Member Reviews
A predictable storyline and trite sex scenes make The Pinup a downer.
The Pinup is one of those frustrating movies that has a great premise, but blows all promising aspects during the execution. Directed by Guillermo Brown, the movie has the uncanny look and feel of a Paul Thomas film; perhaps because he was the producer. But similarities end when it comes to pacing and the sex scenes. While the story is relatively strong, it isn't strong enough to make the audience forget why they're watching the movie in the first place. Brown spends more attention on the story and characters than he does on the sex. Furthermore, the story is held hostage by the studio's (Vivid in this case) unflinching Gestapo-like "safety" policies and is thus needlessly forged into the same mold of countless other releases.
Bright faced newcomer Devon headlines this title as an orphan attempting to decipher her mysterious family tree. During the tortuous opener, Devon's fiancée realizes she looks just like a certain pinup girl from the 40s. As if spontaneously inspired by dozens of soap opera plot lines, Devon immediately believes the woman in the picture is her grandmother. What follows is part film noir, part Lifetime movie of the week, with several flashbacks and a few sex scenes to keep the audience content. It sort of plays like a porno version of Forrest Gump with the cast performing various types of sex acts throughout the later portion of the 20th century; complete with period costumes and décor. Although the sex scenes are relatively mediocre, there are a couple that stand out. Unfortunately, they don't involve Devon.
In the only flashback scene that has no direct connection to Devon's search, Shelbee Myne and Tony Tedeschi get it on in a 70s era apartment. Looking slightly like Bo Derek in 10 (complete with cornrows), Shelbee plays Devon's great aunt who raised her mother...it's not as confusing as it sounds. Anyway, our first glimpse of Shelbee is while she's on her knees giving Tony a blowjob...so much for character development. Shelbee spends a few minutes waxing Tony's knob while he takes occasional swigs from a can of ; I guess Tony's stuck with the abusive alcoholic boyfriend role. But he's obviously not too or inconsiderate, because he takes the time to put a condom on before bending her over a chair and fucking her hard from behind. What a gentleman! Next, Shelbee scrunches herself into the same wicker chair and raises her go-go boots so Tony can get some missionary action. Before long, Tony's ready to pop and does so on Shelbee's mouth and chin. If this scene does nothing else, it might awaken those dusty Bo Derek fantasies.
The final scene involves Devon's alleged mother, a sleazy porno director, and his girlfriend, played respectively by Adajja, Voodoo, and Tasha Hunter. Apparently Devon's mom got into porno and eventually prostitution. One day this director was driving his van along a rural highway with his girlfriend, when he spotted a familiar face: Devon's mom. Of course, they pick her up, find a quiet place, pull over, and fuck. There's something about two girls taking on a guy in a van ....perhaps it's memory residuals from that scene in Action Sports Sex #1. After some breast kissing and fondling, Adajja and Tasha take turns sucking Voodoo's cock. Adajja gives head with the ferocity of a jackhammer and has no problem deep throating. Tasha and Adajja eventually get their pussy's filled with some missionary and doggy style penetration. Finally, Adajja uses her impressive oral technique to coax a small load from Voodoo's cock.
So where did the movie go wrong? Most importantly, the sex scenes lack authentic heat. The performers simply go through the motions, collect their pay, and take off. There also isn't much originality in the blocking. Almost every position is doggy style or missionary and the performers rarely improvise. Lately, I've argued that contemporary videos are over saturated with anal sex. But I'd love to see at least one non-lesbian anal scene in this feature. Why does it have to be feast or famine when it comes to anal? Secondarily, there's too many holes and anachronisms in the story that can't be ignored. How can Devon's grandmother (Nicole Sheridan) get pregnant when Eric Price only jizzes on her shoulder? Did girls completely shave their pubes in the 40s? Were condoms really used that often?
Despite the mediocre sex and the questionable plot holes, I did like the storyline's premise and characters. With a bigger budget and hotter sex, this could have been a fantastic porno epic. The characters are equally well written and acted. My favorite was the old photographer in the wheel chair. When he asked Devon for a blowjob I couldn't believe my ears! What I could believe (and predict) was Devon's subsequent refusal. If she had simply given this old guy head, my overall opinion of this movie would change dramatically. Alas, we're dealing with Vivid, not Extreme Associates. Devon was very credible in the lead role and certainly deserves the attention she's getting. I don't expect scorching sex scenes from contract girls, and Devon didn't defy this expectation, but she has the potential to mature into a real porn slut...a term of sincere admiration and respect in my book.
As a DVD, Vivid did a pretty good job of putting this one together. Some segments of the feature are shot on film and others on video to reflect certain aspects of the story. Film transfers have a tendency to be grainy but this one looks pretty good with only some pixelation. The video segments are crisp and virtually free of compression artifacts. The audio on this disc is some of the best I've heard in a porno release thus far. Dolby 5.1 is offered, utilizing all 5 surround channels. I had some problems with the features, mainly the multi-angles. It's bad enough that the extra angles are phony (non-linear shots thrown in) but what's worse is the unavoidable angle switch indicator that shows up in the top right quadrant of the screen. Why can't this be turned off? In addition to the usual features, there's several trailers and unrelated bonus scenes. I would have preferred a "making of" featurette or a director commentary because this is a pretty ambitious production that I wouldn't mind knowing more about.
I don't frequent the Vivid catalog so this is the first movie I've seen with Devon. She's certainly attractive but as she stands right now, she has a long way to go before she reaches legendary status. Although she has the lead role in The Pinup, the real stars are the Shelbees and the Tashas who consistently turn out hot (and more often than not) nasty performances in a variety of productions. The Pinup ends quite abruptly and without a real sense of closure. Does that mean a sequel is on the horizon? If so, I hope Devon is able to reprise her role and interject some authentic heat into her performances.
You'd have to pin me down to make me sit through The Pinup again!
With an attractive box cover featuring the very sexy Devon, how, oh how could a title like The Pinup go so horribly wrong? Well part of the reason has to lie with the director, Guillermo Brown, who teases us with a bit of posing in the opening of the movie...which is extended for far too long, and the result is that the first sex scene in this movie does not occur until almost the 20-minute mark!
When the first sex scene does finally get underway, it's a pretty mild one, as Devon takes on Nicole Sheridan in a lesbian tryst. They use a wooden dildo in this scene, and I was hoping one of them would leap through the screen and drive it into my heart, since at this point in the film, every other part of my body was pretty limp and dead...if you know what I mean.
The plot revolves around Devon's resemblance to an old pin-up model and the question of whether this is actually Devon's grandmother or not. She goes around and talks to several older characters, and the viewer gets treated to some flashbacks with the various characters that are being discussed (similar in style, if not story, to Vivid's House of Beauties 3).
All this is much more boring than it sounds and the only highlight of the picture comes when Tony Tedeschi and Shelbee Myne show up for a flashback scene, in which Tony adds some much needed sparks to the film by playing a hotheaded who likes to fuck hard and smash cans up against his head even harder. It's a good scene in an otherwise bad movie.
Herschel Savage also shows up for a scene with the blonde-haired Adajja, but even one of porn's most respected veterans can't add much to this film. His scene is also a flashback, and it is fairly run-of-the-mill...but at least enough to distract us from the poor storyline for a few minutes.
The film concludes with a three-way between Voodoo (Nicole's real-life husband, who never cross paths in this movie), Tasha Hunter and Adajja which is proceeded by a "Vivid Rocks" subliminal message before it starts (as Devon is questioning a porn producer in his office) and concludes with a "Vivid Rules" message at the end of the scene. Hey...anything to keep the viewer awake, I suppose.
Fortunately the bonus features and quality of the disc save it from being a total waste. The video is sharp, although a few flaws are noticeable in the shot on film portion of the movie (some of it is shot on video, specifically the scenes where Devon is posing for the camera). The 5.1 audio track is top notch for an adult DVD title and sounds really good. The features include 16 bonus scenes (four of which contain Devon), 4 trailers and a slide show. In one of the more curious decisions, the end credits are not a part of the feature and can only be viewed separately...why this was done, I have no idea, but the actual feature ends abruptly, and the viewer is left to wonder why the DVD makers separated the credits from the feature.
Why Vivid decided to abandoned their more fetish-oriented menus (seen on the Delirium DVD) which also listed the actors in the scene is beyond this reviewer's understanding. It would have been a big help here, as it took a little research to figure out what names belong to which faces (as neither Nicole Sheridan or Adajja have been around for all that long in the adult business). I've already mentioned in other reviews that the subliminal messages were a bad move, and apparently Vivid is backing away from these...at least within the features. But the new multiple angle logo in the top right of the screen is annoying, especially since Vivid was letting us turn this feature off in DVD titles just a few months ago. Plus, I hope separating the credits from the film isn't a new trend...that is really going to bother "purists" like myself who consider the credits to be part of the movie and like sitting through them.
Fortunately, The Pinup isn't a good enough movie to be bothered by a couple of glitches and poor decisions...however, when Vivid does release a really good title (Bad Wives 2 immediately pops into mind), I hope these little problems have been resolved so the fans can have a truly great DVD experience.