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"RUSH" TRIES TO RAISE THE BAR - WHOSE BAR I'M NOT SURE
_POSTEDON 2002-08-18 15:14:58 by jimmyd |
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 jimmyd _writes "I watched the trailer for Digital Playground's new Nic Andrews film, "Rush." In fact, I watched it three or four times. Maybe you should watch it too. Maybe you should watch it before you read what I have to say. Just be forewarned: I have a fair amount to say, not that what I have to say is that important, but what I do have to say is going to take a few minutes to read and you'll probably understand it better if you go watch the trailer, assuming you're even marginally interested in this kind of shit. By the way, here's where you can go do that... watch the "Rush" trailer that is, right HERE.
Ok, you're back? Or maybe you never left cuz you watched the trailer before you even logged on to simplyjimmyd today, or maybe you're going to watch it after reading this. Whatever. Cuz now I'm going to tell you what's going through my melon: It's really confusing to me to see so much hard work, creativity, and a sizeable investment possibly wasted on making something like "Rush," as an adult entertainment vehicle. While I applaud the effort, making what I'm pretty sure is a video-that-looks-like-a-film like this-- in my humble opinion-- shows a distinct lack of understanding of the adult entertainment marketplace, and where it's headed.
The purpose of raising the bar--which I'm pretty sure is what Digital Playground and Nic Andrews were trying to to do here--is to raise the bar within the XXX industry. Raising the bar in XXX does not mean you make a product that should be part of another industry, in this case the B-movie industry. It means you remain within the industry you participate in and raise the bar in such a way that it does not suddenly become something entirely different from what your audience expects. In the case of "Rush," what I see is a respected director and a forward-thinking production company who intended to raise the bar in adult, but instead, either lowered the bar in B-movies, or left it where it was. I can't help but wonder what the gunshot-to-popshot ratio is in this flick. I'll bet the gunshots win maybe 1000 to 1 or more. In fact, judging from this B-movie formula trailer, it looked like more cars got fucked than women and more guys got drilled with sidearms, than chics got drilled with hard dicks!
Unless Digital Playground is intent on creating a whole new genre of entertainment that does not now exist, "Rush" seems to reside in a movie dimension without an established audience or distributors. For the purpose of this article, I'm going to assume that "Rush" targets fairly standard XXX demographics. And it's that assumption that makes me ask the question of the producers, "What were you thinking?"
In my mind, to make successful product for the jiz biz, you must create said product for the marketplace that the jiz biz services, that is, the adult entertainment marketplace. And an important thing to remember is to never let your ego outgrow your audience's needs, expectations, passions and desires. You want to make a mainstream-looking sex movie? Bravo! But make sure it's still a sex movie, capeesh?
"Oh, honey, what a great idea to rent a porno tonight. Just the idea of it is getting me in the mood. Oh, yeah, touch me a little lower please."
"Hold on, babe. I think this guy's gonna whack this other guy who just climbed out of that car that crashed running from the cops in that high-speed chase we just watched which made you stop nibbling on my ear! Let's see if he gets his ass shot before I go touching you anywhere, ok?"
You see what's happening here? Some guy and some gal go get some porn because they want to lie in bed with the intent of priming their engines before getting to know each other in the biblical sense by watching some sexy adult entertainment. But instead, you give them murder and mayhem, car chases and bullets, and a screaming, pulse-pounding sound track! All of which is something that's available on a few hundred cable channels, for free, and most likely with better acting, story, and almost every other feature film element. People watching porn don't want a non-stop adrenaline rush, they want a non-stop blood rush... and they want that blood non-stop rushing to their loins!
I've seen this happen over and over. I call it the "Buck Adams Syndrome," and anyone who knew/knows Buck knows exactly what I'm speaking of. The $64,000 question here is "What is it that Digital Playground's trying to accomplish?" They have me in the dark. Is it all about ego? Is it to prove Nic Andrews can make a run-of-the-mill B-movie with marginally trained actor's who might think a thespian is a gay bitch with a lisp, and with a storyline that's been done to death? Are you helping Nic assemble the best demo reel any porn director trying to cross-over ever had? And let me digress, I said the storyline looked like something that's been done to death: Ill-fated lovers on the run from both the cops and the meanies. C'mon, admit it, that's been done to death! My friend saw this trailer and he told me that the opening line in the "Rush" trailer is the same line used in two, B-movie trailers he personally worked on in the 80's: "Near Dark," and "Two Moon Junction." Both films--and they were decent, low-budget films--had their trailers start with the line, "You're not from around here, are you?" In fact, I'll bet that line's been used enough in B-movies to fully qualify as a 'done to death' piece of dialogue.
To make it even more simple for you, here's what I'm pretty sure the audience is about: They are consumers of adult entertainment for a specific purpose, i.e., it's entertainment that appeals and enhance's their sexual desires and feelings. But what I mostly see in "Rush," is cops and robbers, lovers on the run, a lot of gunplay and car chases and crashes. I sure as hell didn't see much sex! It's really gonna suck for Digital Playground's collective ego if this big-budget quasi-porn feature is outsold by some cheap-ass gonzo with a lot of gaping assholes with shit and cum dribbling out of them.
The other day I saw this press release from Knob-Ryder regarding their sex-pic "From Lust Till Dawn." It read: "By employing traditional filmmaking techniques such as strong thematic story-line, incredible acting, dramatic lighting, make-up effects, visual effects, and Hong Kong-style stunts and wire work, "From Lust Till Dawn" aims to be a hybrid of both mainstream and adult video.
The video, billed as a "fast paced action erotic horror thriller," is Knob/Ryder's biggest budget production to date.
Hey guys! I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but I think you're smoking crack. Who are trying to bullshit? The audience? Good Luck! That statement reads like an ego trip. And it makes it very clear that you have released your product into the wrong industry. Adult is about sex, passion, and fantasy. The audience for adult product is neither impressed nor convinced by a line of bullshit that tries to lead them away from what they desire, and what brought them to XXX in the first place.
Aiming to be a hybird of both mainstream and adult video? Nigger, please! A "fast paced action erotic horror thriller" is not adult entertainment and it belongs in the mainstream genre: a place where they have been making this type of entertainment for years, and have it down to a science of doing so for as little as possible. You can't compete with that and your doing nothing but letting your ego take you away from where you meant to be.
The adult industry is a sitting duck right now. Post-Modern Society is fighting back sending the industry into a tailspin like it's never experienced before. The days of stuffing shit in a beautiful sexy box are history. The government won't take us down, the audience will. If the companies producing higher-end entertainment learn how to produce truly erotic entertainment at the higher-end, the rewards will be great!
In my opinion, production companies in this post-modern world will fail terribly if they insist on trying to survive on what they produce... instead of surviving on what they have already produced, and allow what they have produced to finance what they now produce, and what they now produce better stand out! Everything you produce is a gamble. If you're going to take the path less traveled, like Digital Playground and Knob-Ryder have done, at least remember where that path is supposed to take you. If you allow yourselve's to be led down the wrong path by creative people who are unhappy (or bored, or above) targeting the markets that give them a living, you're going to end up lost in the woods.
I'm sure that Digital Playground and Knob-Ryder are very proud of their new products, "Rush," and "From Lust Till Dawn." I would be too. It looks like a lot of love, a lot of hard word, and a fair amount of money went in to these projects. And even though many of us hope to make truly outstanding product, and we continually endeavor to do so, let's not forget what we're supposed to be doing here people.
We're supposed to be getting people off... sexually, i.e., we're supposed to be making fuck flicks.
But you know what? I could be completely wrong. I don't think I am, but I could be. And in the end, when the numbers are in, and if "Rush" and "From Lust Till Dawn" make boffo money for their producers and do herald the beginning of a whole new breed of mainstream/XXX hybrid movies, I'm sure Adella and the good folks at Knob-Ryder will let me know. And if so, I'll sit down with my hat in hand and admit I was wrong.
I guess we'll all have to wait and see, huh?
"
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