Raging Stallion's Arabesque: Bjorn Again?

When we covered the filming of Raging Stallion's Arabesque in late July, the reaction was passionate -- rarely have I seen porn fans so aggressively question the nature of race, fantasy and the erotic. You can see the raw material from that shoot on both NakedSword.com's Tim and Roma! Show (now available as a video podcast!) and on a special co-produced NakedSword.com/Raging Stallion documentary, The Making of Arabesque.

If the first installment (there are four) of The Making of Arabesque lacked the hardcore action I've come to love from Raging Stallion behind-the-scenes docs, the latter ones positively sizzle with sex. (I first got into the RS documentary style -- hardcore sex that puts the anal in banal -- with 2003's Plexus Hardcore. Michael Brandon fluffs the actors, Chris Ward shoots the sex and a mystery cat wanders the dank halls of the set. Really mixes the erotic with the tragicomic, just the way I like.

Back to Arabesque. I brought it home for the holidays (twas silent in my bed, save for the spinning of the disk in my laptop). It's hard to squeeze in three hours of digital sex while drunk and hiding under the covers, but I'm amazed by the gorgeous men and the stunning set pieces. Raging Stallion has worked hard in the past year to assemble a rich, multi-ethnic look -- Nuyorican Manuel Torres, Sino-Cracker Cory Koons, uncut Aussie Remy Delaine, terrible Turk Huessein, tattoed Frenchman Francois Sagat, to name a few -- that echoes and even improves upon the work of directors like Kristen Bjorn and Jean-Daniel Cadinot.

Director Chris Ward has been telling me over and over that this is the best movie he's ever made. While this is usual promotional behavior -- and boasting -- from directors with a new movie out, this time, I'm inclined to agree.

Related:
Gay Porn Shoot: Arabesque (July 26, 2005)
Tim and Roma, On the Set of Arabesque (free, and also available as a video Podcast)

The Making of Arabesque Part 1 (NakedSword.com Special Presentation)

The Making of Arabesque Part 2 (NakedSword.com Special Presentation)

The Making of Arabesque Part 3 (NakedSword.com Special Presentation)

-- Mike

Ricky Martin Spotted Canoodling

Frequent visitors to this site know that we tend to shy away from gratuitous innuendo-filled paparazzi shots of non-gay porn celebrities and their bulges, but everyone else is posting it, and it's been a slow week (OK, OK, I'm the slow one this week,) so here you go ... here's the pictures posted on every other gay blog in the universe:

Ricky Martin in a Speedo on St. Bart's canoodling with a man who might be his half-brother ... stop the fucking presses.

Ricky Martin Frolics On The Beach (Socalite's Life)
Is Ricky Martin a Top or a Bottom (Dlisted)
Ricky Martin takes the plunge (JustJared)
Ricky Martin's Christmas Vacation (Fleshbot)
Ricky Martin and His Beach Buddy (Towleroad)

Gay Porn Sneak Peek: Falcon's Beefcake

Hot House auteur Steven Scarborough returns to the Falcon director's chair for the second time this year, as part of their "guest director" series with Beefcake -- a movie perhaps best described as 100% Falcon: 11 classic (read: godlike) Falcon men basically just having sex around and in a pool.

Now, don't get me wrong: I love the stuff Steven's doing for Hot House now. But Beefcake takes me back to the movies he directed for Falcon back in the day; the kind of porn I cut my gay porn teeth on. Stuff like Perfect Summer, Summer Buddies, Plunge, Down Home, The Pledge Masters and so on.

Beefed-up covermodel Tyler Hill (pictured) looks insanely buff and hot as ever. The rest of the cast -- Roman Heart, Ethan Kage, Derrick Vinyard (my personal fave), Erik Rhodes (Mike's personal fave), Arpad Miklos, Jed Wilcox, Robert Van Damme -- are all these hyper-muscled supermen that leave me less than eloquent. Like, can I just say, "Damn"? Click "continue" to see what I'm talking about ...

Check out the Official Web Site.

See more photos, clips and trailers from Beefcake at FalconStudios.com.

-- Jack

Chi Chi Says Bye to Family Stone

Keeping up with the contract players at the major gay porn studios can be dizzying. This year, for example, Falcon bid a fond farewell to longtime exclusive Josh Weston, but brought back Pierre Fitch, who was an exclusive for a spell in 2003. The latest bombshell in the ongoing soap opera was dropped earlier this week, when Channel 1 announced that they'd be ending their contract with Eddie Stone. This comes a few days after announcing that exclusive Luca DiCorso was named Men Magazine's Man of the Year and that they'd signed three new exclusives -- Tyler Riggs, Luke Strong and Benjamin Bradley.

The reason for Eddie's departure? Chi Chi told me, "It was just time." She also made the point of saying (over and over) that his departure was nothing but a positive thing for him and the studio, "He did nothing but good things for us and we love him." She added, "I wish him nothing but luck and I wish him the best. Anybody that would use him would be lucky."

In an email, Eddie said more or less the same thing: "I had been with Rascal my entire porn life ... so it's time to add some variety and see what happens!" He reassured his fans that he has "no plans of leaving the industry".

Good thing, because in the two years since he started, he's accomplished more than most stars do in their entire career, snagging GayVN "Newcomer of the Year" trophy for 2004, and starring in 13 movies (and gracing the cover of four: "When in Rome", "Stone Fox", "Set in Stone", and "Private Screening"). He's spawned his own dildo, is on the cover of Warning, and will be appearing on the cover of next month's [2] Magazine in a spread with Roman Heart.

It will be interesting to see what Eddie does next ... I just hope he doesn't end up on the wrong side of the tracks! (HA! Sorry, sorry I couldn't help myself).

-- Jack

More Eddie Stone:
Eddie Stone on Channel1 on Demand
Eddie's GayPornBlog Interview
Chi Chi LaRue's GayPornBlog Interview
Eddie Stone in Warning
Watch Rascal Videos on NakedSword.com

Amateur Gay Porn: Patrick Gets Plugged

One of my personal perennial picks (and pretend paramour), Patrick, performs on the pages of SeanCody.com, positing his perk posterior so that it may be plowed -- this time by the pleasantly peccant Parker.

-- Jack

Brad Benton Blogs HARD!

Since my last update on the subject of gay porn stars who blog, still very few actually do. Everyone and their mother is blogging every last banal detail of their life, and yet the one segment that definitely has titillating things to write about chooses to refrain.

One new entrant into the blogging arena, however, is my pal Brad Benton. If you've spent just two minutes talking to him, then when you read what he has to say (on practically every topic BUT gay porn), you'll see it's all over the map as he is but every bit as smarty, funny and engaging. He even goes so far as to call me highly intelligent in this post (flattery gets you everywhere with me ... but lying? C'mon). Anyway, check out BB's blog.

Otherwise, if I've overlooked any new ones, please feel free to chime by leaving a comment.

-- Jack

Cirque Noir: There's A Pussy In My Gay Porn!

I love gay porn, don't get me wrong: I follow it like your average straight man follows sports: I'm endlessly fascinated by the industry as a whole, and each studio's new releases are exciting to me on one level or another. However, I do occasionally get a bit burnt out. Sometimes things get repetitive and as releases get bigger, longer and more epic, I do find myself wondering how anyone can top anyone anymore.

TitanMedia is one studio never to rest on their laurels. Their harshest critics seem to be themselves: They have an answer to the "what's next" quandary -- and seem to have the answers -- before anyone else can even ask. The intriguing stills for their upcoming opus "Cirque Noir" (a sequel of sorts to their deliciously sinister 2003 release Carny) features S&M rent-a-clown Ouchie The Clown, a contortionist named Stretch who fists himself while getting fucked and -- get this -- a scene with female-to-male phenom Buck Angel, who from the waist up looks like your average leather daddy, but "down there" has the fully functioning vagina he was born with.

The implications are endlessly amusing and force us to ask fundamental questions about gender and sexuality as if we were in a Woman's Studies Class in a liberal arts college in the nineties: Exactly how many male parts does a guy need to turn a gay man on? How will the generally vagina-phobic gay male audience react to a pussy even if it's attached to a really hot butch daddy? If I'm turned on by all this, does it make me bisexual? Are lesbians going to buy this? If Brad Pitt had a pussy, would I want to fuck him (OK, that was Hunter's reaction). And so on ...

Maybe I'm the wrong person to ask -- I've had crushes on my share of Gendernauts -- but I am genuinely excited to see this and laud Titan for taking a chance on something so seemingly obvious but inherently risky like this.

Cirque Noir 2005, Titan Media. Starring: Spencer Quest, Logan Steele, Joey Russo, Buck Angel, Tober Brandt, Rimjob the Klown, Ouchy the Clown, Cobalt, Richie Rennt, Ivan Grey, Stretch, David Garcia

More
Buck Angel's official siteBuy Cirque Noir from TitanMen.com
Stream Titan Movies on NakedSword.com
Download Titan Movies on Gay Porn Blog Theater
Buck Angel on Fleshbot
Buck Angel interview on VillageVoice.com

-- Jack

Beyond Perfect's Tale of Two Tops

What happens when two coupled tops tire of sixty-nining? Call the relationship counselor for some Freudian anal-ysis! Jerry Douglas' eagerly awaited sex-and-story fest, Beyond Perfect, hit stores this week (and, in an tech-forward move, on lauded gay VOD site NakedSword.com a few days after as part of their new Premiere Series of new, high-profile, films).

Beer-can-cocked Brad Patton and uncut South African Jason Kingsley play two involved men, neither of whom is willing to bottom. Writer-director Jerry Douglas' labor of lust is charming and sexy. While it might seem obvious that one of them would have to take one for the team or close his eyes and think of England, Douglas takes a more nuanced approach.

Naked Sword's Premiere Series takes its cue from Douglas' contention that the set-up to the sex can be as hot as the sex itself and offers a good amount of supporting material (the behind-the-scenes video is available only to members, but galleries, bios and the trailer are all free.) Since it's a new release, only a select few scenes are available -- and even those for a limited time -- so get a sneak peek at one of this year's biggest contenters while you can. I'll be closing my eyes and thinking of Brad Patton (with the help of a beer can).

NakedSword's Premiere Series
Beyond Perfect DVD at COLTStudio.com
The Making of Beyond Perfect (NakedSword.com members only)

-- Mike

Beyond Perfect (Buckshot Productions, 2005) Dir. Jerry Douglas. Starring Brad Patton, Jason Kingsley, Marcus Iron, Brad Benton, Marc Sterling, Pete Ross, Timmy Thomas, Justin Gemini, Danny Lopez, Andy Briggs, Jason Crew

Michael Soldier Takes to the Stage

Well-hung multi-hypentate Michael Soldier (NakedSword's Dream Team member for November) is a actor, singer, porn star, drag queen and performance artist, to name but a few of his skills) has taken the acting chops he showed on the set of Wet Palms to the legit stage (and no, not in Ronnie Larson's Making Porn or Jeff Stryker's legendary Hard Time).

Soldier, who won Best Actor GayVN for his starring role (opposite Shane Rollins) in Raging Stallion's A Porn Star is Born, brings a Brando-like sexiness to the lead role of Artie in the 1968 John Guare (Six Degrees of Separation) play House of Blue Leaves. The show's been running successfully for since November and if you're in San Francisco, stop by the Actor's Theater this week or next and check it out. Let him steam you up without taking off his clothes.

-- Mike

Gay Porn Preview: Hot House's The Missing

Hot House director Steven Scarborough is possibly the sickest fuck in an industry full of sick fucks. His latest opus, The Missing, uses one of Scarborough's favored erotic scenarios: the paramilitary-style kidnappin' and sex-slavin' of a work-a-day stiff. His 1992 The Abduction Trilogy (for Falcon Studios) involved similar themes (not to mention a missing film canister nefariously hidden up someone's rear. Brilliant!)

Scarborough really tops himself with The Missing: Kent North's lover is hardly roused when nasty leather operatives steal his husband away in the night. North's taken to a dungeon of carnage and carnal pleasure: the black apron'd Abductor (Warren Lord) cages North (along with Martin Mazza and Antonio Roca) under a glass table and feeds him scraps of chicken. Genius -- I love when food gets mixed with porn -- pure gluttony!

Scarborough's tight videography gives the video a claustrophobic air making the close-ups of dick-slapped faces and daisy-chained asses appear even more intense. The two-disc video is a catalog of perversions, full of double reverse cowboys, blossoming rosebuds and a rotating St. Andrew's cross. Think you've seen everything? If you haven't seen The Missing, you ain't seen nothing yet.

You can check out the free hardcore preview, as well as downloads for video iPods at the Official Site for The Missing. I'd also recommend checking out Steven's extensive fisting and leather work on the Gay Porn Blog Theater. You'll never look at your ass the same way again.

-- Mike

The Missing (Hot House Entertainment, 2005). Directed by Steven Scarborough. Starring Kent North, Enzo Grimaldi, Kirk Ziegler, Marco Paris, Jason Ridge, Nick Piston, Shane Rollins, Tony Mecelli, Trevor Knight, Jed Willcox, Rod Barry, Matt Majors, Antonio Roca, Martin Mazza, Dean Tucker, Rik Jammer, Chuck Dirocco and Warren Lord.

Cybersocket Web Awards: Vote Now!

The end of the year brings reflection and, inevitably 'best of' lists. As thanks for logging the thousands of hours of hardcore gay videos Gay Porn Blog spends for our lists, our friends at Cybersocket have nominated us again for Best Blog Site. The Cybersocket Annual Web Awards celebrate the best of the gay and lesbian online community, and it's an honor to be nominated ... again. Now it's up to you -- vote here* We'll love you forever, and give you access to our porn collection!

-- Mike

*And while your at it, you miight support some of our favorite sites, like gay porn powerhouse NakedSword.com for Best VOD site, Jenna Jameson's gay-themed Club Thrust for Best New Site, RandyBlue for Best Adult Gay MegaSite and Sean Cody for Best Amateur site.

Vintage Gay Porn: Bareback-In-The-Day

I ran into Billy Bowers from Factory Video the other day and we started talking about Factory's highly successful retro-tinged Time Warp To the 80s series. It's a lot of lost (now found) footage from the mid-to-late 80s and, watching it again, it reminded me of how resilient the porn industry is.

There's been much noise about the bareback (sex without condoms) porn explosion of the last several years. The established studios -- most of whom codified their condom-required positions in the late 80s and early 90s -- object not only morally but strategically. The bareback studios are financial insurgents, capturing a large segment of the market with the eroticism of danger.

Watching guys sero-convert on camera isn't TOTALLY my idea of hotness (um, hi World AIDS Day), but sometimes you do -- if only for it's taboo appeal -- want to see cum dripping out of a hairy, puckered butthole. The Time Warp series is pre-condom, but not bareback. For one, some of the guys are actually wearing condoms. For two, they don't fetishize cum and fluid-sharing in the same way (modern) bareback films do -- it's more than semiotic, it's a matter of genre.

While some pre-condom porn was limited to loops (shorts), much of the golden age of porn were feature-length movies playing in dark theaters. Glorious condom-less flesh-fests by directors like Wakefield Poole (Boys In The Sand), Joe Gage (Kansas City Trucking Co., L.A. Tool and Die), Jerry Douglas (The Back Row, Flesh and Blood), and Bill Clayton (The Other Side of Aspen, Spokes) have me reaching for my crotch everytime -- without feeling concern for the actors. As clips and by-scene PPV purchase become the dominant medium for internet porn, some worry that the feature-length format will fall by the internet wayside. Others worry that the insurgent modern bareback features will kill the condom-oriented studio system.

Me, I don't think it's so simple. The more I work in the business, the more I realize that porn -- for all it's flat, surface appeal -- is a complicated and resilient medium. Video hasn't killed print, nor did print kill erotica. As with everything else, more options means more consumption. Porn is more of a buffet than a meal. Just wear your bib.

-- Mike