Flash

Despite the title, FLASH! isn't a porn adaptation of a certain fleet-footed superhero, nor is it an X-rated version of a science fiction hero of the thirties (Or was it forties? Whatever the decade, it was a damn long time ago, not including that terrible movie and Queen song from 1980...). Instead, it's an all-girl film starring fan-favorite Serenity (as the photographer), and featuring some of my newest favorites like Devinn Lane, Temptress and Holly Hollywood. Despite the all-star cast, this isn't the most ground-breaking all-girl video I've ever seen, and in fact, it compares less favorably to a more recent Wicked release BEAUTIFUL/NASTY which also happens to feature Devinn Lane (as star and producer). Frankly, Wicked has yet to come up with a true flagship title as far as the lesbian genre goes (compared to say, VCA's DIVA series or Vivid's WHERE THE BOYS AREN'T videos), but this is a good, if not terribly impressive effort.

Directed by Red Ezra, who in my mind does much better work here than he did in the Stephanie Swift vehicle CHANCES, this film takes place as a series of vignettes, and is framed by Serenity at work taking glamour shots of some of the best looking women in adult. Since it's been my brilliant understanding and remarkable insight that guys actually enjoy watching beautiful chicks primp and pose for the camera, viewers should find a lot to like in this flick.

As a matter of fact, things start off pretty damn well with the lovely Felecia first dressed in white lace, then in a purple body suit for a session which leads into a solo masturbation performance. Using her fingers and then a dildo, she works herself up into a steamy frenzy which serves as appropriate appetizer to the remaining lesbian proceedings. Kylie Ireland is then teamed with Temptress for a rocking and rolling latex and fetish fantasy shoot, with much hands-on participation by Serenity. Although some scenes are shot through a wire fence, and the picture goes from color to black and white randomly, I was mighty impressed with the director's creativity here. It just goes to show that a girl-girl scene doesn't have to be relegated to just a bed and bedroom. The only thing that distracted me was what appeared to be masking tape on the girls' nipples. I was left wondering just how they were going to remove it without too much pain or discomfort, but I guess that's why they're the experts.

The next scene focuses on Devinn Lane, whose praises I can't sing enough (even if I could carry a tune). She is one of the most elegant women in adult, and if she weren't under contract for Wicked, I'm sure Andrew Blake would make stunning use of her obvious talents. Serenity apparently feels the same way, as the two share a very energetic moment where dildos plunge in and out like oil rigs. The accompanying music, thankfully, never obscures the natural sounds of Devinn's moans and screams.

Next, brunettes Stephanie Swift and Jezebelle Bond are shown wearing white tank tops and white panties in a segment shot in black and white, with alternating moments of full color. The composition here is excellent, and again shows how just a little imagination can make an already good lesbian scene even better. Besides the cunnilingus and dildo fucking, you also get some activities involving melted candle wax, which isn't any fetish of mine, but the creativity is appreciated.

In the following scene, Miko Lee plays a deejay while Serenity and Felicia are dressed as retro-sixties cowgirls (or something like that). It's supposed to take place in a dance club, but the set designs are clearly budget-minded (and no one else seems to be in attendance here). No matter, because just as in VEGAS OR BUST, the cheesiness of the some of the production adds to the fun. And for those who are fashion-minded, it should be noted that the girls wear tassels on their tits throughout (Don't ask me why; maybe they learned their lesson after using masking tape in the last threesome.)

I was hoping the movie would end with another scene featuring Devinn Lane, but instead we get Shay Sweet and Holly Hollywood. Not that I'm complaining, because both girls are very sexy even if the cowgirl motif (and tassels!) are reprised in this final sex shoot. The double-ended dildo fucking is fun to watch, as are the deep French kisses. Serenity does not join them, but she does flash for the camera before the credits roll.

Both audio and video quality is up to Wicked's high standards, with no discernible defects or faults on this shot-on-tape production. And as usual, Wicked packs their DVD with enough goodies to warrant repeated viewings. I especially appreciated the Audio Bios which covered every girl appearing in this film, as well as the always-entertaining "Making of Flash!" The Director's Commentary by Red Ezra is equally fun and informative, though I would have loved to hear an accompanying discussion by Serenity. The Menu design is superb, with the familiar clicking and flashing of a camera as navigate your way through the DVD. I also must note (again) that the box cover Shoot featurettes found on most Wicked titles are very enjoyable and a simply terrific idea, especially since the packaging of any video is one of its the biggest selling points.

Though not an instant, all-time classic, FLASH! has all the fine qualities one expects from a Wicked video. It isn't memorable, and certainly not a classic, but it is a pleasure to watch.

If you find yourself with some time on your hands, watch "Flash" and look at what Red Ezra has done. Take note of the crisp photography, the well-lit sets, the sound quality, and then step back just enough to see what editing can do for a sex scene. See "Flash" and then ask yourself why all porn movies don't look like this. After that, ask yourself if it really makes much difference.

Detour with me now to another all-girl film called "Young Girls Who Love Girls." You may think you haven't seen that one, but you have, and probably more than once. It's the movie with the lousy lighting, the incomprehensible sound, and the lead-footed direction. Remember it now? It's the movie that was more often frustrating than exciting, the kind of film that makes everyone think they could do better.

And yet, buried somewhere in that visual assault is a moment that may not make the whole thing worthwhile but will at least save it from being a waste of time. In this case, it's a scene of two young girls fooling around, game to try anything. Finally one of the girls pulls out her new vibrator. It's a glorious moment when she inserts it into her partner, eliciting an expression that is one of both surprise and discovery, as though it were truly the girl's first time. It's raw and it's real, and it's a heck of a turn-on.

"Flash" pays an unnecessary price for all its glitz. It isn't the first and won't be the last to do so, either. In a bid for - what? respectability? - it trades hot sex for visual style and comes up short. Okay, granted, it's still ahead of most of its competition, but it won't stop people from watching films like "Young Girls," where they just might find something edgier or at least a bit less routine. "Flash" is missionary filmmaking with style.

The movie stars Serenity as an amateur erotic photographer who wants to turn pro. Suze Randall needn't be worried, though Serenity photographs her women in the same suggestive poses that stop short of actual sex. I guess she's going for that arty look. Occasionally, she puts her camera down long enough to join her models in some more explicit action.

During the audio biography of Serenity included on this disc we are reminded that she began her career in another all-girl feature, "Jennifer Ate". In that film, she plays a latex-heavy threeway with Alexis DeVell and P.J. Sparxx. Here, she echoes that scene with another latex three-way, this time with Temptress and Kylie Ireland. The new scene is in every way the darker side of the earlier one.

In "Jennifer Ate" the girls are joking and energetic, the lights are bright, and there's a sense of fun in their sexplay. The girls in "Flash" are caged in wire mesh, more seriously aggressive, and they have to cart their own lighting around with them, using one of those portable lights you hang on your car to get a look at the engine. That's how it should have been, anyway, but the earlier scene was better and more consistent. Here, though the girls start out aggressively, they soon wind up simply having sex, reducing the cage to a prop and the sex to the ordinary.

"Flash" does have its moments. In a scene with Jezebelle Bond and Stephanie Swift - a scene which, by the way, demonstrates how sexy T-shirts and white panties can be - Stephanie drips hot wax from a small candle onto Jezebelle's ass. That's the prelude; the main attraction occurs when Stephanie drips the wax on her own breasts, her small mouth compressed still further in an expression of tightly controlled emotion. Makes you wish she'd just let it out and jumpstart the movie with some real passion.

Jezebelle Bond is a cute, girls-only performer with a sexy smile and seductive eyes. When she looks at Stephanie, you feel the heat. The pairing is a poor one, however, because Stephanie seems more interested in protecting her sultry image than in having fun. (Somebody needs to put a bug in Stephanie's ear letting her know that the line between sultry and surly is a thin one, indeed.) Serenity, being more carefree, would have been a more exciting partner.

Fans of the two-headed dildo, properly used, should enjoy a later scene in which Shay Sweet and Holly Hollywood take one to town. Both are on hands and knees, and Red Ezra wisely shoots in long shot, giving us an excellent view of the entire scene. A few close-ups wouldn't have hurt, but after seeing so many such scenes all but destroyed by an overuse of close-ups, I'm simply not going to complain. It is, for my money, one of the sexiest positions two girls can get into.

Yes, "Flash" does have its moments. But if moments are all it has, then it really doesn't have much more than many inferior films. For a film as visually polished as this one, that's disappointing to say the least. It puts the lie to the notion that a bigger budget and a more talented director will necessarily produce a more exciting film. It still comes down to the sex, and if "Flash" is easier on the eyes, it's no more arousing where it counts. It is pretty, though, and that gives it a step up on its competition.

In addition to the audio biographies, the "Flash" disc comes with a number of extras, some of which are a behind-the-scenes short, interviews with Serenity and Red Ezra, and even a bonus scene. At one point in the film, Serenity masturbates to a fantasy of being with Devinn Lane, a girl who, in reality, Serenity has never been with before. The fantasy takes center stage, but Serenity gets herself off in the extra. The really remarkable thing about porn is not that girls often work with strangers, but that you can't tell the difference when they do.

Flash is another expensively produced feature from Wicked Pictures, a major adult studio. Expect the finest-looking women in the world, performing outrageous acts of sexual fantasy. Expect stellar camera work and set design. Red Ezra's style owes a lot to Michael Ninn (of Diva Girls), and he's not quite there yet, but he's close, and that's high praise.

I'll begin with what I liked, then explain where I thought Red missed the mark in this promising example of his abilities in the girl/girl genre.

This video brings together several of the sexiest, most visually striking babes in the world. All Serenity has to do to crank up the sex is walk on the set with those incredibly curvy and graceful legs and breasts, that long honey-blonde hair, and that wiggle in her behind. She is a wet dream. Fresh faces, such as Jezebelle Bond and Holly Hollywood are exquisitely sculpted young females with the faces of angels.

The single best scene on the entire DVD, where the video really "gets it" occurs in the fifth scene, between Serenity, Felicia, and Miko Lee. Miko is sliding a long flexible dildo in and out of the sitting Felicia's little pussy, while Serenity leans over from behind and massages the top of Felicia's slit and clit with her graceful fingers.

Scene three between Serenity and Devinn Lane also works. They really get into each other's pussies with her hands and mouths and are obviously enjoying it. It could have been more, because the scene keeps cutting away to show Serenity masturbating alone in her bed as she imagines it all happening, but what we do get here is great heat between two buxom, mind-boggling babes.

The videography and audio on this DVD are outstanding. The extras are numerous and show a generous amount of tender loving care which went into the making of this feature. There is an interesting "Making of" featurette, interviews with Serenity and Red, a bonus extended scene of Serenity masturbating, a video with Serenity and her photographer showing the box cover shoot, behind the scenes stills, production stills, audio biographies with links to the actresses' scene(s) in the feature, and even a video game.

My main reservation about Flash is that most of the scenes (there are 6) don't shout, or even whisper, sexual excitement. The girls might not have felt like it, or perhaps the chemistry just wasn't there. Often they gaze right into the camera, their eyes distancing themselves from the carnal activity below. With this beauty and talent to work with, Flash could have been better.

The girls are often smiling and laughing when they should be tense with arousal and the urgent need for sexual release. Instead we get the sly grin. This is especially true in scene four between Stephanie Swift and Jezebelle Bond. If they are goofing on themselves and each other, it's not hot at all, it's just a nude modeling session.

What's disappointing are scenes which try to generate heat, but are sabotaged by the direction and editing. I'll cite one as an example of this. Scene two begins with the incredible Kylie Ireland and Temptress posing for an erotic layout. Serenity portrays a photographer who gets involved with her female models. That's the premise. Serenity is perfectly cast. Kylie and Temptress are knockouts. When the action gets going, several things get in the way.

First of all, in this and 4 of the 6 of the scenes overall, the girls' nipples are concealed under pasties Why? I have no idea!

Second, the most sizzling footage in this scene is not featured as it should be in an explicit video. For only a few seconds does the camera capture Serenity really suckling hard between the legs of a standing Temptress with genuine hunger for another woman's forbidden flesh. Then the angle abruptly changes. Argggh! The way she was going, I could have watched Serenity's mouth on Temptress' slit for a full minute or more. While this was happening, the third girl, Kylie, could have been kissing Temptress and fondling her breasts or serving up her own breasts (and nipples, sans coverings please) for Temptress to feast upon. This is supposed to be a pornographic video after all. Forget decorum. It's go-wild time.

In an interview segment filmed prior to this scene, Serenity says how much she enjoys women and is looking forward to the shoot, and how horny she really is. But nothing like that is seen. There are, of course, angles showing oral sex between the girls, but they're often abbreviated, distant and skewed, and not as real as what's not shown. This scene is mostly hard fingering of pussies with gloved hands and extended shots of dildo worship. Even Temptress, in the "Making Of" featurette, admits to boredom with the whole strap-on thing.

Third, another opportunity to pump up erotic content is . Serenity and Temptress are lying on their backs, pussy to pussy, with a large, slick, flexible, double-headed dildo going in and out of their slits guided by Kylie's enthusiastic hands. Unfortunately, the girls are lying on the presumably hard and cold studio floor, on opposite sides of a chain link fence. I don't understand this either. It added nothing to the scene and destroyed the mood, because the fence just got in the way, and that floor looked so uncomfortable.

The fourth and last sin in this segment is the much-despised tongue wagging as a substitute for actual mouth-on-mouth kissing. Fans of lesbian vids like to see real kissing between gorgeous babes. If the girls don't want to kiss, then don't show tongue wagging either. It's just annoying.

Flash has its moments, and with the lovely almost-naked flesh on display, lesbian lovers could do worse. But mere moments out of an hour and a half video are not nearly enough.

My expectations for this film were not especially high, but I was absolutely blown away by the excellent production values and performances. Every scene is extremely hot: among the most indelible images of lesbian sex I've ever seen (and God knows I've seen a lot of them!). While I don't find Serenity to be very appealing in looks, she does provide an enthusiastic and frequently hot performance that ties the film together wonderfully. And other performers such as Jezebelle Bond (another one I don't think of as an ultra-hottie) really display an engaging and massively erotic love of what they are doing and the women they're doing it with.

This film is particularly a breath of fresh air in contrast to the jaded stripper ethos that prevails among the numbered series girl-girl film series. Red Ezra surpasses the facile slickness of an Andrew Blake by providing ultra-professional photography and editing as the perfect setting for some very sex-positive lesbian encounters. Any objections I could think of to his work are quibbles: he has the true mark of the auteur, and I hope he sticks with the all-girl genre! My highest recommendation.