Gay Porn Bits and Bites

Quite a week in world of gay porn. I don't quite know where to start. Actually, I know exactly where I'll start: With the biggest story of the year (so far). It was just announced that Wash West won Sundance. "Quinceanera", which he directed and wrote with his partner, Richard Glatzer, snagged both the dramatic jury grand prize and the audience award. It's an amazing feat in and of itself, but even more mind-blowing when taken in to account that it's the same Wash who directed Animus, Gluttony, Technical Ecstasy as well as The Hole for Jet Set. Nick Boyas and Avi Raccah, owners of Marina Pacific (who distribute Wet Palms) are listed as Executive Producers of "Quinceanera" alongside Todd Haynes.

Meanwhile, over at Fleshbot, their super sleuth editor Jonno has figured out that the Web site currently causing an Army investigation is actually Dink Flamingo's ActiveDuty.com (home of Cole, seen left. It's so weird that the Army would think that fucking your barracks buddy bareback would disqualify you for "Don't Ask, Don't Tell".

Of course, I'd not leave you all hanging without some hawt photos. Rob from over at Channel 1 snapped these of Falcon Exclusives Derrick Vinyard, Erik Rhodes and Roman Heart at last week's Cocktails With The Stars. Sad I missed it!

-- Jack

Through an Ass Darkly

In the porn documentary The Making of Arabesque, Raging Stallion director Chris Ward explores a crucial visual difference between the films of Hollywood and those of the gay porn industry. "In Hollywood," Ward explains, "you can have shadows because they're cool -- they make the movies. In porn you gotta see it. If you can't see it, it ain't there, is it?" Or so conventional wisdom goes. Luckily, a few very talented directors -- including Ward himself -- are trying it differently.

In Lucas Entertainment's new New York-tinged Encounters series, director Tony Dimarco films an incredibly hot scene with shadows cast by a cheap reading lamp. "Dorm Room Education" may seem a rote enough title, but the awkward, tense encounter between freckled Blu Kennedy and borough-wise Danny Bitho -- sometimes shown only in shadowy sillouette -- is sexy because of what it leaves off-screen as much as for what it puts on it.

And in Dark Alley Media's No Exit, director Matthias Von Fistenberg takes the promise of darkness even further, at times obscuring penetration and cock shots in the service of heightening the erotic tension. DAM's first two films, Mutiny and Unleashed are both filmed in low light, and resist other dominant porn conventions (like the ever tiresome kiss-suck-rim-fuck progression).

In the initial scene of No Exit, Owen Hawk takes control of a bound-and-gagged Mario Cruz and has had his stiff dick in both Cruz's mouth and ass before we ever get a shot of his partner's rock-hard pole. Similarly, through most of the scene in Encounters, the camera gives only short glimpses of Blu Kennedy's cock, shorter even than the one-second suck Bitho gives him.

Von Fistenberg and Dimarco are more in line with roller coaster designers than traditional porn directors. That rickety, clack filled climb to the top, the pause before the drop, raises blood pressure as surely as do the g-forced accelerations that follow. And follow they always do. We forgive the (off-screen) frenzied jerking of Cruz and the initial (hidden) penetration of Kennedy because we trust we'll be given the full-on fucking later on. When the veil is finally lifted -- revealing Kennedy's stuffed hole or Cruz's rigid meat -- you could shoot across the room.

Despite his "show-me-the-money" dictum, Raging Stallion's Ward often keeps shots off-screen as well. Not only are his sets dark and smoky, his camera lingers on "lesser" muscles like calves and backs as much as it does the traditional pecs and glutes. And in what is perhaps the most iconic scene from Arabesque, the so-called "Turkish Bath," barrel-chested Turk Hussein and scalp-tatt'd Frenchman Francois Sagat fuck bathed in blue light, against a dark sky. Not only is it visually stunning, the contrast of shadows and skin keeps us more attuned to the action than if we were solely given a fly-on-the-thigh view.

In backrooms and steamrooms men have long enjoyed the erotic value of the dark, which not only provides anonymity, it allows fantasy to flourish. It's odd that the visual reprentation of fantasy -- pornography -- so rarely allows us to make our own.

-- Mike

Requisite Grainy Colin Farrell Cock Shots

I just assumed that everyone had seen these but the requests keep trickling in (and Hector, devoted GayPornBlog reader, was nice enough to send these), so here you are (for those who can't get enough, or continue to get a thrill out of seeing real celebrity boner): a few of the more interesting, vagina-free seconds from "Dirty Colin".

Sadly, he's not as big as rumors had us to believe, but we wouldn't kick him out of bed for eating crackers.

Gay Porn Review: Wrong Side Of The Tracks

All the big studios are dropping their big releases these past two months, and it's been tough trying to try to keep up with them all. Channel 1's biggest epic since Bolt, Wrong Side Of The Tracks, is about to hit retail, and director Chi Chi LaRue has really out-done himself with this two part epic.

Whereas Bolt was a plot-light fetishistic fantasia, "Tracks" is more firmly rooted in reality. Chi Chi, who normally eschews script-driven, storyline-heavy movies for conceptual pieces (see Kolide, the Link series) really moves out of his comfort zone to amazing results.

Johnny Hazzard, after getting mouth-fucked by his abusive step dad for the last time, leaves the family trailer and embarks on a soul-searching journey of sorts. He meets up with a hooker with a heart of gold, Marcus Iron, who shows him the ins-and-outs of being a street hustler. A trick gone bad sends him packing again. His path crosses with Chad Savage, (on loan from All Worlds), who takes him in and tries to make an honest man out of him.

"Tracks" succeeds exceptionally both as a fuck flick and as a showcase of Johnny Hazzard's talents. It could end up being his star vehicle: While so many porn stars -- both straight and gay -- clamor for stardom and cross-over into the mainstream, after watching him in this its hard to see why he couldn't.

Anyway ... listen to me blather on and on! I'm sure you'd much rather check out the gorgeous photos from the set by none other than Greg Thompson:

-- Jack

Related:
Chi Chi LaRue movies on NakedSword

Stream Channel 1 movies on NakedSword

Buy "Wrong Side of the Tracks" from TLA

Porn Podcasting's Gay Gossip

Jason Sechrest, watch your back -- there's a new talking twink in town!

Joseph Fenity cut his teeth stalking stars on the Tim and Roma Show, but his fight for fame took him to the cutting-edge world of porn podcasting. Last week, the gossiping gay launched the first episode of his wildly eponymous show "Porn Stars Talk with Joseph Fenity!" starring Raging Stallion's monster-banging Michael Brandon.

Two-time GayVN Performer of the Year, Michael Brandon dishes on the his early days in porn, hazy days when people "cut lines on the monitors "and condoms were used to "keep women from getting pregnant." Michael -- and the industry -- have cleaned up since then, and he and Joseph cover the size of his cock, "Monster" (10"x6"), the prospect of getting Oprah naked, and Michael's newest releas Hard as Wood. As Joseph would say "Yum, yum!"

-- Mike

Top 5 Gay Porn Stories of 2005 We Didn't Blog

Granted, this industry is small but we can't be everywhere. The following are the five biggest stories we missed -- or chose not to report on -- and the fascinating reasons why.

1. Dick Wolf Retires From Porn To Open a Pot Club
Fuzzy powerbottom Dick Wolf caused a major a stir in the gay porn world in '04 and '05 thanks to his good looks and intense performances in Hot House's Skuff 2, Mo' Bubble Butt, Manhunt.TheMovie and finally Perfect Fit with Aiden Shaw. Then he quietly left the biz.

Amidst some false starts and speculation among his fans as to what his next steps were (and some bogus claims he was going to re-emerge under a new persona called "Johnny America"), in 2005 he opened a medical marijuana club in San Francisco (three doors down from my house, no less). It's still legal to sell pot in CA thanks to Prop 215, but, in light of neo-con mania sweeping the nation, it's dicey and raids are a real possibility. I was afraid mentioning it might draw unwanted attention, so I refrained but then there was a big article about it in Unzipped a few months later, so I guess I was being over cautious. Anyway, it's called Sanctuary, and it's at O'Farrell and Hyde in SF. Sadly, it's not open to the public (unless you have a doctor's note) but if you do, definitely check it out.

2. Ethan Marc Gets Sent Back to the Jail
Ethan Marc appeared in a few movies between '97-'99 (including Lost Exit, in which he was on the cover), and returned to porn in '04 for Falcon's Taking Flight. I was excited when he signed on for a key role in Wet Palms and after working with him, I really got to like him. Rumors were circulating on the set that his absence from porn from '00-'03 was because he was serving time jail for some check forgery scam he was running, but I withheld judgement since he seemed to really have gotten his life back together after whatever might have happened.

Staying in touch with him between shoots proved difficult. At one point, Mike and I got some nervous calls from the producers telling us that we might have to write his character off the show since he had gone "missing". But when shooting time came around, he was there, on time, and performed excellently. In between the second and third shoot, he disappeared again, but come shooting time, again he re-appeared and gave another terrific performance (in a terse email, he told me he went back home to Louisiana to deal with some family stuff).

A few months later Jason Curious posted a long, hateful rant by Ethan's former friend Kris Anthony, chronicling a sordid tale of his encounter with Ethan. The gist of Kris's story was this: Ethan was in and out of jail a few times in '05 (the times corresponded those periods when he was missing between the WP shoots), and after he was released from jail in June '05, Kris took him in as a roommate. Ethan (allegedly) went on another check writing spree -- this time with Kris's checkbook. He hasn't been heard from since, but presumably he's back in jail (that would be for the 4th time, from what I understand). You can read a more detailed account on JC Adams' blog.

For the record my interactions with Ethan were nothing but 100% positive. I was truly saddened to hear about all this, which is in part, why I never reported on it.

3. A Porn Star (or Three) Retires
While Ethan's "retirement" from gay porn might be court-ordered, a few big stars stopped doing movies this year and I either found out too late or missed the boat completely. Tough talking (and tougher fucking) tattoed pup Jacob Slater was -- for a second this year -- everywhere. But no more: He's moved to Japan to teach. Slater fans, don't give up hope, however. This isn't the first time he's left the biz only to return a few years later under a different name. He first did movies as Bastian Adams, then returned, still twinky, as Ethan Richards. Then he got a bunch of tattoos, buffed up and returned to the blue screen in the incarnation we know best. For a brief history of Slater's career, check out this entry on director Jett Blakk's blog.

(Turns out Jett Blakk and I were a bit premature in announcing Jacob's retirement. Turns out he doesn't leave for Japan until June, and he's looking to do as many movies as possible until then. He will be missed regardless.