Thinking XXX (Extended Cut) (2004) Review

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(More customer reviews)Thinking XXX (Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, 2004)
I've been stepping up my watching of documentaries these past few years. Sort of a combination of feeling like too much of the time I spend in front of a screen is wasted and wanting to find out more about subjects that I know nothing, or little, about. It's not that much of a sacrifice when you've got stuff like this out there waiting to be seen. Celebrated photographer Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, while taking the photos for his book XXX: 30 Porn-Star Portraits, decided to film the process as well. The result is a fascinating look at the people behind the porn, as it were.
One (or, at least, I) always expects porn stars to be nice, bubbly, somewhat vacuous. I know, prejudice is a horrible thing, but there it is. And to be fair, a few of the folks who get camera time here come off exactly that way. But the majority are quite another thing entirely. Everyone, by now, knows the Jenna Jameson story, how she went from being "just another porn star" to being one of the biggest movers and shakers in the adult entertainment industry. (One of the interviewees notes that the E! True Hollywood Story episode on Jenna Jameson was the series' most watched episode of all time.) that sort of drive, intelligence, and ambition is very well represented here, and by many more stars than Jameson. Yeah, there are a lot of naked bodies to look at, and they're aesthetically pleasing, but the flesh on display is not the only attraction here; these people, and the other commentators Greenfield-Sanders ropes in to give their opinions (among them Gore Vidal, Nancy Friday, Karen Finley, and John Waters), really have interesting stuff to say about the business, about their lives, about the cultural mystique that allows such an industry to become the billion-dollar juggernaut it is. These is good people, these is! (And I had no idea Nina Hartley was still making movies-- I remember her from almost a quarter-century ago. More power to her!)
As well as all that, there's what (I assume) Greenfield-Sanders originally set out to document, the art of composing the pictures themselves. He works on antique equipment, so this isn't just a documentary about point-and-shoot camera technology. Even if it were, his idea here-- portraits of the stars clothed, then nude, in the same positions-- required a lot of forethought, a lot of retakes, and, no doubt, a lot of patience from everyone involved. Ever wonder what goes into one of those big coffee-table books of photography? I have little doubt that what Greenfield-Sanders shows us is no more than the tip of the iceberg, but it's enough to get a person wondering.
Rent this, send the kids to bed, and watch it. Prurient interests aside, I think you'll learn something. This one was definitely not filed in the "wasted time" folder in my head. ****

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Studio: Hbo Home VideoRelease Date: 06/13/2006Rating: R

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Pirates Review

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(More customer reviews)The idea of Pirates was grand. If you have ever seen any of the other big budget porn pireate films like Conquest, you know what you are getting into.
For a movie that seemed to be planned well, had a big budget, actually casted extras, had costumes that seemed to be made for the movie, great special effects, props, and sets, this movie failed for one reason.
No one took it seriously.
It was obvious that everyone in the film had fun being a part of this ground breaking movie. But for all its fancy packaging, special effects, and elaborate sets, the acting reduced it to a cheesy 70's porn flick. I was waiting for a pizza delivery guy to ring the doorbell and a half naked girl answer the door with a phrase like, "I hope that comes with sausage".
I know it is "just" porn, and no one is supposed to take it seriously, but others have succeeded where this film failed. Michael Ninn's Latex/Shock series is a good example, of how to assemble this kind of movie and still have it porn. Just because it is a movie with porn actors in it, doesn't mean they have to act like the usual porn actors. They could try to get into character a little to make the movie work better than it did.
All in all the sex scenes are decent, a little too much slapping the face I thought, but decent. It is worth owning, but if you are planning on buying it because it is supposed to be some great legend of a movie and you think it will be changing the face of porn forever.... Go buy yourself a copy of Debby Does Dallas. The acting is the same and both have sex scenes in them. If you are buying it for the special effects, costumes, and sets, then all the power to you.
Cpt Morgan.

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