Time: 1:49, Director: Jim Powers, Date: 2013
Screenshots: On our Tumblr
On the web: Smash Pictures, IAFD, Porn Valley Vantage
Cast: Remy LaCroix (25yo), Richie Calhoun, Kennedy Leigh (19yo), Dane Cross (30yo), Abby Cross, Logan Pierce (22yo), Ash Hollywood (24yo), Danny Wylde (28yo), and Mischa Brooks (23yo)
Source: 1280×720 MP4 downloaded from Porn Star Network
Pleasure ✓, Passion ✓, Balance ✓
Review
Richie (Calhoun) has been having a long-distance affair with a woman (Remy LaCroix) for some time. They meet at the bus after having been apart for a while and wander about a bit, with musical accompaniment, kissing here and there, then end up back at his friend's apartment, to make love. Unfortunately, Richie finds out that his lover is married and ends up devastated. The rest of the story revolves around Richie's recovery and his developing relationship with his friend Michelle (Mishca Brooks).
The story here is by far the best thing about the movie, and if the sex matched it this could be one of the greatest pornos ever. But it doesn't. Some of the scenes are pretty standard porn, and none of them really rise above that. Worse, there does not seem to be a female orgasm in the whole movie.
Still, the beginning here is wonderfully romantic, as Richie and Remy re-acquaint themselves against the background of the Bay Area. Honestly, we do not know of many movies that have captured the feeling of this kind of situation as well as this one has. Really. The same is true of many of the scenes with Richie and Mischa.
There's a nice use of long musical sequences that is pretty typical of a lot of mainstream movies nowadays. (That's a compliment, even if we do not much care for a lot of those movies.) Sadly, though, a lot of the acting here is pretty poor, except for Richie, who is great. That is surprising, since all of these performers are capable of acting, and have proved it in other movies. So this could have been so much better, if only they had allowed the performers to be better actors—whether that meant doing more takes, or whatever—and if the sex scenes had been shot even as well as in Diary of Love. But it's still pretty good, and we enjoyed watching it, even if we do have a lot of complaints.
The film was nominated for Best Movie at the 2014 XRCO awards and for Best Romance Release at the AVN awards.
Scene 1: Remy LaCroix and Richie Calhoun (♀♂)
Time: 18:00
Cumshot: Tits
Features: Analingus
Pleasure ✓, Passion ✓, Balance ✓
Couple have sex after not having seen each other for some time.
There's a terrific connection between them, well established by what proceeds the sex scene. Unfortunately, though, the scene feels "directed", as if they are being told what to do. There is nothing natural about the changes of position, although there are moments when they seem to be "improvising", but these are not pursued.
There's a great mix of shots here at the beginning, from far away, voyeuristic ones, to closer, intimate angles. But when she sucks him, the focus is much too much on her. We do not really see him at all, and there are "POV" shots that are almost definitive of the "male gaze". His eating her is pretty realistic, but the initial shots when they are fucking are very pornish, from between their legs. There are similar POV shots when they are fucking, and even more "medical" shots.
So the gender balance is not great, sadly, and as a result the scene seems to go on too long.
She seems to have a reasonable time, and she says at one point that she is going to cum, but she never seems actually to do so.
Scene 2: Kennedy Leigh and Dane Cross (♀♂)
Time: 10:00
Cumshot: Pussy
Pleasure ✓, Passion ✓, Balance ✓
Unfortunately, this scene does not fit very well into the movie. The only preparation for it is that Ash (Kennedy Leigh) has been trying to call her friend Michelle (Mischa Brooks), but she can't get through, so she has sex with her boyfriend (Dane Cross), instead.
There are similar issues with the camera work here as with the previous scene, and the nice things about how it is shot are also similar. We lose sight of him, badly, when they start fucking. Much worse, she almost looks bored when he is fucking her.
So it's not even clear she enjoys herself very much.
Scene 3: Abby Cross and Logan Pierce (♀♂)
Time: 16:00
Cumshot: Stomach
Pleasure ✓, Passion ✓, Balance ✓
Amy (Abby Cross) joins Logan (Pierce) for a meal at his apartment, and they end up having sex.
The sex is all right, but I have the same complaints here as previously about how it is shot. So-called "point of view", or POV, shots are almost definitive of the "male gaze". If there was a similar shot from her point of view when he was eating her, then I would not complain so much about the POV shot when she sucks him. But we do not get that kind of symmetry at all. And we lose sight of him almost entirely when they start fucking.
She seems somewhat aroused, but never very much.
Scene 4: Ash Hollywood and Danny Wylde (♀♂)
Time: 16:00
Female Orgasm: Maybe, Cumshot: Mouth
Pleasure ✓, Passion ♀, Balance ♀
A woman and her date head off to the bathroom at a party to fuck.
The camera work here is a lot better than in the other scenes, and she is very active and assertive. There's a nice connection between them, as well, and the whole scene gives a fairly realistic sense of two lovers having a quick, furtive fuck in the bathroom. But the ending, with her hopping off the counter so he can cum in her mouth, is totally pornish, which ruins the scene a bit. It's not that this kind of ending can't work, but it needs more preparation than it gets here.
Scene 5: Mischa Brooks and Richie Calhoun (♀♂)
Time: 18:00
Cumshot: Stomach
Features: Analingus
Pleasure ✓, Passion ✓, Balance ✓
In the last scene, Richie (Calhoun) and Michelle (Mishca Brooks) finally get together and have sex.
The camera work here is decent, although we do lose sight of him at times, and there's a bit of a POV shot when they are doggy style. But real problem is that the sex itself is way too pornish, especially for the situation as it is presented in the movie. There is, though, a pretty good connection between them, and she has a decent time, we think, though she never seems as if she is all that aroused.
