Director : Eli Cross Cameraman : Howard Campbell Jr Cast : Briana Banks, Sandra Romain, Julie Night, Miss Meadow, Melissa Lauren, Trina Michaels, Trinity Post, Jen X, Van Damage, Chris Cannon, John Strong, Manuel Ferrara, Talon Running time : 100 mins Genre : Vignettes
DVD Extras : Chapter selection, positions room, photo gallery, behind-the-scenes, trailers, bonus clips, sex ads
Trailers : “The New Devil in Ms Jones”, “Extreme Close-up : Lexie”, “Hard Candy”, “Take my Wife”
5 Bonus Clips : Briana Banks & Mario Rossi in “Dark Side of Briana” Briana Banks & Joel Lawrence in “Footwork” Briana Banks & Lezley Zen in “Sessions” Julie Meadows & Dale DaBone in “Eye Spy” Shelbee Myne & Bobby Vitale in “Now or Never”
Behind-The-Scenes (8 mins) : The introduction states that “this is not your ordinary BTS featurette”, but it really is, except there’s no interview. Not that it’s bad. It’s a fly-on-the-wall docu, capturing various moments of productions, from sex scenes to breaks & bloopers. Briana is having a genuine good time. Trina Michaels looks like Jill Kelly from one angle. Melissa & Julie both suffer stripper knees.
WHO’S DOING WHO :
1) BRIANA BANKS, MELISSA LAUREN & JOHN STRONG
Trapped in a cage, sexual animal Briana, in a green lace corset, drools over another caged victim (John Strong) at the other side of the brick-walled warehouse, while mistress Melissa, in a black latex overcoat, overlooks the vicinity. Soon enough, the raven-haired dominatrix releases the foxy blonde from her trappings to devour her snatch, aggressively slapping her buttcheeks until Bri is ripe for her male breeder. Briana lies on her back for some vigorous skull-fucking, then each of the girls alternate Strong’s shaft inside their throats. Bri gets pumped doggy-style over a leather bench while Melissa orchestrates, then briefly switches to mish before her mistress gets her share of man-cock in cowgirl. This energetic, if a bit forced, opener ends with a double facial.
2) MISS MEADOW & VAN DAMAGE
The switch from a post-industrial warehouse of pleasure to candlelit, leopard-print cushions in the living-room is brutal, even though the throat-fucking is nice. Intimate lighting & a more natural chemistry are at odds with the previous scene, so much so that you could think you’re watching a compilation. Past the violent change of style, Miss Meadow is cute but a bit insignificant, except when she’s waving her petite tushy during the doggy, and her male partner is not very exciting either. Her small butt could not keep me from gazing at the lovely cushions. Creamy facial for the blonde teen.
3) JULIE NIGHT & CHRIS CANNON
If you like a little spook with your spunk, Julie Night plays a coroner delineating the corpse of a man in a bathroom, until the dead opens his eyes and unbuttons her blouse. This being Julie, you’d sort of expect her to throw a bucket of piss over her head before puking in a bowl, so it comes as a surprise that this colourful romp shines in its numerous oral interludes, starting with a sensuous blow-job that leads to reverse cowgirl, then interrupted by generous pussy-eating, which Julie seems to really appreciate. After more cowgirl & doggy action, Chris comes in her mouth & Julie returns into her body bag.
4) TRINA MICHAELS, JEN X, TRINITY POST, TALON & MANUEL FERRARA
A witch in white braided hair & purple cape, Jen X paints silly red sketches over sacrificial lamb Trina’s body, in order to prepare her for the upcoming double penetration, even though an enema would have been more appropriate. Even laid on the altar, Trina’s proud boobs point defiantly towards Heaven. The buxom blonde is soon smeared with red paint and Jen X fingers her pussy, which is totally unrelated. Redhead Trinity Post has joined the bizarre ceremony in the meantime, briefly sitting on Trina’s face and encouraging Talon to fuck her mouth. On the side, Jen X is rimming & sucking Manuel Ferrara in a devil mask. Deep throats & gargling ensue left & right, then Manuel honours Trinity’s pussy in doggy, who looks a lot like Julie Night (Trinity, not Manuel). It’s all very good, and culminates in the aforementioned DP, Manuel’s thick-as-a-brick schlong pumping Trina’s backdoor with Talon firmly planted inside her pussy. Very satisfying angles. Trinity gets her joyhole thoroughly filled herself by Manuel in the electrifying climax before Trina gets her double facial on the floor. Good, good professional work, if a bit low on chemistry.
5) SANDRA ROMAIN & BRIANA BANKS
Briana must have forgotten her purse in her pussy, because she spreads it out for her horny fortune-teller in guise of payment. The girls really play it out, spitting in each other’s mouth and slapping their kittens. At one point, I swear I could hear Sandra say “T’es une salope, tu sais (you’re a bitch, you know)”. Bri strokes Sandra’s pussy with her bling-ey gipsy attire, then spreads on the cushions to let the brunette knead her boobs like dough. More sucky-sucky follows, then out come the toys, which Sandra makes thorough use of in Briana’s pussy & mouth (dildo face-fuck ! do the duck !). The chemistry is obvious and the couple never loses heat, exploring many positions and sharing their toys with abandon. You’d think Briana wants to lose her dildo inside Sandra’s kitten. It’s all pretty lengthy and incredibly hot! A killer finale.
SO ? : Although ably directed and performed, this collection of vignettes by debutante Vivid director Eli Cross fails in two points. One, a lack of cohesion resulting from the unexploited theme (the cards drawn by Romain do not even relate to the various sex scenes) and the decidedly out-of-place 2nd scene. Two, the lack of chemistry between the performers, bar that last encounter between Briana & Sandra, which salvages a succession of dynamic by ultimately forced scenarios. In between the push-all-buttons motto of gonzo porn and the couples-friendly style Vivid has accustomed us to stands “Tarot”, which is an awkward place to be, and a bit bastardish. Not necessarily a bad effort, but one that could have deserved more focus and consequently drowns in a swarm of similar productions. Rent.
The opinions expressed in this review of Tarot from Vivid are not necessarily the opinions of Adult DVD Talk. Adult DVD Talk provides a public forum for consumers to post their DVD reviews. Adult DVD Talk does not edit these reviews.
