This sort of manifesto movie by Buttman is clearly personal, and he also indicates with the final product that he doesn't care if anyone likes it. There's a heart on sleeve aspect as he casts himself wandering through an East Los Angeles neighborhood at night, talking to himself out loud in the role of a tourist guide with just the movie audience listening, as he waxes nostalgic about good old sleazy clubs that had all-nude stripping, the site of Kitten Natividad in 1975 getting down on stage and sleazy movie theaters.

His lament reminds me (I'm an East Coaster) of the endless laments about the loss of old 42nd Street of the '70s I used to hear from many an old hand, always sugarcoating memories. I traveled annually to New York throughout the '70s to attend the Fall New York Film Festival and enjoyed going to crappy 42nd St. Theaters showing action movies and sex movies, so I was able to put this bullshit in perspective..

Buttman tips his fetish early on with loving closeups of big butts in tight skirts or naked, as he spotlights very dingy, unappealing current strip clubs run by rivals Randy Spears and Sean Michaels. There's plenty of masochism in Sean handcuffing him and leaving John to sex with hot ladies like Kristarrah Knight. Both Spears and Michaels overact in a way they never would for a real porn director, and despite the film noir visual atmosphere Johnny Stag's storytelling ability is nonexistent here. A flashy flashback starring Lauren Brice as sort of his lost love has a fine depiction of the line between real dancing and exotic dancing with a nice silhouetting effect of shadow dancing.

The numerous threeseome sex scenes evoke his affection for gonzo porn -raw and lowdown rather than truly erotic. And the movie simply falls apart at the end with the unheralded arrival of cop Silvera to join the orgy on stage.

For me, the highlight was Sean Michaels doing an amusing Michael Jackson dance routine, replete with hat tipped to hide his face, just like those catchy ads recently for the Broadway Michael Jackson musical, only three decades early.

The drama genre is a broad category that features stories portraying human experiences, emotions, conflicts, and relationships in a realistic and emotionally impactful way. Dramas delve into the complexities of human life, often exploring themes of love, loss, morality, societal issues, personal growth, with the aim to evoke an emotional response from the audience by presenting relatable and thought-provoking stories.

Mahershala Ali and Alex R. Hibbert in Moonlight (2016)

The Biggest Movies and TV Coming in September

"The Gentlemen" and "Slow Horses" return this fall, while the "Reacher" spin-off series "Neagley" makes its debut. See our guide of the biggest Fall TV and streaming releases.

2026 Fall TV and Streaming Watch Guide

&quot;The Gentlemen&quot; and &quot;Slow Horses&quot; return this fall, while the &quot;Reacher&quot; spin-off series &quot;Neagley&quot; makes its debut. See our guide of the biggest Fall TV and streaming releases.

Get a closer look at these actors from their many TV and streaming series roles.

Shadow Dancers I

Top Cast19

User reviews1

Related interests

Storyline

Did you know

Top picks

Details

Tech specs

Contribute to this page

More to explore

Recently viewed