Skinemax Anyone?

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Reviews of soft-core sex films on cable.
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If you have cable TV and moreover if you've got it under the big companies like Direct TV that feature hundreds of channels that have you spoiled for choice of programming, you will find that not only do they offer hardcore adult movies and series on the typical adult film channels you pay for like Playboy or Spice channels but soft-core adult movies on mainstream movie channels, namely Cinemax but to a lesser extent also Showtime and The Movie Channel.

"Cinemax After Dark" begins after eleven p.m. or midnight (Eastern Time) when various erotic films and series are shown for an adult audience. These films and TV series are not mainstream like those shown on Cinemax during the day and you will never find a celebrity or well-known star in the cast. You will, however, find some hard-core porn stars who often make forays into soft-core. These are independent, often low-budget soft core porn films. Full-frontal female nudity is shown (but not frontal male nudity so you won't see any penis shots) and although sexual acts are depicted these are merely very realistic looking simulations but is not the real thing.

On the downside, many of these films can become dull, predictable and clichéd, often having very forgettable and generic titles like "Erotic Confessions," "Forbidden Desires", "Erotic Encounters", "Carnal Pleasures, "Forbidden Passions", etc. Many of these seem to fit into the category of "erotic mystery thriller" though the emphasis is always the situations leading up to the steamy sex scenes and never does it get heavy in dramatic or action content. Others appear to be more like bits and pieces of soap operas with misbehaving women and the erotic content is a lot more graphic than any soap opera sex scene on daytime TV.

There has also been a recent trend of comedies with sexual elements (sex comedies) like "Coed Confidential" which beginning in late 2007 has been growing in popularity. Comic soft-core adult film titles include "Bikini Chain Gang" "Bikini Girls from the Lost Planet" "Bikini Car Wash", "Busty Cops" "Alabama Jones and the Busty Crusade" "Ghost in A Teeny Bikini" and the like. Yes, sometimes the films are so bad it's ridiculous. But there are times when the non-comedy films turn out to be quite memorable, interesting, well-written, plot and character oriented and absolutely arousing and erotic. The photography and locations chosen are always beautiful, though, especially when dressed up to look tropical, though they seem to be shot in Southern California, most likely the San Fernando Valley, home of porn. Here are some films that I've seen over the course of a year or two that were, in my opinion, pretty damn good. Look for them on Skinemax late night.

Passion Lane (2001) Director Reilly Lucas, Screenplay Louise Monclair, Starring Amy Lindsay, Richard Bomson, Monique Parent, Mandy Fisher, Matt Dalpiaz, Eddie Jay, Dru Berrymore, Danny Pape, Gina Ryder and Frank Harper: This film had mixed reviews and truthfully, it has its good moments and bad ones. Passion Lane tells the story of Harry and Olivia, a couple who are notorious swingers and known for their wild sex parties.

They send out invitations to the following folks who make up the sexy cast: Shandra (Scarlett Johansing) a romance/erotic novelist with an insatiable sexual appetite. When we first meet her, she is discussing her new book with her agent and interviewing a cover model (Danny Pape) who will grace the cover of the book. Shandra is a dominant, bitchy, temperamental woman who bosses her shy personal assistant, Alex (Eddie Jay), Gwen, another employee of Shandra's who is equally shy and humble, 2: Troy, an oversexed and sexist lawyer played by Matt Dalpiaz, and couple who have lately discovered that their sex life needs improvement (Mandy Fisher and Rafe Urquhart). Outwardly, Harry and Olivia appear as if they are just getting everyone primed and ready for a sexy "adult" version of a Clue-style murder mystery party.

Everyone has to "role play" and stay in character until the murder is solved. But as the weekend wears on, everyone discovers that there is a tad more to this than meets the eye. For Troy, used to having his way with the ladies, it's a hard lesson in humility to pretend to be a shy virgin and to discover that women prefer a soft, sensitive and compassionate type rather than a cocky arrogant type. Gwen and her boyfriend rekindle their lost sexual passion after Gwen reveals her "adult fairy tale" fantasy of being "taken" by a masked stranger. Eddie Jay and Gwen discover that they have terrific sexual chemistry and Shandra, who was not enjoying herself at first, gets inspired to write a new novel, though she and Troy are the only ones who don't experience a change during the erotic weekend.

Passion Lane's biggest flaw is the few instances in which the writing is bad and the "Clue" party element is discarded as a mere excuse for sexy role playing. There is no real point to even having this game. Some have called the sex scenes uninspired and they are pretty tame and mild but it is soft-core erotica so one has to know that beforehand. I like soft-core so it's not a problem. The sex scenes with Matt Dalpiaz and the flirty French maid Antoinette(played by Dru Barrymore) a not to mention the scene with Rafe Urquhart and Mandy Fisher, especially in the princess and the masked assailant fantasy, is very arousing. Passion Lane is cute, but because the script was written by a woman, women will eat it up. But it has a lot of good stuff that men can enjoy, not the least of this being the gorgeous women in the nude. This is an example of a pretty tasteful, interesting adult film that can be sexy without being hardcore. I loved it.

Naked Encounters (2005) Director Chance Levore, Screenplay by April White and Edward Gorsuch: Starring Monique Alexander, Randy Spears, Dee, Lee Stone, Kristen Price, Rafe Urquhart, Eddie Jay, Cytherea, David Switzer, Jodie Moore: In this film, two private investigators, Sherri (Monique Alexander) and Cole (Rafe Urquhart) become immersed in a case involving a fashion model and her wild and wicked ways, which eventually lead to murder. A client, Dominic ( veteran porn star Randy Spears) wishes to get to know the model (played by Kristen Price) so he hires the P.I.'s to investigate her life, habits and sexual activities.

There is a very erotic love scene, and in her bedroom, between Randy Spears and Kristen Price and what's so good about it is the fact it's not wild and it's old fashioned and classic stuff -- on a bed. But then again, this same model engages in a lusty affair with a bodybuilder and male model (played by the hunky stallion Lee Stone who has done many hardcore adult films) on a leather coach and it's not missionary! He takes her from behind and the scene is quite realistic. Upon further investigation, they discover that this model can be a dangerous woman. A la Basic Instinct, she murders her lover and moves on to a new affair and she seems careless about the partner being male or female. In a lesbian scene with black porn star Dee, the two are going at it in an office while being taped. It's steamy for some but pretty tame lesbian stuff for others. I happen to think it was good.

The rest of the film involves the P.I.'s closing in on her and becoming a lot closer themselves. The final love scene - Rafe Urquhart and Monique Alexander is quite lovely. Now, like with "Passion Lane" the premise is good and some of the writing is good but there are times when you feel that this movie could have been better. The fact of the matter is that these late night soft-core films are produced on a budget and so one can't expect to see a high quality film. But if this is your thing, soft-core films with a semblance of a plot, then go ahead and look for this film. It is pretty bland stuff ultimately because there is never any real danger or "thriller" material which could have easily been added to it, but it's very titillating as it is too. This is an MRG production (as are the other films) and they're connected with the Playboy Channel so if you've seen other films produced by them then this should interest you.

Sexual Surrender (2003) Director Conrad Moore, Screenplay Louise Monclair: Starring Frank Harper, Angela Davies, Mandy Fisher and Massimo Avidano: This film is the one film on skinemax that I enjoyed the most. It has better writing than both "Passion Lane" and "Naked Encounters" and equally good acting, owing to the experience of soft-core adult stars Angela Davies (she was the hostess of the "Best Sex Ever" series), Frank Harper another skinemax figure and Mandy Fisher. The plot concerns the experiences of a promising VP executive (Harper) and his epiphany after reaching a period of success through an illicit affair with the boss' daughter and sordid business deals. He has a one night stand with another woman he meets in Hollywood (Angela Davies) but she becomes clingy and begins to pursue him even though he does not want anything to do with her as she could possibly ruin his climb to success.

He is unaware that his girlfriend (Mandy Fisher) is cheating on him with her quote on quote "therapist" - a buffed, exotic foreign man (Massimo Avidano) who sexually dominant with her. When things begin to fall apart for him, he discovers that greed is not good after all and that a dependency on materialism and power does not make him a big man. He finds love with the boss' daughter after all and even though he loses his girlfriend and former job, he has found a new path in life and someone to share it with.

The script to this film is superior stuff, though one has to keep in mind that the dialogue is built around and between sex scenes. Frank Harper is a good actor and it appears that if he wasn't doing skinemax, he would be doing mainstream films with some success. This is the same with many of these actors. They do appear to have some dramatic training. Harper is handsome yet not a "porn stud" type but his sex scenes are terrific. Mandy Fisher is very pretty and talented as far as being "porno" and her sex scenes with Massimo Avidano (who gets the least amount of lines) is very steamy, though nothing more than mild S and M. Overall, this film is highly recommended, especially if the better skinemax films is your thing.

Naked Passions? (2005)The title to this film I don't quite remember. Director Chance Levore, Screenplay by April White and Edward Gorsuch: With Randy Spears, Jezebelle Bonde, Eddie Jay, Rafe Urquhart, Dru Berrymore: The plot revolves around a red-head female novelist (Skinemax regular Jezebelle Bonde) who is experiencing a state of writer's block and who is frustrated for not being published. After a fight with her boyfriend who feels she is paying too much attention to her writing than to him, she takes a job as a research assistant to a male writer she admires. This writer (Randy Spears) is in actuality a sexist, domineering imperious prick, and she quickly discovers that the job was not as exciting or fulfilling as she thought it would be. Rather than having her collect research for his novels, he has her do errands and buy his groceries. He does not appear to respect her and he ignores her even when she wants him to read her manuscript. Another research assistant (Rafe Urquhart) becomes her competition as they both vy for the novelist's attention. Before long, the girl gets into a precarious situation involving one of the writer's lovers (Dru Berrymore) and her wild, reckless ways. She is also growing closer to the other assistant whom she had previously disliked.

In the end, it turns out that the series of startling events was all a set up to get her to write better. This film starts off well, no doubt. The writing is fine. The acting is fine. It's cool to see familiar skinemax faces such as Jezebelle Bond. But the story cops out at the end when everything has turned out to be fake. It just comes at you and you don't see any signs that this is a hoax/scheme. And just to get her to write better? It's as bad as the Clue Party element in Passion Lane that really wasn't part of the story. It's just all thrown in in a messy way and attempts to be solid in plot. But the sex scenes are good. The scene with Randy Spears and blonde Dru is very hot and almost appears to be the real thing, owing perhaps to the fact Randy Spears is a veteran porn star of hardcore films and seems to enjoy transitioning to soft-core for the acting. His experience with sex on film is to his credit.

In his scene with Berrymore, they are by his pool and they do it standing up, with her pinned against a wall, her legs wrapped around him. The sound of his thrusting is audible and the natural look of sex rather than the steamy, "fantasy" look of some softcore is what makes this very good and very real looking. Actors Rafe Urquhart and Jezebelle Bond have genuine chemistry and surprisingly more so through the dialog than their sex scenes, which by comparison are mild. This is a fine film if you like skinemax soft-core films with a plot, which is more plot than brainless hardcore porn. I loved it and despite some writing flaws, it's really good stuff.

Naked and Betrayed (2005): Director Woquini Adams, Screenplay by Edward Gorsuch and April White, Starring Frank Harper, Gina Ryder, August Avila, Mandy Fisher, Julian Wells, Tucker Cain, Barrett Blade, Robert Baldwin: Just before the big wedding, Jason and Claire (Tucker Cain and Mandy Fisher) have a great time at the home of campaigning politician Michael (Frank Harper) where they party with his best man Cory Davidson (Barrett Blade) and Michael's press secretary Stephanie (Gina Ryder) and Claire's friend Talisa (Julian Wells). The plot revolves around this group of bachelors who screw up big time when the stripper they hired for the entertainment (played by the sexy August Avila) ends up dead after she slept with each of the men. There is very little mystery and detective story in this, probably because the film is very short and not long enough to be a real mystery thriller. Instead, it seems to be a realistic-looking story about a politician's big mistake.

It is also a sort of "whodunnit" sexual roulette. The stripper slept with each of the men and was found dead so any one of the men could have done it. Twists and turns reveal surprising new revelations and the dramatic moments of the film seem to come towards the end when the conclusion unfolds. Yes, the writing on this film is surprisingly good, a little better than some other of these B movies on Skinemax. The actors have great chemistry and dialogue, and it's always nice to see skinemax regulars Mandy Fisher, Julian Wells, Frank Harper and Barrett Blade all do their thing in the nude. The sex scenes range from decent to excellent.

The stripper is shown having sex with Michael the politician (Frank Harper) and it's unclear whether it's anal or doggy style and much of it is shot in semi-darkness. They are also being mysteriously videotaped. The sex scene between Michael and Stephanie (whom we are led to believe are a couple) is far more intimate but also very steamy as he takes her from behind. This one has a fine balance of sex and drama, and the sex is not just coming out of the blue but flows naturally and fits within the storyline. A wonderful B movie.

Skinemax films are rarely about drama nor does it ever really get boring so it caters to men as well. Women will enjoy seeing the intimacy on screen and the fact that unlike hardcore porn, the sex is more than clinical and it makes the viewer use their imagination a lot. It is still arousing. As far as acting, don't keep your hopes up. Sometimes it has the same quality as a cheesy B-movie. It's about erotic stories come to life on TV. Before you go to bed, enjoy these films that at best serve as pre-sex entertainment.

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RossDanielsRossDanielsover 15 years ago
Ah, Cinemax . . .

Once upon a time, I never missed a Friday After Dark movie. The best I've ever seen was called "Playtime," with Jennifer Burton and Monique Parent . . . two soft-core regulars from back in the day. I'm glad Monique is still getting work. What is she now, 50? Thanks for the memories.

AnonymousAnonymousover 15 years ago
For those of us who have been watching cable

for more than 4 or 5 years, the black sexplo (Pam Greer) and Prison Moviessss , the Cheerleaders, I watched in the mid 70s, most any Cheerleader movie, Jason and Freddie movies started with some skin. Private School, Pretty Baby, Paradise, Logan's Run, Walkabout, Hard Ride to Hawaii, Road House. Almost all of the sword and sorercy movies, with the Harris twins in the Sorceress. Anything with Bo Derck, the number of movies with action and naked chicks are far too many to list and the original big screen release date started in the 60s and 70s.

The list of movies showing partly or mostly female skin that have been late night cable movies, a 2-3 year period with Joe Bob Briggs hosting and rating the flicks giving the number of naked breasts and other parts. For a time there seemed to be a race for viewers in this time frame between Movie Channel, Showtime and Cinemax, with Cinemax winning through volume. They have been in this time frame for decades.

BOSTONFICTIONWRITERBOSTONFICTIONWRITERover 15 years ago
Wonderful

As a movie buff, I do love a good movie. And Drew Barrymore is one of my favorite actresses, not to mention that she has a nice rack.

Actually, doesn't she look just like her grandfather? (lol) They have the same chin.

Thank you for this.

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