scene title: sleepover
performers: charlotte stokely, kenna james
site: slayed (vixen media)
production credits: laurent sky (dir.)
release date: august 26, 2021 | trailer
performances: 25
cinematography: 25
editing: 17
script: 8
sjw points: 0
total score:
performers: charlotte stokely, kenna james
site: slayed (vixen media)
production credits: laurent sky (dir.)
release date: august 26, 2021 | trailer
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| l: kenna james, r: charlotte stokely |
be careful what you wish for, i guess.
as long as i've been writing this blog, and its predecessor, i've held out hope that vixen media would start its own girl/girl site. the few girl/girl scenes kayden kross has shot for vixen and deeper have been among my favorite ever; and in general i liked the brand's slick, fashion-aware aesthetic. on august 5th, slayed went live with eight scenes in the can and a new one scheduled every week, and i signed up within hours of the site being live.
first, the good: site director laurent sky's high-gloss photography, expensive opening shots, and lavish sets are excellent. scarlit scandal has appeared three times already, cecilia lion once, and multiple latin and asian performers are also involved. the unbearable whiteness of the main vixen brand is (so far, anyway; we'll see what happens when european scenes start being added) not replicated here.
but i started the previous paragraph like that, so you had to know the bad was coming. most scenes so far have been toy-centric and included squirting as a main selling point, and neither of those are what i come to girl/girl for. i'm not (in theory) against either of them: toys are a real part of many women's sexual practice, and visible vaginal moisture is certainly preferable to the alternative. but the "hardcore glam" label that sky has given to the site in industry press is the kind of thing i'm highly skeptical of. there's a reason i'm not subscribed to lesbianx despite my admiration for mason's camera work, and why i've given up on girlsway entirely: i love vocal verbal appreciation of pleasure, but past a certain point it's no longer credible, and maintaining a fixed level of intensity does the opposite of drawing me in, it actively repulses me. finally, one of slayed's visual flourishes, the extreme close-up on genitals in action, does very little for me, but i can't deny that the effect is striking.
so this kenna james/charlotte stokely jam was just what the doctor ordered, surely: entirely traditional lesbian porn, just tongues and fingers, no implements or ludicrous displays of gushing. both women are seasoned girl/girl professionals, give good simulation of pleasure, know how to express themselves verbally, and of course are experts at positioning themselves for the camera regardless of how uncomfortable the position.
well, yes; and the wordless opening montage, in which they pillow fight in lingerie, was majestically captured in a way that very few working pornographers could have equaled. but the world's most gorgeous photography couldn't prevent it being fully hackneyed, and the delicate lighting and precise camera angles can't keep me from feeling like i've seen all i ever need to of charlotte stokely, whose technique i can never fully believe in no matter how admirable the response of her scene partners is. (kenna james still feels like there's some life to her, although it will never be 2016 again for any of us.)
both of them keep up a genuine-seeming flow of pillow talk that i deeply appreciated, but it couldn't make up for the scantiness of the scenario. (kayden kross's elliptical but incisive scripts are deeply missed.) i was interested to note that at over fifty minutes it was slayed's longest scene to date, and although i felt it dragged in spots, there was an admirable deliberation to the chasing down of orgasms that many performers (and filmmakers) would not have had the patience for.
this review was always going to be something of a referendum on slayed's output to date, and ultimately my feelings, as they so often are, are mixed. i want to like a site with its visual grandeur, lavish locations, and extremely charming and personable talent; but it's hard to rouse an interest in the "hardcore" (i.e. toys and squirting) branding, although i've noticed a few vaguely bdsm scenarios and would love to see more. i'm also pretty burned out on the very narrow range of bodies on display. i long for darker and thicker women in glam porn, i distrust anyone who regularly films black women with straightened hair, and much as i loathe "milf" scenarios, seeing some women north of thirty be adored by these lights and cameras would go down real smooth.
i understand the need to inhabit a niche; as studio porn attempts to ride out an economic recession, it makes perfect sense for sky to stake his claim in an underserved corner of the market. i'll just be sitting around hoping for a scene i can fully get behind someday.
cinematography: 25
editing: 17
script: 8
sjw points: 0
total score: