Pirate Video Deluxe 11: The Academy Review

Reviewed by Speelie  on  6/23/2001

Released on VHS 8/00, on DVD 12/00 Here's the cast: Sylvia Saint, Lea deMae, Katy (aka Kathy Heart & Brittany), Daniella Rush, Monica Moore, Monika (aka Monica) Sweetheart, Rumika, Sandra Russo, Tamara N-Joy (aka Tamara Sweet & Money), Chanel (might be Zita, or not actually in the movie), David Perry, George, Thomas Stone (not the American director), Guy DiSilva (aka DeSilva), Dick Nasty, Lexington Steele, Frank Thring (director of this movie)

I should begin by pointing out that I'm not particularly a fan of either Sylvia Saint or Frank Thring's filmmaking, though I do recognize the talent of each, and can understand why both have many fans.

As the movie opens, we see an American urban street at night. The Carl's Jr. sign is a dead give away, and it looked to me like Las Vegas. As I was thinking, "what the heck...?" a subtitle appeared explaining that this was Los Angeles. Next we see Lexington Steele, the black stallion, sitting on an obvious film set with a ball gag in his mouth, and with a scared look on his face. He is supposed to be taking part in a movie shot in the USA, though this was obviously filmed during his summer 2000 trip to Europe which saw him shoot a bunch of scenes with Euro talent.

Sylvia (pretty blonde Czech with a great body, she's a living legend) and Rumika (harsh but pretty Romanian woman with a good body and black hair) come out in fetish gear and play with Lex. Eventually, he bones them both, and we get to see why Sylvia is a star, while Rumika is name that sounds vaguely familiar from various cast lists. Sylvia has a genuine love of dark meat, she was formerly married to Mr. Marcus, and I fondly recall her blazing scene with Sean Michaels in The Voyeur #9 from 1997. So she isn't faking here as she grinds her pussy and ass on Lex's big tool, coating it with her juices and leaving him gasping. In the past, she didn't speak English, but now she's learned enough to sexily dirty talk Lex. Rumika skips the anal, which isn't too surprising when Lex is the dick in question.

After Sylvia has drained Lex dry, Guy DiSilva walks out, playing the role of the American movie's producer. He asks Sylvia how she and the other Euro chicks learn to take huge cocks up their ass and other similar sex techniques. "Oh," she replies, "there's an academy we attend..." DiSilva laughs, assuming she is joking, and Sylvia plays it as a joke, but an idea has been planted in his head.

Sylvia is then shown by the Mediterranean, explaining in her thick accent that she will let us in on a secret, there truly is such an academy. It is housed in a beautiful villa outside of Cannes on the Riviera, and we are shown the students doing calisthenics on the grounds. Then, blonde Czech Lea DeMae fancy dives into a pool, before showing off her dripping wet, near perfect body. We are told that sex performers need to keep in good shape (too bad Lea smokes like a chimney, according to behind the scenes footage in other movies). George, who looks like a male model, oils and massages Rumika (now attending the academy) and Tamara N-Joy (tall, slender dyed-dirty blonde Hungarian).

We witness a training session, as tall, slightly older Zita plays the instructor, "experienced porn performer Miss Ferragamo." On a terrace, she teaches dressing, makeup, and "the art of the erotic" to Monica Moore (petite pretty blonde), Monika Sweetheart (tall, slender Czech with her light brown hair dyed very dark brown), and Sandra Russo (stunning blonde with a killer body and gorgeous face). George is hanging around, along with geeky Thomas Stone, and they proceed to pleasure all of the women, including Zita, with the women also licking and prodding each other. Russo quickly does anal, Sweetheart gets DPed, and then Russo also takes a DP.

Director Thring plays the chief instructor, a horny old Englishman (quite a stretch for him). He has a thing for Sandra Russo (so do I, I keep it in my pants), so when he sees her enter the bathroom, he spies on her through the keyhole. She knows she is being watched, so she plays with herself and lathers up in the bathtub, all the while gazing at that eye in the keyhole. Russo is new to me, but must be an experienced performer, I will have to look up more of her work.

Next we have Thring teaching English class. Students Sandra Russo, Monika Sweetheart, Tamara N-Joy, and Katy (pretty tightbodied brunette, with way too much makeup here) did poorly on their homework, so Thring leads them in a couple of rounds of, "Ooh ah, stick it in my ass, big boy!" This is even funnier if you realize that (aside from Russo, about whom I don't know) these women speak good English in other films.

As a special guest lecturer, French teacher Daniella Rush brings out "legendary French porn actor" David Perry (playing himself, again, quite a stretch). Perry is more than merely a stud bull, he truly is an experienced actor, so he makes it through this scene with a look of sly amusement, as Daniella shows these "students" how to stimulate a man through licking and sucking his penis. Daniella makes so many pornos, usually with hacks directing and parolees as her partner, that she often looks beyond bored. Here, the funny premise allows her to enjoy herself for a few minutes, before setting the students loose on Perry.

They all fellate him, and then he gets them in a row, on their knees with naked butts raised high. Perry produces a tube of lube, and goes down the line, fingering and greasing their rosebuds. Katy proves her vast experience by easily taking three of his fingers immediately, while Sweetheart (who is on record elsewhere as merely putting up with anal, but not enjoying it) has the tightest hole. Perry decides to let each girl quickly blow him, before the anal insertion, so he makes his way back up the line. Katy furthers the belief that this all isn't so new to her by briefly deepthroating Perry's cock. The scene concludes as Perry then briefly doggy anals the students, before having each ride him reverse cowgirl, while the others take turns sucking ass to mouth when he pulls out. In reality, Katy isn't alone, none actually need this "training" and all take his cock up their ass with ease.

The Academy was shot during the 2000 Cannes Film Festival, and Private put on quite a show there, as I recall from E!'s coverage at the time. The students at the academy go on a field trip to the festival, and are shown in documentary footage modelling and making photo- ops with parasails. DiSilva shows up, after getting Rumika into the academy, he wants to know what it is about. He meets his old buddy, a talent scout played by the aptly named Dick Nasty (an short ugly Brit who has been an old guy in porn as far back as a decade ago). Dick explains that the academy is off limits, but agrees to sneak DiSilva in.

They creep up to the grounds, and break in, and quickly hear noises inside a room. More keyhole peeping reveals Daniella Rush and Lea DeMae fooling around in fetish gear. The guys are so eager for a better look, they accidentally knock the door open. The two Czechs (who often work in the same movies) decide to have some fun with the guys, and split up into two separately filmed couples. First Rush sucks and fucks DiSilva, and it is good that he has a big cock, because she can anally fist herself, and what fun would an anal scene be if neither participant could feel anything?

DeMae goes to the balcony to suck and fuck Nasty, and spends most of the time riding him reverse cowgirl anal. This is perfect, as all we can see of Nasty are his legs and cock. DeMae, unlike Sweetheart, is on record as loving anal (apprently truthfully), and she actually enjoys being in a scene with Dick Nasty, somehow, some way (she can't keep her hands off him in Elegant Angel's Sodomania Orgies 3, only on VHS so far).

Finally, it is time for graduation, and the entire cast, including Sylvia (commencement speaker?) and the "prisoners" DiSilva and Nasty, assemble for an orgy (Thring doesn't hve sex). All the usual couplings occur, and DeMae is quickly riding some guy in reverse cowgirl anal, even before noted anal veterans Katy and Tamara. This was fun, if too short. Thring usually paces his scenes too quickly for my taste, though this isn't a problem in the rest of this movie.

Finally, after the course is over, Thring again keyhole peeps on Sandra Russo, who is fully clothed. She pulls him into her room, and forcefully blows him until he shoots a good load on her face and practically faints. The movie finishes with Thring pointing out to DiSilva and Nasty that the two got drunk at the orgy, and ended up with each other, and that he has incriminating photos and video, in case the two decide to let anyone in on the secret of the academy. The students, dressed as they were for David Perry's lesson (guess when this part was shot?), dump the prisoners in the pool. The end.

The DVD had poor audio, which was quite difficult to understand, but the picture was crisp and sharp. Private supplies the trailer, a good "making of" that includes further Cannes documentary footage, cast notes, production notes, and very brief trailers for other DVDs.

I liked this one quite a bit, since sometimes jaded performers were allowed to have silly fun. The women were attractive and energetic, and while they wore fetish gear, that aspect had next to nothing to do with the movie. The action was not especially intense, but those used to couples friendly American fare will consider this extremely exciting and hardcore. So it is highly recommended to those new to Private, who want to give the company a try. It is as couples friendly as Private gets. For those used to anal extravaganzas such as Rocco often films, it is still worth viewing just for the pretty cast and light atmosphere, as long as you don't expect an epic.