Sex Across America 8: Seattle Review

Cast: Alexandra Silk, Jasmine Klein, Chennin Blanc, Jenny Lynn, Rick Masters, Cheyne Collins and Bud Nolan in sex roles; Luc Wylder, Buddy Blueberry, Paul Sylvester, Butch Vaughn and Scarlet Begonia in non-sex roles.

Director: Luc Wylder

Production date: 5/25/02 (box); 6/10/02 (opening statement)

Length: 136 min.

Extras: A 31-min. behind-the-scenes featurette, pop shot button, bios for all female cast, four trailers and a slide show with 40 photos.

Audio/visual quality: The visual quality is adequate. Several locations are cramped, which somewhat limits the camera angles. There are infrequent problems with soft focus and artifacts. During the hotel scenes, lighting woes result from the high contrast ratios between the windows and interiors. Some action is saturated; some is backlit. The color balance is slightly off in a few edits, with skin tones appearing a bit blue in the wintery sunlight.

The audio has good volume and sufficient clarity throughout. Sex scenes include live sound only; a few grunts and moans are loud enough cause a little distortion. Grunge-style rock instrumentals play during some of the travel segments.

Disc problems: I'm experiencing the same problem with this disc that also affected Sex Across America Sixth Stop: Hawaii. My player's skip, scan and pause controls are completely disabled during the sex scenes (but work fine during the non-sex footage). I'm left with no navigation options except returning to the menu or clicking the pop shot button. It's unclear to me whether this issue is specific to my Apple DVD Player (version 2.2.1). It's definitely annoying, however, and I have deducted a half star from the overall rating.

First impression: The couples sex is as sweet and stimulating as a perfect cup of latte.

Scene highlights: After watching Sex Across America Sixth Stop: Hawaii and scattered scenes from earlier volumes, I've become a fan of this series. In each installment, Luc Wylder and Alexandra Silk take a small cast on tour of a different city or state. The sex is lighthearted and fun (with a happy emphasis on female orgasms), while the travel segments help us get to know the stars as real people.

The team seeks refuge from the rain in a high-rise hotel room, where they glimpse Puget Sound through the window. Jasmine Klein and Chennin Blanc start a mock duel with their matching white and black Pocket Rocket vibrators. Alex joins them for an all-girl frolic on the couch. (Cheyne Collins and Rick Masters watch and wank nearby, though most footage is of the ladies.) Jasmine gets off while sharing a grape-scented purple jelly dong with Alex. A brief, realistic lull occurs when Chennin receives oral. She requests a vibrator, which makes her squeal with delight as her companions playfully pin her to the floor. Chennin's clit grows hypersensitive, and she orgasms repeatedly. Cheyne and Rick climax, too, sprinkling their spunk all over Chennin's chest and belly as she grins up at them.

The second location is also a hotel room, but this one's on the waterfront. The attractive decor has a northwest lodge theme, complete with fireplace. Chennin and Cheyne kindle their real life romance with lots of kissing. Cheyne removes one of Chennin's cute denim platform shoes, nuzzles her foot, tugs the jeans off that leg and puts her shoe back on. He seduces her by teasing her clit through her panties and then warming her up directly with his tongue and fingers. During the blowjob, there's a good view of his engorged cock from below. Chennin and Cheyne clasp each other's wrists in doggie. She squirts four times while he thrusts forcefully in missionary. Cheyne's cock pulsates during the internal cumshot, and Chennin squeezes out her sweetie's semen for the camera.

The pool hall party includes three guys from the fish market as special guests. They watch while Alex, Jasmine, Chennin, Rick and Cheyne combine every which way for oral and vaginal sex. Jenny Lynn also drops in to provide manual stimulation for Alex. The configurations include pairs, three-ways and a open daisy chain. This scene drags on too long for my taste; even the spectators look bored. It's occasionally difficult to determine which guy is with which girl. Cheyne lets go of a decent load on Jasmine's back, though, and Rick's pop is incredible. He stands behind Chennin in doggie and streams his cream all the way across her back, grazing her mouth and nailing a barstool five feet away. "It's the salmon, bro!" he exclaims.

Luc catches Jasmine and Rick devouring a hearty breakfast in their hotel room the next morning. Jasmine is fresh out of the shower, with damp hair and no make-up. She's sweet in her natural state, but Luc agrees to come back later, after they've finished getting ready for the day. Rick's oral attention makes Jasmine ecstatic. I like the way she grinds in cowgirl, too. It's a little selfish in that the camera can't get the best view, but it makes the sex feel authentic. Jasmine leans over a couple of big stuffed bears for doggie, and they finish in missionary. There might really be something magical about the salmon; Rick comes from the thrusting alone and thoroughly hoses down Jasmine's chest and belly.

Rick and Cheyne each receive blowjobs during a quickie interlude in an elevator. Rick gives himself a helping hand and ejaculates on Alex's rain poncho just seconds before the doors open and an anonymous passenger gets on.

Bud Nolan and Jenny Lynn have appeared once before in a Fallen Angel porno and agree to do a second scene for this disc. They sit on their couch and answer questions about Seattle's wild spots and tourist attractions. Luc exercises poor judgment when he interrupts their kissing to ask Jenny to do her "witch's laugh." But soon the couple is kissing and fondling again. Jenny requests four fingers during the oral and appears to climax at least twice. After the blowjob, Jenny and Bud engage in moderately intense vaginal sex. I like Jenny's animalistic style; she grunts pleasurably and asks for spanking and hair pulling. Bud pops vigorously onto her butt and back.

The behind-the-scenes featurette is nicely done and includes extra sex. It's worth watching at least once, if only to see Jasmine and Rick fooling around in the background of Chennin and Cheyne's scene.

Thumbs up: The emphasis on real-life couples is the biggest strength of this movie. Jenny and Bud are spouses, as are Chennin and Cheyne. I don't know if Jasmine and Rick also have an off-camera relationship, but their on-screen chemistry is considerable. The only drawback is that Alex occasionally seems like a fifth wheel and ends up taking a role as the cheerleader.

Thumbs down: After wavering between 3.5 and 4 stars for the sex rating, I've reluctantly settled on the lower number. The chemistry is very warm much of the time, the female orgasms seem genuine and the cumshots are consistently excellent. I really like anal sex, however, and there's none here. Two-thirds of action takes place in hotels. There's just not enough variety to justify the higher rating.

I've said this before, but I hate the pop shot button. It messes up my controls, and there's no way to turn it off. Normally the ugly icon vanishes after a couple minutes. It never does go away during the fourth scene, however.

Themes: Straight, lesbian, group (orgy), oral, masturbation (male), exhibitionism, voyeurism, public sex, squirting, internal pop, foot worship, daisy chain, spanking, hair pulling, toys (vibrators, double dong).

Condom use: Yes, in scenes 3 (Cheyne, Rick) and 4 (Rick).

Juice-o-meter: Medium, or just a tad above.

Final analysis: Sex Across America: 8th Stop Seattle is a good (though not outstanding) addition to the series. I'm glad to have this DVD primarily for the highly realistic couples sex in the second and sixth scenes. Viewers who are looking for a fun and friendly title with no anal action will probably enjoy this disc, as well.

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