Photogenic Review

Reviewed by astroknight  on  10/12/2003

Running Time: 99 min.

Production Date: 4 / 11 / 2002

Director: Nicholas Steele

Cast: Jodie Moore, Zana, Dominca Leoni, Kennedy, Majella, Nikki Fairchild, Tawny Roberts, Julian, Lee Stone, Ricky Roberts, and Randy Spears

Initial Expectations: Nicholas Steele has made some decent couples features, which is about what I’m expecting.

Initial Reaction: It’s beautiful, but seems to have trouble getting beyond being pretty.

Who Should Watch It : Anybody wanting softer sex, elaborate locations, and soft lighting

Who Should Avoid It: Anybody wanting a good look at the action or who wants the sex to push a limit or two

Audio /Video Quality: The audio quality is a mixed bag. Some of it is nice and clear, but other areas are a bit hollow and echo. Much of this is due to the locations, but it makes it hard to understand some of the dialogue. There’s also some very obvious dubbing and the levels change a bit throughout the movie. Photogenic is presented in anamorphic widescreen, which is always a great thing to see! The video is clear, but it’s normally a bit too dark. This isn’t a case of artistic shadowing, but a case of just low lighting, which I guess some people think enhances the mood. It didn’t work at all for me here, and brought down most of the scenes for me.

Music: As usual, the music is done by Saint. It’s a new age style feel that I really like, and because of it I can get past the music being the only audio during much of the sex scenes.

Menus: The menus are extremely basic. The main menu doesn’t even have any animation and the chapter menu lets you choose a scene based on a small clip of the scene and a chapter number.

The Feature: Years ago Randy Spears lost his true love. Since then, he sits at home in his huge mansion, hiding from the world and playing chess with himself. He’s gone slightly mad in his grief, and thinks that he might be able to bring her back with the help of an antique photo booth he recently added to his collection. Not many people believe him, but Tawny Roberts makes it clear to her fiancé, and Randy’s son, Ricky Roberts that if it’s true, he better figure out at way to get it away from Randy and take it with them.

Randy Spears starts things off with Nikki Fairchild next to a boat he used to work on. Randy kisses his way from one set of Nikki’s lips to the other, and then switches places with Nikki so she can suck him until he’s good and hard. Nikki lets Randy bone her from behind outside the boat before they head onto it for a little reverse cowgirl action. Finally, Randy decorates Nikki’s tits with a decent pop.

This is an okay scene. Nikki and Randy seem to be into each other pretty well, but the action is kept very tame. The bigger problem here is the lighting, which is very low. It looks like natural light might have been the only lighting used as it’s extremely dark and there’s many noticeable shadows from the surrounding trees. This ends up a pretty average scene.

Tawny Roberts and her real life hubby Ricky Roberts get it on in the second scene. They start out kissing in a swimming pool before Ricky holds Tawny up and eats her out in the shallow end. Ricky sits on the edge of the pool for Tawny to suck his cock before letting her ride it reverse cowgirl style. Ricky also gives it to her from behind, spanking her when she asks for it, before finally stuccoing her ass.

This was an okay scene. This is one of Tawny and Ricky’s early scenes, and it often gave me the feeling that they weren’t as comfortable in front of the camera as they are now. Rick’s much worse than Tawny when it comes to this, but at least he looked into it this time rather than looking like he was playing for the wrong team. The bigger problem, however, is that the camera work softened things up a bit too much. It seemed more concerned with capturing the entire pool area than the sex, and I found myself getting a bit bored several times during the scene.

Maid Zana gets it on with Julian in the third scene after the photo booth prints a few pictures of them together. They kiss before Julian drops down to tongue Zana’s twat. She returns his oral favors with nice enthusiasm while making those lovely “Mmmmmm” sounds that lets you know just how much Zana loves to suck cock. Julian moves on to bone Zana from behind before she takes a reverse cowgirl anal ride. Zana also lets Julian pound her poop chute missionary style before he strokes himself onto her tits and face.

This is a pretty good scene. You can tell that Zana is completely into it, and Julian doesn’t seem to hold back too much either. Sadly, the style of the camera work and the music hold it back from seeming as intense as it might be. There’s a place for soft scenes, and this just didn’t seem to be one of them.

Next, Tawny Roberts explores the photo booth and gets taken to a jungle paradise with Majella, a nice looking brunette with a great natural body. Tawny kisses Majella’s mouth and nipples before laying back and hoisting up her primitive leather dress (which of course magically disappears later) so Majella can work her pierced tongue across her bald beaver. Majella sits on Tawny’s tongue so she can reciprocate before the scene fades out.

This is another scene that didn’t seem to live up to its full potential for me. There’s some very nice chemistry between the ladies, but the camera work seemed to keep it way too soft. It concentrates a bit much on close-ups and the scenery rather than trying to capture all the action. The positions used in this scene really seem to lend themselves to a widescreen format, but I never felt that the format was used to its full potential. The worst thing about the scene, however, is that it’s just one position for each girl and then cuts out feeling like there’s plenty more to go.

Lee Stone, Dominica Leoni, and Kennedy hook up for the penultimate scene after Lee explores the photo booth. Lee starts out looking like an English nobleman from the 1800s complete with a top hat while the girls start out in fuzzy black bikinis with cat tails and ears. The girls rip Lee’s clothes off before dropping down to mouth his manhood, with Kennedy repeatedly taking Lee into her throat. Kennedy leaves, so Lee gives it to Dominica doggie and reverse cowgirl style before giving her a nice facial.

This scene was pretty average, as well as a disappointment for me. First, the good stuff. Dominica and Lee have great chemistry together and really seem to be into each other. I think Dominica and Lee were married (and if so, I hope they still are), which would explain some of the chemistry and how well they work together. The disappointing part of the scene for me was Kennedy. I haven’t seen much of her, but what I’ve seen was impressive. She’s excellent in the oral portion of the scene and really had me looking forward to seeing her fuck. When she left, a good portion of my interest for the scene left for me, and even how well Lee and Dominica were doing couldn’t bring me back.

Finally, Randy Spears uses the photo booth to get back with his late wife Jodie Moore to the day he proposed to her on a picnic in the park. They strip down slowly before exchanging oral favors, including some very nicely captured sixty-nining. Randy gives it to Jodie missionary style and lets her ride him cowgirl while he gently plays with her pucker. They finish things up doggie style and in a nice twist, Jodie works Randy over with her feet while playing with herself until he pops on his stomach, her feet, and into the air.

This is easily the best scene in the movie, and the scene that pulled the movie above average sexually. Jodie Moore has often come across very coldly in most of the scenes I’ve watched her in, and that wasn’t the case here. She and Randy seemed to be into each other very well, and the camera does a great job of capturing her beauty here. There’s also some nice intensity between them, such as Randy pulling back on Jodie’s pearl necklace as he fucked her from behind and the light anal play, which was a bit part of what made this the highlight of the movie for me. I also loved the foot play and the overall loving feeling. This is a great scene!

Photogenic is a beautiful porno whose softness holds it back from reaching its full potential. Although much of it is dark, almost every instance in Photogenic could be used for a magazine layout. The shots are soft, gentle, and just all around beautiful! Unfortunately, much of the sex seems like it wants to go beyond that, and the soft and beautiful approach to it leaves most of the scenes feeling a bit soulless. Jodie Moore’s scene with Randy Spears is the only one that makes it past this, but you can feel something in many of the other scenes. The other big problem with Photogenic is that the plot seems all but forgotten after the first fifteen minutes. I really like the idea of the photo booth that can take you through time, and think it provides a great framework to bring in a variety of scenes. Unfortunately, Photogenic seemed like it wanted to take it beyond that by building relationships around Randy, Ricky, and Tawny, and the plot line about Tawny trying to steal the booth seemed forgotten one she had her second scene. The addition of this minute or two of non-sex footage easily brought the movie down a notch by trying to make it become something more and then not doing anything with it. Photogenic is beautiful, but it has trouble being anything more than that.

Extras: Trailers are included for Taste of a Woman, Unforgettable, and Whispering Hearts. Bios containing a little personal information and a photo are included for Zana, Domica Leoni, Julian, Lee Stone, Randy Spears, and Jody Moore. The photo gallery contains about twenty nice looking snapshots. There’s also website information, three bonus scenes, and a behind the scenes featurette.

The first bonus scene comes from The Hotspot and stars Tina Tyler, John West, and Max Steele. Tina finds the guys watching the exercise channel nude, and strips down to her bra, panties, and stockings before joining them on the couch. She quickly starts giving them handjobs before starting to suck their cocks. Tina takes things a little further by giving them some great all natural tit fucking. She nicely alternates back and forth between the guys using her mouth, tits, and hands until they end up all over her nicely natural knockers, “glazing them like fucking donuts”, as Tina herself puts it. As usual, Tina turns out a great scene, but I have to admit to being a little disappointed to not see Tina using the rest of her body.

The second bonus scene comes from Women of the World where Shay Sweet from the USA, Bamboo from Japan, and Victoria Style from Tanzania meet by a pool. Victoria starts out as the focus of the others, with Bamboo working on her upper body and Shay working on her pierced clit and pussy. Victoria returns Shay’s actions in kind while Bamboo gives Shay a nice spanking and caresses Victoria’s tits. The girls journey into the pool to give Bamboo her treatment and then continue to move things around regularly so nobody’s licking the same person or place too long. It’s an okay scene, but doesn’t build up too much of anything.

The final bonus scene comes from Raging Lust and features Dale DaBone enjoying the pleasures of Dominica Leoni and Kristina Black after he stops daydreaming. Dominica immediately attacks da bone, while Kristina plays with herself and lets Dale eat her pussy a bit. Kristina comes down to help Dominica with her oral workout. Dale fucks Dominica first as Kristina lays underneath watching. Kristina moves out from under so Dominica can eat her pussy, and then stays there for Dale to fuck her. Dominica hops back on for one more ride, and shares the facial with Kristina. The compete a little afterwards with Dale’s cock, and Kristina swallows it down without a problem and looks like she might even swallow a little jiz. It’s a very hot scene that has some very nice chemistry. Kristina Black is really amazing here, and I can see why she’s getting quite a bit of notice. She’s obviously having a great time and doesn’t hold back at all. Dominica is also good, but she isn’t quite as good here as in some of her other scenes.

The behind the scenes featurette lasts nearly twenty minutes. There are interviews with Kennedy, Randy Spears, and Tawny Roberts where they talk a little about their role and a little about themselves. You also get a few chats with the crew and to see some of the scenes being shot (including Julian fluffing himself so he can pop in his scene). There’s a fair amount of camera shake and camera movement so that some people might feel a little motion sickness as they watch this, but other than that it’s a nicely done behind the scenes featurette.

Themes: Straight, interracial, spanking, anal, lesbian, group, and feet

Raincoat Factor: Medium high

Condom Usage: Every scene except between Tawny and Ricky Roberts

Overall: Currently, most of Adam & Eve’s Premium Collection DVDs can be found online for between $13 and $22, with many stores offering them for around $18. I’d go for the low end here, mostly because the movie is a bit soft for my tastes. The technical aspects are pretty good and the extras are nicely done, so if you’re a fan of Nicholas Steele’s movies you’ll probably even feel happy at a much higher price.

Note to Adam & Eve: You’re doing a great job on your Premium Collection line, which show a lot of care and I think are the best overall DVDs you’re putting out. I think that since they’re the best put together DVDs you’re putting out that people tend to gravitate towards them to check you out. Sadly, I think Nicholas Steele’s style will turn off many of these people due to how soft and artistic he is. If you give this treatment to a few other directors you might attract a few more people. It would also be nice to see a few more chapter breaks, like you used to have, with one for the main scene, one for the pop, and one for the non-sex portion.

If you have any questions or comments, please e-mail me .

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