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$EX (AKA: SEX)

Wicked Pictures

Genre: Feature, Drama

Director: Brad Armstrong

Cast: Jessica Drake, Derrick Pierce, Courtney Taylor, Aaron Wilcoxxx, Julia Ann, Brad Armstrong, Asa Akira, Steven St. Croix, Misty Stone, Leilani Leeanne, Marcus London

Length: 154:40 minutes

Date of Production: 2013

Extras: There was a slip cover and a double sided DVD cover to start off with. On the DVD, there was also a nice selection of extras including: a 9:27 minute Behind the Scenes feature by Lee Snijders, 1:46 minutes of Bloopers, a photogallery, some spam, trailers, a promotional reel, and three bonus sex scenes. The three bonus scenes were from Asian Anal Assassins (12:56 minutes), Tuff Love (13:51 minutes); both described below, and Dirty Little Secrets (13:24 minutes).

Condoms: Yes

Audio/Video Quality: $EX was presented in the same anamorphic widescreen director Brad Armstrong and Wicked Pictures offer up the majority of their works. The lighting was solid, the fleshtones accurate, and the locations a bit more varied than you will find at smaller companies, some perfectly understated comedic themes tossed in by the cast to enhance the final product. The visuals all living up to what I expect of Brad, the aural components were nicely handled as well. The surround sound Dolby might not have provided much headspace or directionality but the vocals were crisp, the music typically working with the visuals, and the ambient noises added in on par with the limited special effects.

Body of Review: Brad Armstrong is notable as one of the most critically acclaimed porn directors thanks to his works at Wicked Pictures. While I do not get the opportunity to see all of his movies, one that came in a few days ago called $EX certainly caught my eye thanks to another awesome cover featuring beautiful Jessica Drake. The movie is a futuristic tale of legalized prostitution where Jessica plies her trade and comes across a complication; I’ll leave it to others to provide spoilers on the plot. Certain elements of the movie appeared to come straight from mainstream flick “In Time” (the barcodes on the arm used for compensation, the scanners) and others were standard boilerplate more commonly used in grade C cable flicks but Armstrong wove them into an interesting social commentary on the subject of compensated sex, Jessica Drake still impressing me as getting better with every movie. Other notable ladies included here were Asa Akira, Julia Ann, Misty Stone, and others, Steven St. Croix wisely used as the heavy in a role he handled quite well. The back cover described the movie like this: “In the 'not so distant' future the world is a very different place. Sex is now a very valuable commodity, bought and sold like any other product and all monetary transactions are done via a barcode tattoed on one's wrist. In this "new world" Anika Tate (jessica drake), is one of the most successful purveyors of sexual commerce. However, after a transaction goes awry, her perfect little world starts to crumble. Director Brad Armstrong, jessica drake, and an incredible cast of today's hottest performers bring the chilling tale to life. A fresh look at the world's oldest profession!” Here’s a brief look at the scenes by cast and action, noting that condoms were used for those still interested:

Scene One: Jessica Drake, the babe featured on the front cover, was up first in a bulky coat as she set the rules for client Derrick Pierce in a modest hotel room. He looked like a businessman here and paid her price, Jessica dropping the coat to show herself off in sexy black lingerie. Like me, he wanted to savor the moment so he blindfolded her and gave her a series of light kisses, her perfect ass looking great as her black thong rode deep inside her ass crack. He took his time warming her up as the heat built, feeding her his pecker as she went from 0 to 60 on it in seductive fashion. She then applied some hand to gland friction to enhance the moment, Derrick removing the blindfold to gobble her gash and ass as she stretched out in front of the large window overlooking the city. This led to some active vaginal positions, Jessica spreading her ass cheeks as he tore into her shaven snatch, the couple moving into anal as their chemistry built. The scene ended when he tossed off his wad of genetic juice to her mouth as she knelt before him, Jessica slurping his meat clean to earn every last penny of their agreed upon price.

Scene Two: Courtney Taylor, a curvy blond with a splendid ass herself, was up next in bed with Aaron Wilcoxxx, her lingerie enhancing her body as she straddled his lap in what appeared to have already started for a scene. He sucked her tit and she worked his cock reasonably well, the gal applying a condom (a trick I really like to see when they are used) before mounting his cock to actively ride him in her snatch. She was bald down there and did all the work, Aaron sucking up her juices as he fingered her though the second position of missionary sex overwhelmed him into depositing his load of population pudding all over her torso.

Scene Three: Julia Ann, the busty blond bombshell that used to work for the company, was up next in bed with Jessica Drake, Brad Armstrong allowing them some time together before the lucky man joined in too. Julia began in a flowing red robe and Jessica was in a contemporary dress, Julia ditching the robe to reveal her sexy lingerie underneath as she caressed and seduced Jessica. They kissed and started doing oral when Brad offered Jessica his cock to suck, the gal easily handling the turgid rod as Julia assisted her in the endeavor. Julia rode his cock first and looked great doing so, Jessica providing some self generated lubricant as she reciprocated on the assist. Julia was an active rider and her shaven pussy looked as inviting as ever, Jessica taking a turn as Brad boned her butt while she diddled herself. Julia then joined back in with a small red strap on dildo to fuck Jessica in the pussy while Brad came back to tap her sweet ass, Julia getting some backdoor love as she milked his cock free of spunk that both ladies shared as they knelt before him.

Scene Four: Asa Akira, the curvy Asian performer of the year, was up next with Steven St. Croix on a light colored couch. Her skimpy black dress did not cover her great ass, her thong riding inside her crack quite deep. He massaged her a bit down there and fingered her, feeding her some of her own juices before she throated him aggressively. He ate her briefly as she sat on his face and they were then pounding vaginal flesh as she impaled herself on his member, slowing down as they switched to doing anal though she caught up soon enough. This soon led to him losing control and giving her torso a lot of splooge, the baby batter apparently costing him a lot more than he bargained for (per the plotted points).

Scene Five: Misty Stone, Leilani Leeanne, and Marcus London were up next in a threesome, the man in the mood for some chocolate. He ditched Jessica and offered his new guests some refreshments, his money enough to excite them as the ladies started to show some signs of affection for him (such as nibbling his ear). The gals kissed each other too and the clothing slowly came off, the expansive red couch certainly large enough a platform to provide them all with comfort as the lesbian display continued. Marcus then began to massage Misty’s snatch, gobbling her gash as she purred in delight while the ladies kissed some more. The gals then serviced each other before teaming up on his cock orally, his hand generating some friction on its own as Misty continued her oral assault. The active hummer led to active vaginal riding by both ladies, Misty’s shaven slit looking great (Leilani’s tiny strip of pubic hair not a hindrance at all either). Leilani also did anal here so he enjoyed some backdoor action once Misty warmed her up with a campaign bottle, the resulting round of ball batter shared orally by the women as he glazed their faces while they nestled at his feet while on their knees.

Scene Six: Jessica Drake, dressed up in a really slutty PVC dress (black with white trim), was up last as she floated the boat of Steven St. Croix. The skintight outfit included thigh high boots, the two kissing before he demanded a showing of her tasty ass (sadly, his point of view as she bent over and spread her legs was not shown), his hands then roaming her boobs and body as he gave her a number of loud swats on her cheeks. He gave her some head and she reciprocated in kind, their mutual chemistry elevating the replay value of the action. She then climbed onto his lap to ride his pecker vaginally, her dirty talk working for me as she coaxed him into driving her harder and faster. That led to some anal work where the ending blowjob unleashed his seed all over her chest, her chin picking up a little goo too as she continued to stroke his shaft until the feature elements picked back up.

Bonus Scene: Asian Anal Assassins: Asa Akira, Brad Armstrong: Asa Akira shows up at Brad Armstrong's place for her secret assignment. After the man tells her to stay, he gets out of the water and they make out indoors. When the sexy woman sucks his cock, the sight of her lips around his man meat looks hot. Afterwards, Asa finger fucks herself with good passion. Brad also joins in and applies good effort on her vaginal pleasure zone too. Some nice looking finger fucking action through her asshole is shown as well. Then, the guy eats her delicious pussy and fingers her butthole. The sight of her pink pussy is hot. Also, I love hearing her emotional moans. Next, they kiss briefly before Brad fucks her missionary style. His screwing rhythm makes Asa moan louder. As the scene progresses, Asa has that quality that pulls the viewer towards the screen and become more enthralled by her while she gets fucked. The anal screwing action looks very good and the pile driver position allows the viewer to obtain a better sight of Asa's gaping asshole. Finally, the hot woman receives his cum on her receptive mouth. (review by George the Apache Warrior)

Bonus Scene: Tuff Love: Jessica Drake, Derrick Pierce: After a lovers spat Adrianna no longer wishes to train Derrick, opting instead to pursue her own dreams of being a champion fighter. In comes jessica who offers to train Derrick to be the best fighter on the circuit. Derrick takes jessica up on her offer and the two get a serious workout on. The two begin making out with Derrick eating jessica out before she deep throats his white monster. She then rides his cock but quickly they switch over to cowgirl where jessica’s sweet sexy body is on full display. Derrick fucks jessica relentlessly, pounding away at jessica and causing her moan uncontrollably each time Derrick penetrates her. When its over he blasts away on her golden tanned skin. (review by Rob Perez)

Summary: $EX by director Brad Armstrong for Wicked Pictures was my favorite movie of his this year, my longstanding appreciation of Jessica Drake certainly fueling some of the replay value and strokability factor for me but the totality of circumstances enough to give this one some legs beyond that time tested combination of talent on both sides of the camera so I gave it a rating of Recommended or better, much of this subjective scale depending on where you stand on the performers, condoms, and variety of acts in a feature fuck flick. In short, $EX was a good showcase effort for Jessica Drake’s sexual prowess and Brad Armstrong’s leadership as a director (his crew full of the kind of technical help most of his competition could only dream of having access to), the resulting movie proving my contention that Wicked Pictures is one of the few companies able to still make a quality feature these days so give it a look.