Auditioning

Vivid Entertainment

Genre: Vignette

Director: Chuck Lords (Paul Thomas)

Cast: Samantha Ryan, Kurt Lockwood, Briana Banks, Evan Stone, Tiffany Taylor, Jean Val Jean, Katie Gold, Chris Cannon, Mario Rossi
Non-sex role by Shylar Cobi

Length: 134 minutes

Date of Production: 4/18/2005

Extra's: The initial extras included on the DVD were the usual five bonus scenes; including three from previous movies starring Briana Banks in them and a couple more to fill out the package. There was a short biography for Briana Banks too but like most such biographies, it wasn't worth much to me. There was a 17 minute long Behind the Scenes feature by Ralph Parfait and Victoria Woodhill too, a positions room, a series of trailers including titles like The New Devil In Miss Jones, Take My Wife, Janine's Been Blackmaled, Nameless, and Spiked; a couple of photogalleries, and some spam for phone sex and Vivid products (as well as the usual double sided DVD cover).

Condoms: Yes

Audio/Video Quality: Auditioning was presented in the usual 1.33:1 ratio full frame color as original shot by director Chuck Lords/Paul Thomas for Vivid Entertainment. The lighting was pleasing to the eye, thankfully limiting the grain and other visual issues that I've had in the past with Vivid. I'm led to believe that they've been actively working on this and everything they've been doing has been appreciated in this regard (the proof is in the elevated quality of many of their recent releases). The composition of the shots was favorable in most of the scenes too, leading me to believe that someone cared about the visual aspects of the show there were no compression artifacts and in all, I liked the visuals a lot. The 2.0 Dolby Digital stereo sounded like it was shot in monaural and the music had the only separation between the channels but the dynamic range appeared to be slightly better than expected (making it easier to hear and have fun with).

Body of Review: Chuck Lords has been making porn under one alias or another for decades now and that often means going through periods of burnout. "Chuck" has taken to making a variety of styles of releases, often employing a trick or two to liven things up in what amount to experiments in porn. While I've seen enough porn to know pretty much everything has been done by someone or other, I also know that individual directors or companies sometimes fall into the rut of mass production; relying on marketing to sell titles over the quality fans (and reviewers) want to see. While I don't expect to see Vivid imitate Red Light District any time soon, I do like to see their directors try new things in an effort to make something other than cookie cutter porn where only a few faces change. Today's review of Auditioning is one such title; rather than offering up a feature or other plot intensive set of circumstances, this showcase for the lovely Briana Banks simply puts the cast in a situation where they're auditioning for roles in movies. There were condoms used but they weren't obtrusive and the casting seemed very well handled this time so here's a brief breakdown of the scenes by cast and action:

Scene One: Samantha Ryan, a fantastic looking cutie with a hot body, was up first in a scene with her real life partner Kurt Lockwood. Thankfully, Kurt was reasonable stable on the day the scene was recorded (a scene where they were replaying a scene from Fade To Black). Whatever Kurt's usual problems with humanity did not get in the way this time as he provided the adequate meat to address her needs in the living room. Her oral wasn't anything particularly great but let's be honest about it; she used her hand and mouth with eye contact to nearly send him over the edge from the blowjob alone. He was kind of a slug when it came to reciprocating the oral pleasuring but he was okay when pumping his shaft into her sweet little pussy. The pop shot was minimal (a sign that he's been working a lot), going to her chest and face, but the two displayed the natural chemistry they seem to have with one another in a scene that amounted to a good way to start the show.

Scene Two: Briana Banks, the beautiful contract star that has long reminded me of Jenna Jameson, was up next with the mighty Evan Stone as they switched roles with her as a pizza girl. Dressed in blue jeans and a tight fitting black top that accentuated her curves really well, she looked fantastic (and like she's toned up a bunch) with the humor of the scene working nearly as well for me as the tease she started working the camera over. Evan as the pizza deliveryman wasn't as funny but the sex was very heated between these two titans of porn, starting with the powerful blowjob she gave him after he warmed her up a little on his own. The two both aggressively screwed vaginally with some twisted positions that looked really tough and before I knew it, nearly an hour was gone when he popped a load onto her awaiting chest. If this is the new Briana Banks, I look forward to seeing her in action more often. Whew!

Scene Three: Tiffany Taylor, an exotic hotty with brilliant blue eyes and some fine curves, was up next in a scene on the couch with the studly Jean Val Jean. I haven't seen a lot of this gal since she hasn't been in hundreds of scenes last year but she definitely caught the eye as I watched her positive attitude wash over the scene. While her oral didn't last nearly long enough for me, she was no stranger to pleasuring a guy orally and he seemed talented at getting her wet with his hand as she did so. This led to the two of them bumping uglies with the doggy position looking very nice but the variations of cowgirl working nicely as well. Admittedly, he did the majority of work but she could learn to meet his thrusts easily enough and I could see her moving up the porn pantheon quickly with a little bit of training. The pop shot went to her mouth and neck, going on forever as Jean emptied his nutsack to full effect.

Scene Four: Katie Gold, a smoker with tiny titties and a lot of attitude, was up next with Chris Cannon as they rehearsed outside for a role. After the acting, she blow him like a champion and he returned the oral favors nicely, leading to a lot of hardcore screwing in her tight little pussy. The fact that she engaged in anal afterwards made the scene standout from her usual repertoire of tricks but she didn't do a lot of it so don't get all excited unless limited amounts of anal cause you to bust a load. In any case though, I thought she would appeal to a lot of folks as the type of stripper-next-door woman you'd like to meet in a sexual circumstance.

Scene Five: Briana Banks, looking fine once more but this time in a black dress that showed off her ample cleavage, was up last in a scene with Rocco look-alike Mario Rossi. The scene was hampered by a helicopter so they took the act inside to the garage where they kissed, went down on one another and eventually screwed. Briana was particularly aggressive in riding his shaft as she stood while he sat down. The only thing I didn't like about the scene was the amount of bugs flying around in the initial parts of the scene as they distracted me from her wonderful hip grinding and pumping. The heated scene ended when he popped a moderately large load onto her abdomen. This was another solid scene by Briana and a good way to end the show.

Summary: Auditioning worked as much as a showcase for the talented Briana Banks as it did for the other performers. Given the amount of extras and the solid running time for the movie itself, I thought it had a very good amount of fuck for the buck (especially compared to many other Vivid releases running under 90 minutes). I'm going to rate this one as Highly Recommended for all it had to offer fans of Briana Banks, keeping in mind the many factors going into a porn DVD, but make no mistake about it; this was a very good offering from director Paul Thomas, using Briana almost to full advantage. I hope to see more of this hotty in action if she's gone to such lengths to improve her act.