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From: Joey Markham <[email protected]> Subject: Entertainment Tonight cover-story on porn. Date: Fri, 24 Oct 97 14:48:55
In case you missed the October 23rd showing of Entertainment Tonight, this is what was reported on the topic of adult films. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mark Steines (narrating the entire segment): Burt Reynolds and Mark Wahlberg are shedding new light on adult films in their critically acclaimed new movie "Boogie Nights". But that's make belief. In real life, X-rated movies have long been a multi-billion dollar business as we see in this Entertainment Tonight cover story. [Several clips of "Boogie Nights" are shown]. MS: In "Boogie Nights", Mark Wahlberg and Burt Reynolds take us back to the early days of what are called 'adult films'. The 70's. Like Burt's 'Jack Horner', the people who made them saw their work as erotic art shot on film with actual storylines. But they were a small, almost undergound, group. That was then. Two decades later, hardcore films have moved above ground. Way above. [Clips of Ron Jeremy directing John Wayne Bobbitt with Nyrubi Knight, Tabitha Stevens, and Kia in "Frankenpenis"]. The Adult Video News says rentals and sales will run over 4 billion dollars this year. Steven Hirsch [Vivid Video president]: We certainly ship hundreds of thousands of pieces of tape each month. MS: Home video IS the big reason for the success. Viewers no longer must enter undesirable theatres. They watch in the comfort of home. Jenna Jameson [starlet]: Adult movies are becoming more and more accepted now. So, more and more women are watching. [Clip of Brad Armstrong calling, "...and action!" on a set]. MS: One survey says women are involved in nearly a quarter of all rentals. Video may have been a financial boon but as you see in "Boogie Nights", it stripped things down to the bare essentials. [A really old clip of porn actor Frank James directing Tony Montana and what looks like Kimberly Kane (from behind) in a bar set]. Brad Armstrong [actor turned director]: The guy with the little video camera in a hotel room or a really bad studio and they're just going! [They obviously left the beginning and ending of his interview on the cutting room floor.] MS: Videos were being shot in a day or two. Sometimes for just a few thousand dollars. [More clips of "Frankenpenis"]. JJ: The adult business kinda got in a rut of "Oh, okay. We're gonna do all these amateur films and kick 'em out fast, kick 'em out fast.." MS: Now things seem to be changing again and Jenna's new video would make Jack Horner proud. "Flashpoint" took a week to shoot on a $150,000 budget. There's a real story. People wear clothes a lot and there are even special effects. [Clips of two firefighters running through a blazing corridor, bodies on the ground, and a car blowing up.] JJ: This is like action. You know what I mean? This is like "Backdraft" with a twist. MS: Yeah, there's that twist alright. This IS adult video. One thing will never change. Paul Thomas [director/producer]: We have sort of a built-in marketplace. There's sex in our product. Someone's gonna buy it. MS: Today he produces and directs. But in the 70's, Paul Thomas was on camera - a 'Dirk Diggler' [Wahlberg's character name] of his day. He's made the business a career but seems to echo Dirk's frustrations. PT (grinning): I can't do anything else. If there wasn't this I don't know what I'd do. [More clips of "Boogie Nights" to end the segment.] MS (wrapping up): Mark Wahlberg's Dirk Diggler is based, in part, on John Holmes who reflects both the success and the dark side of the industry. He may be the most well known male adult film star of all time. But he was alleged to have been involved with drugs and he died of AIDS in 1988. | |
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