Naked and Famou$

I've always been interested in experimental films, but within the porn side of the movie industry they are increasingly disappointing. The Fellini-style outings of 40 years ago have given way to punk/gonzo/grossout exercises like "Naked and Famou$", which delivers beautiful uninhibited women but not much more.

I guess the awful Max Hardcore fellow is to blame for the rush to the bottom, as most successful current & recent pornmeisters have a formula of trying to impress the viewer with excess. Star/Director Kimberly Kane is no different, and as the title suggests she is hanging on the coattails of the current fascination with amateurish "Celebrity Porn" (e.g., Chyna, Pam Anderson, Kim Kardashian videos).

The series of vignettes covers a multitude of sex acts, including mild bondage/domination, lots of lesbian activity (perhaps the auteur's signature) and the mix of punk and ugliness that dominates a decadent tattoo/piercing-oriented culture.

Perhaps the video's most adventurous scene has two women competing in a tiny room to give blow jobs to abstracted penises sticking in through holes in the wall. This objectification of the male is seen in many early porn films, but vividly depicted here - displaying how contrary to "conventional wisdom", in hardcore porn it is the male rather than the female who is automatically reduced to being pure sex object. Not to say that women aren't exploited too, but unlike softcore and mainstream cinema, in XXX porn the guy is frequently extraneous except for his moneymaker being on screen in closeup.

An actress who was later to become a major director, Dana Vespoli, is featured in full-out gonzo action in one vignette, virtually unrecognizable here because she hadn't yet gotten her major upper body tattoos. Her odd habit of keeping her midriff covered no matter what is already in effect.