2013 XCritic Awards

Based on your feedback in the XCritic Sex Tracker survey we're doing both an Editor's choice awards for 2013 and a Fan Choice Awards (noms to be released 2/3/2014).

These XCritic Awards are selected by the staff of XCritic.com. Each XCritic reviewer nominates the talent, titles and directors for each category from the thousands of titles reviewed on XCritic in 2013. Senior staff sorted through the nominations to select the final XCritic Awards. 

The XCritic Awards were an extensive process that spanned the better part of a month and included re-viewing of many titles. The awards are limited to just 22 categories and we feel they represent the best work in the adult industry of 2013  

So without further adieu, here are the winners of the XCritic Awards:

Studio of The Year: Evil Angel

In a year of continued ups and downs for the industry, one studio kept plowing forward, slow and steady with an unwavering vision and an incredible commitment to quality and value. If you were looking for balls to the walls action with some of the industries top performers, directors and releases it was Evil Angel who headed the pack in 2014.

In 2013 Evil Angel added to its stable of directors with Dana Vespoli, saw great work from Francesca Le & Mark Wood, Joey Silvera and Manuel Ferrara. They also had perhaps the best release from Rocco Siffredi's extremely long career with his Rocco's Coming to America. Then there was John “Buttman” Stagliano who didn't let the haters distract him from delivering the sublimely wonderful Sheena School. Evil Angel was strong, bold and smart in 2013 and reflected the kind of sensibilities that will truly carry the adult industry into a bright future. 

Feature Movie of The Year: Underworld (Wicked Pictures)

Features are a bit of an endangered species in the Adult Entertainment, but don’t tell that to Brad Armstrong and Wicked Pictures who delivered an unflinchingly big feature that was one of the best showcases for a starlet (jessica drake) we’ve seen in this space. B

rad Armstrong realized that dark and strange can still be hot, sexy and fun. Something a few other directors truly failed with this year. Underworld shows that the world of adult features isn’t gone, it’s just a space now reserved for the truly talented and brave.

Best Parody - Comedy: Clerks XXX - (Vivid Entertainment)

B. Skow and Allie Haze had worked on a number of projects together before Clerks XXX, but it was here where everything really came together - the result of great chemistry between a talented director and a talented star. Allie Haze's work here is so good it snagged her an individual award for best Female Performer in a Porn Parody.

Clerks XXX is a fantastic porn parody as well as a fantastic porn, it embraced the source material like a big warm naked hug and brought a kind of action and fun to make it something really worth watching.

Best Parody - Drama: Wolverine XXX: An Axel Braun Parody (Vivid Entertainment)

Axel Brain did some fantastic work with Vivid in 2013 under the Vivid XXX Superheroes line. Although Man of Steele got a ton of attention and acclaim, it was Wolverine XXX which topped our list for Best Dramatic Parody. Aside from being a fantastic film. Wolverine XXX represents the formula that's made Axel Braun such a success. Wolverine XXX brought together a stellar team of some of porn's best creatives including co-writer and camera man/ co-director Eli Cross (who deserves some major props for his work in 2013) and Kylie Ireland with art direction. Add legendary porn actor Tommy Gunn and you've got a team you just can't beat.    

Best All Sex or Gonzo Release: Flesh Hunter 12 (Jules Jordan Video)

It was one of the most highly competitive categories for our awards with so many amazing all sex/gonzo releases in 2013, but at the end of it all it was Jules Jordan's Flesh Hunter 12 which came out on top. Not only was Flesh Hunter 12 one of the best adult films of 2013, it was a return to top form for Jules Jordan who created a film with one of the highest replay values and strokeability of the year. 

Add to all this a simply stellar cast including: Jada Stevens, AJ Applegate, Alexis Ford, Nikki Benz, Dani Daniels, Rachel Starr, and Veronica Rodriguez and you've got a film that's simply amazing. 

Best All Sex or Gonzo Series: Raw (Evil Angel Video)

Manuel Ferra's Raw is no stranger to our top list, it's snagged the Best All Sex Series before. In 2013 it returns due to one simple fact, Manuel Ferra understands what turns women on and he's able to capture that in a way like no other. Manuel Ferra is one of the best male performers of all time and the fact that he's been able to translate that behind the lens has been amazing.

In 2013 Raw consistently delivered top talent who were free to really express themselves, get incredibly turned on and then fucked like you don't see anywhere else. Consistently great adult entertainment each and every volume, it's tough to do but Manuel has done it yet again. 

Best Couples Themed Release: Temptation of Eve (New Sensations)

If you don't know Jacky St. James, you need to. She's one of the most important and striking new voices in adult entertainment. Just when we think we've seen it all Jacky comes around to show us that we haven't seen anything yet. With Temptation of Eve Jacky St James showed that great adult entertainment is much more than the sex or even the intervening story, it's also the chemistry and tension that builds to the ultimate climax.

A great diretor also means great performances and in Temptation of Eve, Jacky brought out a level of performance from Remy LaCroix that we've never seen. Temptation of Eve is staggeringly great adult entertainment and a model for great things to follow.  

Best Couples Series: New Sensations Erotic Stories (New Sensations)

New Sensations rocked the industry a few years back with their Romance Series proving that entertaining stories with humor, coupled with great action makes the kind of adult entertainment that couples want to watch and buy again and again. In 2013 New Sensations brought out Erotic Stories which represents a real evolution for the couples genre. 

With the power porn couple of Eddie Powell and Jacky St. James at the helm, Erotic Stories represented a series of films that were deliciously dark, sexy and extremely hot, demonstrating a depth of understanding of the space few studios comprehend. It's also a testament to the series that it resulted in two awards for best male and female performers in a drama. 

Best All Girl Release: Meow! 3 (Jules Jordan Video)

Jenna Haze won almost every major award during her time in front of the camera and so it's an equally impressive feat for her to be snagging solid awards now that she's only behind the camera. The Meow! series has shown Jenna Haze's ability to bring together the best performers in adult entertainment with some of the best girl/girl scene-work.

Meow! 3 again delivered at this extremely high level with a cast that is nothing short of a dream team including: Aiden Ashley, Elle Alexandra, Lexi Belle, Lily Carter, Molly Bennet, Celeste Star, Kiki Vidis, Maddy O’Reilly, Riley Reid, Jada Stevens, Remy LaCroix, Natasha Malkova, Layla Rose, Gracie Glam, Mia Malkova and Raven Rockette. Need we say more!?!

Best All Girl Series: Women Seeking Women (Girlfriends Films)

Very few series could maintain enough fresh creativity to extend it to 100 episodes, but Girlfriends Films Women Seeking Women not only hit the amazing century episode mark, it shows absolutely no signs of slowing down.

Not only does Women Seeking Women represent some of the best all girl action released in 2013 it encapsulates the kind of great porn that Girlfriends Films consistently produces. Girlfriends Films is a fundamentally good company making good porn with performers and directors who are happy, and it shows. A great studio can really set the tone for the work that's done with them and with Women Seeking Women, Girlfriends Films has proven it. 

Best Director Body of Work: Jules Jordan

Jules Jordan had a banner year in 2013 with a consistent stream of releases which represented the very best in adult entertainment. When you got a Jules Jordan film in 2013 you knew you were going to be getting extraordinary value for your money with non-stop action, the best performers in the biz and a director who fundamentally understand what makes great porn.

Jules managed to balance running Jules Jordan Video along with directing his own releases, a feat that's extraordinary, especially in the modern era of porn. Most importantly, Jules Jordan showed that he unquestionably is one of the top directors not only of directors working today, but of all time.

Best Director Feature: Brad Armstrong - Underworld (Wicked Pictures)

It's impossible to not have a tremendous amount of respect for Brad Armstrong. Year after year Brad Armstrong takes big risks and often they pay off big. Underworld is a perfect example of this, it's a big, dark and weird film that is a clear expression of a true "auteur". Armstrong doesn't only create a fantastic feature at a time when features are an endangered species, he showcase's Wicked Picture's contract stars in a way that shows why contract stars are still relevant.

Ultimately it's Armstrong's clear talent as a director that snags him this top spot with performances from jessica Drake and Asa Akira that are outstanding. Underworld is Armstrong being Armstrong at is yet another extremely bright spot in his outstanding career. 

Best Director Non-Feature: Jules Jordan - Flesh Hunter 12 (Jules Jordan Video)

Jules Jordan snagged our award for Best Director, Body of Work and in many ways Flesh Hunter 12 is the prime example of what Jules did in 2013. The formula is simple. assemble an amazing cast who CLEARLY enjoy working with you, match them up with male talent who they actually enjoy fucking and then put your foot on the gas pedal and never let up.

Flesh Hunter 12 is the kind of porn that you add to your collection and watch over and over, it's just that good.

Best Director Parody: Lee Roy Myers - Game of Bones (Woodrocket)

Frustrated with the way the industry was headed and the way that some studios were handling his work, Lee Roy Myers didn't mope around complaining about the industry (like Will Ryder has often done), he did something about it. With WoodRocket.com, Myers found a new platform for his work and a new way to deliver his entertainment to consumers. The result was a ton of unconventional and entertaining work, but the real stand out was the porn parody Game of Bones (which he GAVE away FREE online)!!!

Game of Bones is everything that a great porn parody should be: a great cast that actually matches up with the original roles, a complete grip of the source material that's being parodied and stellar sex. It's mind-blowing that Lee Roy Myers was able to deliver it online to porn fans free. Our only gripe was Myer's pick for DVD distribution, Zero Tolerance was so apathetic about releasing this fantastic film that it nearly missed qualifying for ANY awards. It's a shame because it's one of the best Parodies released in 2013.

Female Performer of The Year: Bonnie Rotten (XCritic Interview)

It's hard to remember a time when a starlet so clearly and resoundingly owned the Female Performer of The Year. There were a lot of great women doing a lot of great work in 2013, but Bonnie Rotten simply owned it.

Bonnie Rotten started 2013 with an absolut bang, well The Gangbang of Bonnie Rotten to be exact. The film was an unmitigated grand slam home run, earning our top rating and was a resounding declaration that Bonnie Rotten is the real deal, an exceptional talent like nothing we've seen in a long time. You can't fake your way through a gang bang and Bonnie Rotten showed that anyone who have mistakenly dismissed her because of her tats were sorely wrong. 

What followed was a year of consistently amazing work with stand out performances in almost everything she was in including: Raw 14, Evil Anal 19, Massive Facials 6, Squirt Gasms, Hot Body Ink and Facial Overload 3. Then came a real challenge for Bonnie, leading the feature Beyond Fucked: A Zombie Odyssey, and she knocked it out of the park. Given the level and quality of work Bonnie Rotten did in 2013, it's not a stretch to say she's bound for ultra-porn star stardom and could achieve the kind of success reserved for the very few and put here in the class of Jesse Jane, Jenna Jameson and Tera Patrick. She's just that good.

Male Performer of The Year: Manuel Ferrara

While James Dean got a lot of mainstream attention in 2013, it was Manuel Ferrara who truly dominated with his actual adult on screen work. Manuel Ferrara has won our Male Performer of The Year award a number of times and the reason is very simple, he understands women better than any other male performer in the history of porn. Manuel loves women, loves sex and loves making women have the kind of orgasms where they totally lose any sense that they are 'performing'. 

Male performers who love women are important (as there are far too many who do more hate fucking than anything else) and the result is clear with every scene that Manuel did in 2013. It would be impossible to list all of Manuel's amazing work in 2013 but here are just a few:  Evil anal 17, Sheena Shaw: Wide Open, Bailey Blue: Wide Open, Oil Overload 8, Performers of The Year 2013, Best New Starlets 2013, Manuel Ferrara's Reverse Gangbang, All-Star Anal Sluts 3 and of course Raw 14,Raw 15 abd Raw 16. 

Best New Starlet: A.J. Applegate (XCritic Interview)

This year's race for Best New Starlet as a pretty fierce one with a number of extremely talented performers all of which came on strong in 2013. At the end of it all it was AJ Applegate who came out on top. Blessed with an absolutely perfect ass AJ Applegate brought a level of enthusiasm and talent to her work in 2013 that was simply unrestrained. 

AJ held her own in the company of seasoned professionals, weather it was matching up with Mandingo in Mandingo Unchained or with Rocco Siffredi in Rocco's Coming To America, AJ showed that she might be new, but she can hold her own with the very best of them. AJ's work in Flesh Hunter 12 helped propel that title to its spot in the best of the year. AJ's got everything you'd want in a Best New Starlet, a superb body, a ton of talent and a clearly bright future.

Best Actress Feature: Penny Pax - The Submission of Emma Marx (New Sensations)

Jaw dropping, mesmerizing, exceptional... all things that were going through our minds as we watched Penny Pax in The Submission of Emma Marx. There was a time when people would scoff at the idea of a best actress award for adult entertainment, but Penny Pax delivers a performance that would silence even the harshest critic. 

The Submission of Emma Marx is an extremely ambitious movie that hinges on the performances (both sexual and non sexual) and chemistry between the lead characters. It worked in part due to Penny Pax's great ability to create tension that really builds and a deep on screen connection with her co-star Richie Calhoun. Everything that drew people to Shades of Grey is done better in Emma Marx, one of the hottest and erotic films of the year with the best female performance from Penny Pax.

Best Actor Feature: Richie Calhoun The Submission of Emma Marx (New Sensations)

Everything we said about Penny Pax in The Submission of Emma Marx can equally be said about Richie Calhoun who put in the single best male performance in a feature this year. Richie brought a level of intensity both in and out of bed with Penny Pax that made The Submission of Emma Marx one that you simply had to watch from beginning to end. 

Power play without being a prick is extremely tough to do and Richie Calhoun seems to do it with ease. He's more intense, more compelling and probably fucks better than Christian Grey ever could and he clearly and resoundingly snagged our Best Actor nod for 2013.

Best Actress - Parody:Allie Haze - Clerks XXX: A Porn Parody (Vivid Entertainment)

We've long adored Allie Haze, she's the girl next door who has a dirty mind a really knows how to fuck. Clerks XXX: A Porn Parody captured everything we love about Allie and more. Allie was the glue that held Clerks XXX together with outstanding work with Seth Gamble, Brian Street Team and Lexi Swallow.

In Clerks XXX, Alie showed why she's one of the most beloved performers in the industry and why people want to work with her, she radiates good vibes and she was the perfect fit for the near impossible task of porn parodying Clerks.

Best Actor - Parody: Ryan Driller – Man Of Steel XXX An Axel Braun Parody

Reprising his role as Superman, Ryan Driller showed the kind of confidence in performance that we rarely see in adult entertainment. This time around, Driller took Superman in a much darker direction and managed the balance beween the character that helped launch his career and the darker, post modern, re-imaged Superman.

Although the movie itself didn't snag our top nods, Ryan Driller showed that a good performer does good work no matter what is happening around him. It's a superb stand out performance and the best acting work we saw in a porn parody in 2013. 

Best Transexual Release: American She-Male X3

After our awards last year we got a lot of feedback from TS fans asking us to have a separate award for TS releases, and as always we take your feedback very seriously. XCritic has one of the countries leading critics of TS Films, Apache Warrior and of the 100+ Transexual Films he reviewed in 2013 it was Evil Angel's American She-Male X3 which got top marks. 

American She-Male X3 featured no one, but three of the best transexual scenes of the year year with Juliette Stray and Rain DeGrey, Natalie Foxx and Katie St. Ives and Sarina Valentina and Katie Summers. American She-Male X3 wasn't the only great film in 2013 to feature TS and female sex, but it was the best, with both the female and TS performers equally turned on and clearly enjoying the action on screen. The fantastic thing about American She-Male X3 is that its one of the best cross over titles in 2013 with action to please both the hardcore TS fan and the curious. Joey Silvera continued his great rum with stellar TS titles that are heads and shoulders above the rest.

Special Recognition

While we limited the categories for our awards to the most essential, there were a number of people we feel deserve special recognition for the work they did in 2013 including:

Tommy Pistol - with a super late 2012 release for Evil Head, Tommy Pistol just missed snagging the Best Actor in A Porn Parody award. The technicality sucks and it's one of the many reason's he's first on our special recognition list. Tommy Pistol has built an amazing career for himself, taking over comedic porn space once dominated by Evan Stone. His work both infront and behind the lens with Joanna Angel in Walking Dead: A Hardcore Parody was exceptional and a clear indication of great things to come. 

Valentina Nappi - although we don't have foreign female performer of the year award, Valentina would have taken it by a landslide. Her work this year has been nothing short of magnificent, and working with top-notch talent, studios, and directors are a testament to that. Every single scene that we watched of her was scorching. This girl has what it takes to stand with the best, Foreign and domestic. Her future is bright. 

Romi Rain - Another newish girl that got snubbed as far as AVN awards are concerned, but we're certain that fans everywhere recognize her outstanding work. Her scene with Erik Everhard in Jules Jordan's Soaking Wet was a true stand out and her work in Oil Overload 9 was utterly outstanding. This girl is a force to be reckoned with and we think she's one to watch for top awards next year.

Luna C Kitsuen - Luna is very new, already nominated once after only shooting around 30 scenes. One of the most intense female performers out there; she holds nothing back and seems to give (and take) everything throughout every scene that she's involved with. We look forward to her future.

IAFD.com - With turbulence in the adult industry over the past few years, many adult sites have cut staff, reduced what they do or curled up in a little ball and died. Not IAFD who plowed forward as strong as ever continuing to tackle the unimaginable task of accurately cataloging all the work done in the adult entertainment industry. It's a thankless job, one which they do at a level that's just amazing. IAFD is the last word on who has done what and will always be THE resource we at XCritic turn to to make sure we are always on point and accurate with our attributions. 

If your favorite star or director wasn't listed here, you'll have a chance to give YOUR vote with the XCritic Annual Fan Choice Awards. Look for the nominations at the start of February with voting all month long.