the living room couch while daddy's away.
The players are quite convincing in their lovemaking, creating an arousing scene.
My Stepsister's Girlfriend (2024)
Alan is back!
Four golden oldies directed by Stills By Alan several years ago for the Girlsway label return courtesy of this Adult Time VOD, and with them some favorite actresses also return center stage.
Title segment, previously issued in 2020 on the DVD "In Bed with My Stepsister", was made a year before Alan left the Bree Mills fold to become "Alan X" working for Jules Jordan. It has two top talents, Katie Morgan and Jenna J. Ross cast as sibling-rivalry stepsisters, with Katie bringing home Chanell Heart as her sexual partner.
Jenna objects, but soon we see her masturbating in the doorway as voyeuse (in time-honored porno cliche fashion, dating back to theatrical films and loops of the 1970s) watching the duo make love. And of course a torrid 3-way Sapphic sex scene results.
This vignette is loaded with obvious defects: first off bringing Katie at this late date away from her firmly established MILF status to role of sister to Jenna -even though Jenna is only 8 years younger than Katie she clearly presents on screen as more of a daughter figure; blithe obliviousness to Chanell being a Black actress, as irrelevant to the "story" even though race (via the popularity of interracial sex in porn as a selling point) is exploited by pornographers routinely. And the dramatic potential of Jenna as both on the wrong side of both racial and LBGT issues is typically papered over by the Stills & Mills' propensity for cutting to the chase (XXX sex) without proper scripting credibility.
"Girlsway's Newest Makeup Artist", issued in 2018 on the DVD "Girlsway Crew", has Chloe Cherry as a makeup assistant, working for real-life (and larger than life) makeup lady Lisa Sloane, who has a substantial and credited acting role here more or less playing herself. Chloe creates jealousy for veteran star Kristina Rose when she keeps flirting with scene co-star Riley Reid, but of course it all ends up as a strong three-way.
"B&B with Benefits" was on the 2018 DVD "Voyeur Stories". Reena Sky is an airbnb hostess (or should we say host??) who casts her eyes overmuch on sweet young things Whitney Wright and Emily Willis when they vacation at her home. They resent her eavesdropping, but once the 3-way sex starts the objections disappear in favor of mechanical "how many different or repeated positions can I throw in" by director Alan.
"While the Boss Is Away" appeared in 2018 on the DVD "Who's the Boss". Shyla Jennings plays the boss in a threesome sex in the office scene opposite Jenna Sativa and Samantha Hayes. Suffice it to say it's great to see the all-time girl/girl superstar Shyla, who retired from the porn wars a couple of years ago.
Kaatskill Kannibals (2020)
Show biz is not for amateurs
This amateurish horror video is a bit of an anomaly. Director Michael Rose has put plenty of research and sweat equity into the project of an historical horror movie set in Upstate New York and reflecting the history of his home turf, but the result is a mess. Its allegiance to schlock cinema, notably the '60s achievements of Herschell Gordon Lewis right through the genius (by comparison) of George A. Romero is one more evidence of wasting time and talent on a dead end -namely adding to the thousands of crappy horror features saluting bad influences (throw in Franco, D'Amato Deodato and innumerable low-end Euro schlockmeisters). Oh for the days when budding film students/filmmakers worshipped Fellini and Bergman instead.
The nearly hour-long (padded with endless credits) video is rendered hard to watch at first due to inept post-synch dialogue, either ADR or dubbed or just botched, which fortunately improves to direct-sound later on. The amateur-night acting (perhaps proudly amateur) is awful, and the requisite gore merely ridiculous. If this were a teaching moment about New York history, that doesn't sit well with a gorefest. The show reminded me of the historical horror movies from England like Witchfinder General starring Vincent Price, but those were professional productions.
The video is a YouTube freebie linked to director Rose's website, where he indulges in crazy self-promotion, including a silly fake biography of himself and an even goofier (and pretentious or mock-pretentious?) manifesto about "post-contemporary art", apparently to justify the portfolio of paintings of his for sale at about $1,000 a pop.
Payback's a Bitch (2024)
Rom-com starts well, ends poorly
Marvin Love is producing and directing content for the once-mighty porn label Digital Playground, and his work is not up to snuff. This rom-com starring Kira Noir began with an intriguing, light and fluffy opening segment, but quickly deteriorated to gonzo filler and the corniest of stupid endings. It makes one yearn for the days when DP made some very fine videos, ranging from the hit "Pirates" movies to many comedies by the late Robby D.
Kira, who constantly turns to the camera to make dumb asides commenting on the action, is plotting to get back at her ex-boyfriend Ricky Johnson by marrying his dad, played by Lexington Steele. How this scheme backfires is the subject of the story by Kelly (according to IMDb, a mainstream actress-writer who also scripts many Digital Playground porn features), but it's insultingly unfunny. Watching this latter-day scripted porn often makes me into a conspiracy theorist: are they bad on purpose to help speed up the rush of porn toward the all-sex gonzo mode?
Also appearing are relatively new talent Chanel Camryn and Jasmine Sherni in merely okay scenes. By the end I was hard up for entertainment, but spotting a fave of mine, Brit porn actress Katy Jayne pop up in a fleeting bit part at the end was all I got.
Payback's a Bitch: Episode 4 (2024)
Dumb D.P.-filled conclusion
Kira Noir gets down and dirty to end DP's "Payback's a Bi*ch". DP stands for Digital Playground, the porn provider, and also Double Penetration, the content.
Alex Mack is the lucky guy who arrives at the party celebrating the upcoming nuptials, and his crush on Kira, before she became Ricky Johnson's girlfriend, is rewarded by her seducing him. Kira is avenging Ricky having gotten a new girl (Chanel Camryn, featured in prior segments of the 4-parter), and she's caught in the act by Ricky.
He gets mad and then watches as she continues f*cking Alex to taunt him, but joins in for a very lengthy 3-way, stressing anal sex and double penetrations in various positions including standing up. A real trouper, Kira takes copious money shots in her face.
To wrap up the show, there's an extremely corny plot twist, ending the series on a sour note. It's meant to be amusing but fails.
Girlsway Originals: My Stepsister's Girlfriend (2018)
Miscast Sapphic 3-way vignette
This segment has two top talents, Katie Morgan and Jenna J. Ross cast as sibling-rivalry stepsisters, with Katie bringing home Chanell Heart as her sexual partner.
Jenna objects, but soon we see her masturbating in the doorway as voyeuse (in time-honored porno cliche fashion, dating back to theatrical films and loops of the 1970s) watching the duo make love. And of course a torrid 3-way Sapphic sex scene results.
This vignette is loaded with obvious defects: first off bringing Katie at this late date away from her firmly established MILF status to role of sister to Jenna -even though Jenna is only 8 years younger than Katie she clearly presents on screen as more of a daughter figure; blithe obliviousness to Chanell being a Black actress, as irrelevant to the "story" even though race (via the popularity of interracial sex in porn as a selling point) is exploited by pornographers routinely. And the dramatic potential of Jenna as both on the wrong side of both racial and LBGT issues is typically papered over by the Stills & Mills' propensity for cutting to the chase (XXX sex) without proper scripting credibility.
Dimension 5 (1966)
Dated cheapie
One of my sci-fi/horror/fantasy reviews written 50 years ago: Directed by Franklin Adreon; Produced by Earle Lyon for United Pictures and Harold Goldman Associates, released by Feature Film Corporation of America. Screenplay by Arthur C. PIerce; Photography by Alan Stensvold; Edited by Robert Eisen; Music by Paul Dunlap. Starring: Jeffrey Hunter, France Nuyen, Harold Sakata, Donald Woods, Linda Ho, Robert Ito, David Chow and Deanna Lund.
Foolish and cheap but slick sci-fi/spy film with the gimmick of Jeff wearing a belt which allow him to decompose and transport himself invisibly at will, in time as well as space. This allows him to change history at will. Hilariously dated: Chinese society called Dragon threatens to blow up Los Angeles unless all American forces are withdrawn from Southern Asia. One guy makes a flippant joke that is oddly prophetic: "You're as well protected as our president would be on the way to Peking".
Dead Man's Eyes (1944)
Fine Chaney thriller
One of my sci-fi/horror/fantasy reviews written 50 years ago: Directed by Reginald Le Borg; Associate Producer: Will Cohan, for Universal Pictures. Screenplay by Dwight Babcock; Photography by Paul Ivano; Edited by Milton Carruth; Musical Director: Paul Sawtell. Starring: Lon Chaney Jr., Jean Parker, Thomas Gomez, Acquanetta, Paul Kelly, Jonathan Hale, Edward Fielding, George Meeker, Eddie Dunn and Pierre Watkin.
One of Chaney's Inner Sanctum mysteries derived from radio, this dated thriller emphasizes suspense over sci-fi as Lon kills folks to obtain eye transplants for his blinded self and "science" too.
Just Between Friends (1988)
Lousy on purpose
Take one of the least appealing guys of all time for a porno leading role (David Sanders) and put him in absurdly stupid situations and you have "Just Between Friends". This VHS stinker could be the poster child for crumminess.
Opening scene has Aja being humped on a couch by Tony Montana, but they're interrupted by Sanders showing up -he's Aja's husband! Apparently improvised, like most of the movie, Sanders gets angry but Tony lamely claims to be a Cuban refugee raising money for the cause, so Sanders gives him $50 and sends him away.
Taking the cuckolding to heart, Sanders complains that he's a loser and feels sorry for himself, so when a radio commercial advertises a guy named Dr. Anthrax to help guys become better with women.
Anthrax turns out to be Blake Palmer, who is on hand for comedy relief, sort of a duller version of that iconic character who pointed the way to the future career of Sean Penn (NOT!), Jeff Spicoli. No matter how silly Blake acts or speaks, Sanders goes along with the gang and sits still for a ridiculous shrink session. To help out, Blake shows him a couple of porn videos, original loops killing off tons of running time. One of the girls from a loop show up in the house and Blake sends Sanders away for a break so that he as Dr. Anthrax can fu*k her -none other than the lovely Nikki Randall.
When schlub Sanders returns, Blake hands him a diploma to get rid of him. Newly confident, Sanders tries his lines out on busty Ebony Ayes, who simply responds by insulting him crudely, but granting him with what she calls the "Ebony Experience", some interracial sex in front of a roaring fireplace, for which he pays her with several Franklins.
This extraordinarily poor excuse for a VHS feature is one for the Time Capsule.
Nero Wolfe (1979)
A thinking man's murder mystery
Esteemed playwright Frank D. Gilroy ("The Subject Was Roses") wrote a clever screenplay and directed this Paramount TV movie, bringing the Rex Stout characters to life. Unfortunately, it was sloughed off with only a token airing a couple of years later.
With fine use of Manhattan locations and very classy dialogue and performances, perhaps this was too good for '70s audiences more attuned to Aaron Spelling-level shows. Of course "Columbo" was successful, but not everyone can aspire to the quality level of a Peter Falk.
Thayer David is terrific as Nero Wolfe, capturing the attitude of the character, with his vintage Rolls limo and trusty workhorse of an assistant Archie, nicely played by Tom Mason (whose career never really took flight). Anne Baxter is authoritative in a guest star role, while female lead Brooke Adams, just before (1977) she achieved movie stardom, is an innocent-looking but most worthy adversary for Nero in this tantalizing murder mystery involving the FBI.
Nero Wolfe: Count The Man Down (1959)
Excellent show that was a no-show
This unsold CBS-TV pilot from 1959 establishes Kurt Kaszar and a young William Shatner in the recurring roles of Nero Wolfe and his trusty assistant Archie Goodwin to entertaining effect, but never aired. Watching a 2018 restored copy of the 26-minute film was a pleasure 65 years later, with my conclusion that the cerebral approach (no action, violence or chasing around) was not commercial enough for that era.
Most of the show has Shatner domnating: he does tons of voice-over narration, also gets the lion's share of actual dialogue, and exudes oily charm in a self-assured performance. In fact, you would think he was the actual detective star of the show.
But Kasznar takes over and frankly showboats durint the traditional climactic scene where Nero Wolfe rounds up all the suspects and takes them step by step through the murder of a rocket scientist at a Cape Canaveral launch. A nice touch has Nero literally blackmailling the suspects en masse into paying his "exorbitant" fee for solving a murder he has personally publicized, necessitating each of them wanting to be exonerated in a hurry.
Kurt is hammy but that's the fun of it, although I thought while watching that Sebastian Cabot would have been perfect, and easily more subtle, as Nero, before he hit his stride starring in "Checkmate". Shatner is Shatner, and you could see his charisma already here (had the show aired).
Kink Label Volume 3 (2024)
Rough and pretentious
This Deeper DVD compilation is rough around the edges, rather low-grade by the label's high standards but clearly aimed at the low-end of the porn audience. I guess there's money to be made in degrading women.
Best scene, without doubt, is the one directed by Kayden Kross, titled "Brat", the only oldie in the bunch -it debuted four years ago on the website. Kayden Kross's strength (and style) as a director is on display in this tension-filled scene where violence erupts, provoked by the willful misbehavior of Lulu Chu as a "Brat". Mixing sex and violence is a no-no in porn (to avoid censorship), but KK cleverly injects the violence in explicit flash-cuts that are fleetingly visible but highly effective.
The suspenseful set-up has petite Lulu Chu teasing Small Hands, opening with a tantalizing black & white shower scene where he is the buttoned-up voyeur, then her ordering him around sarcastically.
Instead of exposition, the situation is shown subtly, that Lulu takes advantage of her comfy status provided by an unshown sugar daddy, whose assistant Small Hands watches over her like a Secret Service guard. Her mistreating him reaches a boiling point, and the obedient guard explodes, dishing out some rough sex to poor little Lulu.
The live-action violence extends to choking and both performers bring the heat in gonzo fashion. The half-hour might have been a climax within a full-length feature, but created as a stand-alone packs a dramatic "tension and release" impact.
Jay Rogue directed "Punctual", which almost invites censorship. Porn's recent flirtation with "Submission is good for you" as a theme that was popularized by the "50 Shades" mainstream books, is a cultish phenomenon. I've been pondering it for years, but "Punctual" goes a bit further. The 5-minute set-up scene cryptically shows beautiful Alexis Tae in her transparent glass bathtub dealing with a major bruise on her shoulder. Instantly symbolizing abuse, it instead is treated here as a badge of pride.
She turns out to be a demanding submissive, who craves the abuse, wanting her Master tormentor to be more punctual. "I heal quickly" is her key line of dialogue.
The "Deeper" gonzo format soon has her go gonzo, with anal sex emphasized as she's serviced by a Black stud with the unsubtle stage name of Chocolate God (a/k/a Chocolate Rod). He's brought a ball-gag with him but doesn't use it. For the fans, it's all-sex, with the violence that led to her bruise left to the imagination. More than bait and switch, what we have is the normalization of the BDSM craze -disturbing in the sense that abusing a woman is clearly deemed okay (and desirable) under the terms of "consent". Enough already.
Angel Windell goes up against Spain's well-endowed export for porn Chris Diamond in this highly stylized Deeper scene directed by Derek Dozer, whose many scenes for the porn labels Blacked/Vixen/Tushy are well-known.
Title "Nine" conjures up the Broadway musical of that name, but is not adequately descriptive of this porn scene. What we have after a montage of petite Angel in beauty and bondage poses, followed by 100% gonzo action by the duo. I don't know if it's intentional, but the contrast of WIndell's beauty for the quite brief intro, with Chad's big dick visually as the centerpiece of the XXX action that follows shows that the core of the Gonzo porn movement is a dead end.
I was turned off completely by the pretentious intro narration of Derek Dozer's "Here's How" : something about a housewife letting go? Close-ups of chores, like preparing eggs for breakfast, or dusting the house lead to BBC stud Jay Hefner coming on to stone-faced Gianna Dior at a party and talk of destroying her -definitely anti-erotic. But quickly we mve on to the 1/2 hour of gonzo sex in bed with Gianna's fake-passion and corny pornspeak more of a turnoff. Result: Jay delivers a Peter North-worthy cumshot that covers her breasts and belly. Apparently f.or pornographer Derek Dozer: mission accomplished.
Coming in Style (1986)
Dumb black comedy
Shot on film during the Porno Chic era, "Coming in Style" is a failed attempt at black humor, based on what is known in mainstream cinema as a 'high-concept". Boy, did this one go wrong.
Robert Bullock, an accomplished actor and farceur stars as Sidney, a schlump who works at Centennial Funeral Parlor, fixing up the makeup on corpses and sweeping up. Tim Beckley, a fast-talker who runs an escort service pays him to style Sue Nero's hairdo and soon he's popular among all the prostitutes, with great word of mouth on his handiwork.
He gets caught at work humping Kim Carson by his boss and is fired, but Beckley gets the bright idea of setting Bullock up in his own hair salon uptown catering to society ladies. Many pointless sex scenes later, including Bullock humping his manicurist Sharon Kane, he's busted by the police, but makes a comeback running a dog grooming salon.
It's never funny, despite some potential in Bullock's habit of napping in a handy coffin as well as a friend of Beckley teaching Bullock how to act swishy to impress his femme clients. The movie is just an excuse for many, many brief XXX scenes, which oddly enough avoid showing cum shots. Ending is poorly done, and the movie finishes with a stupid montage of non-sex highlights during the end credits. Shooting on film (likely 16mm) makes for an ugly, gritty look, hardly conducive to comedy.
Heartburn (2024)
Wife at the crossroads
This feature movie from MissaX departs from the label's usual emphasis on taboo content, instead presenting a married woman's difficulty to find a man who will respect her independence. It's a real-world dilemma addressed within an erotic perspective.
Heroine Olive Glass is a frustrated housewife, back to school and working on her skills as a writer, but neglected by hubby Ryan Driller. She has a romantic (read: Sexual) fling with the convenient auto repairman Clarke Kent. She gets both bad and good advice from her self-centered best friend and neighbor Rachael Cavalli. All the while we get to see both Cavalli and Driller's diminutive secretary/mistress Coco Lovelock in XXX action, but neither of them is much more than a peripheral character. Even Cavalli's young lover Max Fills gets very short shrift, as Maddy Burton's screenplay concentrates on Olive's plight.
The talent does a good job, both acting-wise and in the four sex scenes, but the story never reaches the lofty dramatic heights of "Scenes from a Marriage". A happy ending for Driller & his spouse has a cute twist near the end, but not cheerful enough to compensate for the preceding soap opera scenes.
Deeper: Brat (2020)
The worm turns
Kayden Kross's strength (and style) as a director is on display in this tension-filled scene where violence erupts, provoked by the willful misbehavior of Lulu Chu as a "Brat". Mixing sex and violence is a no-no in porn (to avoid censorship), but KK cleverly injects the violence in explicit flash-cuts that are fleetingly visible but highly effective.
The suspenseful set-up has petite Lulu Chu teasing Small Hands, opening with a tantalizing black & white shower scene where he is the buttoned-up voyeur, then her ordering him around sarcastically.
Instead of exposition, the situation is shown subtly, that Lulu takes advantage of her comfy status provided by an unshown sugar daddy, whose assistant Small Hands watches over her like a Secret Service guard. Her mistreating him reaches a boiling point, and the obedient guard explodes, dishing out some rough sex to poor little Lulu.
The live-action violence extends to choking and both performers bring the heat in gonzo fashion. The half-hour might have been a climax within a full-length feature, but created as a stand-alone packs a dramatic "tension and release" impact.
Doctor Blood's Coffin (1961)
Picturesque British thriller
One of my sci-fi/horror/fantasy reviews written 50 years ago: Directed by Sidney J. Furie; Produced by George Fowler, for United Artists release. Screenplay by Nathan Juran; Photography by Stephen Dade; Edited by Antony GIbbs; Music by Buxton Orr; Special Effects by Les Bowie; Camera Operator: Nicolas Roeg. Starring: Kieron Moore, Hazel Court, Ian Hunter, Kenneth J. Warren, Gerald Lawson and Fred Johnson.
Antihero Kieron plays a gung ho surgeon/researcher who injects curare into hapless victims in his isolated British village, then tries to bring them back from this state of suspended animation, in order to solve the problem of death. Director Furie craps out by failing to whip up any horror atmosphere, preferring instead to spotlight the striking British seascapes. Hazel Court's big jugs are a redeeming feature, as usual.
The Death Kiss (1932)
Early Bela
One of my sci-fi/horror/fantasy reviews written 50 years ago: Directed by Edwin L. Marin; Presented by E. W. Hammons, for World Wide Pictures. Screenplay by Gordon Kahn and Barry Barringer, from Madelon St. Denis' book; Photography by Norbert Brodine; Edited by Rose Loewinger. Starring: Bela Lugosi, David Manners, Adrienne Ames, John Wray, Vince Barnett, Alexander Carr. Edward Van Sloan and Barbara Bedford.
Obscure early Lugosi horror film, which uses an "inside Hollywood" format for its archaic straightforward exposition of a maniacal killer being hunted. It does feature some nice photographic touches.
Dracula, Prince of Darkness (1966)
Poor entry in the series
One of my sci-fi/horror/fantasy reviews written 50 years ago: Directed by Terence Fisher; Produced by Anthony Nelson Keys, for Hammer Films; released in America by 20th Century-Fox. Screenplay by Jimmy Sangster; Photography by Michael Reed; Edited by Chris Barnes; Music by James Bernard. Starring: Christopher Lee, Barbara Shelley, Andrew Keir, Francis Matthews, Suzan Farmer, Charles Tingwell, Thorley Walters, Joyce Hemson and Charles Woodbridge.
Extremely poor yet watchable entry in England's unending monster resuscitation programme. Lacklustre photography, archaic color and foolish acting cannot outdo Fisher's stinko direction. Superstitions are handled with interest, for example Dracula's susceptibility to drowning, but the dollop of gore included as per Hammer's policy is evidence of immaturity.