Vivid Studio Insider for April 4th, 2008

Vivid Studio Insider for April 4th, 2008

RAVES FOR "SUNNY" AND "THE BETTIES" BLU-RAY VERSIONS - XCritic.com gives its coveted "Highly Recommended" rating to the Blu-Ray versions of Vivid's " Sunny Loves Matt " and Vivid-Alt's " The Bad Luck Betties ." Reviewer Don Houston says the first Sunny Boy-Girl feature 'will prove to be an 'absolute must have' for fans of beautiful Sunny Leone thanks in no small part to the various production efforts led by director B. Skow for Vivid Entertainment ." He particularly liked the extras in the Blu-Ray version, noting "There were 6 photogalleries (one for each scene and a BTS), four trailers, and a fun 19:40 minute long Behind the Scenes feature for the movie itself... helmed by Graham Crack Herr as he got the scoop from the cast... Shylar 's weird sense of humor was amusing and Sunny was given a lot of attention; combining to make it well worth checking out." As for "The Bad Luck Betties," reviewer Mooninite says director Octavio Winkytiki "fuses some seriously bad ass rockabilly beats with explicit pornography [paying] homage to the juvenile delinquent/bad girl movies made [in the 70s] with a little bit of Japanese style pinky violence camp thrown in for good measure." All in all, says Mooninite, "Bad Luck Betties" is steamy, sexy, stylish and most importantly, a helluva lot of fun. Shot with a pin up photographer's eye for capturing the finer points of the female form, this is on that'll appeal to smut movie fans and b-movie enthusiasts alike. With a very nice transfer, solid audio and some quality extras, this one easily earns a rating of highly recommended. Roll up the cuffs of your jeans, slick back your hair, and jump in."

"THE DOLL UNDERGROUND" CALLED A "MASTERPIECE" - The positive reviews for the new Vivid-Alt film " The Doll Underground " continue to flow. One of the latest is from Fleshbot.com : "When we say that you might forget that you're watching a dirty movie during the first several minutes of Eon McKai's new hallucinatory agitporn masterpiece "The Doll Underground'... that's meant as a compliment; McKai has never made porn movies that look like anyone else's, and while there's something to be said for the straight-up smut style of your typical gonzo production, that's probably not why you watch one of his films in the first place....it's the best example yet of why McKai remains one of the most singular and distinctive artists working in the adult industry today." Giving his take on what the movie "really" means, Fleshbot writes, "if 'The Doll Underground' is 'about' anything, it's that sex is as much about power as it is about pleasure, maybe even more so." Reviewer Violet Blue gave the film a five-star review on TinyNibbles.com . She writes, "Pulsing with energy, eerie visuals, clever pacing and deliberate editing, the film is a haiku... I wonder, did The Doll Underground *actually* come from porn valley? There are no blondes, no long fingernails, no fake breasts, no skinny girls, no big boobs, no fake female orgasms. The soundtrack never interrupts the sex; the sounds of sex are the focus. The women's bodies look like regular *hot* girls; that have ass, thigh, meat on those bones that make you want to cuddle and fuck and snuggle. Half the cast, at most, is tattooed; many are pierced, and two of the men are uncut. There are no unsafe or scary sex acts; no anal, no "gapes" and thankf*ckinggawd no ATMs." She concludes: 'The Doll Underground' is one of the best porn films I've ever seen, and it feels like anti-porn - it's almost against the system it came from by being all that it is - a deep investigation of culture from an industry we regard as being utterly bereft of culture beyond the superficial. Rise up, indeed. Highly recommended."

ASB COVERS HIRSCH AND "THE MOST RESPECTED NAME IN ADULT FILM" - Adult Store Buyer Magazine , which covers the retail side of the industry, carries an interview in the March/April issue with Vivid co-chairman Steven Hirsch . Calling Vivid "the most respected name in adult film," ASB delves into ways in which it is affecting brand diversity, changes in retail sales and celebrity sex tapes. "Many people both inside and outside the adult industry give Hirsch's company credit for stabilizing the public perception of pornography as being erotic, non-misogynistic and, from a business angle, ridiculously profitable." Steven tells the interviewer that a retailers challenge today is "understanding that you're just not going to be able to be successful based on your DVD sales, so what else can you do to have an adult-oriented store that's interesting and fun, and that people will continue to come back to?" As for Vivid, "our bread and butter is producing adult movies, and I don't see that changing," although licensing and ancillary activities will continue to be important in brand promotion. He noted the growing importance of Vivid-Ed , Vivid-Alt , and particularly of Vivid-Celeb . "One of the things that we saw with Kim Kardashian is that all of a sudden we got inquiries from [celebrities] who are interested in doing this thing, because they're saying, 'Wow, this didn't hurt her career, it actually made her career.' It made people sit up and take notice, so I think that you'll see people on the level of Kim, or maybe even bigger stars, in the future. You never know when something might pop up."