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Hunk Watch: Alessio Romero
Jack Manly is happy to see that many top picks from 2009 are keeping busy, turning in great work, and making us look good for choosing them. With that in mind we'll be keeping you up to date on several of these sexy guys during the next few weeks. We start off with one of our favorite newcomers of 2009 Alessio Romero.
As mentioned before we ran into Alessio Romero when he was participating as an artist's model at last year's Tom Of Finland Erotic Art Fair. By the way, the fair also coincides with the Mr LA Leather contest (this year it's on the weekend of March 28 & 29th). Ironically this year Alessio's husband (known as the Silver Fox) is representing Eagle LA, an honor he just won this past weekend. From all this you're correct to assume that Alessio Romero has done some kinky stuff since he started in the biz but he's not limiting his video work to that alone. In fact he's become quite busy in the last few months working in movies and for online video sites.
It's easy to see why Alessio Romero has become a sought after performer. He has a classically handsome face and muscular body plus distinctive facial hair & tatts---he's got a look of a dangerously sexy Latin lover. There's also a vaguely mysterious, enigmatic aura about Alessio Romero thanks to a relatively quiet demeanor contrasting nicely with his dynamic performing style. Of course being that he's still relatively new, his style is still evolving as you can see by viewing his body of work. As we mentioned he's been busy of late with lots more to follow, but here's where you can find his work so far:
WEBSITES:
Hot House Backroom w/Paul Wagner
Edger 9: Sir, Your Ride Is Here
Bound Gods:
Race & Alessio
Hard Friction:
With Fabio Stallone
With Steve Cruz (coming soon)
Live & Raw:
2 solos
w/Josh West (twice)
w/Manny Max
w/Dayton O'Connor
w/Aron Ridge
Massive: w/Colby Keller MOVIES:
Green Door (Mustang)
Darkroom (Mustang)
Laid Off (Falcon) --coming soon
Bound and Beaten (Titan Rough)
Up Yours Part 2 (Club Inferno)
Playing With Fire 4: Alarm (C1R)
Hard Friction (Raging Stallion)
Hot House Backroom vol 17
Congratulations To The New Orleans Saints!
Scott Fujita Brendan Ayanbadejo
Congratulations to the New Orleans Saints, this year's Super Bowl Champions!
Okay, so you're asking yourselves why do we at Jack Manly care who won the Super Bowl? It's true that we're not big football fans--baseball is more to our liking. However, this year we were rooting for the New Orleans Saints. For one thing the team was the proverbial underdogs, the Cinderella team, representing a city that has undergone much hardship over the past few years and has survived. The team & the city have supported each other tremendously and so this year it meant a great deal to New Orleans that their team had made it to the Super Bowl for the first time.
All that said, we also rooted for the New Orleans Saints because of one unique player on their team, linebacker Scott Fujita. He's someone that we admire and that many of you should too. Last fall he publicly endorsed the National Equality March and is a supporter of gay rights. An out athlete? No, he's straight. Someone who has a gay brother or lesbian sister? No again. Here's what he had to say in his interview in The Huffington Post:
"By and large in this country the issue of gay rights and equality should be past the point of debate. Really, there should be no debate anymore. For me, in my small platform as a professional football player, I understand that my time in the spotlight is probably limited. The more times you have to lend your name to a cause you believe in, you should do that...A year ago or two years ago, I remember reading about an initiative that was proposed in the state of Arkansas. It was some kind of measure that was aimed at preventing adoptions by single parents. Now, the way I read that and the way that I translated that language was that only heterosexual, married couples could adopt children. As an adopted child that really bothered me...."
..."I asked myself, what that is really saying is that the concern with one's sexual orientation or one's sexual preference outweighs what's really important, and that's finding safe homes for children, for our children. It's also saying that we'd rather have kids bounce around from foster home to foster home throughout the course of their childhood, than end up in a permanent home, where the parent, whether that person's single or not, gay or straight. Either way, it doesn't matter. It's a home that's going to be provided for a kid who desperately needs a home. As an adopted child, that measure really bothered me. It just boggles my mind because good, loving homes for any child are the most important thing."
Fujita is not Japanese as you can see. He was adopted by an third generation Japanese father & white mother and has lived his live raised in Japanese-American culture. He also learned about the prejudices and discrimination that his father's side of the family endured during WWII so that must also have shaped his ideas about equal rights.
Scott Fujita is straight, married, and has kids and in his interview he expressed that he has no concern that his support for gay rights puts his own sexuality into question. "I know who I am. My wife knows who I am. I don't care one way or the other. I imagine that when some of this gets out guys in the locker room might give me a hard time, and they always give me a hard time. They call me the Pinko Communist Fag from Berkeley. I'm used to it. I can take it all."
Lest you think that Scott Fujita is a lone voice in the NFL he is joined by Ravens linebacker Brendan Ayanbadejo who supports marriage equality and has written editorials to that effect. Fujita & Ayanbadejo have stated that they don't think of themselves as courageous--they are just doing the right thing.
So we wonder what all those right-wing Christians that saw Hurricane Katrina as punishment for New Orleans are thinking now?
Countdown To The Cybersocket Web Awards
The 10th Annual Cybersocket Web Awards will be co-hosted by Chi Chi La Rue & Jason Sechrest, and they'll be ably assisted by four trophy studs-- Next Door Studios' Cody Cummings, Tommy D, Mason Wyler, & Rod Daily. In addition, the Tim & Roma Show will be broadcasting live from the red carpet. By the way, Chi Chi,Tim & Roma, & Jason are all nominated in the Best Personality category as are Tommy D, Mason, & Cody (who won last year as Best Personality) in the Best Porn Star category. For these reasons alone the presenting of awards should be interesting.
You'll also find a who's who of hotties & stars at the awards. Reese Rideout, Michael Lucas, Wolf Hudson, Brent Everett, Kyle King, Jeremy Bilding, Michael Brandon, Craig Reynolds, Jason Ridge, Diesel Washington, Bruno Bond, Mike Dreyden, Vince Ferelli, Johnny Hazzard, Steve Cruz, Scott Tanner, Josh Griffin, Rob Romoni, and Roman Heart are scheduled to appear. In addition we've been paying attention online and it looks like we'll also see Samuel Colt, Cody Kyler, Phillip Ashton, Tucker Scott, new star Steven Daigle and no doubt lots of nominees.
While we're at it we have a fews news tidbits about several of the names above:
--Jeremy Bilding has renewed his contract with Channel 1 so you can look forward to seeing more of this hot star in the coming months.
--Steve Cruz will be co-directing with Chris Ward on an upcoming major Raging Stallion feature. Steve recently tweeted that it's a "black box title in the tradition of 'Manifesto' 'Instinct' 'Menace' "
--Aside from presenting at the awards Diesel Washington is also in LA for another hush-hush project. So far he's been good about keeping it secret so stay tuned.
--As we mentioned before Jason Sechrest also has his DV8 Casting Agency and one of his finds is Brandon Wilde. He is already on his way to stardom having filmed this week in LA for Suite 703.
Pledgemaster: The Hazing -- The Review
There are very few themes in gay porn that haven't been done or redone or revisited or re-imagined but we really appreciate it when filmmakers make an effort to try and do it with some creativity. Such is the case with Pledgemaster: The Hazing from Falcon. Director John Bruno and writers Kenyon Kulp & Jack Shamama take the old gay porn theme of fraternity shenanigans & hazing and have a little fun with it and in the process create something that is hot & sexy, moderately kinky, and entertaining. In addition, they've also cast the movie with performers who seem very eager to help make it all come together. And in the end the results are very successful.
Pledgemaster: The Hazing unfolds right away thanks to a brief opening narration/introduction by the fraternity head, played by Erik Rhodes. We learn that Phi Epislon Ki has one night annually when they find out who among the pledges is worthy to be in the unique fraternity. We see a white van "kidnaps" three pledges for their big night and we get a good look inside the van to see the first phase of their "test". Demanding & surly frat bro Nash Lawler makes his three pledges Kyler Benz, Dayton O'Conner & Cameron Marshall strip down and then he proceeds to tie their hands. He chooses Cameron Marshall to suck him and he pretty much trash talks his way through the whole deep-throated blowjob.
The van pulls up to the frat house which resembles a haunted mansion thanks to the lack of lighting and the scene being filmed late at night. As you might have read a real LA location was chosen to film this movie (as was the case with Asylum from a year ago) so Pledgemaster: The Hazing manages to maintain a properly creepy tone throughout. Once inside the three pledges are told to wait until Nash & frat bro John Magnum return in their ceremonial hooded robes to take two of them downstairs. There Nash paddles Dayton O'Conner while John Magnum swats the rump of shaggy-haired Kyler Benz. Let's just say that they aren't genteel with the pledges. With a little more trash talk the frat men force Kyler to blow Dayton and vice versa--the intensity of the situation is relentless. Lawler & Magnum then make their pledges blow & rim them before giving them a good hard pounding. Once the pledges blow their loads they're sent upstairs to wait while Magnum & Lawler finish up by sucking each other off. If you're expecting something sweet & lovey-dovey to develop here, forget it. We have to give credit to John Magnum & Nash Lawler for pulling off this scene with a straight face (of course we're not counting possible re-takes). Portraying stern & semi-robotic drill sergeant frat men they're pretty convincing.
Meanwhile pledge Derrek Diamond is literally dragged into the house by brutish but young Luke Marcum who is playing against type here. Pledgemaster Erik Rhodes wants to personally take care of Derrek so Luke takes command of Cameron Marshall's initiation. Upstairs Cameron is forced to blow Luke and gets his lil-white ass doused with hot candle wax and then Luke Marcum pretty much tops Cameron in virtually every position possible before both guys blow. This scene is hot to watch although it takes some getting used to Luke Marcum as the rough frat bro. For one thing we've not seen him in a dialog heavy role before so his acting needs a little honing. It might have worked better had Cameron Marshall & Marcum had reverse roles.
TJ Hawke is also playing a tough frat bro in the next scene where he's initiating two blindfolded and jockstrap-wearing pledges Jake Woods and Patrick Kennedy. Hawke actually acts like he's directing his own porn flick making his pledges do his bidding before he works them over with dildos. With their mouths stuffed with the plastic phalluses he works over the holes with two more. We got a chuckle as TJ Hawke commands them and Woods & Kennedy have to respond with their mouths stuffed. Hawke is command again when each pledge sucks him and when he's in the driver's seat in a multi-position three-way.
Finally Erik Rhodes arrives to handle Derrek Diamond. Rhodes is a tough brute here who not only talks nasty, he treats Diamond like a piece of dirt. Derrek Diamond endures getting smacked with crop, forced into some boot-licking, choking on Erik Rhodes' cock, and turned into his boy. Eventually Rhodes pounds Diamond's ass and makes the pledge cum as he pours hot red wax on his chest. By far the kinkiest scene in the movie Erik Rhodes becomes someone you wouldn't want to mess with. We've already seen Derrek Diamond in enough fetish scenes to know he can take it but he still acts as though it's all new to him.
As we mentioned Falcon used a real LA location for Pledgemaster: The Hazing and it provides some interesting interior visuals for the action here. Given the fact that the place is rather dilapidated it makes you wonder why this supposedly prestigious frat house exists with such squalor. Director John Bruno gets some hot visuals for the sex scenes & he employs the very skilled videographers Adam Killian & Brad Austin to pull it off. As we said there is a level of intensity here but we could also detect that writers Kulp & Shamama must have had fun conceiving this and coming up with the continuous master/servant type dialog.
Falcon has had a pretty good track record in either continuations of and/or revivals of their various series so it's good to see this happen here again. Of course we're fond of original new flicks and series but as long as the studio turns out movies like this, we're all for a revival now & then.
Good Cop, Bad Police Dept
We read recently that Michael Verdugo, the former police officer & contestant on the 2008 HGTV's Design Star from 2008 has filed a wrongful termination & discrimination lawsuit. If you recall a video surfaced from his VERY brief career in gay porn and though he had done the video 12 years it became an issue, albeit a bogus one. Though Verdugo came in fourth place in the HGTV show he was not invited to the show reunion. Plus, he was placed on "administrative leave" from the Hollywood, Florida police pending an investigation.
As it turned out he was dismissed in January 2009. The department stated that his withholding his porn past was the issue, not the fact that he had done the video. It was his lack of honesty, not his sexuality. Uh-huh. As Verdugo himself has stated, it's unlikely that the police would have fired him if it had been a straight porn.
Michael Verdugo is now suing not just for the reasons listed above but also because he wants to be back on the force. Interestingly he seems to be expressing little regret over his brief stint as seen in Rope Rituals from Tom McGurk. Plus it seems that he's got growing support for his cause. His brother is gay activist Chris Verdugo and the word is spreading in the press.
When this story first broke it was viewed as a scandal. And you know what? It still should be viewed as one--except it lies with the Florida police dept. It IS a scandal that a good officer who spent nearly ten years on the force is being discriminated against because of his sexuality. They can deny it all they want but we all know what the truth is. It's not unlike the hearings going on now to repeal DADT. Those who are against the repeal, even though the top brass are for it, are nothing more than bigots. Eh, John McCain?We wish Mike Verdugo well in his quest to seek justice for himself.
Adrenaline: The Review
One of the many things to appreciate about all the Steve Cruz/Leif Gobo series of Mustang movies is the fact that you can't lump any of them together--they all stand out from each other with a distinctive premise, great casts, and unique action. On the other hand they all share a commonality of style that distinguishes this series of hot flicks from the rest of gay porn movies. Thus, there's no mistaking any Gobo/Cruz movie when they're released and that includes the latest Adrenaline.
From the title there's every reason to assume that Adrenaline is a high-energy sex-fest --which it is. The way that directors Leif Gobo & Steve Cruz achieve this is effective & simple. They've set Adrenaline in a dance club so that the heart-pounding dance music is not just relegated to subtle accompaniment--in fact it plays a pivotal role in at least one scene and in the casting. The music & the setting also serve as a way to tie together the various scenes and very hot action without an overall plot.
As we mentioned Adrenaline takes place in a dark & sexy dance club and it begins in the heart of the club--the DJ booth. There Dominic Pacifico is cranking out the music (with Alexsander Freitas as back-up nearby) when one of the clubbers played by Spencer Reed shows up in the booth. Here, as in the rest of the movie, it's important to pay attention to the looks that the performers give each other because they take the place of dialog to tell you what's going on. Reed expresses his smiling approval of the music and the fact that he's so turned on by it that he wants to blow the DJ! Pacifico smiles back approvingly and the two are off to the races. Alexsander Freitas joins in they're for a totally hot suck & fuck three-way. Once he gets off it's just Spencer pounding Dominic and the music builds & builds along with the action towards a hot climax. It's a great extra-length beginning to the movie.
As we mentioned the music is especially pivotal in the first scene. You see, Dominic Pacifico is not only a DJ in real-life but he also composed the music in Adrenaline. For that and for being a hot onscreen presence he gets bonus points. Interestingly he's also been with scene co-star Spencer Reed before in a
Bound Gods video so they do have built-in chemistry. Reed is also a club dancer so he knows how to move his rock hard body to the beat of the music. Tall, muscular & hung Spencer Reed is such a sexy & dynamically intense performer that it wouldn't matter if his body was average--but it sure isn't! Traditionally speaking Cruz & Gobo like to cast hot newcomers in their flicks and Alexsander Freitas fills that role superbly. He definitely is someone to watch.
The second scene we've semi-reviewed before. Muscular barback Drake Jayden is in the backroom filling a bucket with ice when another clubber played by Samuel Colt shows up. He can't help but eye Drake's hot bod and his gorgeous bubble but that's half-exposed thanks to some conveniently sagging jeans. With no questions asked muscle man Colt is on his knees eating out Jaden's butt (In the extended non-DVD scene Samuel Colt proves how hot Drake Jaden's butt is literally by placing ice cubes up his hole). Eventually after some mutual cock-sucking Colt is pounding Jaden with the same heat & energy found in the club. Both Jaden & Colt demonstrate that they are both more than exceptionally hot bodies and eye candy. They work well together and in perfect sync. Samuel Colt especially is good at using his eyes & face to express lust & sexual power.
The action moves to the bathroom, where many a club-goer has been known to hook-up. Here's where Ridge Kane spots scruffy stud Tommy Defendi. Once Defendi wags his big dick around Kane is on his knees blowing him. Defendi returns the favor before giving him a really hard, ass-slapping topping in the john. This is an intense & vocal scene that is relentlessly rough and hot and both these guys really get into it with such energy that you know they must have been exhausted afterward. They really put a big exclamation point on their scene when they both cum. We saw a still from this scene where Ridge Kane's face looks like a glazed donut so it was very hot to see this scene in action. Tommy Defendi has always had an intense look & he performs accordingly but it's been modified by his scruffy beard and grown out body hair. As for handsome & well-built Ridge Kane he's a total newcomer although we have profiled him before here. That said we were not prepared for the very impressive debut he makes here. With his shaved head and beard he's got a very hard masculine look and he takes all that Tommy Defendi dishes out with great gusto & the kind of verbal outbursts we like to see (and hear).
The one bit of visual continuity from the previous scene to the next is that partier Berke Banks had stumbled into the john briefly to see Defendi pummel Kane. When we see him again Banks keels over in the lounge where he's found by security guard Rob Romoni. Again, Romoni registers sexual hunger in his face and goes right for the big tool in Berke Banks' pants. After some extensive cocksucking Berke wakes up and instead of lying back and letting Romoni go at it he takes control of the situation. He shoves his big dick deep in Romoni's throat and gives him a good ass-pounding. These two big guys make an interesting pairing for several reasons. Muscle wise they size up well together and Banks' hairy body is a nice visual contrast against the smoothness of Romoni. Berke Banks is also fairly new to porn while Rob Romoni is a veteran but the playing field seems much more level thanks to the flipping of the assumed top-bottom roles.
When all is said & done we again come away impressed with the work that Leif Gobo & Steve Cruz have done together here in Adrenaline. We could call this video lucky #7 in the series but we know that luck has nothing to do with it being so good.
Meet Unzipped Man of The Year Samuel Colt
Retired? Not Quite...
here's never really been a hard & fast rule for retirement from gay porn although a career in the biz is likely to last longer nowadays thanks to a variety of options open to performers as they get older. On the other hand it used to be that when a performer retired, generally speaking that was it. In the last few weeks we've noticed that these above-mentioned options have seemingly played a part in the "un-retiring" of some prominent performers. We're not seeing a huge rush of former stars getting back into the business (although there are a few we WANT to see come back--see below) but there have been some notable examples.
Jason Adonis has been playing footsie with the gay porn industry and his fanbase for several months now so we're still not sure if he's back in the business for an extended period. A few appearances at Jet Set & Colt didn't help this tenuous feel to his return. So we were more than a little surprised to see him this week at Cocksure Men. Adonis plays the title role in "Gay Coach 3" co-staring Jake Steel & Kyler Wes. In previous videos in the "Gay Coach" series Bo Dean played the role but here it's Jason Adonis' turn as he comes between two jocks who have turned his gym into a sex den. Now usually, Jake Cruise gets at least a few videos out of his guess stars so are we likely to see more of Jason Adonis here? Time will tell.
A few days ago we were more shocked to see Chad Connors pop up at Massive last week in a solo appearance. Connors did the bulk of his work in the 1990's and the blue-eyed muscular All-American performer with the gymnast-wrestler bod was pretty distinctive. His work during the last decade was pretty spotty and frankly we haven't seen him since he did something for Get Your Fixxx. If you're familiar with Connors and haven't seen him for awhile you'll probably be taken aback by his new look. He's older now (d'uh) and still handsome although with a more intense look--shaved head, goatee, and a beefier bod. Again we have no idea where this appearance is leading but we'll keep you posted.
Finally we just read that Marcus Iron is doing stuff again. The sexy star had quit porn in the mid-2000's although we did see him on TV as a landscape designer on HGTV's Curb Appeal. He's apparently filmed something for Treasure Island Media and a preview clip was made available. Much of his work was done after 2000 and he starred in the pre-Brokeback Mountain cowboy porn flick Buckleroos with Dean Phoenix. Again there's no telling what Marcus Iron will do next if anything but it WOULD be hot to see him with Dean Phoenix again.
Once again all this makes us long to see more of some of our now-retired faves. We know we've mentioned some of these guys before but in cases like this we don't mind being redundant. They include hairy & hung, mustached sex-bomb Tom Vaccaro; Southern stud Matt Bradshaw; Tall manly bottom Kent Larson; Blond twink in the 80s & blond bottom stud in the 90s Kevin Williams.
The Road To The Grabbys
This year's Grabby Awards isn't until May 29 and the nominations haven't been announced yet but there is a heated competition going on right now. It's the second annual "Vote For This Year's Co-Host" where fans get to determine which of their favorite pornstars will get to help host this year's awards. For those of you who use Twitter you know that many stars & personalities have been campaigning to be one of the finalists for this honor and the Grabbys have announced the top ten. Whoever wins will join regular co-hosts Honey West & Chi Chi LaRue along with already-announced Diesel Washington & Roman Heart at the awards in Chicago on Memorial Day weekend. Simply go here to vote for your favorites among this very diverse group of stars:
Jeremy Bilding Michael Brandon Tony Buff Bobby Clark Mike Dreyden
Rocco Giovanni Josh Griffin Cody Kyler Dominic Pacifico Rob Romoni
If you recall last year Wolf Hudson campaigned his heart out to get the honor last year so you can count on this year's competition to be even more fierce. With the GayVN Awards still in limbo a lot of focus will be on the Grabby Awards at least in the foreseeable future. By the way, the Grabbys site also is taking applications for porn stars to be presenters so to all the performers out there who didn't make the list you still might be appearing.
Stag Reel
Among the many successes Raging Stallion had in 2009 was the formation of their "independent producer distribution division" Raging Stallion Releasing. Last year several important top-selling videos came out of this new division and this year it RSR has released another big one Stag Reel. It's a follow-up to last year's Stag Fight, a compilation of six videos from Staghomme Studios, the company & site owned by superstars Damien Crosse & Francesco D'Macho. It's a potent cross-company collaboration that speaks for itself.
Like last year's offering 2010's Stag Reel is also a limited edition release that comes with a money-back guarantee From Raging Stallion. Termed a "MUST OWN for all fans of Damien and Franceso.." Raging Stallion again says that "we are offering a money back guarantee on every purchase! If you do not like Stag Reel for any reason, contact us and we will give you a full refund!" Really, you can't go wrong here.
Staghomme has been around for almost two years but if you're still unfamiliar with this well-crafted site Stag Reel should give you a good idea of what it's about. The site and the DVD feature Crosse, D'Macho, and a cast of amazingly hot & sexy international performers in well-produced and often lushly-crafted story-heavy scenes. Picking out only six scenes out of the wealth of videos offered by Staghomme isn't an enviable task but here's what they've chosen:
Fresh Meat. This one takes place on a Madrid rooftop hot tub with Brazilian muscle studs Pedro Andreas and Petter Fill. Andreas should be very familiar to you from various sites & movies while Fill is a newbie.
Kama Sutra. The action moves to Barcelona where Jean Franko picks up Damien Crosse and takes him home for some hot, hard topping.
Skyscrapers. It's an international buffet as super-hot Argentinian Max Schutler gets manhandled & double-fucked by two hung studs--Venezuelan Lucio Saints & Greek Biktor Vossou.
Blue Collar. Francesco D'Macho seduces his plumber, Staghomme exclusive Bruno Fernandez Gutierrez.
The Red Stag. This is the video that introduced two Staghomme exclusives --muscled Cuban Tomy Hawk & Spaniard Bruno Fernandez Gutierrez . They're the ones in control as they power-top Damien Crosse.
A Fuck in the Sun. Another rooftop in Madrid and a mid-day flip flop scene with Lucio Saints and Damien Crosse. It's both romantic & sexually heated.
