"Sparks" by David Stanley is one of four Vivid videos he shot back to back in 2002 with virtually the same cast. This one is extremely self- indulgent, as the eccentric talent DS takes advantage of his Vivid contract to horse around, or more specifically gorilla around.
You see, David has created a strange, satirical TV show entitled "Big Baloney Sandwich", with a guy (or gal) inside a gorilla costume portraying the fictional talk show host named Big Baloney Sandwich. This character, mocking the mindlessness of U. S. television and its couch potato fans, pops up repeatedly during the dreams depicted in "Sparks", as the sleeping couple Mickey G and April have their nocturnal fantasy excursions enacted for us in surreal fashion.
If this sounds pointless and stupid, it is. How someone not learned in the Stanley Porn Universe would react is almost a moot point, as I'm the only human being, Stanley included, poring over these decades-old video artifacts in search of quality or diversion. Just as "something different" has been the calling card of pornography dating back to the '60s soft-core heyday (just watch almost any trailer, well-preserved by Something Weird Video, and you'll get my drift), so Stanley's predilection for weirdness has almost made me a believer, but unquestionably piqued my curiosity. Perhaps after watching 100 or so of his Wicked and Vivid releases from yesteryear I will be cured.
The title "Sparks" (Stanley prefers one-word names for his movies, over 25% adhering to that gimmick and a huge number resorting to just two words) refers quite obscurely to an early scene inside a dream where a character creates sparks by testing jumper cables attached to a battery, not in a car outside but rather for some good-natured BDSM torturing indoors. Of course, to veteran screenwriter David the word Sparks is an intriguing title for an erotic package.
Structure is familiar (I recall an excellent Christoph Clark Euro porn feature almost identically structured in dream land, and its episodic platform) as we watch either April or Mickey dream, lying asleep in bed together. The surreal nature of the dreams is undermined by their cheapness, evidenced by crummy sets and silly action, peppered of course with the requisite six sex scenes. Apparently the minders of Stanley over at Vivid (including nominal producer Toni Brooks) let the auteur do whatever he wanted to as long as he delivered just enough porn content, suitable in sort of a Ponzi scheme as excerpts for other similarly "bare minimum" Vivid releases in the form of Bonus Room content on the DVD.
Mickey makes fun of the gorilla's food-name in one dream as the Monkey Suited extra sits there watching the sex unfold. Again, what is a viewer who hasn't seen Big Baloney Sandwich pop up on screen several times before to make of this visual non sequitur? Other tropes throughout "Sparks" include a symbolic red apple, believable nocturnal hang-up of thinking about one's meaningless job, in this case Mickey at the office pretending to work but mainly ogling femme co-workers, etc. I suspect that a full Master's Thesis of the future (at some on-line university of course) studying Stanley's complete oeuvre will elevate his work to something of an American Pornographer equivalent to Claude Chabrol, but please don't quote me, I'm rambling. Just as Paul Thomas at Vivid dissected a peculiarly west cost Lifestyle peek at the late 20th Century, and Chabrol did a number on the French Bourgeoisie of an overlapping era, Stanley seems intent on satirizing comfortable, middle- of-the-road America, at least the oversexed portion of the population.
In this little repertory company, also appearing in 2002 Vivids titled "Anything", "One Good Minute" and "Girl of My Dreams", Wendy Divine is fun as Mickey's sexy secretary and Brittney Skye pops up as the person inside Baloney's gorilla suit, doffing the costume in one dream to engage in some Sapphic sex. With the lovely Cheyenne and April in leading femme roles I can't complain about the XXX content, so perhaps Toni was right to indulge her enfant terrible director in his whimsical if cryptic time-killer.
You see, David has created a strange, satirical TV show entitled "Big Baloney Sandwich", with a guy (or gal) inside a gorilla costume portraying the fictional talk show host named Big Baloney Sandwich. This character, mocking the mindlessness of U. S. television and its couch potato fans, pops up repeatedly during the dreams depicted in "Sparks", as the sleeping couple Mickey G and April have their nocturnal fantasy excursions enacted for us in surreal fashion.
If this sounds pointless and stupid, it is. How someone not learned in the Stanley Porn Universe would react is almost a moot point, as I'm the only human being, Stanley included, poring over these decades-old video artifacts in search of quality or diversion. Just as "something different" has been the calling card of pornography dating back to the '60s soft-core heyday (just watch almost any trailer, well-preserved by Something Weird Video, and you'll get my drift), so Stanley's predilection for weirdness has almost made me a believer, but unquestionably piqued my curiosity. Perhaps after watching 100 or so of his Wicked and Vivid releases from yesteryear I will be cured.
The title "Sparks" (Stanley prefers one-word names for his movies, over 25% adhering to that gimmick and a huge number resorting to just two words) refers quite obscurely to an early scene inside a dream where a character creates sparks by testing jumper cables attached to a battery, not in a car outside but rather for some good-natured BDSM torturing indoors. Of course, to veteran screenwriter David the word Sparks is an intriguing title for an erotic package.
Structure is familiar (I recall an excellent Christoph Clark Euro porn feature almost identically structured in dream land, and its episodic platform) as we watch either April or Mickey dream, lying asleep in bed together. The surreal nature of the dreams is undermined by their cheapness, evidenced by crummy sets and silly action, peppered of course with the requisite six sex scenes. Apparently the minders of Stanley over at Vivid (including nominal producer Toni Brooks) let the auteur do whatever he wanted to as long as he delivered just enough porn content, suitable in sort of a Ponzi scheme as excerpts for other similarly "bare minimum" Vivid releases in the form of Bonus Room content on the DVD.
Mickey makes fun of the gorilla's food-name in one dream as the Monkey Suited extra sits there watching the sex unfold. Again, what is a viewer who hasn't seen Big Baloney Sandwich pop up on screen several times before to make of this visual non sequitur? Other tropes throughout "Sparks" include a symbolic red apple, believable nocturnal hang-up of thinking about one's meaningless job, in this case Mickey at the office pretending to work but mainly ogling femme co-workers, etc. I suspect that a full Master's Thesis of the future (at some on-line university of course) studying Stanley's complete oeuvre will elevate his work to something of an American Pornographer equivalent to Claude Chabrol, but please don't quote me, I'm rambling. Just as Paul Thomas at Vivid dissected a peculiarly west cost Lifestyle peek at the late 20th Century, and Chabrol did a number on the French Bourgeoisie of an overlapping era, Stanley seems intent on satirizing comfortable, middle- of-the-road America, at least the oversexed portion of the population.
In this little repertory company, also appearing in 2002 Vivids titled "Anything", "One Good Minute" and "Girl of My Dreams", Wendy Divine is fun as Mickey's sexy secretary and Brittney Skye pops up as the person inside Baloney's gorilla suit, doffing the costume in one dream to engage in some Sapphic sex. With the lovely Cheyenne and April in leading femme roles I can't complain about the XXX content, so perhaps Toni was right to indulge her enfant terrible director in his whimsical if cryptic time-killer.