Click for Trailer

Happy Anniversary (Tales From The Heart)

New Sensations

Genre: Feature

Director/Writer: Jacky St. James

Cast: Sara Luvv, Ryan Driller, Marie McCray, Xander Corvus, Carter Cruise, Michael Vegas, India Summer, Stephen St. Croix

Length: 104:10 minutes

Date of Production: 2014

Extras: The extras included a 23:09 minute long Behind the Scenes feature, a “pick your pleasure” menu, a photogallery, trailers, spam, and some company information. The lengthy BTS by Jacky herself was comprised solely of four cast interviews (not just the women too), some bantering between the director and cast making it stand out.

Condoms: None

Audio/Video Quality: Happy Anniversary was presented in a crisp, anamorphic widescreen as shot by director Jacky St. James for New Sensations. Using the talents of director of photography Eddie Powell, editor Gabrielle Anex, and the usual crew responsible for the company’s best efforts, Jacky applied the technical team much like she does on her other works to get things looking and sounding great. The flesh tones were accurate and the composition of most camera angles looked good, the editing as smooth as ever to draw attention away from the technical side so viewers can just enjoy the resulting four vignettes. There was a company watermark on the lower right hand corner of the screen for those who care. The aural components were satisfying too, the music, vocals, and ambient sounds all blended in for a welcome upgrade from the plethora of generic sounding releases I put up with on a weekly basis. As with the visual aspects of the movie, the audio portion was handled nicely, perhaps other companies will start paying more attention too.

Body of Review: Jacky St. James is a multi-talented young hotty working for New Sensations who, along with the infamous Eddie Powell, have redefined the company to many of us in recent years (in a favorable manner at that). Her latest release is called Happy Anniversary, a set of four vignettes showing a romantic angle rather than the edgier relationship dramas I have come to like so much, my biggest concern being just how watered down it could be if the standard approach used elsewhere was the focus. Thankfully, ladies like Carter Cruise, India Summer, Marie McCray, and Sara Luvv were on hand to spice things up. The back cover said this about the feature: “Love is in the air...especially on your Anniversary. A trip down memory lane is just the spark Michelle and Andy need to reignite the lustful feelings of their first years of marriage. When Kurt discovers that his wife, Stephanie's home cooked anniversary meal was something she ordered from a take-out restaurant, he helps soothe her shattered ego with a spontaneous, sexual encounter. On the morning of her 18th anniversary, a man surprises his wife with a full-body massage from a very handsome masseuse. After misplacing her wedding ring one too many times, Michael plays a trick on Carter proving that happiness is about celebrating one's flaws with a little humor and a lot of passion.”

The company press release described the movie like this: “On May 19th, New Sensations will introduce the first installment of a romantic new vignette series, Tales from the Heart, entitled, 'Happy Anniversary.' The series will capture heartfelt relationships between couples in a short-story format with the same high quality production value we've come to expect from the studio. A spin-off of the studio's highly successful, Romance Series, Tales from the Heart will bring to life four unique, passionate, and connected stories in each release. Award winning collaborators, Jacky St. James and Eddie Powell helm the project, with St. James serving as writer and director and Powell as cinematographer. "This series presents a nice challenge for me," says St. James. "Establishing a romantic connection and storyline within the parameters of a vignette forces me to be more creative with how each story is told. I want audiences to feel the connection and passion between a couple in that 20-30 minute scene and with this first release out of the gate, I'm confident we've done that." Happy Anniversary, pairs top performers Carter Cruise, India Summer, Marie McCray, and Sara Luvv with their popular male counterparts, Xander Corvus, Steven St. Croix, Ryan Driller, and Michael Vegas, and focuses on four different couples celebrating a milestone in their relationship. But while the underlying theme of this first film will center around romance, the storylines will range from more comical dilemmas to real life issues couples face. The visual artistry, compelling storylines, and connected performances in Tales from the Heart will appeal to a wide variety of audiences interested in higher-end vignette releases exploring passionate sex within connected relationships.” Here’s a brief look at the scenes by cast and action, noting that no condoms were used for those still interested:

Scene One: Sara Luvv, a sexy little brunette with an all natural body, was up first as she reminisced for the golden days she had with Ryan Driller from when they were first married. The passion had drained out over time, a common occurrence, so she dressed up in her old cheerleader outfit and met him at the door when he came home from work, the two holding an open discussion about becoming an “old, boring married couple”. Since they had the house to themselves, they pounced on each other on the staircase, a kiss leading to them pawing each other and peeling off clothing, not waiting to get fully naked before she knelt to slob his knob or him to gobble her gash. Handled a bit contritely but the idea was solid, rekindling old feelings more openly as they engaged in various positions of active vaginal sex. It ended when he unleashed his semen all over her ass in the doggy position, Ryan applying some hand to gland friction to elicit the response.

Scene Two: Marie McCray, a fetching redhead with beautiful eyes and a lean figure, was up next with Xander Corvus, their relationship going well except for her horrible cooking. After she made one too many terrible meals, she decided to cheat a little bit by taking credit for a takeout meal, Xander rewarding her with a little loving after teasing her just a bit when he caught he. The humor aspect of it was cutely done, maybe more could have been done with that aspect of the scene to make it better, but as they made out on the couch and undressed to get frisky with hands, tongues, and other body parts, it fleshed out well. He warmed her up with his fingers and then ate her trimmed snatch, the pleasant elevator music playing until she blew the head of his turgid pecker playfully while gingerly caressing his balls. She did service his nuts too but only briefly, mounting his rod vaginally for a series of active penetrative positions. It ended with a lot of eye contact and Xander plastering her crotch with sperm, their sweat glistening as the camera faded away.

Scene Three: Carter Cruise, the beautiful blond babe featured on the front cover, was up next with Michael Vegas, the theme of the setup being how she was always losing her ring. As her sparkling blue eyes implored him to get the ring back, he refused to cave in to her as she took it off for all sorts of daily events. After making her scurry all over the house for it, he gave it to her on the bed, some kisses leading to the usual couples sex of oral by both of them before some vaginal positions drained his dragon, her hairy pubic bush and tan complimenting her nicely though she looked fantastic and I expect big things from her given her dramatic timing displayed here in the feature elements. There was a bit of foot fetish action and she was an active enough rider, her delicious looking ass begging for more attention as the two played out the roles handed them. The eye contact was decent and it ended when he blasted his load onto her upper torso and stomach, more kissing closing it out.

Scene Four: India Summer, an accomplished MILF performer with superior sexual skills, was up last in bed as masseuse Stephen St. Croix serviced her as an anniversary present from her husband. Her lean and tight figure was as sexy as ever as she laid back to accept the gift to the guitar laden musical track, Stephen’s hands working her from head to toe but skipping the best parts initially, India raising a concern which was brushed aside by Stephen which led to them fully going at each other sexually. It was a straightforward encounter and both of the two are perhaps the strongest performers in the genre when it comes to acting and sex, Stephen pushing her limits by going down on her before they started kissing and getting more familiar. Her draping cast aside, he nuzzled her body orally before boning her, their shared chemistry enhancing the replay value even before she blew him with practiced ease. India was very vocal about having fun and used a New Sensations vibrator to help get off as they continued with each other. It appeared to be vaginal sex only (a lot of the footage was not as explicit as usual) but he rubbed out a solid wad of spew all over her torso and they kissed to finish soundly.

Summary: Happy Anniversary by director Jacky St. James for New Sensations came in late for me to review, then vacations and other things got in the way but I have to admit that it was very well made, had a solid cast, and the romance angle will assuredly appeal to a wider audience than some of the edgier material the company puts out so I rated it as very Recommended for a general audience, especially those that might still shy away from Jacky’s darker themed works in the Tabu line or even the Erotic Stories line. Carter Cruise looked fantastic, India Summer was perfect in her role (as usual), Marie McCray sold her character better than usual and Sara Luvv seemed very appropriate too; each of the ladies complimented by men they “fit” with. In short then, Happy Anniversary was the first in the “Tales From The Heart” line that I hope allows for at least a hint of darker stories or harder sex, Xander making a lot of sense on the BTS when he discussed some of his beliefs of the matter. Otherwise, this was a great set of vignettes to share with a porn newcomer that might not be as well versed in hardcore sex so I hope it reels in a lot of new consumers who will likely find some of the company’s other works even better.