Mythology

Vivid Entertainment

Genre: Feature

Director: Bryn Pryor (Eli Cross)

Cast: Cindy Crawford, Manuel Ferrara, Julie Night, Monique Alexander, Roxy Jezel, Jack Venice, Eve Lawrence, Trina Michaels, Marcos Leon, Jerry, Steven St. Croix

Length: 114 minutes

Date of Production: 2/28/2005 (box); 1/26/2006 (credits)

Extras: Most of you will likely prefer the five bonus scenes (this was another case where none of them had the lead star, Monique, in any of them). My favorite extra designed for the DVD itself was the 7.5 minute long Behind the Scenes feature credited to Kylie Ireland though it sounded like Eli and Kylie was nowhere to be found. There were two photogalleries (one starring Monique Alexander), a short text biography of Monique Alexander, a positions room, trailers for movies like The New Devil In Miss Jones, Who Do You Love?, Extreme Close Up Lexie and Where the Boys Aren't 17, some advertisements (that can be skipped at the front of the DVD: thanks to Vivid for listening to our pleas), and a true double sided DVD cover.

Condoms: Yes

Audio/Video Quality: Mythology was presented in the usual 1.33:1 ratio full frame color as shot by director Eli Cross for Vivid Entertainment. The movie was mostly a series of stylish vignettes tied together by a narrative form where Monique Alexander would tell tales of the ancient gods from long ago. As such, the lighting was often designed to be less than optimal compared to most straightforward porn but managed to show off the cast fairly well too. There was some grain and minor video noise but the composition of most shots favored the ladies as Eli tends to do (otherwise, Kylie would beat him senseless). There were no compression artifacts and the overall visuals weren't bad but I prefer more solid lighting to truly showcase the gals. The audio was presented in 2.0 Dolby Digital English with no separation between the channels and the vocals plainly understandable if not optimal. The audio sounded somewhat hollow on the vocals and the music wasn't very helpful to me but the usual lack of separation between the channels and limited dynamic range were expected so don't get it for the audio.

Body of Review: Eli Cross is a guy that has been around porn for awhile, serving as much as a cameraman as director from what I've been led to believe. As the significant other to performer/director Kylie Ireland, he has been afforded a number of opportunities to try different things in porn, working for several companies of late. His latest release is Vivid's Mythology, a vignette driven feature where Monique Alexander provides stories to coax Steven St. Croix into believing in the gods of old. Here's what the back cover said about the show: "The gods must be horny. An intimate dinner, a pretty young couple. Diana and Ray. As they talk, Diana tells Ray stories of the gods and goddesses from ancient mythology as if each were alive today. She tells him of Hephaestus, the blacksmith with his captive wives, Aphrodite and Athena. She tells him of Sappho, and her lust for women, of Hippolyta from the library of Alexandria. Ray finds it funny that she speaks as if she knows these characters herself. Diana explains that all stories, all myths, all legends, are true, and the fact that people no longer believe in these gods and goddesses doesn't mean they no longer exist. Ray laughs, until Diana proves to him that he is one of the gods, one who has simply forgotten." That said, here's a quick look at the scenes by cast and action, noting that condoms were used but weren't all that obtrusive in my opinion:

Scene One: Venus & Adonis: Cindy Crawford, the bleached blonde porn performer that looks nothing like the supermodel but is still a hotty, was up first in bed with studly Manuel Ferrara. She has never been on my short list for gals that get into their scenes and I missed out on her work at JKP for the most part but she began the action with a spirited blowjob that displayed the kind of skill, passion, and focus that I had long wanted to see from her in the past. I knew he'd eat her out with vigor since that has long been his style and his past proved to be indicative of this scene too. The couple showed some chemistry and she rode him a lot better than I've seen from her in the recent past, actively getting into the action as though she were in charge. He finished up the scene by popping his nut on her face and she came across as enjoying it all.

Scene Two: Vulcan's Dilemma: Julie Night, Monique Alexander, Roxy Jezel, and Jack Venice, were up next in Vulcan's forge where he kept the gals in cages (in a place that looked surprisingly like Kylie Ireland's downtown studio dungeon). The gals were submissive here and he treated them like his personal toys to do with as he pleased, spending most of his time with Julie as the other two did some heated lesbian action together. He also porked Roxy but the simple matter is that the action was almost all oral with some vaginal as Monique stayed in her cage. Roxy and Julie took the facial and while the reddish lighting was used for a special effect, it didn't add anything to my enjoyment. In all though, it wasn't a bad scene though even if it was limited in terms of what took place.

Scene Three: Sappho & Diana: Monique Alexander and Eve Lawrence, both dressed in sheer white sheets, were up next in a visually interesting lesbian scene in an all white room. The sole contrast was the two ladies against the stark backdrop, providing them with all the attention as it should be anyway. The scene was heavy on using smoke to add atmosphere but the main draw this time was easily the two attractive ladies. Eve's curves versus Monique's beauty made for some nice fun as both got to eat out the other much like I would have volunteered to do. There were no toys and the gals used tongues and fingers to get each other off. In all, it was another okay scene worth checking out.

Scene Four: Teacher's Pet: Trina Michaels, another curvy cutie, was up next in the brick-walled loft but on the couch in the study this time as the droning music led her to seduce Marcos Leon and Jerry. She initially worked over Jerry's cock as Marcos snacked on her crack from behind, though they mixed it up soon after that. Jerry loved playing with her implants and Marcos was feeling her powers on his crotch as he looked to tap into her source of energy. There were a variety of sex acts, culminating in a short DP after lots of anal action, ending with her taking their facial pops as though she wanted to taste their semen. It was energetic, passionate, and full of chemistry; clearly the best scene in terms of what took place and providing the most hardcore action, even if it lacked the seductive beauty of Monique (who was the most attractive gal of the movie to me).

Scene Five: Immortal & Irresistible: Monique Alexander, looking playful and fantastic in her red dress, was up last in a scene with Steven St. Croix in the brick building where the other scenes were shot. They had been discussing the gods over dinner and that all led to this moment where she made her way to him to present herself on the edge of the table for his oral skills. It was a slow, romantic scene where the bases were covered well enough, adding the dimension of her skillful attitude to enhance the mood. Contrast this to some of the other scenes where pacing was not an option and you'll understand why I might have though Trina's scene offered more to most fans, but this scene was something to showcase Monique's looks and hardbody all the better. I've watched many of her scenes in the past and this one struck me as showing her talents at their best, from the teasing oral (including some nice deepthroating) to the active vaginal ride in his lap, though the use of close-ups did diminish it somewhat for me (too many at the wrong times). It ended with a pop shot to her sweet ass cheeks, at which time the movie faded away to show the credits.

Summary: Mythology was another DVD title that worked well enough for fans of Monique's but seemed to lack spark whenever she wasn't being focused on. Still, there was enough to enjoy here for fans of lighter couple's sex that a rating of Rent It seemed a bit low in some ways. If you're a fan of the cast, especially Monique, consider it to be a must have though since she had so much screen time, even if she wasn't utilized to her maximum potential. Director Eli Cross is a capable guy for such titles but the fact remains that he seemed to be caught between wanting to show something different but was required to make the movie the way he was told to from the looks of it. It was definitely worth a look or two so check it out.