Naked Hollywood 2: Lust or Love Review

Cast: Keri Windsor, Nina Hartley, Lauren Montgomery, Dee, Darla Crane, Billy Glide, T.J. Cummings, Brick Majors and Evan Stone.

Director: Toni English

Production date: 2/20/01 (box); 11/26/01 (feature)

Length: 78 min. feature, plus 7 min. from volumes one (recap) and three (preview)

Extras: A 17-min. bonus scene from Stolen Moments, 6 short biographies (Keri, Nina, Lauren, Dee, Billy, Brick), 3 trailers and a slide show with 33 photos.

Disc problems: As with Naked Hollywood 1: Faking It, my Apple DVD Player (version 2.2.1) freezes if I let the menu autostart. I can circumvent the problem by holding down the right arrow key (which is the shortcut for chapter skipping). This may or may not be an issue on other players.

Audio/visual quality: The video quality is immaculate. The images are consistently clear and crisp, with no significant shadow problems. The camerawork is smooth and expert, and there's nothing goofy in the editing. The male performer's faces share roughly equal screentime with the females, which is something I really enjoy.

In contrast, the audio is rather weak. The recording levels are adequate for the music, but the performers' voices are too quiet. Some dialog is difficult to hear, especially in the third and fifth scenes. Nina Hartley's narration is also a little flat, as if recorded in mono. To my ear, it sounds like she might have been too far away from the microphone, and a subsequent attempt to boost her voice resulted in some distortion. These problems are not intolerable, but they are noticeable. The music is generally good, and it varies widely to fit the characters and the mood of the scenes.

First impression: This episode is just as fun as the first one!

Scene highlights: Naked Hollywood 2: Lust or Love is the second installment of a series about four attractive women in pursuit of happiness. This particular episode partly revolves around Keri Windsor ("Monica"), who believes she's finally struck the perfect balance between love and lust.

Keri's new boyfriend, Billy Glide ("Jonathan"), has a well-known reputation for screwing all the waitresses at the local club. He has evidently learned something about pleasing women, since Keri later reports to her friends that he gave her four orgasms in an hour. The first scene begins in Billy's bed, where he pulls aside the crotch of Keri's red lace teddy. He provides some oral attention (with a very small amount of rimming), and then lets Keri return the favor. Her blowjob is extended and rather intense, with lots of deep mouth action and skilled handwork. Vaginal intercourse follows in three positions--doggie, spooning and missionary. He pops on her belly and right breast to finish. Keri does appear to be genuinely orgasmic in this scene; she trembles in excitement and practically skewers Billy with her powerful eye contact.

By contrast, the second scene is extremely tender (and still hot). Dee ("Annie") is consoling her close friend T.J. Cummings ("Brian") after his breakup with his boyfriend. She takes him shopping, and they head back to her place for supper. Dee offers T.J. some wine in the kitchen, but that's not what he really wants. They start kissing...and kissing...and kissing--it's really nice to see this much kissing in an adult movie. Dee and T.J. both have well-toned bodies that look striking together when they embrace topless in their blue jeans. She takes him to the couch in her studio for further lovemaking, which includes oral for her, a blow job for him, vaginal intercourse in cowgirl and doggie, and still more kissing. T.J.'s cum politely lands on Dee's butt. They even snuggle together briefly in the afterglow (gasp! how often does that happen in a porno?).

Billy's back in his bed for the third scene, but he's not with Keri this time. Instead, he's sacking up with Darla Crane, who likes it nasty and doesn't make him wear a condom. Billy adds some finger penetration to his oral work, which Darla reciprocates with a short blowjob. She braces her boobs during Billy's hard thrusts in missionary. A sideways missionary variation, vaginal doggie and anal doggie follow. This is the only anal action in the movie. Billy comes on her belly and left breast (which makes it a little different from Keri, I suppose). He doesn't look like he's feeling too guilty when he tells her she's "one of a kind."

Meanwhile, Lauren Montgomery ("Kim") and Brick Majors ("Eddy") are getting playful in her bed. These two performers seem to truly like each other, and they generate some great chemistry. They start by planting a number of kisses on each others' mouths. I like the way Brick pinches Lauren's nipple during foreplay and the way he gently wrestles her into new positions. The sex feels realistic, and it includes oral, blowjobs and vaginal intercourse in cowgirl and missionary. Lauren smiles a lot, but she smiles the biggest when her second blowjob causes Brick to climax on her chest. I would consider this to be a stronger scene for her than the one that appears in Naked Hollywood 1.

Nina Hartley ("Lindsey") and Evan Stone ("Steven") have reached a comfortable point in their relationship where they don't mind spending the night in each others' beds. Since it's her turn to stay at his place, he gives her a warm oral welcome. Some of the dialog is absolutely hilarious (and I do mean that as a compliment). For example, Evan protests, "No, no, you're not going to suck my dick, are you?" and Nina declares, "I'm not that kind of girl!" Which she isn't, apparently, since she skips over his penis and rims him enthusiastically instead. She does follow that with a teasing blowjob, during which she gently pops one of his testicles in and out of her mouth like a ping pong ball. At one point, she lets his erect cock fall back against his belly. Without missing a beat, he exclaims, "Ow! Broke my rib!" They gracefully stay connected when they roll over from the cowgirl to the missionary position, and he sprays her belly to finish.

The bonus scene comes from Roy Karch's Stolen Moments, and it's not a bad scene in and of itself. Dale DaBone and Candy Cotten both put effort and enthusiasm into the performance. The highlight of the scene is probably Candy's wet and deep blowjob. The condomless vaginal sex includes cowgirl, reverse cowgirl and spooning positions, and it ends with a facial and a little tit-fucking. The camerawork leaves something to be desired, since poor framing blocks off some of the action. Incidentally, the music here is identical to the music in the third scene of Karch's On the Loose. I know that porn is produced on a budget, and that I shouldn't notice things like this, but I do. It just comes across as a little cheap.

Thumbs up: Thank you, Adam & Eve, for having the courage to portray a little diversity. I've been reviewing for five months, and this is the first time I've encountered a scene that pairs a bisexual female character with bisexual male character. It's very tastefully done, and it's also surprisingly romantic.

As with the first installment of Naked Hollywood, this episode is very well acted. These performers have obviously taken time to polish their lines, and they usually convey their characters' emotions with a pleasing degree of subtlety.

Thumbs down: There's still the issue of the audio. Again, I want to reiterate that it's not an unbearable problem. It's a moderate annoyance, though, and it's holding these movies back from a higher rating. I really want to be able to hear all the conversation between Nina and Evan.

Themes: Straight, oral, anal, rimming (male to female, female to male).

Condom use: Yes, in all scenes except the third (Darla/Billy).

Juice-o-meter: Medium.

Final analysis: I'm now definitely hooked on the Naked Hollywood series. Although each episode can stand on its own, I'm hopeful that I'll get to see them all.

Special thanks: To astroknight, reviewer extraordinaire, for allowing me to use his screenshots.


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