Cinema Obscura (2004) Online

With his usual alter ego Eric Masterson playing a pretentious, "artsy" porn director, writer-director David Stanley delivers this very poor excuse for a Vivid release, filmed back to back with another quickie as was his practice in the day. I found in more annoying than entertaining.

The sets are even crummier than usual, culminating in a satirical finale of Evan Stone in a car with his girl shot with Green Screen as ineptly executed as can be, perhaps "on purpose". Earlier there is a Godard poster of "Band of Outsiders" on the wall, so Evan as "Jean-Luc" is the most trivial of sophomoric film school references.

DVD touts this as a Vivid debut for Malezia, a rather ordinary looking would-be superstar who comes off as a mere gonzo performer rather than actress. Far better is Holly Hollywood as a journalist visiting Masterson's set to write a magazine story about him, and quickly discovering his feet of clay.

The sex scenes are supposedly being shot for the video Eric is directing, no worse nor better than Stanley's usual output. Eric's delusions of grandeur are embarrassing when viewed in the context of light self-mockery by Stanley -always ready to complain why he's wasting his time doing porn. After seeing dozens of his Vivid and Wicked releases I must conclude he's not qualified for the mainstream, that's why.

The auteur's attempts at humor are pitiful, including providing French subtitles for one of Stone's scenes, end title reading "fin", and playing La Marseillaise under the end credits. But the low point is probably a blackout scene mocking pretensions, as cast recites: Malezia saying "I am dirt", and big-dicked Rick Patrick: "I am seed" before they hump meaninglessly.