Porn is back at Anthology Film Archives, in the continuing series, IN THE FLESH: PORN NOIR

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Whew! Robert Nathan's LUCKY BASTARD is one hot found-footage/porn-thriller/mockumentary

As found-footage/porn-thriller/mockumentaries go (and, yes, this is the first of this kind of genre mashh-up we've seen), LUCKY BASTARD -- the funny, nasty, scary, and a little too believable movie from first-time director Robert Nathan (better known for writing and producing successful television), who co-wrote his film with Lukas Kendall -- is the sui generis find of the month, maybe the whole year. It grabs you from first frame onwards, has a cool surprise immediately in store, then becomes, by turns, humorous, satiric, ugly, scary and very suspenseful.

Misters Nathan (shown at right) and Kendall (below) appear to know a bit about the porn business (or have watched the right movies to learn) and so they manage to both send it up and take it into a realm we've not yet seen on screen. The movie never loses that faint, sometimes rather heavy, scent of the sewer as it moves along (which, given the kind of climate in which most pornography is produced, seems fair enough), even as it implicates viewers from beginning to end in our own desire to watch something forbidden, sexy and transgressive.

Yet it also succeeds rather well in all of the genres it jumps: the satire and comedy of mockumentary, the thrills and suspense that all good what'll-happen-next? movies provide, and maybe just a tad less so in that lately overused found-footage area (even though there are many hidden cameras in the home used for porno shoots and reality shows in which the movie-within-a-movie is shot, you may still question how certain filmed sequences came into being). But that last genre turns out to be the least of it. Most viewers will appreciate Lucky Bastard purely as a hot little porn thriller-cum-mockumentary movie.

Nathan and his crew have cast the film quite well, too. Every last actor seems both real and entertaining as they go through their paces: fucking, filming, and finally becoming victims. (The film begins at its end, with the police arriving on the scene, and then goes back in time, so you'll pretty much know what you're in for from the outset.)

The story here tells of the Lucky Bastard porno web site, in which each month one paying member on the site is chosen to have actual sex, filmed of course, with its triple XXX star, Ashley Saint (a very good job by Betsy Rue, shown above). This month's "winner" (nicely portrayed in slow-burning degrees of disintegration by Jay Paulson, below), is a young man named "Dave," who seems to understand the importance of being Ernest.

The crew and other actors are well delineated by performers who both look and seem "real" while adding that extra kick that good actors always provide. These include Catherine Annette (below, right) as an up-and-coming, would-be porno star; Lee Kholafai (at right, two photo below) as a current hunk on the porno circuit; Chris Wylde as the goofy cinematopgrapher; and Lanny Joon, and the good-guy jack-of-all-trades on the set. They all play decent and sometimes rather charming characters, so you'll miss them as they begin to disappear.

The film's best performance belongs to actor Don McManus (above, left) as the porn director and owner of the web site, whose avarice and smarts combine to make this guy a user of remarkable skills. He may be the one character you'll feel gets what he deserves. The others serve as rather sad bystanders, accidental victims of the kind of surrogate sex that our society so skillfully serves up.

Lucky Bastard may leave a distinctly sour after-taste in your mouth, but it's a very well made piece of dark, nasty entertainment. The movie -- from CAVU Pictures and running 94 minutes -- opens this Friday, February 14 (gosh, for Valentine's Day!) New York City at the Cinema Village and  and then in Los Angeles on March 7 at Laemmle's NoHo 7.

Note: opening weekend personal appearances at the Cinema Village will include:  Friday,  Feb. 14 at 7:15 with filmmaker Robert Nathan & executive producer/co-writer Lukas Kendall;  Friday, Feb. 14 at 9:30, introduction by filmmakers;  Saturday, Feb. 15 at 5:00 & 7:15 - with filmmaker Robert Nathan & executive producer/co-writer Lukas Kendall; Saturday, Feb. 15 at 9:30 - introduction by filmmakers; and  Sunday, Feb. 16 at 5:00 & 7:15 - w/ filmmaker Robert Nathan.

A most unlikely-but-likable hero is the subject of Dan Hunt's marvelous, moving doc, MR. ANGEL

Not much of a porn viewer, TrustMovies knew nothing about the subject of Dan Hunt's excellent documentary, MR. ANGEL, that tracks the career of one, Buck Angel, an exceedingly muscular, butch-looking fellow with a high-pitched voice, a successful career in the porn business, and a vagina -- which he displays and evidently uses for both fun and profit. Not a hermaphrodite (he has no penis) and born a girl, Buck is set on sharing his "being" and his experience with as much of the world as will have him.

After seeing this fine documentary in which Mr. Hunt (shown at right) tracks Angel's history, family and career, I suspect that -- against all odds -- he's going to convert a lot of people. And I don't mean convert them to doing or being what he himself is doing and being, but rather converting them to a kind of understanding and appreciation of just how "other" a person can be and still be a person you might like to meet, get to know, learn from, and, yes, even get intimate with.  What is most surprising about Mr. Angel -- the man and the movie -- is how they both manage to appear absolutely one-of-a-kind and yet utterly approachable and comprehensible.

The filmmaker lets us into the history of this girl/guy (that's she, above, as a cute, freckle-faced kid), meet his family (mom and dad are shown below) and even wrestle, as his parents do, with who and what their daughter has become -- and why. The relationship between Buck and his father seems the most tenuous -- "Dad did hit us; I think he crossed a line there," Buck relates in passing -- yet both men are in there pitching, trying hard for some kind of intimacy.

We meet Buck's significant other, Elayne (below, left), and when she tells us how and why she fell in love with the guy, it all seems more than a little possible. And when we finally experience Buck's need for and receipt of a hysterectomy due to all that testosterone ("They never told me that the walls of my uterus could atrophy...."), there is no longer any room for doubt about his commitment.

We also go to Adult Entertainment Expos, watch Buck interact with other porn stars (below), learn that he's been nominated for both Transsexual of the Year and for the most outrageous sex scenes (he wins the former). For all the film's "honesty," I wish it had gone a little deeper into Buck's sex life. Since he has a vagina, one might assume he can climax by being sucked, fucked or fingered. Does it matter whether the perp is a woman wearing a dildo or a man using his own penis? But we don't go there, and that's a shame, really. (Buck does tell us that he quickly rejected the idea of having any kind of penis "installed," as this would have given him something unreal.)

One of the most fascinating sections of the film involves Buck's time as a high-paid, high-fashion model when he was still in his feminine form. She was quite exotic and beautiful, so it is little wonder friends and family expected her to easily settle for that glamorous life. (Why didn't s/he? Drugs and alcohol abuse, for starters.) The photo below offers an interim young man, post-modeling but prior to losing her breasts.

When living in the U.S. became too tricky (he and Elayne were formerly located in New Orleans), the couple relocated to Mexico. Now the guy has joined the "lecture circuit," making public appearances across the U.S. and internationally. "My mission, and I know it sounds cheesy," he explains, "is to change the world."

And yet, on some small level, that is exactly what Mr. Angel is doing, and what he is doing is definitely worthwhile. Stretching boundaries, forcing us to understand "the other" a little better, Buck is certainly some kind of hero, and Mr. Angel is one of the best documentaries about that "other" that I have seen in quite some time. It probes, explores, and takes in other people's views (one of the highlights is Dan Savage's remarks on how our society handles pornography). It's a fine place to start for any folk who feel "different," as well as for their families, friends and co-workers.

Shot over a period of six years, Mr. Angel, from Breaking Glass Pictures and running just 68 minutes, made its premier at this year's SXSW film festival and is available on DVD now. Click here to order. (I hope it will also be available soon on various streaming sites.)

Sean Baker's best-yet--the sweet 'n juicy STARLET--hits DVD/Blu-ray/digital venues

All about porn and caring, STARLET makes some surpri-sing connections, both physical and emotional, along the way. This is the third film by Sean Baker that I've seen and covered (Take Out and Prince of Broadway are the other two), and his movies seem to get better and better. In retrospect, you may find yourself thinking of them as documentaries, so well does Baker -- who directs, edits and either writes or co-writes -- create lives that appear utterly real in a milieu that seems equally so. 

But these are narrative films, nonetheless.

Mr. Baker, shown at left, has a good eye and ear, both of which he uses to show us a group of full-bodied characters engaged in making their way in life. He is remarkably non-judgmental, too. This results in films in which you end up rather liking everyone, despite their occasional crass, venal or simply dumb behavior. Baker appears to see the good (at least some good) in everyone -- a rarity these days --  yet his vision is nothing like of a Pollyanna. This, along with his increasing flair for and understanding of the movie-making process, as much as anything else makes his work quite special.

In Starlet, he follows the adventures of a 21-year-old porn actress named Jane (Dree Hemingway, at left and last seen in The Truth About Angels), who looks to have a real future in this sleazy field, if she plays her cards right. Via a yard sale and a large thermos she purchases and plans to use as a vase, Jane makes the acquaintance of Sadie, a curmudgeonly old woman (Besedka Johnson, below, an astrologist-turned-actress, giving her first and, sadly, last film performance). How these two slowly connect, break apart and reconnect provides the meat of the movie, and with the help of his two pretty amazing performers, Baker makes all this register pitch perfect without a false moment.

Ms Hemingway, in particular, proves expert at limning a young woman with remarkably good instincts negotiating her way around everyone from this angry old woman to her porn boss, somewhat sleazy roommates (male, James Ransone, and female, Stella Maeve, below), all kinds of customers at a porn convention -- and even the police. In a more just world, this performance would be winning numerous awards. Maybe Hemingway just makes it look too easy.

Wisely, I think, Baker leaves the porn in the background for quite awhile. From what we initially see, this could almost be any old office situation in which our two girls labor. When, finally, we're confronted with an actual porn shoot (which, by the way, comes pretty close to hard-core action) it is handled so smartly, realistically and un-sensationally by the filmmaker that we simply go right along with it (as do -- whew -- the actors on view). The reason this proves such a smart move is that, by this time, we are so fully involved with and caring about Jane that we can understand and even appreciate her actions here as simply work for hire. In fact, we can maybe even approve of the good job she does.

I can't think of another movie that has achieved quite this. No, not the recent About Cherry, which gave us the business end of porn, or even Boogie Nights, which gave us all sorts of new things. Another reason that Baker's view of the industry proves so special and different is the actor,  Karren Karagulian, above, with Ms Hemingway, who was so good in Prince of Broadway, and adds layers of interest here as the intelligent, business-like, and even (dare we say it) relatively decent man in charge of the business.

The filmmaker keeps his camera up close (below) or distant (above), as necessary, and the results are just right. In a couple of situations, Baker veers near melodrama, but so well does he guide his actors, that the result is never melodramatic. What happens finally, and at any point along the way, is life continuing to unfold, with lessons only begun to be learned and changes maybe partially in place. This -- in our current low-budget, independent film world -- is near-miraculous.

Running 103 minutes from Music Box Films, Starlet (which is the name, by the way, of our heroine's delightful little dog) is available, after its too-short theatrical run, this Tuesday, May 7, on DVD and Blu-ray and via digital formats, too -- for sale or rental.  Extras on the DVD and Blu-ray include audio commentary, The Making of STARLET, interviews with select cast and crew, rehearsal and audition footage (we watched the Besedka Johnson audition: fun!), Behind-the-Scenes, and more.

Srdjan Spasojevic's A SERBIAN FILM hits DVD and Blu-ray; Netflix decides to pass

Anyone who believes in the concept of karma might easily see A SERBIAN FILM as payback to (and from) the country who gave us the ugly, elongated and unnecessary Serbo-Croatian war of the 1990s. Film-wise (and culture-wise), is this how Serbia wants to be remembered? OK, you got it! Ah, but this might be the simplistic view. Let's instead look for another way to think about this film. You've heard, I imagine, that porn stars are severely taken-advantage-of in terms of career, money earned and status conferred. So think of this movie, written and directed by Srdjan Spasojevic (his first), as a remarkably bracing workout of the idea that porn stars get hopelessly fucked -- literally and metaphorically.

You could also take the film as a severe indictment of Serbia -- familial, political, economic, sexual and cultural.  Or as a fabulous excuse to maximize sex, violence, blood and gore. (To the credit of Mr. Spasojevic -- pictured at right -- there is not a single explosion, car chase or crash to be seen.) So what is A Serbian Film? It's all of the above, the result of which is in no manner the least bit edifying.

This is not to say that the movie is empty of anything good. The lead perfor-mance, in fact, is quite good. It comes from Srdjan Todorovic, in action below, playing the country's leading male porn star, reminiscent of our own John Holmes: a quite unprepossessing type -- until he takes off his pants. Mr. Todorovic proves just fine in that department, too -- at half mast, at least: I suspect the erections that we see are prosthetically enhanced (Mr. Holmes' were the real thing).

The photography, too, is fine (it's just the subject matter that's a downer.) Further, the Blu-ray transfer I watched was absolutely first-rate in terms of sharpness, color, and all the rest. The filmmaker knows his way around believable dialog and his pacing, framing, and clever use of fantasy vs reality all work well. (The cinematography is by Nemanja Jovanov and the editing by newcomer Darko Simic.)

The tale, such as it is, concerns the famous and now retired porn star being called back into action to make some sort of "art/porno" movie for an amount of money so vast that we never actually hear it spoken (he whispers it into the ear of his wife -- who immediately gives him the go-ahead). His producer/director, played with maniacal glee and a bit of smarts by Sergej Trifunovic (above) is soon revealed as a nutcase extraordinaire, and yet our hero never asks for any of that cash upfront. Silly boy. As it flows along and corrodes, the film becomes a kind of mystery as to what happened and why. All will be revealed, and will be every bit as awful as you could have imagined.

The first sex scene actually serves up a smattering of The Parallax View, and the first half of the movie -- which is being marketed, with the help of most critics, as something ground-breakingly over-the-top -- seems, well, not so horrible, after all. Then things get worse. And by worse, I mean that it appears that our filmmaker and his friends sat around in bull sessions, thinking up the very worst things imaginable that could happen to a family man/porn star -- and then wrote them and filmed them.

Consequently, any legitimate, resonant subjects buried within A Serbian Film are finally no more than an excuse for upping the ante on the usual blood, violence, sex and gore plus incest, necrophilia, pedophilia and (so far as I know) the brand new entrant in the envelope-pushing sweepstakes, "newborn porn." Is all this degrading? Yessiree -- to its creators and to us viewers. And certainly to Sony, which company I hope did not pay for the very obvious product placement that comes midway into things.

The movie is finally about as ugly, nasty and cynical as seems humanly possible to grind into 102 minutes (the DVD and Blu-ray offer a lengthier cut that was shown in Britain ). And if this sounds like a recommendation, be my guest.

From Invincible Pictures, the DVD/Blu-ray hit streets this past Tuesday, October 25. With Netflix -- who initially offered the film in its Saved section of your queue -- suddenly deciding not to carry the film, I am uncertain where it can be rented. But I understand that a streaming option is also now available from FlixFling.com.