Pick Up Lines #16

From: tux <[email protected]>

Subject: Pick Up Lines #16:review

Date: Sun, 10 Aug 97 11:47:00 

Organization: Primenet (602)416-7000


Review:  Pickup Lines 16


About the series


     Tom Stone's Pick Up Lines doesn't seem to draw a lot of
attention in this group, but I believe it's the best
series going right now. The series started as something of an
upscale vehicle for Ed Powers, luxury settings, better looking
women, etc. Somewhere around #4 or #5, Tom Stone, allegedly a
former network cameraman, took the series over.
     Basically, each volume along with its nearly identical
companion series Peeping Tom, amounts to the best series of loops
one could imagine (think a modern version of Svetlana or Suze Randall)
Stone seems to have the inside track on the
best looking new women, the camera work and lighting are
excellent, and the settings very lush. The sex remains pretty
basic. While it looks like Cameron Grant or Andrew Blake, the
scenes never veer off into kink for kink's sake, no bizarre
costumes, machines, or situations. Anal sex is about as far from
the "norm" as it goes. Virtually all scenes end in facials. For
the most part, the sex is portrayed as very sensual rather than as
an attempt to stretch the limits. As someone who grew up with
Playboy and Penthouse, it's pretty much my taste.
     If I have a criticism of the series, the visual
sophistication and gloss aren't matched with a more mental
appreciation of what you can do with an erotic movie. In other
words, it's romantic looking without being very romantic.
Pick Up Lines almost never has any dialogue or setup. In fact, the
formula is pretty basic. Couple or threesome watch some loops that
show a sequence of scenes, 1) fancy sports car or limo 2) in a tub
3) by a pool 4) in a backyard 5) inside the bedroom of a luxury
house, couple gets turned on and has sex to end the movie.
Because of this, there's a little bit of a robotic feel to the
scenes. You never get any sense of personality from the actors or
buildup as you do with say Justine 2, the old Collection loops or
as occasionally happens in (dare I say it) Up and Cummers, as it
did with Kelsie Chambers, Lena, Roxanne Blaze . On the other
hand Randy West's stuff winds up being fast forward material about
 80% of the time for me.


Review of #16

Scene 1:
Toni James and Margo Stevens sunbathe and start out g/g. Steve Drake
 appears. Scene goes 3 way. Toni James is a petite, natural looking
blonde, a la early Ginger Lynn. She also shares Ginger Lynn's ability
to convey the fact that she really enjoys what she's doing. She smiles
frequently, makes eye contact with the camera, and appears to enjoy
and even savor facials. Most of the scenes I''ve seen with her end with
her doing a clean up oral shot and her smiling, laughing, or waving
at the camera as does this one.
        Margo Stevens, the closest thing Stone has to a contract girl,
is very atractive in Gentlemen's club stripper way. She's good in the
scene. All three actors know how to pose for the camera well. There
are some great shots of their 3 way action here. Bottom line is that
the scene belongs to Toni James though.

Scene 2:
        outdoors, two men approach a sunbathing Shawnee, a thin very
attractive Thai girl. Pretty standard. If one is Alex Sanders, he looks
smaller
and less buffed out here for some reason. Sex is with condoms. Dual facial
ending.

Scene 3:
        PJ Summers (the industry has a fascinating ability to recycle
female names while the male names stay pretty distinctive. Maybe in 2010 
we'll see TT North, Ron Dough, or Sean Jeremy) is an auburn haired 
English girl who is ordering Peter North to move furniture around
a swimming pool. They get better ideas. She's a very attracitve new face,
though she never completely takes off her purple one piece suit, 
very natural and proportional looking. Very good oral scene, long 
doggy well shot, and very spectacular facial finish. PJ maintains 
good eye contact and again seems to actually enjoy the sex and the 
facial even though some hits her eye.

Scene 4.
        Bathtup shower scene with Eve and Lucy, 2  blondes. Probably the
weakest scene in the movie. Both girls are reasonably attractive, but the
scene feels very anonymous, the lighting actually looks a bit off so the
shots are kind of grainy. Lucy simply appears out of nowhere to help 
with the dual facial finish to end the scene. No heat here but ymmv.

Scene 5
        Anita Dark and Peter North by a red sports car. Anita Dark is in a
bright red two piece outfit, pretty straightforward scene ending in a 
kneeling facial.
I go back and forth on Anita Dark. I first thought she was very gorgeous
and hot, then found her look and style a bit too synthetic. In some 
ways, pairing her with North brings this latter side out even more. 
Both have very stiff hair that moves a lot like a bad breast job, it 
gives the scene this Westworld feel. Anita never quite smiles. Even 
though she's physically into the scene, there remains a kind of vacant 
quality around her as if she's holding something back. That said, it's 
still a very watchable scene.

Scene 6
        Margo Stevens and Julian Andretti finish the movie. He has the
tatooed Tommy Lee look. There are some interesting shots here. At one 
point he puts her on his shoulders and eats her while he's standing 
straight up. Margo is much better without Toni James upstaging her. 
Some good athletic sex and then a facial with a faster cutaway then 
most Pick UP Lines fihishes.

overall:  one of the best in a very good series. It's as if these movies
were made from a porn viewer's wish list, a good thing overall I think,
but giving the actors a little more personality would help make it feel 
more inspired and give it more heat.
        It seems as if Mainstream cinema has gone special effects crazy in
the last 10 years at the expense of story, character, and feeling. 
I'd say X has gone through a similar thing where outrageous sexual acts 
now substitute for million dollar special effects. Independent movies 
are starting to find a mass audience in non-sex movies.
I keep hoping that someone will recognize the same thing in the adult
business.
I remember Lesllie Bovee from the golden age as an actress who wasn't
necesarrily the best looking or wildest, but who could still project 
incredible heat simply because her mind seemed to be connected to the
visuals. I think there are some girls (many who've appeared in this 
series Toni James, Nadia Moore, Frankie Leigh) who can still bring 
that off, I'd just like to see someone out there provide the vehicle.