Bonnie Rotten: First-Ever Must-See-Director

January 1, 2015
NSFW.ARMY

Back in 2012, a Perfect Storm struck me and pretty much ended my "career" as an adult movie critic. However, I remained a fan and kept my eye on a particularly impressive performer, Bonnie Rotten. As a became more and more familiar with Bonnie's work, I simply had to show her my deep and sincere appreciation. So, I "came back" from retirement just to re-start my long running Must-See-Girls award program primarily to give Bonnie that award in January 2014.

I'm not the only critic who loves Bonnie. As you probably know, she was awarded the 2014 AVN Performer of the Year Award. She's also XCritic's 2014 Female Performer of the Year and XRCO's 2014 Superslut. Back in 2013, she won the Inked Award Performer of the Year award, the Sex Award Hottest New Girl accolade, and the Best Ink award from Nightmoves. And, the list of her 2015 nominations from AVN and XBiz is too long to include. Suffice it to say that Bonnie is an outstanding female performer. I might go as far as to say that Bonnie is my favorite pornstar ever...in a career that spans two full decades. Just look at the photos above and below, from her 2014 releases, to see why so many of us love Bonnie and her real, uninhibited, and over-the-top performances.

But, I'm not writing about Bonnie's performances. Indeed, she is already a Must-See Girl, and she'll be one forever. This time, I simply must call to your attention Bonnie's role as a film director. Among her many 2015 nominations, Bonnie is up for AVN's Best Director - Parody award as well as XBIZ's Director of the Year nod.

So, for the first time, I am awarding a Must-See-Director Award. Congratulations, Bonnie, for a stellar year behind the camera as well as an awesome year in front of one.

Frankly, when I first heard that Bonnie was going to direct some films, I yawned and thought of all the other fantastic in-front-of-the-camera porn stars who ventured into directing and flopped. I feel sorry for the many girls I know who have gone down the director road in order to stay relevant in the business and, frankly, hadn't a clue what to do behind the camera. Sure, they can fuck like wild animals, but they have absolutely no idea about scripts, wardrobe, casting (I saw a pornstar "director" once say to a girl during her scene, "What's your name, again?"), sets, lighting, camera angles, editing, and so forth.

I expected Bonnie to flop, too. Boy, was I wrong. In fact, I think that Bonnie's 2014 directorial filmography is outstanding. It ranges from gonzo to feature to parody, from girl-girl to boy/girl gangbang to orgy, from vaginal to double anal...in other words, the entire spectrum of contemporary porn.

Although seemingly short, each of Bonnie's 2014 movies simply must be on your wish list:

Anal Candy Disco Chicks (gonzo)
Bonnieland: A Gangbang Fantasy (vignettes...photos below)
Cape Fear XXX (feature/parody)
Sisters of Anarchy (feature/series/parody)
To the Core (all-girl domination)

Before I begin to extol Bonnie's directorial skills, I'll let Wikipedia fill you in on what a director is supposed to do.

"A film director is a person who directs the making of a film. Generally, a film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects, and visualizes the script while guiding the technical crew and actors in the fulfillment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, production design, and the creative aspects of film making.

The film director gives direction to the cast and crew and create an overall vision through which a film eventually becomes realized. Directors need to be able to mediate differences in creative visions and stay in the boundaries of the film's budget."

I might add that porn directors must do all the above and make sure the sex is white hot, too. And, porn directors often write their scripts, too.

Bonnie does all of this well. Writing in his review of Sisters of Anarchy, my colleague Don Houston wrote: "Bonnie’s body of work this year provided plenty of entertainment and enjoyment, boosting her status on both sides of the camera." To me, Bonnie's body of work demonstrates, once and for all, that she is the reigning Queen of Porn.

The photos below depict Bonnie directing the action in two of her films, Anal Candy Disco Chicks (left), and Sisters of Anarchy (center and right). As Don said, in his review of Sisters of Anarchy, Bonnie had “her hand in every little thing...for the five day shoot."

I cannot tell you how many times I've loved the sex in a porn movie but loathed the directing. In so many cases, the camera angles are wrong (I especially hate oblique camera angles that have no place in film making); the camera movements are jumpy; the lighting is insufficient, incorrectly placed, or of the wrong color; the wardrobe sucks; the locations are boring; the editing amateurish or cheesy; the soundtracks trite; or the casting is all wrong. When I wrote detailed reviews of porn movies, I'd rail at what seemed to be fifth graders in charge of shooting movies. Why, oh why, does great sex need to be diminished by lousy directing?

Frankly, that's what I expected of Bonnie Rotten as she entered the directing fray. Let me show you why I was wrong by referring back to Wikipedia's definition of a film director.

Directors play "a key role in choosing the cast members." Frankly, Bonnie has done a great job choosing performers for her movies. Although I've not included all the girls who appear in Bonnie's movies, the photos below will give you a great idea of just how awesome her performers actually are.

The leftmost photo depicts one of my new "loves," adorable Jessa Rhodes. My colleague Don Houston, writing about Jessa in his review of Family Business, states: "Jessa is a major cutie with an all natural body. Her previous efforts have been reviewed favorably by a number of my associates (and myself of course), but her feature acting skills were in full evidence here. Jessa displays none of the overacting seen all too frequently in works by even the big feature houses...Her allure reminded me of several mainstream actresses too, the neatly trimmed patch of pubes pointing to her own slice of heaven." I agree totally and will keep my eyes on this young beauty!

In the center is Alektra Blue, a 2009 winner of my Must-See-Girl award. I fell in love with her before she signed on as a contract girl with Wicked Pictures, continued to love her while she starred in epic after epic for that studio, and love her still as she again spreads her wings as a free agent.

On the right is a gorgeous MILF whom I truly want to fuck. Her name is Ava Addams and our site has a complete interview with her here. In that interview, my friend Apache Warrior states: "Everything about Ava Addams is sexy. It is not a surprise that male viewers get hard and their body temperatures rise when she seduces her human targets on screen." After seeing her in two scenes in Bonnie's epic Sisters of Anarchy, I completely agree with Apache.

2011 Must-See-Girl Dana DeArmond (left), does a stellar job playing a District Attorney in Bonnie's Sisters of Anarchy. And, her sex scene with male porn legend Evan Stone rocks, too. Also in Sisters of Anarchy, Dahlia Sky (center) partners with Alektra Blue and Bonnie Rotten in a wild and unbridled orgy. At right, fan favorite Misty Stone (right) has a one-on-one with Bonnie. In all cases, the performers Bonnie cast in her movies came through for her with flying colors.

Bonnie's selection of top-notch girls continues with 2012 Must-See-Girl Skin Diamond (with Bonnie in their disco outfits for Anal Candy Disco Chicks at left), 2011 Must-See-Girl Chanel Preston (a central character in Cape Fear XXX), and cute-as-can-be Jodi Taylor (also a central character in Cape Fear XXX). Chanel's mainstream-quality performance in Cape Fear XXX has earned her the AVN Nomination for the 2015 Best Supporting Actress award. I was really impressed by Chanel's performance as attorney, mother, and wife in this AVN-nominated film.

Here are some more photos of 2012 Must-See-Girl Skin Diamond, this time with Alison Faye in Bonnie's critically-acclaimed To the Core. Note how mistress Skin skillfully teases Alison's nipple with electicity and deeply probes her beautiful vagina with a speculum. Sweet!

Of course, Bonnie appears in all her movies, too. Actually, in most of her scenes...which, indeed, is a very good thing since she is a truly gifted actress as well as one of the best fucks ever. For example, in Cape Fear XXX, Bonnie, in Don Houston's words, steals "the show in every scene she was in courtesy of her way over the top rendition of criminal mastermind Max Cady." For my part, I was truly impressed with Bonnie's portrayal of the "bad guy" who was played in the 1990's by Robert De Niro in Martin Scorsese's Cape Fear." She even has the genteel southern accent down to a tee.

Bonnie also does a first class job playing the leader of an all-girl biker gang in Sisters of Anarchy. Bonnie's range of emotion, delivery of lines, and the way she handles her body throughout the dialog (and, of course, the ensuing sex scenes), is award-worthy.

In the photos below, you'll see Bonnie in (from left to right), Bonnieland: A Gangbang Fantasy, To the Core, a recently released movie that I haven't seen called Rotten in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, and Anal Candy Disco Chicks.

In addition to picking a top-notch cast, the director must select and supervise a top-notch crew. Again, Bonnie shows her true directing talent when picking some of the best crew members in porn. For example, Bonnie chose porn legends David Lord and Barrett Blade to work the cameras in Anal Candy Disco Chicks. When writing about Bonnie's white-hot all-girl submission flick To the Core, my colleague Don Houston notes: "Bonnie was wise enough to get industry veteran Alex Ladd as her Director of Photography, Robert Queensgate joining in as second camera, editor, and the man handling the score." Robert Queensgate, again, was responsible for shooting, editing, and scoring Bonnieland: A Gangbang Fantasy. And, legendary pornographer Francois Clousot shot Sisters of Anarchy while Joey Pulgadas edited it. Again, those of us who know good porn directing are super pleased with Bonnie's crew selections. (The photos below depict Aiden Starr dominating Ashlynn Malloy in To the Core.)

Another of a film director's primary duties, which is part of "a film's artistic and dramatic aspects," is wardrobe. Again, Bonnie's directorial sense is spot on. In fact, it is hard to imagine the wardrobe choices in Bonnie's movies being any better. I think the best overall wardrobe in any of Bonnie's movies has to be that in Sisters of Anarchy (below left). Of course, I'm a sucker for a hot chick barely clad in leather. But, don't you agree that the biker chicks in Sisters are perfectly attired? Alektra Blue's outfit is to die for, and wait until you see how short Bonnie's short shorts are as viewed from behind. Oh dear!

Bonnie also did a very nice job with the wardrobe in Bonnieland: A Gangbang Fantasy. In addition to the photos I shared with you above (in which Bonnie gets eaten by "hot babe" [Don Houston's words] Remy LeCroix and gangbanged by Marco Banderas, Marcus London, Bill Bailey, Karlo Karrera, Ramon Nomar, and Will Powers), the center and right photos below give you an idea just how appropriate Bonnie's wardrobe choices are. In the center photo, Bonnie dresses as a stereotypical Native American girl coupled with a modern day barely-there thong. Remy looks just as hot in her complementary outfit. The right photo (as well as the banner photo at the top of this page) shows off Bonnie's "mermaid" outfit.

Another of a director's essential duties is to give "direction to the cast and crew and create an overall vision through which a film eventually becomes realized." Although you cannot tell it by watching Bonnie's finished movies themselves, Bonnie truly is the "boss" on her sets, actively participating in every aspect from camera setup to the rehearsal of lines to the blocking of the scenes. I make a big deal about this because I have been on numerous sets in which scenes were supposedly directed by a porn girl. Not. Indeed, the cameraman was really the director. However, the substantive behind-the-scenes (BTS) features that accompany Bonnie's movies show what really happened on her sets.

My friend, Don Houston, when writing about To the Core, summed it up nicely: "I know that much of the time, the label “director” is bandied about carelessly as a marketing gimmick, especially for female performers making the jump. But, given the nearly hour of BTS footage included in the extras, I felt Bonnie could be credibly considered “the director” more than many of her peers (who conveniently leave out any BTS footage on their own credited works), adding a new dimension to this world class proven young lady....To the Core was a great debut by Bonnie Rotten, her attention to detail and gathering up a strong crew enhancing the technical values while her inclusion of a great deal of QUALITY BTS footage making it clear who was in charge..." Here are more photos from To the Core, this time depicting Bonnie dominating gorgeous redhead Zoey Nixxon.

Let me add a tidbit to Don's words...in one of Bonnie's BTS features I watched, I saw Bonnie, lying prone with a cock up her ass and covered with sweat, yell "ACTION."

Here are some more shots of Bonnie being "in charge." All three of these images are from Bonnieland: A Gangbang Fantasy
and depict Bonnie setting up the action with Remy and with her stable of studs. I particularly like the rightmost photo depicting Bonnie as a woman with a vision. I truly believe she has.

Another directorial attribute that I'll mention is: "Directors need to be able to mediate differences in creative visions and stay in the boundaries of the film's budget." It is very clear that Bonnie is able to make her creative vision known and appreciated. It is also remarkable that Bonnie has been able to create such high-quality movies, especially, Sisters of Anarchy and Cape Fear XXX, on the genuinely tight budgets than are given to porn directors. Don Houston noted this in his review of Cape Fear XXX: "The production itself could have used a great deal more establishing shots, better locations, and all the touches that would have skyrocketed the budget, but it was competently captured by Bonnie's crew." Don continues: "Cape Fear XXXwas as much a spoof of the previous Hollywood versions as anything else, the movie much more entertaining when viewed with a knowing wink than taken as a straight out thriller. I suspect Bonnie will surprise us all in the future as her talents behind the camera continue to grow, her sexual energy and intensity certainly always welcome in anything I get a chance to see." Amen.

Of course, the final, and perhaps most important, requirement of a porn film director is to provide scorching scenes with white-hot sex. There's no doubt that any scene featuring Bonnie Rotten will sizzle. She directs her performers, both men and women, to nearly the same level of perfection as she herself displays. (Below you can see Bonnie squirting in her trademark geyser style and making her slave Alina Li squirt, too.)