Reviews

Mark Stevens was a terrific film noir actor, reminding me of William Holden, but never an A-lister. This excellent movie that he made as producer, director and star for United Artists has the precision and impact of a Kubrick movie, and still packs a wallop 70 years after it was made.

The ingenious plotting and structure is different from the usual caper or trackdown movie, with enough twists and turns to keep me constantly guessing, and guessing wrong. The power of real B movies from the '40s and '50s is the tight characterizations, and what a treat to see John Marley a decade or so before his rise to prominence as such a distinctive character actor for Cassavetes and Coppola -here a great supporting role as one of the doomed criminals. Similarly, Jack Klugman is just right as a poor slob being interrogated.

The talent of Stevens on view here makes it such a shame that his career as a filmmaker didn't flourish -reminds me of my favorite character actor of the next generation, Steve Ihnat, who worked with Robert Duvall early in their careers but died young after only directing a couple of movies.

Stepmom as sexual mentor to her daughter is a porn trope given a whole new lease on life by the Anatomik Media directing team in "Grown-Up Talk".

Right from the engaging pantomime beginning of the scene through to the inevitable XXX-content Sapphic sex, this is a perfectly-acted engaging scene.

It begins with very cute stepdaughter Leana Lovings peeking around corners at her mom Lexi Luna cleaning up the kitchen. What would seem to be mere drudgery is made to appear glamorous and quite sexy, by the clever styling of Lexi in a glamorous dress, sweeping up the floor in her bare feet, and of course bending over occasionally to allow the camera to take in her lovely rump.

From the vantage point of Leana as young voyeuse, the scene segues to a conversation after Lexi spots the eavesdropper. It's delightfully cute that Lovings does not speak, merely smiling or nodding her head in response to stepmom's talk.

When she admits to having heard her mom chatting with her girlfriends, Leana asks what all the talk about "pussies" means, thinking it refers to cats. Lexi sits her down on the couch and gives a rather clinical discussion, but things change when her daughter admits to having a crush on her. She's reluctant to agree when the kid asks to be taught all about lesbian sex, but gives in, and the fans benefit from the expertly performed resulting sex scene. Lovings' ability to stay in character and seem innocent no matter what she's doing (as a sex performer) is amazing.

This is one of the best "naughty but nice" scenes I've watched in a long time, resulting in a standout for the "Mommy's Girl" series.

A very pleasant, almost gleeful "Mommy's Girl" vignette benefits from a couple of talented performers, who are able physically (as well as acting out the minimal story set-up dialogue) to sell the concept of a kindly mother teaching her daughter the art of Sapphic sex.

River Lynn tells her Earth mother stepmom Sophia Locke how she's broken up with her boyfriend at college, and is instead curious about a girl who is coming on to her. She's interested, but doesn't know how to deal with a same-sex sexual relationship.

Mom Locke kindly offers to show her how it's done, and soon both ladies are employing for the camera the sensual moves and positions of lesbian porn.

Nothing new here, but it's a satisfying, tasteful XXX scene directed by Ricky Greenwood, which following a recent trend offers no screenplay credit.

Shot in glorious black & white 'Scope (a format I adore but which is rarely used), "Flood Tide" from Universal is an anomaly: instead of a Douglas Sirk feature starring Rock Hudson, we have George Nader starring for the studio and director Abner Biberman (whose previous Universal dramas starred the likes of Merle Oberon and Mamie Van Doren!) in material more suited to an exploitation film by some indie of the pre-porn era.

I greatly enjoyed the numerous perverse twist and turns of the script, which centers around a young boy played by Michel Ray who is crippled. He has an unhealthy codependency relationship with his mom Cornell Borchers, and by chance both of them become inextricably linked with Good Samaritan bachelor neighbor Nader, who happens to be a handsome, wealthy playboy completely disinterested in any lasting relationship.

The movie begins in a format familiar from that great, influential stage-to-film "The Bad Seed", in which Patty McCormack was the cinema's ultimate evil child. Having a crippled, seemingly helpless kid (Ray) do terrible things repeatedly and get away with it is a novel story starting point, which gradually is overcome by the foreground off and on love affair between his mom Borchers and handsome, sympathetic Nader. The way the conflicting plot threads are resolved is quite satisfying and uplifting, the opposite of the vicarious thrills of rooting for the bad guy one gets in an exploitation movie.

Watchinig it seven decades after release, I had odd reactions. First of all, the "crippled kid" centerpiece reminded me immediately of Girlfriends FIlms' greatest hit from a decade ago (and its sequel) "Poor Little Shyla", in which crippled Shyla Jennings is tormented sexually not only by her peers but especially adults in an all-female lesbian dark XXX melodrama. The gimmick of women being the perpetrators rather than men gives this type of child molesting/abuse story a vicarious thrill that tickled a large porn audience, presumably predominantly male (whatever the marketing declares, lesbian porn is, like all porn, aimed at and consumed by males).

Making the saga even stranger is the casting of Nader, who in later years was revealed to the public to have been Rock Hudson's homosexual lover. Throughout "Flood Tide" he convincingly plays a knight in shining armor out to save not just his romantic interest Borchers but her son Michel. The homoerotic attraction between the two men is present but never made explicit, and one could imagine a 21st Century remake of this material in which it was brought out more to the surface (tastefully) -and providing a challenging role as the playboy turned savior for any number of stars to fight for, say Gosling, Chalamet or Austin Butler opposite some talented child star plus glamorous leading lady. Add in the inherently incestuous subplot between mother and son and you have the makings of a unique mainstream project.

Sharon Kane, wearing striking eye makeup that only Eva Green could love, does a Rod Serling role, as the on-screen narrator of five fantasy sex scenes, all set in an alley. Her pithy intros try to suggest a mood, including talk of time travel and other nonsense, but what the viewer receives is all-sex, no-dialogue porn.

The real-life couple of Dillon Day and Dasha (I suppose their production company should have been named 3Ds) hump away, and just to show they are open about such matters, Dasha also gets to have sex with Eric Masterson. There's nothing special about any of the sex scenes, though a lesbian pairing of Dee and Jordan is arousing. Alas, busty brunette Jordan is left out of both the opening and end credits. She's a somewhat mysterious porn actress -I've never seen her in any other movie.

One of my sci-fi/horror/fantasy reviews written 50 years ago: Directed and Produced by Stanley Kubrick, for Columbia Pictures release. Screenplay by Terry Southern, Stanley Kubrick and Peter George, from Peter George's novel "Red Alert"; Photographed by Gilbert Taylor; Edited by Anthony Harvey; Music by Laurie Johnson; Production Design by Ken Adam; Special Effects by Wally Veevers. Starring: Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden, Keenan Wynn, Slim Pickens, Peter Bull, James Earl Jones, Tracy Reed and Shane Rimmer.

Stanley Kubrick directed this classic science fictional satire. It's an hysterical black comedy dealing with the possibility of nuclear holocaust due to the mad decision of a general to initiate a nuclear first strike, and the installation of uncontrollable doomsday devices.

Ricky Greenwood brings "Dirty Cops" to a conclusion with a fine balance between sex and violence in terms of content, a surprise given that violence is generally shunned these days in Adult movies, due to censorship fears.

Penny Barber asserts herself as tough, pragmatic police captain -using her strong acting talent to hold the story together, and then following up with hot sexual skills, even squirting for her fans' delight.

After upbraiding her officers Alex Jones and Nicole Kitt for screwing up (literally screwing in Episode 1) on the job, she and district attorney Isiah Maxwell have a strong foursome sex scene. Back to advancing the story, they put their clothes back on, and she sends our heroes to go save kidnappee officer Alff from the clutches of evil villain Scott Nails.

This leads to quite violent fighting and a shootout also involving corrupt detective Jennifer White who is in league with Nails. The conclusion is satisfying, and chalks up the 4-part series as one of director Greenwood's better tributes to traditional Hollywood genre films, as adapted to the prurient needs of today's Adult movie audience.

In yet another tribute to traditional Hollywood genre films, producer-director Ricky Greenwood fashions a well-made cop thriller, released in four segments on-line by Digital Playground.

Nicole Kitt and Alex Jones star as a pair of Black cops who are working on the case of a fellow cop Daniel Shar, who is kidnapped by big-shot criminal Scott Nails and held for a multi-million dollar ransom. Our hero and heroine come to loggerheads with the detective on the case, Jennifer White, who is cahoots with Wilson.

After several strong sex scenes and conflict with their superior Penny Barber along with the district attorney Isiah Maxwell, they finally rescue Shar and close the case in a violent ending.

The sex scenes are strong, and there's also some well-directed action footage as Ricky manages to fit a useful storyline (without any on-screen scripting credit) into the predominantly XXX content.

Boring and repetitive best describe this Oopsie segment, poorly directed by Siouxsie Q and Michael Vegas. It's 100% gonzo filler Popular TS stars Ariel Demure and Emma Rose are shopping at a boutique-size store (cheap set) for beds and linens, and they try out the merchandise, with salesgirl Siri Dahl attracted to their dicks. The pair of helmers waste little time: after a minute or two the pantomime gives way to a lesbian threesome. There's no dialogue at all, just some pornspeak and grunting.

Siri is now, a decade after her naturally big-bust heyday, a big-butt star instead; in fact, her two trnas-female co-stars have bigger and better looking breasts than she has now. Both Ariel and Emma fake their ejaculations: Ariel's is a pretend creampie (no evidence shown, not even the usual fake dripping cum) and when Emma supposedly cums on Siri's face it's invisible: shown in long shot in let's pretend mode.

One of my sci-fi/horror/fantasy reviews written 50 years ago: Directed by Nathan Juran; Produced by William Alland, for Universal-International release. Screenplay by Martin Berkeley; Photography by Ellis Carter; Edited by Chester Schaeffer; Special Photography by Clifford Stine; Music Supervisor: Joseph Gershenson. Starring: Craig Stevens, William Hopper, Alix Talton, Donald Randolph, Pat Conway, Florence Ames and Paul Smith; Narrated by Marvin Miller.

Exceedingly cheap monster proves to be a hazard to planes in flight, but is felled when some neat military shenanigans are brought to bear against it. Radiation created it, of course.

One of my sci-fi/horror/fantasy reviews written 50 years ago: Directed by and Produced by Val Guest. Released in America by Universal-International. Screenplay by Val Guest and Wolf Mankowitz; Photographed by Harry Waxman; Camera Operator: Moray Edited by Bill Lenny; Music by Stanley Black: Special Effects by Les Bowie. Starring: Edward Judd, Janet Munro, Leo McKern, Michael Goodliffe, Renee Asherson, Bernard Braden and Reginald Beckwith and Edward Underdown.

British science-fiction film classic of suspense, when the Earth's orbit is shifted as a result of the great powers' nuclear testing, and the Earth becomes doomed to burn. Before the end, however, the price of a Coca-Cola rises tremendously. A novel approach: the film is told from the vantage point of a newspaper reporter.

One of my sci-fi/horror/fantasy reviews written 50 years ago: Directed and Produced by Lindsay Shonteff; Executive Producer: Kenneth Rive. Released in America by Associated Film Distributing. Screenplay by Ronald Kinnoch and Charles Vetter; Photography by Gerald Gibbs; Edited by Ernest Bullingham. Starring: Bryant Haliday, Wiliam Sylvester, Yvonne Romain; Philip Ray, Sandra Dorne, Nora Nicholson, Karel Stepanek and Alan Gifford.

British supernatural horror thriller dealing with ventriloquism and hypnotism. Excellent development of eerie atmosphere, with mucho attention paid to pretty babes. Soul transference from man to dummy is the film's premise.

The main stars return, but the action is weak in this followup to Bud Lee's "Supermodel", a big-deal Vivid Video release.

Now heroine Lene is out to get the ring of gigolos who prey on rich women, following the death of the previous leader of that crime group after the first movie. Leena is the villainess in charge, and she's out to get Rebecca Wild, the widow of Leena's previous dream guy, who inherited his newspaper empire.

Buck Adams has little to do in this sequel (except have some sex of course) as the guy out to capture Lene. Steven St. Croix is torn between Lene and Leena, and chooses the wrong side.

Set in the world of modelling, Bud has lots of footage of beautiful models at work. The sex content is a mix of softcore and hardcore with enough soft plus soft angles to indicate the feature was aimed at hitting wider markets, such as a trimmed version for cable TV or export. The climax of the main story is given short shrift, in a brief, poorly staged final confrontation.

Not as well known as his later hits, "The Swap" shows Paul Thomas's serious approach to Adult filmmaking early in his stint directing for Vivid Video.

With IVF in the headlines lately thanks to right-wing efforts to abolish it along with so many other aspects surrounding their crusade against abortion. The subject of infertility is the core of Airel Hart's screenplay (using a pseudonym "Ashley Richards"). The movie stars two couples: Jennifer Stewart & Joel Lawrence, plus Sharon Kane & Jerry Butler. Joel and Jerry are business partners, and of the four of them, Joel has low sperm count and Kane has feritlity issues.

Jerry comes up with the idea of swapping partners: He will make love to Jennifer and then all four of them will share custody of the baby, if they're successful. Not everyone is crazy about the idea, and even Greg is not sold on it, as he and Jennifer don't get along in the first place.

Out of desperation, they all finally agree, and Jerry & Jennifer begin a regular program of lovemaking, earnestly aiming at having a baby. Amidst the arguing, the other spouses get jealous, and finally Joel f*cks Sharon after they watch "Dumbo" on TV!

The balance of sincere drama over the issue and clever rom-com antics (especially when Joel & Sharon are caught in the act of making love, not part of the quartet's agreement) make this an enjoyable movie, better than many mainstream rom-coms. A 12-person orgy takes place halfway through the show (with our quartet merely watching, surprised at the type of party they were invited to attend), perhaps a sop to porn fans, as PT treats the other sex scenes tastefully in line with the story.

The subject here is nominally crypto-currency, but only in passing. Actually, Aubree Valentine has become wealthy trading in that financial market, but her real designs are on her neighbor Laney Grey, whose husband is a colleague of Aubree's.

It doesn't take too much effort to seduce Laney, as her hubby neglects her: he's caught up instead in the dizzying world of chasing after more and more money, locked up in those mysterious blockchains.

Craven Moorehead directs this lengthy vignette with emphasis on slow, sensual lovemaking, and fans appreciate the warmth and skill that Laney and Aubree bring to the scene. A special treat is Laney's digression into foot-worship midway through the action.

One of those Transfixed episodes that misses the boat, "Stargazing" has a nice opening: Lulu Chu at her telescope staring at the night sky and seeing an animated shooting star heading for a crash landing near her.

Supposedly an alien, played poorly by TS actress Ember Fiera, survives and takes human form, saved by Lulu. The lovely brunette from outer space is interested in how human beings have sex, so Lulu agrees to teach her.

After this brief introduction, the sex scene is mechanical, with Ember constantly holding her hair back with her hands so the camera can see her face. There is no money shot, typical of recent trans lesbian scenes on this website. Basically we have 1/2 hour of porn pretending to be some sci-fi story, but turning out to be strictly sex filler.

I grew up in the 1950s as a big fan of Red Skelton, and although his fame is no longer up there with comedy icons, this 1955 comedy diversion on the Climax! Suspense series reminds one of his brilliance at slapstick, face-pulling and one-liners. Only thing missing is the pathos he could conjure, just like his contemporary Jackie Gleasn.

The format of a bumbler who is taken in by con men and has comical crime adventures permits Red to assume many different guises, and manages to inject endless physical shtick, corny routines and even a very old-fashioned vaudeville/burlesque clown act doing a pantomime horse on-stage. The Live TV structure even ends with him bowing his final line with co-star Ann Rutherford and laughing at his own mistake.

It was great fun watching this curio, and nice to see that his director Seymour Berns had directed other great comedians for TV: Johnny Carson before "The Tonight Show" gig, Jack Benny, Bob Hope, Bing Crosby and Bill Cosby.

This is the best of the boy/trans episodes recently introduced to the previously trans lesbian-oriented label "Transfixed". It has met with good reactions from the subscribers, unlike most of the previous attempts to add this genre.

The convincing performances by Ariel Demure and Gay Porn star Roman Todd are what make this a winner. Plenty of time is devoted to the setup, wherein neighbor Demure makes a house call after Roman requests her exotic dancing on recommendation from his pals. He's more than satisfied, as a sexy dance plus lap dance leads to hot sex.

No pegging here, as Ariel plays the bottom role for a change. Her costume is a plus, and director Jim Powers puts more effort than usual in making this a sensual scene rather than just raw sex.

Nearly a century old, this romantic dramedy starring Dorothy Mackaill and Joel McCrea is surprisingly fresh and heartwarming, thanks to the utter sincerity of the performances, and a terrific commitment to tried and true dramatic arcs. What a breath of fresh air compared to current facetious and downright silly trends in rom-coms.

McCrea is one of the great actors who is taken for granted, no cult for him, and not a name bandied about among Hollywood legends. I suppose his sin was being hard-working and rising to the occasion when cast in great roles -at least the '30s through '60s filmmakers knew his talent, ranging from Preeston Sturges all the way to Sam Peckinpah.

The revelations here for me were the actresses: Mackhaill as his wife and Mary Carr as his mother. The vivacious and rather amazing performance by Dorothy - captivating in the early reels, then downright hissible with her elfishness later on, on;y to bring a tear near the end - that's a style that would be worth bringing back -she really poured her heart into it. And in a sentimental role, I was with Carr 100% as the bedrock underneath all the film's frivolity.

This is surefire Depression Era entertainment (with a solid director of that aera, Lloyd Bacon, in charge). One can't help but immediately identify with Joel's all-American boy character and live vicariously in the glamour of the upper class during the Depression, while the script carefully makes clear their shortcomings. Dorothy's bad behaviour and comeuppance are expertly delineated, and the lack of censorship only adds to the power of certain risque scenes, such as their wedding night and her dalliance with a scoundrel at Joel's lowest moment.

Some favorite actresses from Mommy's GIrl's original era when Alan was directing are resurrected on this Girlsway VOD of reissued material.

In the title scene, India Summer, in her blonde phase, has fun with her daughter and a toy in this rather indulgent vignette from the "Mommy's Girl" series. Fans who like to watch natural Sapphic sex without any toys need not apply.

She catches her cute kid Jenna Sativa masturbating on the couch with a strap-on dildo in hand, and gets turned on. India feels it necessary to show Jenna the proper use of a strap-on, not intended for masturbation, and needless to say both women are highly satisfied with the result.

One treat for fans is seeing Jenna Sativa in her earlier form, before she succumbed to the oddball fetish trend of fans demanding big butts.

"I'm In Control" is filled with dumb flashbacks of mommy Dava Foxx making her daughter Jenna Sativa almost a sex slave definitely runs the concept into the ground.

"A Most Special Occasion" is an overly cheerful vignette is credited to website member Metalhead42 for its inspiration. It concerns Alina Lopez and Vera King serendipitously giving each other engagement rings (Alina goes first) to get married, after King has divorced Alina's dad. Vision of Woody Allen's sleazy hook-up (and marriage) with his and Mia Farrow's adopted daughter Soon-Yi Previn flashed through my mind. So what is intended by good old Metalhead42 to be a cute and friendly variation on taboo themes didn't hit me that way.

However, the lovey-dovey relationship and the actresses' convincing depiction of sincere affection for each other makes up for the bad taste story.

In "Mommy's Little Black Book", conflict sets up the Reagan Foxx/Scarlett Sage vignette, as Reagan catches her kid reading her old diary. In purple prose the journal documents mom's lesbian affairs when she was a young college student (experimenting with lesbianism back in one's student days is among the most used and over-used gimmicks in Bree Mills' world of storytelling). Reagan gets angry at this gross violation of her privacy but within seconds she has been seduced by the young and desirable Scarlett Sage.

These two all-time greats are an excellent match in this vignette, and Scarlett looks especially fetching with her bangs hair style.

Chi Chi La Rue directed this bottom of the barrel Vivid Video release set entirely in a bar. End credits sadly reveal that the great Sharon Kane is responsible for many key credits, with nothing to show for it.

Randy Spears inherits a bar from his uncle and in very bored voice-over narration tells us about the boring events, all sexual, that took place there. It's as lifeless as porn can get.

What passes for story is his hiring a coatcheck girl, namely contract star Steffani Morgan. She has a 3-way with Johnny Castle and Kelly Kline instead of checking coats, and Randy ends up falling in love with her after she does a stripteae at a special (and boring) party at the bar.

Everything about the video is depressing, cynical and half-hearted, plus the 100% reliance on voice-over is a drag.

A trend away from storytelling is evident in this trio of Girlsway romances united on a VOD.

An exception is "Earning the In-Law's Approval". Dana Vespoli's acting expertise is displayed in high relief in this rather droll Girlsway segment, casting her as Kenna's prospective mother-in-law.

Kenna is asking for her blessing as she plans to marry Dana's daughter Carrie, and shows the mom an expensive ring she's bought to give to Carrie. The way that Dana controls the rest of the scene, and delivers her demands to Kenna is terrific - utterly convincing and yet simultaneously somewhat tongue-in-cheek.

Basically, she demands proof that Kenna can satisfy her daughter's desires for a lifetime? A demonstration is necessary. Kenna is a bit shocked, but overcomes her reluctance and goes toe to toe sexually with Dana, and comes out a winner. But don't tell Carrie!

More straightforward is "You Can Stay With Me". The directing team of Siouxsie Q and Michael Vegas once again demonstrate that they don't need a script to crank out a sexy and mediocre vignette, in this case starring Queenie Sateen and Ana Foxxx, a randomly cast couple.

Queenie is all broken up at the treatment she receives from a cheating boyfriend, so Ana invites her to hang out at her home, as per the title dialogue. Queenie proves to be bicurious and Ana comforts her first with an innocent shoulder massage but then easily seduces the forlorn girl.

There's no denying they are effective making out XXX-style on Ana's couch, but the improvised dialogue and pointlessness of the scene are also on display.

In the title segment, director Stella Smut brings an element of style to this otherwise lovey-dovey vignette of Sapphic sex, as busty Kenzie Taylor primps for her date with her lover Gal Ritchie. Though the storyline by Lapis Afterglow is thin, the actresses definitely act convincingly to make one believe they're deeply involved lovers, rather than random players booked for a porn scene assignment together.

Both are clad in striking lingerie worthy of a Dorcel movie, with garter belts yet, as Ritchie gazes at her pal, and enjoys a dream-like erotic fantasy of Kenzie at her mirror spraying perfume on herself. The brief interlude presented in monochrome and slow motion plays like a perfume commercial, but without the product placement.

This turns into a pleasant, sensual scene, consistently positive in content.

Conflict sets up the Reagan Foxx/Scarlett Sage vignette, as Reagan catches her kid reading her old diary. In purple prose the journal documents mom's lesbian affairs when she was a young college student (experimenting with lesbianism back in one's student days is among the most used and over-used gimmicks in Bree Mills' world of storytelling). Reagan gets angry at this gross violation of her privacy but within seconds she has been seduced by the young and desirable Scarlett Sage.

These two all-time greats are an excellent match in this vignette, and Scarlett looks especially fetching with her bangs hair style.

An overly cheerful vignette is credited to website member Metalhead42 for its inspiration. It concerns Alina Lopez and Vera King serendipitously giving each other engagement rings (Alina goes first) to get married, after King has divorced Alina's dad. Vision of Woody Allen's sleazy hook-up (and marriage) with his and Mia Farrow's adopted daughter Soon-Yi Previn flashed through my mind. So what is intended by good old Metalhead42 to be a cute and friendly variation on taboo themes didn't hit me that way.

However, the lovey-dovey relationship and the actresses' convincing depiction of sincere affection for each other makes up for the bad taste story.

Dana Vespoli's acting expertise is displayed in high relief in this rather droll Girlsway segment, casting her as Kenna's prospective mother-in-law.

Kenna is asking for her blessing as she plans to marry Dana's daughter Carrie, and shows the mom an expensive ring she's bought to give to Carrie. The way that Dana controls the rest of the scene, and delivers her demands to Kenna is terrific - utterly convincing and yet simultaneously somewhat tongue-in-cheek.

Basically, she demands proof that Kenna can satisfy her daughter's desires for a lifetime? A demonstration is necessary. Kenna is a bit shocked, but overcomes her reluctance and goes toe to toe sexually with Dana, and comes out a winner. But don't tell Carrie!