Page 45 - AVN September 2015

An Evening of
‘Stockholm Syndrome’ With James Deen
By Peter Warren
Here’s the thing: When James Deen invites
you to his house to give you a private
screening of his proudest directorial effort
to date, upon which nobody else has yet laid
eyes, you go.
So on a recent Friday afternoon, once my
duties at the AVN fortress were done for the day,
I went to the House of James high atop a Valley
hill, from whence the King and his cats rule over
all that they survey. Welcoming me into the
expansive modern manse with “Wanna beer?”
and an aside that one of his cats “is being an
asshole today,” he suddenly called to mind Oscar
Isaac’s character from Ex Machina in a remote
sort of way. The sudden appearance of a robot
maid followed by a choreographed disco routine
would not have seemed out of place.
James ushered me to his office, where his
monster Mac suite rests upon a stately wooden
desk free of any clutter. We sat, and James
excitedly went about pulling up the movie he
has brought me there to see: Stockholm Syndrome,
a full-fledged feature starring Remy LaCroix as
a woman who gets kidnapped by James’ own
criminal character and then, as the title would
suggest, falls in love with him.
“Do you want to see the trailer first?” James
asked. “The trailer is really cool, so you should
watch it first, so that after you watch the whole
thing and it’s not as good you can be like, ‘But
wow, you made an awesome trailer!’”
I acceded to his wish, and immediately saw
that the man was not lying: this was an awesome
trailer. I was now officially jazzed for the movie.
And he wasted no time in getting it rolling.
Without launching into an all-out review of
Stockholm Syndrome—I’ll save that for its actual
release—I will say that James has every reason
to be as proud of it as he is. Not too long ago, he
commented to me in his trademark throwaway
manner that he learned how to make movies
from Paul Schrader (the hallowed director
under whom he worked in The Canyons), and the
truth is, no matter how serious he may have
been in that comment, Stockholm Syndrome has a
moviemaker’s aesthetic that’s on another level
from a great majority of what comes out of adult.
And it really isn’t all that surprising, given
James’ bouncing enthusiasm for the project. I
once interviewed Eli Roth, and the way James
spits out rapid-fire exclamations of delight about
the tiniest details in his movie reminds me of
how Roth passionately jabbered about the one
he’d made.
“You see those bursts on the windshield?”
James asked during a scene where he’s driving
Remy around at night and reflections from
streelights shoot up the glass as the car passes
under them. “Those were happy accidents. I love
happy accidents.”
During another scene, a sort of three-way
between Remy, Steven St. Croix and Kalina
Ryu, James pontificated about the care he took
to capture the gradual change from day to
night over the course of the sequence in the
background scenery through the plate glass
window behind the performers. “That’s really
fucking hard to do,” he boasted. “Nobody else
will notice, but that’s what I care about.”
He also gushed repeatedly about Remy’s
performance. “I exploited Remy for her acting
abilities, because she’s really fucking good,” he
said at one point.
Once the movie was finished, James asked,
“Do you want to see the trailer again? The trailer
is really cool.” And so we watched the trailer
again.
Stockholm Syndrome arrives from James Deen
Productions and distributor Girlfriends Films
September 7. The movie will also be released
in five weekly installments on JamesDeen.com
beginning the same day.
At Last, Time for ‘Saving
Humanity
Back in May 2013, AMKingdom.com announced that
shooting had wrapped on Saving Humanity, its highly
ambitious X-rated sci-fi feature. At last the movie has a
release date: It’s coming out September 30, just squeaking into
eligibility for this year’s AVN Awards.
The release marks a major milestone for AMKingdom—its
biggest production since Revenge of the Petites, which debuted
with a splashy premiere at a mainstream theater in Westwood
and won a hefty serving of critical acclaim and industry awards.
Written and directed by Kim Nielsen, AMKingdom’s owner,
Saving Humanity includes several cast and crew members from
Revenge of the Petites, including cinematographer Jinish Shah and
performers James Deen, Riley Reid, Skin Diamond, Celeste
Star, Seth Dickens and Sativa Verte.
AMKingdom’s second feature-length movie, Saving Humanity
was in production for 13 days around the clock. In addition
to the aforementioned performers, the cast also includes Tara
Lynn Foxx, Sinn Sage, Anthony Rosano, Andy San Dimas,
Cindy Starfall, Ana Foxxx, Beryl Aspen, Alex Chance and Ela
Darling.
“I am pleased to announce the release of Saving Humanity,
which has been a two-year endeavor for us,” said writer-
director Nielsen. “The movie takes adult filmmaking to a new
level in terms of production values and continues our effort
at AMKingdom to push the boundaries between adult and
mainstream markets.”
In addition to Nielsen and director of photography Shah
(who won industry acclaim for Revenge of the Petites), Mark
Nicholas serves as the editor, rounding out the production
team. The movie also includes extensive choreographed
fight scenes and a large dance number set to an original song
performed by Andy San Dimas and composed by Nicholas with
lyrics by Nielsen.
Saving Humanity will be distributed by Kick Ass Pictures. For
wholesale inquiries, email scott.sales@kickass.com.
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