Bel Ami Art Collection: Peter Annaud & Alan Mosca

We somewhat differ here, although I can’t tell from your phrasing if you’re averse to the porn/art genre completely or just clumsy versions of it. I actually really like the effort at fine art. I totally agree that the cover image is a complete fail, but personally I’d err on the side of criticizing studios for lack of effort rather than for trying things that didn’t work. Of course, there are times when the failure is so glaring that they shouldn’t have tried, but to make the same point a different way, I think a high-concept failure deserves a little patience.

I’ve been watching porn for a long long time, and if someone said, “We’re sending you to a private island until COVID passes. It doesn’t have wi-fi, so pack your MacBook with whatever you want to rewatch for the next year or two,” I am certain that my principle of selection would involve more than “muscles and cocks.” For at least a handful, I’d choose scenes that I thought were beautiful over all. William Higgins in the 80s made movies I’ll remember for the rest of my life. Most of what I see on this blog, I won’t remember two months from now. Artsiness is not the only solution to that problem, but it is one solution.