· Max Hardcore's Farewell Party (avn.com, via Kimberly Kane)

The biggest American adult industry event prior to January's AVN Expo, the "Pirates II: Stagnetti's Revenge" premiere attracted most of the movie's stars including Jesse Jane, Katsuni, Stoya, the sylphlike Riley Steele, Evan Stone, Tommy Gunn, Steven St. Croix, and David Aaron Clark, seen here with Jandi Lin, whose process in his pivotal whore-negotiating scene involved eating two turkey legs.

"I was there for two days of shooting," he said.

The premiere marks the midpoint of "Pirates"-related marketing and publicity, coming more than three years after the debut of its predecessor's first press release and three years before the collected weight of all its publicity efforts will sink the Pacific Rim (which, considering the analingus involved in this movie, would have made a good subtitle).

The only porn stars to arrive dressed like pirates were the swashbuckling Nicki Hunter and Tommy Gunn, the Stagnetti of the title, who wore his evil glass eye.

"I wasn't in the movie much," he said. "But I'm hoping for a Supporting Actor nomination," Gunn said.

"But you were the title character," we observed. Hollywood is so unfair.

Former Digital Playground contract performer Teagan prowled the red carpet for XBiz which, like rival AVN, now features video interviews. If only Sophia Santi and Janine had been there, it would have been a "Pirates" reunion.

Other porn luminaries in attendance were publicity magnet Kayden Kross, Aiden Starr, Bobbi Starr (no relation), Ringo Starr (not actually there), Satine Phoenix, Jenna Haze, and Sasha Grey, who came dressed as Sasha Grey.

As usual, Ange Venus, who plays the inscrutable Katsuni's henchwoman in the movie, attracted most of the attention on the red carpet, wearing almost nothing but her hair. Katsuni by comparison dressed very elegantly. It was as if Venus was going to the MTV Awards and Katsuni to the Golden Globes.

This reporter spent so much time outside that he did not get in on the free bar in the lobby, but by then the movie was starting. The crowd cheered as the first popshot broke over Shay Jordan's prow. We'll give you a review of the movie, that may or may not include the blurb Belladonna is salad tosseriffic!, soon.

- Photos by DCypher



• "Pirates II: Stagnetti's Revenge" (official site @ piratesthemovie.com)
• Digital Playground (digitalplayground.com)
• Order: "Pirates II: Stagnett's Revenge" (Adult DVD Empire)

Hardcore's attorneys told jurors that no one could have purchased or seen the eight hours of fisting, urination, and mock-"underage" footage by mistake, and (according to AVN), several jurors approached the Hardcore team afterward and expressed sympathy, saying the poor wording of the legislation painted them in a corner.

Despite past successful defenses for more extreme material than the likes of "Fists of Fury 4" and "Extreme Max 19," as well as the positive testimony of retired porn star Summer Luv—who told the jury that Hardcore, unlike other porn directors, "cared" and paid on time—the jury was unable to sidestep existing law, which counts as obscene anything that "appeals to prurient interest."

As a precedent, this case bodes ill for Evil Angel and director John Stagliano, who face similar charges for tamer movies. That case is not expected to go to trial until next year.

· "Closing Arguments In Max Trial Reveal Prosecution's True Agenda" and "Max Hardcore Found Guilty in Obscenity Trial" (avn.com)
· Max Hardcore (maxhardcore.com)

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Previously: Porn Valley (Adjacent) Dispatch: Max Hardcore Busted, Max Hardcore Trial Update, Porn Valley Dispatch: Max Hardcore's Process

Sure they do. And since this is the final WWFRD of the year and because we always listen to a little Dan Fogelberg when watching Max's movies, please rename this film with the Bard of Maine in mind and see what runs through your instrument, just like Cloudcarrier did with last week's jubilant and strenuous winning effort.

· See the real title (jerkoffzoone.com)

Previously: WWFRD Archive

Somehow, the 10-count indictment against Max Hardcore (nee Paul Little) issued from the U.S. District Court, Tampa Division, this week seems conventional. The indictment is for obscenity, not 2257 recordkeeping infringements or, like what befell Al Capone, tax evasion. Hardcore has beaten obscenity charges before during G.W. Bush's first administration, but that was in porn-friendly Los Angeles. This time the 10-count cocktail includes several instances of two-minute clips from Hardcore's websites as well as the European versions of "Fists of Fury" and "Golden Guzzlers".

Read more about Hardcore after the gap. - GP

- - -

For consumers of "extreme" porn, which gets more extreme every day, few producers can approach Max Hardcore's reputation or content. Vaginal fisting (the Department of Justice press release notes "insertion of an entire hand into a vagina or anus"), vomiting, and urination figure prominently in the European versions of Hardcore's movies, available online or by DVD. In recent years, many companies have shied away from carrying Hardcore's fare, so he either distributes himself from his headquarters northeast of Los Angeles or releases the less edgy material through Porn Valley's JM Productions.

It has not yet been brought to light how Hardcore's products were obtained, but in order for the indictment to have been filed in Tampa (from which a great many of Porn Valley's strippers hail), the DVDs need to have been purchased and sent from/to that area and the Internet content needs to have been accessed from a local terminal.

If the requirements for obscenity are met, i.e. if the content is found to be offensive to local standards in Tampa, Hardcore stands to lose his house (which the Feds two years ago shot a hole through), his production equipment, and his websites, including pissedonpornstars.com (image of "Britney Rears 4" co-star Jamie Lynn above).

"I just put up the hardest stuff I have on my site," Hardcore told me in March (close to the date of one of the recent indictment counts), and also on my Euro version DVDs."

This is why the Federales did not hedge their bets, including both Internet and DVD content.

"They love it in Europe," Hardcore said, "and I've never heard of anyone, even a store owner getting busted for obscenity."

· Feds Nail Hardcore Producer (thesmokinggun.com)
· Max Hardcore (maxhardcore.com)
· Team Hardcore on the move! (gramponante.com)

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Previously: Max Hardcore's Process, Porn Valley Dispatch Archive

If Larry Flynt and his generation of adult publishers succeeded in making pornography a First Amendment issue, Pasadena's Max Hardcore has consistently been at the forefront of making sex seem so brutal and predatory that many in the adult business wince a little. Knowing this, Hardcore prefaces all his movies, including the recent "Hollywood Hardcore 7" with so many consensuality, health, and age verification disclaimers that the viewer is thoroughly prepared for something shocking.

I'd never seen a Max Hardcore video before, so I checked out a scene between him and the wayward and delightful Anastasia Blue to recapture the thrill of being shocked. See what I found after the gap. - GP

- - -

Hardcore has been hauled into court a few times on obscenity charges, and last year an FBI agent blew a shotgun hole through his floor in a search for faulty documentation. As a provider of some of the filthiest content in the business, Hardcore is meticulous in leaving no loose ends, even appearing in a commercial for Adult Industry Medical Health Care Foundation, the main source of the business' HIV tests.

Hardcore encounters Anastasia Blue in a park, smoking. "This is L.A.," the cranky Libertarian says. "Don't you know you can't smoke here?"

"Sorry," she says. Both performers are body-miked, so the exchange has the essence of vintage porn about it. Especially in the classic setup of much-older man and barely legal woman, the video, at three minutes in, doesn't seem out of the ordinary.

Players at the adjacent basketball court don't seem to notice what's happening. Has Hardcore done this before? Frankly, it seems more wrong to smoke.

Hardcore fucks her through his jeans. I would be shocked if they were zippered. Anastasia keeps calling him "Mister".

"Are you wearing your big sister's high heels?" Hardcore asks.

"Yes, Mister," she says.

Hardcore determines that Anastasia didn't "forget" her panties, as she had previously stated.

"You're not supposed to walk around like this," he says, "like a Barbie fuck doll."

The body mikes (and ADR) are important to Hardcore because this video features a lot of sounds, like those of Hardcore's entire hand disappearing up Anastasia. The remaining scenes are characterized by Hardcore attempting to get as much of his hand in various places, and the closeups document his success.

Blue looks much the worse for wear by the end of her scene with Max, but this interlude, shot in March 1999 (when Blue was 24 but appeared 16) and re-released this month by JM Video, was not Blue's final scene - it was actually one of her first.

Hardcore's movies fly off video store shelves, but sending them through the mail is often a sticky process if the Feds can pinpoint a county in which a jury is likely to be less lenient. I asked Hardocre about this.

"They love it in Europe," he said. "And I've never heard of anyone, even a store owner, getting busted for obscenity."

"I notice you don't spoon after your scenes," I said.

"I get up everyday and go at it, after a good breakfast of course," he said. "Got to have gas in the tank if you're gonna fight."

· Max Hardcore (maxhardcore.com)
· Buy "Hollywood Hardcore 7" (jerkoffzone.com)

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Previously: Porn Valley Dispatch Archive