What else are you watching?

Home Forums Random Discussion What else are you watching?

Viewing 15 posts - 16 through 30 (of 33 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • #163817
    Sig Kircheis
    Participant

    Since the last time I visited Heroine Arena they added a new video (and series)… Ascent, staring a martial arts character ( named Mongoose who is apparently going to fight her way up multiple floors of a skyscraper full of thugs to get to the Boss, video game style, in this series.

    Mongoose

    I have a couple of serious reservations about this producer:

    1. There are two versions of “Ascent, floor 1”, one “Mongoose wins”, one “Mongoose Defeated”.

    Next Global Crisis (NGC) was the first company I encountered that offered a choice of endings, but even in their very first incarnations, NGC offered a “both endings” version for just a couple of dollars more. (And more recently they’ve just sold the version with both endings included, which is apparently what everyone was buying.)

    Hidden Vault Entertainment offers no such “both” option, so if you want to see Mongoose lose, it’s going to cost you another $22 to see the alternate 90 seconds alternate ending.

    2. (and this one I find really, really annoying)…

    For the last 2 minutes of the video they’ve overlaid their copyright covering more than 1/3 of the screen:

    really annoying copyright tag

    That’s such crap. They already charge a ridiculous extra fee to see the alternate ending, and then they go and cover the screen with their copyright. (I guess they think they’re stopping people from sharing the alternate endings without paying the $22, but all they’ve done in my case is guarantee I’m not buying any more of their videos.)

    #163822
    Sig Kircheis
    Participant

    UPDATED

    I complained to HeroineArena about the strange use of copyright text over the final 2 minutes of their new Ascent: 1st Floor video (see previous post on subject); they wrote back it was a mistake, and last night they sent me a link to the corrected version, which shows the ending uncovered. I presume the version sold on their website is similarly corrected.

    So, now it’s a three thugs on one chick in martial arts combat of which I can approve.

    I still have my initial reservation that there are two versions, one “Mongoose Wins” (which is apparently the “canonical” version, allowing her to proceed to the 2nd floor), and one “Mongoose Loses”, but it’ll cost you full price to see both ending. (But at least you can see the endings now!)

    BTW, Ascent Starts with a cute bit: the heroine Mongoose arrives “dramatically” and delivers one of those clichΓ©d speeches, “after all this bloodshed, I have returned to seek vengeance on those….”, accompanied by the usual sweeping arm gestures that precede a martial arts fight β€” only to find the three thugs are too busy playing Candy Crush to have even noticed her.

    #163825

    I’ve never been interested in the heroine winning, unless the villain is a female as well. NGC has done so vids where the heroine wins, but they are really great story writers and that helps a lot.

    Good to see they didn’t mean that watermark though, hate having the production name or logo stamped on the video.

    #163828
    Sig Kircheis
    Participant

    Yeah, was really glad the giant 1/3 screen “watermark” was some sort of editing error (a really strange editing error!) I was ready to write these guys off (which would be too bad, because it’s a decent fight video!) I don’t mind a tiny logo in a corner someplace (though I can’t think of anyone I buy from regularly who does that), but 300pt Helvetica is crazy.

    I prefer the losing version, too.

    NGC sometimes does the “heroine wins” as the “canonical” ending, which means the story will continue based on that, but in almost all their recent videos they append an “alternate ending” which shows the opposite outcome. (They even do that in their “NCG Championship” arena matches.) I like the idea.

    In the case of “Ascent”,it seems to be a planned series in which the heroine fights her way up a building one floor per episode, so her survival is required in the “official” ending. If I could buy “Both” endings for a couple of buck$ extra, a la the old NGC approach, I probably would, but not for another $22. (NGC apparently discovered everyone wanted to watch the heroine-losing version, so just started including alternate ending with all the videos. You can please everyone! πŸ™‚

    I was discussing a possible custom video with a fairly new producer. I proposed the heroine escape at the end (after getting KO’d several times beforehand). He tells me they have a requirement that the heroine loses at the end; otherwise it’s not commercially profitable. So I guess everyone loves a loser. πŸ™‚

    #168205
    Sig Kircheis
    Participant

    Next Global Crisis (NGC) has a new superheroine side-story, “Making a Name”, staring a new character for this season, Starshot, in her first solo role. Loved it.

    I really like the new character. She’s cute (and I like the way her hair is tied back tight), she has a nice, clean & simple costume design, she’s good at the punches, kicks and other action, and she’s good with the super banter. It has three nicely done fights. Also, I think NGC did a great job dubbing the punches, which sound totally brutal on both sides.)

    In “Making a Name” (9 mins) she gets knocked out, recovers, and wins the fight β€” unless you prefer the usual NCG Alternate Ending, in which case she gets totally trashed.

    #168209

    I thought we talked about this, I always want to see the heroine totally trashed lol. But yes NGC always does a great job editing and making their fights look great.

    #170337
    Sig Kircheis
    Participant

    Conterfeit one of three recent videos from DID Movies featuring a new model, Rosa; this one with Luna as the victim.

    Luna + Rosa in Conterfeit

    DID (Damsels in Distress) does KO videos with lots of limp play. Usually it’s a guy playing with a limp female, but in their most recent trio of releases, it’s been Rosa doing the limp play. There are couple of chloroform KOs of Luna on the floor, and then a couple on the usual bed set. There is a minor plot running through this one about a bag of counterfeit money, thus the title. Interestingly, there’s a little plot twist turnaround at the very end.

    Luna is an attractive model whose good at passing out & being limp. (Does that require a lot of training?) Rosa isn’t as good at doing the playing, though, mostly because she doesn’t seem to have the strength to do the lifting or dragging. She struggles to drag Luna’s body across the hardwood floor, and eventually need to cut to muscle her up onto the bed.

    #170344
    Sig Kircheis
    Participant

    Damien Wagner produces damsel in distress style films. By which I mean he makes real, plot-driven movies that just happen to have some DiD fetish elements inside.

    Acherontia (part 1) is his latest movie. In it, a young French woman, Sybil (played badass by Desiree Felis), is out to exact revenge on those who done her wrong, starting with the guy who killed her parents.

    To give you an idea of the kind of movie this is, we start with civil taking a trip to the cemetery to visit her parents grave. Then she breaks into the apartment of the object of her revenge. Included in this is walking down the street, riding the Metro, and riding an elevator. Wagner is in no hurry to get to the action.

    Naturally the revenge plot goes wrong in Sybil ends up in a straitjacket in the basement. Wagner says he likes bondage and torture, so he delivers some. Uh oh, a rock hammer.

    Acherontia

    Wagner also likes extreme lighting; a scene lit only by a candle or single lightbulb. Except for the outdoor scenes (street & cemetery) there are lot of dark scenes. (I think I’d prefer he bought a light panel or two.)

    Anyway, if you like your badass damsels in distress come with a giant helping of coherent storyline, you might enjoy this one.

    Oh, I should probably mention his videos are French, with English subtitles. BTW, Acherontia is the Latin for the death’s head moth, one of which which Sybil apparently wants to leave for each of her victims.

    Wagner’s videos can be purchases through Heroine Movies. They’re relatively inexpensive (Acherontia is $15); if you’re computing cost per minute, it’s a bargain; if you’re counting cost per fetish element, with one KO and some bondage & torture, it’s about average.

    #170994

    nicely done. Probably not for me, but good explanation.

    #172334
    Sig Kircheis
    Participant

    The Perfect Host (Part 1) is the first video from Mystic Dragon. It’s the first installment in what promises to be a full-length video storytelling experience, one that crosses into the horror genre. The search is on for the titular “perfect host”, for what I’m not exactly sure, other than hipster Satan seems to be involved.

    the Devil made me do it

    Some cultists are out to kidnap the perfect host,…

    Skeletor has a new friend

    The unwilling candidate (aka the victim/heroine) will have to pass a few tests to prove her perfection. These tests will be martial arts in nature. There are a couple of well choreographed fight scenes, though I would have liked the entire production a lot more if the ending of this one hadn’t been viewed from a black-and-white security camera:

    security camera view

    Did I mention the bad guys already have one perfectly willing host, who’s quite jealous that they’re off recruiting another….

    yes, she is pregnant

    This is a complicated storyline with a lot of cast members and a couple of subplots going on (a couple of which aren’t obviously connected at this point in the story), plenty of dialog, half a dozen sets that are quite well-crafted, excellent makeup and costuming, generally good performances, nice fist-fight choreography and impressive sound dubbing. It’s light on the traditional fetish elements, though we do eventually get one knockout that’s actually on camera.

    kung-fu fightin host candidate

    As with Damien Wagner, Omni-Rising & a few other recently emerged production companies, Mystic Dragon is straddling the line between “serious” indie filmmaking and fetish videos.

    Not sure what it is with dark lighting; a lot of scenes in Perfect Host are in very dark environments (apparently the dungeon jail cells were the candidates are being held.) And one entire sequence is filmed in monochromatic red, apparently taking place in hell. (During several of these recent story-driven videos I’ve watched, I kept thinking that portable LED light panels are really inexpensive these days.)

    Mystic Dragon Productions” is a new production company that seems to have arisen from some of the former cast and crew of Cross the Line Films. (One of two that I know of; the other, “Omni Rising Productions”, is slowly creating a web series titled “Chained”.) (Neither directly involves CtL’s producer Logan Cross.) Several members of the old The Superheroines cast show up, in addition to some new models. (And I don’t know who’s under some of the excellent facial prosthetics & makeup.)

    Mystic Dragon Productions is selling videos through CtL’s old website, The Superheroines, though the video style is quite different from their costumed superheroine fighting.

    PS – Ithink I set a record for most malformed html in a single post with this one πŸ™

    #173036
    Sig Kircheis
    Participant

    Chained is the debut series from Omni Rising Productions, one of two (or three) productions that resulted from the disolution of Cross-the-Line Entertainment’s The Superheroines.

    Chained’s pilot episode, “Dante’s Inferno,” is free to watch on Youtube, etc. It appears to be a familiar Women-in-Prison type peril film, but without the customary R-rated nudity.

    And it doesn’t believe in lighting….

    There’s a lot of “Where am I?” for the new girl in prison…

    And eventually a couple of the prisoners are forced to fight to the death in a well-executed fight scene…

    Omni-Rising billed itself as the first “female-owned independent production company” in LA. (I was originally a sponsor of Chained on Patreon; they put out some interesting behind-the-scenes videos, including live streaming one of their studio filming sessions. They’ve since discontinued their Patreon campaign.)

    I’m not sure all these darkly lit videos I’ve seen lately are an attempt to equate that lighting with art, or whether the dark is just supposed to cover up defects in production values. Personally, I’d just assumed turn on the lights.

    #173671

    Yes, turn the light so i can see! I like the fighting to the death stuff, the can keep the rest of it. lol

    The one before it, that looks like it would just annoy me, i don’t need your customs and security cameras, just give me a good fun, a little creative story is welcomed but that’s it. No need to try so hard, at lease for me.

    #173758
    Sig Kircheis
    Participant

    I like a bit of story. I think Next Global Crisis has a good mix in their main “season” videos, for example; but I also really liked the Starshot side story “Making a Name” I mentioned above, even though it’s not much more than a heroine/villain slugfest with a few teleports (Starshot’s superpower.)

    I enjoy the simple set ups, too. E.g., I liked SKW’s latest “Merry & the Clones”, even though it’s just Merry Meow killing Hannah Perez a dozen+ times (with a bunch of different ninja costumes.) You can never have too many ninjas. πŸ™‚

    #173761

    NGC is the perfect example of The right amount of story, love their writing, love their action.

    Also it’s funny that you mention Merry and the clones, because it’s coming up next!

    #174435
    Sig Kircheis
    Participant

    Damien Wagner’s newest female peril series is Pentacle, set in an apparent post-apocalyptic world where Ilona (Elisa Celli) is a tribe’s chosen warrior who sets off on a quest to rescue another tribeswoman who was taken by persons unknown.

    Unlike Wagner’s previous production, “Acherontia”, this one was performed in English. It’s made in Oregon, if I recall, and Ilona even take a little dip in the Pacific… (I think that water is pretty cold.)

    she sells sea shells by the sea shore

    After meeting the tribal shaman and getting the sacred vambrace she will need, Ilona sets off thru the woods. The vambrace doesn’t save her when she meets the bad guy for a staff vrs bat’leth fight.

    Ilona combat

    Ilona then finds herself in some afterlife ceremony where she’s going to be given 5 tasks to perform, one for each point on the pentagram, one for each element (Wind, Earth, Fire, Water & Spirit.) This will be a long series.

    Wager really likes candles. I counted over a hundred in this pentagram….

    Candles

    That’ll save a lot of darkness cursing.

    Almost all of this episode takes place outdoors, so it’s brightly lit! It’s another Wagner plot heavy peril video, with a single 5 minute fight in its 37 minutes runtime. (It says it’s the first of a four-episode series, but since the next one is titled “wind”, I’m thinking there are at least five episodes left for all the elements Ilona will have to challenge. Maybe she’ll meets Avatar Aang.)

Viewing 15 posts - 16 through 30 (of 33 total)
  • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.