Lucas vs. Fellini: “La Dolce Vita” by Jay Blodgett, http://jaycbird.blogspot.com Lucas Entertainment’s opening credits from their gay porn version of "La Dolce Vita"occur over helicopter shots of New York City, which could be considered an homage to Fellini’s opening helicopter shot over Rome, though having the statue of Jesus hanging under the copter is an iconic image in the Fellini, but it would have been way out of place in Lucas’ opening, not to mention open up a world of subject matter that doesn’t necessarily need to be addressed in ‘adult entertainment.’ The film actually opens at a fashion show where ‘Max Todd’ (played by co-director Michael Lucas), a gossip columnist and frustrated novelist, is attending. This opening sequence at the runway show is perhaps the most highly produced scene within the video. Lucas uses dozens of extras for the audience as well as a good dozen models and stylists in the backstage moments. It is within this setting that Lucas inserts the first two sex scenes: one between a model and a patron; the second between the designer and his bodyguard. Also, Max has a cold meeting with ‘Rick Arnold’ (Pete Ross), who looms as a threatening figure throughout the video’s two parts, though we are never really sure what his position within this world is. Max also runs into an old friend, ‘Nick Cameron’ (Jason Ridge). It is during this conversation that Lucas cuts to the chase about the irony of “La Dolce Vita” in which Nick expresses his ennui about the lifestyle they are pursuing. It is a bit of screenwriting shorthand to toss the point of Fellini’s original at us so early. From here, Lucas allows his audience the choice of either enjoying the sexcapades that follow, or gather evidence to support Lucas’ stated theme in this bit of dialogue. Max and Nick take off in Nick’s limo and pick up a young man (Derrick Hansen), who happened to be one of the models and is ‘waiting for a cab’. They go to Derrick’s crowded little apartment for a tryst. The scene is a direct reference to the Marcello Mastroianni and Anouk Aimee scene, where they pick up a hooker and go to her flooded cellar apartment. Inter-cut with that hook up, Pete Ross and Jonathan Vargas end up at Ross’ apartment, which will be the setting for the next sex scene. What a scene it is! Heavy making out, lots of ‘oral action’, multi-camera shooting and/or great editing and continuity throughout, and includes one of the most enthusiastic analingus scenes I’ve seen. They also fuck like rabbits. Literally! With all of that action, the orgasm itself is rather anticlimactic. We cut back to the three-way between Lucas, Ridge and Hansen, which takes it’s time, as these things do. The scene itself is not as well video graphed as the previous scenes and the staging is slightly awkward, which may be due to the cramped quarters in which the scene is taking place. Also, Lucas is in total control of the scene and becomes a bit distracting. This is also where Lucas takes a bigger leap away from the Fellini original. Marcello Mastroianni proves to be sexually impotent and really only an observer, if not a tease to the women around him, until his devastating climax at the end. Here, Lucas’s ‘Max’ is a sexual predator, ignoring the needs of his partners.

The long-awaited gay porn version of "La Dolce Vita" has finally arrived, and I decided to give it special attention. Not only did I sit down to watch it myself, but I also watched Fellini's version - twice - to really get into the spirit of the experience. Plus, I went a step further to coerce a friend who reviews Hollywood and Indie films to write about it as well. He just happens to be a big Fellini fan, so I asked him to do a side by side comparison of the two versions. Before we get into Jay Blodgett's review, here's my two cents. When I think of current gay porn movies with the highest production values and biggest budgets, I generally think of movies from Titan, Hot House, COLT, and Raging Stallion. As awe-inspiring as the lighting, set design, and cinematography goes, the themes of the movies movies from out top studios tend to go deep into the fetish arena. Pain, torture, dungeons, sex-as-punishment, dirty warehouses, and edgey sex acts that border on "stunts" are the chosen niches of our top studios. That's their chosen markets and it obviously pays off for them. But when was the last time a big budget gay porn movie had guys in tailored designer suits, or sex scenes in a bed? Lucas's "La Dolce Vita" was a breath of fresh air, if for no other reason, it took place in locations other than a disembodied Ninth Circle of Hell fetish playground. And the clothes were great, too. Yes, I am over-generalizing. Titan makes pretty outdoor movies. Raging Stallion brought us the beautiful "Arabesque". Movies from Bel Ami, Lucas Kazan, and Kristen Bjorn are travelogues to exotic locales full of exotic men. I'd just like to see more of it. And don't get me wrong, "La Dolce Vita" is not all vanilla either. Despite the white collared shirts, one of the standouts of this movie is the amount of ass-licking, fingering, puckered buttholes - a lot of it. And there is the big orgy scene at the end that takes place at a dirty sex club. As with Falcon's big movie of the year, "Velvet Mafia", my favorite aspect of both movies was that they both broke new ground in promotion. The ingenuity by both companies in building the hype-machines for their respective products is unprecedented in gay porn. My biggest criticism of "La Dolce Vita" is that the DVD extras should have included an option to view only the sex scenes. Without that option, consumers may not want to sit through the extended dialogue portions a second time. I also appreciated that they took the time to rehearse their lines and do enough re-takes to get the dialogue right. In a year that also brought us John Cameron Mitchell's crossover film, "Shortbus", Lucas's " La Dolce Vita" made the same crossover from mainstream-to-porn from the opposite direction. Cheesy sex comedies and erotic thrillers have always been the bread-and-butter of drive-ins and multiplexes, but they've always had to conform to certain standards of decency. Now that the cherry has been broken, it will be interesting to see how decency standards in mainstream films open up, while regulations clamp down tighter on the porn industry. My final thought on "La Dolce Vita" comes from my role as judge of the GayVN Awards. This will be my sixth year judging, and I can say confidently that Savannah Samson's role is by far, the strongest contender for Best Non-Sexual Performance in my entire tenure. In the past, pickin's were so slim in this category, that one year the award went to someone who never spoke and was only seen for about 10 seconds! Lucas is expecting a lot of nominations and awards for this movie, but Best Non-Sexual Performance is a shoe-in. Buy Lucas Entertainment's "La Dolce Vita"

I just acquired a new set of free gay porn video clips from Falcon Studios for movies that are available to stream through Gay Video Cafe. Click the link below to see five free video clips from each movie. There are also links that will take you directly to where you can rent the whole movie by the minute. Rates start at about ten cents per minute. Drenched 2: Soaked To the Bone Starring: Carlos Morales, Trent Atkins, Cade Devilin, Alex LeMonde, Josh Weston, Bobby Williams, Chase Hunter, Filippo Romano, Fernando Montana, Mathew Rush, Vince DiTonno, Tyler Gunn, Zachary Pierce Big Bang Starring: Chris Stone, Joey Stefano, Lon Flexx, Michael Parks, Matt Gunther, Glenn Santoro, Mark Baxter, Luc Francios Bootstrap Starring: Barrett Long, Alex Lemonde, Ivan Andros, Brad Patton, Arpad Miklos, Fernando Montana, Matthew Rush, Gus Mattox, Dean Monroe, Shane Rollins, Joe Sport, Kane O'Farrell, Troy Moore Cross Country Starring: Pete Ross, Maxx Diesel, Brad Patton, Matthew Rush, Dean Monroe, Peter Morales, Jon Valentino, Erik Rhodes, Roman Heart, Alex Rossi, Andrew Bryant, Benjamin Bradley, Roger Beresford Blue Danube Starring: Johan Paulik, Milos Janek, Filip Smirnov, Erik Kovac, Pavol Zurek, Alexander Straus, Kristoff Junas, Palo Gernak, Alan Greksa, Denis Jung, Hans Koloman

While the news media is replaying President Ford's biography over and over during the coming weeks, keep an eye out for any details about his son Steven Ford (or Steve Ford). I don't have anything to back up this claim, but for a long time I've heard rumors that Gerald Ford's son Steven is gay. I spent most of this morning doing research on Steven Ford's personal life, but came up with very little. Steven Ford pinged my Gaydar ever since he was the 18 year old "first son" who just happened to be 6 foot tall, blond, athletic, and gorgeous. (Just look at the slide in the background!) I knew he started out as an actor, and learned today that his resume includes appearances in 30 films and numerous TV appearances including 6 years as Andy Richards on "Young And the Restless". You'd think there would be more titillating info available than just a list of credits on him, but there's not. The Facts On Steven Ford: -50 years old and never married. -Appeared in "Contact" with Jodie Foster (another closeted actor). -Appeared in "Starship Troopers" with recently-outed Neil Patrick Harris, gay pin-up boy Casper Van Dien, and lots of homoerotic imagery (remember the shower scene?!). -Appeared in "Murder She Wrote", a gay camp classic. -According to the Michigan Daily, at 18, Steven Ford "...was set to go to Duke University a few weeks after his father's inauguration, but could not imagine living in the dormitories with 10 secret service agents following him around all the time. " 'I'm not ready to go to college,' I told my dad," Ford said. "I've always had a dream of going out West and being a cowboy." Instead of Duke, he took his secret service agents out West and learned how to rope a steer and ranch. "I wanted to escape the limelight," he said. "I did a few interviews then, but I would just come back for a few months at a time. I attended the state dinners and met all the important people involved." Reading between the lines, I interpret that as he needed to get out of the big cities to avoid being outed. Or he wanted the 10 Secret Service guys all to himself. Or he had a Brokeback Mountain fantasy working... -Towleroad re-told the story of how a gay man, Oliver Sipple, saved Gerald Ford's life at the 1975 San Francisco assasination attempt. It was none other than Harvey Milk who outed Sipple, hoping to find and promote a "gay hero". The "gay hero" angle was squashed by bad PR that lead to Sipple's ruin. If only another gay high profile gay person connected to the story could have come out at the time, the pressure on Sipple would have been lessened... -In an Answers.com article with Steven Ford titled, "Y&R's Steven Ford Has A Secret": "By growing up in a political family, I saw how tough it was. Acting, to me, was a good choice because I grew up in a fishbowl with the public watching me. With acting, I could come out of this arena and have emotions and feelings through characters that I maybe wasn't allowed to have in the public eye as the son of a president. Acting was almost therapeutic for me." Describes pretty much every closeted actor, right? -Ten years ago, Steven Ford found himself checking into the same recovery clinic named after his mother, The Betty Ford Center. I'm sure there was a lot of pressure to keep his private life private while still being involved in show business and politics, two of the most public of professions. -To help others in recovery, Steven Ford now hires himself out as a Motivational Speaker charging fees in the range of $10,000 - $25,000 per engagement. He's gone from using acting as therapy to release his demons to numbing his feelings through alcohol. Now, for a fee, he'll tell groups of people about his personal life, or the parts he wants you to know. Sounds like somebody is itching to spill his guts, but is taking a roundabout way to do it. What I'm going to tell you now, you will probably chalk up to Urban Legend, and I admit I have no evidence to prove it. You know I ain't one to gossip, so you ain't heard it from me, but... An ex-boyfriend of mine claimed that in the 80's he met Steven Ford when they were both living in Southern California. My ex knew him through other aquaintences, and met him on several occasions including being invited to lunch at a home that Steven Ford shared with a boyfriend who was a cop. I'm hoping that when I put this out, someone will come forward with more information. PLEASE ADD YOUR COMMENTS - even if it's just to agree with my Gaydar. And you thought Ronald Reagan was the only president with a gay son! Steven Ford Filmography Black Hawk Down (2001), The Rage: Carrie 2 (1999), Babylon 5: In the Beginning (1998), Armageddon (1998), Against the Law (1998), Contact (1997), Two Came Back (1997), Starship Troopers (1997), Eraser (1996), Midnight Blue (1996), Heat (1995), When Harry Met Sally (1989), Twenty Dollar Star (1988), Body Count (1986) Television Appearances The Young & The Restless, Host of 'Secret Service' (NBC), Columbo, Baywatch, J.A.G., The Sentinel, Walker Texas Ranger, Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman, Murder She Wrote

I just got this DVD in the mail today and these guys are ALL totally my type - beefy, muscular and hairy! They probably do dirty things to each other that goes way beyond my taste, but as far as I'm concerned, guys like Francois Sagat, Damian Crosse, Alex Baresi, and Ted Colunga only have to read the phone book aloud to get me off! Here's what the promo material says about "Breathless". Breathless is Bruce Cam's return to directing the outdoor features that made TitanMen famous - handsome masculine studs having no-holds barred sex in the most beautiful outdoor settings in the world! The lush forests of the Czech Republic provide the perfect backdrop for the sexiest group of guys that TitanMen has ever brought together. Guns cocked and loaded, hairy-chested hunk Ted Colunga and tattooed Julian Vincenzo single-mindedly track down and capture TitanMen exclusive François Sagat, who's fleeing for his life through the forest. They force François to suck down their massive uncut cocks, plug his perfectly smooth and muscled ass with their meaty foreskinned dicks, and rain showers of pooling piss over his captive body. François makes a daring escape into the woods, and while on the run, he stumbled on ruggedly handsome Miguel Sabroso and massively muscled Glenn Santoro, rimming and fucking chiseled, dark-haired Carlos. TitanMen exclusive Damien Crosse sprays his load on Pierre Sias's face before mercilessly hammering both Pierre and brawny Benjamin Stark, with Damien unleashing a torrent of piss in Benjamin's open mouth. And in the final incendiary scene, François encounters TitanMen exclusive Alex Baresi and ripped Don Camillo having sex by a campfire, and as night falls in the forest, joins the two men in a searing round of cock and assplay that continues the next morning. Breathless - so much non-stop heated action, it'll leave you gasping for air! (Water Sports available only in Breathless director's expanded edit, available exclusively at titanmen.com)

Gay porn icon Jeff Stryker is in the news again! Number 1, why does Jeff Stryker need an office? Number 2, what important work is he doing from 8-10pm while the music is playing? Number 3, I wish I could see those Kung Fu kicks in action! The website for Kulack’s Woodshed has a sample video and live webcam, but there's a big notice that they may be shut down by New Year's. From Xbiz.com Gay Porn Icon Wants Folk Club Shut Down By Steve Javors Thursday, December 21, 2006 VALLEY VILLAGE, Calif. — Charles Peyton, known in the adult community as gay porn star Jeff Stryker, is embroiled in a legal battle over a folk music club that he wants shut down because it lies adjacent to his office. Paul Kulak operates bohemian venue Kulack’s Woodshed on Laurel Canyon Boulevard where fans of folk music’s bygone era can sit and strum guitars. Peyton has wanted the Woodshed shut down since 2004, allegedly because noise emanating from the club disrupts his concentration as he works on his stage show and writing, according to the Los Angeles Daily News. Peyton has initiated a one-man war against Kulak, allegedly verbally harassing patrons as they enter the Woodshed, and has demonstrated his kick-boxing routine for intimidation outside the club, which was featured on the TV show “Celebrity Justice.” In 2004, Peyton began complaining about Kulak’s to Los Angeles Councilwoman Wendy Greuel, the Building and Safety Commission and the police. Additionally, both men have restraining orders against each other. Kulak said the two once were close but had a falling out after Peyton was forbidden from performing the song “Pop It in Your Pooper” at the Woodshed. Peyton discounted this claim, saying problems only arose after he complained about the noise. Kulak’s 1,000-square-foot club is facing closure Dec. 31, unless he completes proper paperwork that he initially failed to fill out and brings the building up to code, the Daily News reported. “I've been tortured every night for five years,” Peyton told the paper. “This area isn’t built for this. There’s no parking. It’s a business strip, not a place for a dance hall.” The pair’s bitter fight came to a head in October after Kulak was arrested on allegations of misuse of land, at which time the building’s landlord told him to secure the proper permits to continue to operate or face imminent closure. “We’re just a bunch of middle-aged folkies, man,” Kulak told the paper. “He’s trying to make it seem like we’re an outlaw biker bar. As dedicated as I am to keeping it open, he’s dedicated to destroying us.” Greuel has been criticized by both sides, but said she has focused on zoning issues, not on the war of words. She said she believes that Kulak is close to complying with all zoning and safety codes. “I’m one of the biggest proponents of having it in that community,” Greuel said. “I’ve done all I can to help him and now, I think he’s on the road to helping himself. As long as Paul’s fulfilled his requirements, he has every right to be there.” JEFF STRYKER MOVIES AVAILABLE ONLINE AT: NakedSword.com | MaleFlixxx.tv | Gay Video Cafe

Last night Retardo and I attended Falcon Studios Christmas party at the Clift Hotel (an Ian Schrager property , I believe). I wore my Christmas-red vintage smoking jacket, and Retardo was dashing in his brown narrow-lapel suit. I got lots of comments about my jacket as being very Hugh Hefner, which I don't mind one bit. Falcon is the Playboy of gay porn, isn't it? Mr. Pam wore a coat the same color, so I tried to stick close to her. Now that she's back in town from shooting Rafael Alencar's first movie, I have lots of plans to stick close to her on many projects. I had so many people to talk to, I didn't know where to begin! I hooked up with friends I lost track of, met new friends, and schmoozed my butt off. Here is my list of shout outs: I spotted Liam Mayclem, host of Channel 5's "Eye On The Bay" in the hallway talking to co-worker/news anchor Kate Kelly on the way in. SF Supervisor Bevan Dufty and CA Assemblyman Mark Leno, taking a break from boring politcal events to hang with porn stars (why the hell not!) I chatted with "Greg The Gay Sportscaster", the blond half of Fernando and Greg from 92.7 FM and met his cute boyfriend. (Just greasing the wheel to get invited to be on their show!) They had Roman Heart, Erik Rhodes and Matthew Rush on the air this morning, hung over. Matt said, "Roman just smiles and waves, doesn't have much to say..." I snapped a picture with my buddy Colby Taylor, but he grabbed the camera from me and deleted it! "Too close!" he said, and demanded a retake. (The first one was probably better.) I felt up Roman Heart a little bit (nice!), but he had just got off a plane from London, and was not in the mood for a party. Matthew Rush, bursting out of his shirt sleeves, was being fawned over by so many people, I didn't get a chance to chat him up. I did chat with bad boy Erik Rhodes, and mentioned that he is one of my (whoopee!) 21 MySpace friends. He said he's got around 10,000 friends, so I guess I have some work to do. (PLEASE add me to your friends so I don't look like a loser!) I also got introduced to Falcon's newest exclusive model, Ashton Star, star of "Dripping Wet". I almost mistook him for Brad Patton. Oops. Alex Chandler and Danny Roddick (stars of COLT/Olympus's "Hostile") gave me big hugs, and admitted they read my blog every day. (Yoohoo! Thanks for the support!) Here's Alex's photo's from Mr. Pam's birthday, btw. Has a nice chat with Steven and Brent from Hot House. I plan to be doing more with them soon. Chi Chi, Roma, and Heklina carried the torch for the drag queens. Chi Chi dj'd, Roma did whatever it is that Roma does, and Heklina looked for porn star butts to lick. It was a great part and I was honored to be invited!

I've lately developed a distaste for celebrity blogger Perez Hilton simply because I am jealous of his instant success. He came out of no where a year ago and now he's breaking traffic records in the range of 82 million visitors a day to his site. But now, there are hints that the gossip hound's house of cards may be collapsing into itself. Perez dropped a bomb today with a Not So Blind Item about Reichen Lemkuhl, "Amazing Race" winner and the on-again-off-again boyfriend of Lance Bass. Perez accuses Reichen of being a "power bottom" (not a crime in my book), being a gold digger, being a philanderer, and being a meth head. Reichen countered the accusations on his My Space Page that he makes his own money and is still dating Lance. Reichen also accuses Perez of being the meth head. He quotes a source that Perez once stole a check from a friend and deposited in his own account to pay for drugs, and regularly invents stories. You never know who to believe, but it's fun to watch the fireworks. I'd just as soon see Perez go down in flames. He's currently being sued by a paparazzi photographer for uncredited use of photos, and one of these days, he's going to say the wrong thing about the wrong person, and he'll be wearing cement overshoes. Any comments? Post 'em.

Those Bush boys were such rebels! Even in this 1970's vintage family photo, Jeb, Marvin, Neil and George W. all wanted to express their distain for authority and mock Christianity's most precious holiday by throwing their 4" wide ties jauntily over their shoulders. GW, of course, expressed the biggest fuck-you-I'll-do-as-I-want attitude by wearing his khakis sans belt and smoking a cigarette. The boys all seem to be privy to some inside joke - they probably just smoked a joint and they're still giggly. Barbara knows something is up, but won't say anything in front of the photographer. Dad is listening to directions from multiple handlers, and Dorothy, well, she's just a girl.

Dak Ramsey is amazing! He could easily have fit into the usual clean-cut Falcon mold, but he came out of no where already all buffed, hairy and tatooed. He's still quite young, but skipped right over his twink phase and got right into the biker/leather/bear cub look right from the start - and I love it! You can see Dak Ramsey in Mustang's "Man Hole", which has just been added to Falcon's Pay Per View. It's also interesting to note that the guys in the trailer for "Manhole" did NOT shave their balls! That's big news for a Falcon/Mustang/Jocks movie! Decription below: "It all started three years ago when three guys, Mustang Exclusives Jake Dakota and Dak Ramsey along with Vin Nolan, were ending their shift at the factory. As they peeled out of their sweaty work clothes and begin eyeing the growing bulges in each other's underwear. Quickly things elevated from there. Word got out and a few other workers in the factory decided that Jake, Dak and Vin shouldn't be the ones to have all the fun. The factory has since shut down. The men rule now. It became the place to go when you need to release your pent-up sexual desires. Are you ready to fall into the Manhole? Starring Mustang Exclusive Jake Dakota, with Blake Nolan, Cliff Rhodes, Adam Faust, Tim Towers, Ken Mack, Vin Nolan and Doug Jeffries. Introducing Mustang Exclusive Dak Ramsey. Directed by John Bruno.