Wicked Divas: Julia Ann: The Director's Cut

Wicked Pictures

Genre: Compilation, Julia Ann scenes

Director: Jonathan Morgan

Cast: Julia Ann, Randy Spears, Devinn Lane, Nakita Kash, Renee LaRue, Charlie, Eric Masterson, Brad Armstrong, Kristal Summers, Joel Lawrence, Stormy
Non-sex roles and cameos by: Fred Lincoln, Janine, Christy Canyon, Andrew Blake, Michael Raven, Randy West, Ron Jeremy, Kaylani Lei, Amber Michaels, Laurie Cameron, Marc Wallice, Mr. Marcus, Steven St. Croix, Aaron Colt, Jonathan Morgan

Length: 137 minutes

Date of Production: 8/16/2004 (compilation only)

Extra's: The best extra for me was a 16.5 minute long bonus scene between Julia and Jessica Drake in a bath tub shot by Jonathan Morgan. It was a gentle scene and the gals took their time warming up rather than shoot their loads all at once as the kissed and caressed one another, blowing off the use of toys in favor of a more natural scene. Next up was a 3 minute photoshoot for the cover with Julia all dressed up like a fashion model. There were also the usual Star Stats, Wicked Nominations and Winners, company profile, Casino game, desktop backgrounds, Wicked DVD catalog, trailers, two photogalleries,

Condoms: Yes

Audio/Video Quality: The movie was presented in a combination of widescreen and full screen, depending on which aspect ratio the scenes were shot in for their original releases. In all, the variation between the scenes wasn't all that broad and the general impression I got was that a bit of care was taken to make sure the colors were accurate, the lighting well done, and the camera work exceptional. There was a bit of grain at times and the visual effects sometimes got in the way of the heat but overall, it looked just fine. The Dolby Digital stereo track was nice, if not the best I've heard from Wicked Pictures.

Body of Review: Those who've read my reviews over the years know that I appreciate quality in my women as much as anything else. This being the case, I readily recognize when an older performer is superior to many of the flavor of the month gals that come and go and such is the case with the classy Julia Ann. A tall blonde with nice curves (even though she has implants, I still like her), Julia started off her career as part of the Blondage strip club act with famed performer, Janine (now known as the illustrated woman) and worked her way through a Vivid contract and numerous other companies before recently landing a spot as an exclusive Wicked Pictures gal. With Wicked Pictures focusing much of the energy in 2004 on making compilations, is it any wonder that they'd spend a bit of time showcasing one of their most valuable assets, Julia Ann, in a compilation of her career, Wicked Divas: Julia Ann? Much like the award winning Jenna Jameson Anthologies, this compilation attempted to provide an overview to this fascinating hotty that time and again shows up gals half her age in terms of pure sexuality, sensuality, and plain old good looks. For the record, she's never slipped me any money to say these things and my attraction to her began way back when I first saw Hidden Obsessions, her first movie, made by Andrew Blake, and then some of her Vivid Interactive releases, some of which I still have on CD Rom!

In any case, some of the complaints about the JJ Anthologies have related to how the scenes were all from Wicked and no one outside of the company gave any interviews so it was very pleasing to see a host of interviews from a variety of sources that are not affiliated with the company speak up on behalf of Julia, all saying a lot of nice things because they wanted to, not because they had to. It was also pleasing to see a few clips from the various AVN award shows and Vivid's vaults; something almost unheard of these days where companies are extremely territorial (if only they could take it one step further). This is a major evolution point that benefits all the companies and even Sin City and Metro Interactive contributed clips as I recall. If that doesn't speak volumes for Julia's fans inside the industry, what does?

Anyway, I counted eight scenes, including one made solely for this compilation and figured the third bonus scene must've been an Easter Egg (chapter 24 on the DVD wouldn't open for my computer) so good luck hunting it down. I've heard good things about the Wicked Divas series so if this volume is any indication of what the other volumes will be like, I think fans are going to be very, very happy with them. That said, here's a look at the scenes of the compilation, each starring the blonde cutie from the front DVD cover, Julia Ann:

Scene One: New Scenes: 8/16/2004: Julia, looking very attractive, had a wish to have a scene with Randy Spears in a bed when it wasn't her "time of the month". Apparently, the two had a lot of unfortunate timing issues over the years so this scene was made to rectify that. The two took their time and went down on one another as well as spent a fair amount of the scene engaged in foreplay.

Scene Two: Beautiful/Nasty: 6/2/2001: Julia, Nakita, Renee, Charlie, and Devinn, had an erotic scene in front of a fireplace. I know a lot of guys only want to watch lipstick lesbians but these gals showed that the real thing (or at least truly bisexual women) is far hotter. The gals used their tongues, fingers, and toys to get one another off using a whole lot of chemistry and energy in a very heated scene. In short; it was sweet!

Scene Three: Wicked Whispers: 11/30/2001: Julia played a psychotic woman in the vein of The Three Faces of Eve in a scene where she took care of Eric (in their first scene together). She was dressed in a black leather skin tight outfit that looked fantastic on her and he was most appreciative of her sexually aggressive nature. Each gave some heated oral to the other and she did some PTM before pinching his nipples and jerking him off to a facial. It was also a very well done scene.

Scene Four: Turning Point: 10/22/2001: Julia, playing a hit man's girlfriend, had a good scene with Brad for director Jonathan's first movie with her. Brad gave her some oral and she gave some to him before they boned like two high school kids on a bed. Brad even stuck a finger in her ass as he screwed her pussy, but it was the passion the two shared that made it a winner of a scene (she also did PTM here before the facial).

Scene Five: Hercules: 5/5/2002: This was one of the best releases of the year when it came out and remains a personal favorite so it came as no surprise that it won a spot on the coveted 2003's Best Porn List here at DVD Talk. Here's what I said about it back then: "Julia and Kristal, both looking mighty tasty, enjoyed Joel in a scene that took place in Hell. Like most of the scenes, the action was oral and straight but only the most jaded of porn hounds would care. Yum!"

Scene Six: The Assignment: 3/19/2003:This movie was a challenge for Julia as it had so much dialogue and went after a couples market through the mind as much as the pants. Here's what I said about it awhile back: "Julia, finally finding her perfect guy, had sex with Randy on a rooftop. It was slower and more erotic than the other scenes (which tended to be more energetic) but it was still very well made and probably more appropriate for watching with your significant other."

Scene Seven: Beautiful: 3/26/2003: Julia, a favored contract performer and former half of the infamous strip circuit team Blondage, took care of Stormy in what amounted to a stylish lesbian scene. By stylish, I mean the lighting, smoke, and other effects obscured the action far more than I generally prefer and while they did lots of oral, they also used a strap on dildo to warm things up. I liked the fetish attire, particularly Julia's, but the effects bogged down the scene for me.

Summary: Wicked Divas: Julia Ann: The Director's Cut is worth a rating of Recommended to me since it had so much to like and a whole lot of Julia Ann to appreciate. I'm glad she's stuck around in porn for these past ten or so years because she not only exudes class and refinement but proves that a couple of miles on the chassis doesn't reduce the appeal. The technical issues were minimal, the other performers attractive too, and the compilation provided a lot of fuck for the buck, something many of the competition can't claim. If they can some day work out a deal to provide full scenes from other companies, I'll bust a nut over how sweet the compilations will be then but this was a pleasant first step.