Paradise Lost

OVERALL RATING: 6

93 Mins

Sin City

DIRECTOR: Michael Raven

www.paradiselost-themovie.com

THEMES: Art Porn, Outdoor Sex

CONDOMS: Some Noted

2002

9/02

STARS: Julia Ann, Mr. Marcus, Steven St. Croix, April, Kristal Summers, Olivia Del Rio, Phoenix Ray, Tanya Danielle, Monica Mayhem, Wendi Devine, Leanna Kova, Sondra Hall,

REVIEW-

Paradise Lost has a whole lot of things going for it, (Or working against it as the case may be) a truckload of AVN nominations, tons of PR, Michael Raven at the helm and a highly anticipated (or so I’m told) IR cherry busting from the leading lady. On one hand, this would seem to be a movie that could blow us all away. On the other the possibility of a pretentiousness-overload is also high. Raven’s movies are almost always technically brilliant and often thought provoking. They also often suffer from sex scenes that feel more like an afterthought than the core of the movie. AVN felt this movie was worth nominating for just about everything, and that sometimes a good indication that the movie is a bit too artsy for mainstream porn audiences. (And it is possible for a movie to suffer from over-hype) As for Julia Ann’s big IR scene, that’s not a plus or minus for me. I’ve never been a fan and I don’t care who she is fucking, black, white, whatever. (And just so you aren’t upset later, the scene actually never happens making matters worse.)

The movie opens in grand style at a big orgy with flashing lights, sushi and Monica Mayhem sharing some action with Wendi Devine. The editing is very impressive, but not of much use sexually. This is the kind of scene that is visually appealing, but is made for people who don’t want to jerk off while watching porn. Hopefully it’s not indicative of what we’re in store for during the next hour and a half.

Steven St. Croix and Julia Ann tell the story through voice over dialog that is just begging to be mocked. Julia leads us to a scene that has Kristal Summers and Alex Sanders as a stone statue come to life. I hate to say it, but Michael Ninn did this scene much better. They fuck against a stark white background and are not totally covered by their make up so as they fuck, the couple end up looking like they have been rolling around in mud or had a wicked paint fight. Kristal gives a pretty good blowjob that is pretty well shot. Body make up aside, there is good head as he takes her from behind. He ends up shooting a load onto her belly. This isn’t a bad scene at all, so that’s a pretty good start.

Steven and Julia are a couple in trouble for all sorts of reasons. She performs a club, he feels angry and impotent. This lets us watch her dance for a bit. Steven’s anger is expressed in a sex scene where Lee Stone appears a warrior taking out his aggressions on a post-apocalyptic looking Phoenix Ray. She is dragged to the center of the smoke filled room and has her mouth around his cock in no time. Even made up to look not so pretty, this blonde is sexy and gives great looking head. When she has worked that long cock to full size, Phoenix bends over and takes it from behind. I like that we can hear her moan instead of having to listen only to background music. This alone adds a lot to this scene. He pounds away and Phoenix takes every inch. When that’s done he shoots onto her face as she smiles up at him.

They continue to fight and we transition into another foggy room where a robed Steven lights candles. In comes Sondra Hall and they start to fuck but the scene is aborted. We move instead through more dialog and creative camera shots. Mr. Marcus gets to show off his overwrought acting style before giving it a go with Olivia Del Rio and April. They get down and share his cock. He lets them double up for a decent blowjob then slips on a condom for some doggy. April is straining her fishnets with her thick thighs and grinding her hips back to fuck him while he stands still. Olivia has a lot of catching up to do, but does her best to be as hot as her co-star. She does her best and then hogs the popshot. April is still hotter, but they make a decent team.

With Steven and Julia involved in more dialog and Marcus spouting off about pride and self-absorption, we drift into a lesbian scene between Janna and Tanya Danielle. The soft music fits in nicely as the two blondes play pretty girl with each other on the bed. They kiss and lick and look really good for the camera while providing about as much heat as a 40-watt fluorescent tube in a meat locker. The eye candy factor is high, but this is nothing to write home about.

Julia and Steven finish up with their dialog and get into a four-poster bed in the middle of the desert. The scene begins with a hyper-edited sword fight and flash fuck. This brings us to seven minutes of dialog before they finally settle in to a much more gentle fuck. She works her mouth around his cock and starts sucking. He licks her pussy for a long time before she slides down over his condom-covered cock. They start very slowly but pick up a bit as she shows off her ass during the ride. After a slow screw, he leaves a load on her belly. Julia has never been known for over the top sex scenes, but this one is tame even by her standards.

Where do we begin when talking about one of the most nominated flicks of the year? Well for starters let’s talk about the fact that Julia and Marcus never actually fuck in the flick. That is bound to upset a whole lot of people who were expecting to see her get plowed. Beyond that there is a lot to like in Paradise Lost. It is technically brilliant and nearly flawless in that regard. The editing, lighting and camera work is very impressive. The film buff in me finds this quite refreshing and in that regard Paradise Lost is worth all the praise it gets. That said, this is still a porno flick and much of the audience will not be thrilled to see how style wins out of substance. The dialog is pretty good at times, but runs long in others. If you pull the best scenes from the script you get some award caliber writing and acting, but there are times when all you can do is laugh and wonder if it’s supposed to be this damn funny. Sexually this movie is a lot better than other Raven flicks. Phoenix Ray and Lee Stone have a really good time fucking the shit out of each other. That’s the best scene of the movie, but the others aren’t horrible. In fact, they are pretty average for feature sex scenes. Since the sex scenes aren’t horrible and the technical aspects are so good, I’ll go along with some of the praise and call this one of the prettiest porn flicks of the year. If they gave awards for technically solid, artsy, mainstream-looking smut then I’d vote for this flick.