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REVIEW - "Prague Buddies: 1, 2, 3" (William Higgins Presents) - REVIEW

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REVIEW - "Prague Buddies: 1, 2, 3" (William Higgins Presents) - REVIEW

*** Highly, Highly Recommended ***

"Prague Buddies 3: Liebstod" (William Higgins Presents)

C-A-S-T

Martin Pravda

Jozeph Markovich

Pavel Holub

Roman Tomas

Ivo Skala

Peppino Sobato

Libor Taborsky

Zdenek Romany

Nikola Lubov

Bill Zeeman

Marko Giacomo

Sascha Antonov

By the time William Higgins finishes his "Prague Buddies" series, we will

know more about the culture and psyche, of Eastern European (primarily Czech)

men than anyone has ever learned over the many years of history which have

shaped that region. That he will have done that through detailing the deeply

personal, romantic, sometimes melancholic -- but always explosive -- sexual

appetites of these men will eventually rank as one of the most remarkable

artistic achievements of the international porn industry. This is said in all

deference to, and recognition of, the equally stunning contributions made by

Bel Ami's George Duroy. Duroy gives us unabashed sexual pleasure; Higgins

gives us depth, and -- egad, I can't believe I'm writing this -- soul.

On its face, "Prague Buddies 3: Liebstod" is an outstanding achievement in

cinematography, casting, direction and very hot sex. Taken with its

predecessors, "Prague Buddies," "Prague Buddies 2: Verbotene Leibe," and (we

expect) the sequel, "Prague Buddies 4: The Ancient Forest of Prague,"

however, this video is a must-see for more than all the cinematic and

cultural reasons. It also represents a history of Eastern European male porn,

for it was filmed for the most part a couple of years ago in bits and pieces,

and it features the very first post-California Higgins stars, some of whom

have disappeared, others of whom are still holding down Fortress Higgins. As

such, it's a bridge. It's good to see old friends, and it's especially good

to see them sucking and fucking with such intense abandon, as if tomorrow may

not come.

Indeed, that is the underlying theme of PB3 -- that young men who came of age

during the first decade of post-Communist rule are suddenly thrust into

another belligerent situation, that of the conflict in the former Yugoslavia,

specifically Bosnia (which dates the movie instantly), which is where some of

the cast is headed as part of a United Nations peacekeeping force.

We are introduced to this through the beautiful eyes of Jozeph Markovich,

whose shining blond face opens the movie while he's handcuffed to a bed in

his grandparents' home in the Czech countryside. Seems they've promised his

father to look after him, and he's been rowdy, chasing the girls and all

that. This scene is hilarious and exceptionally insightful, even though it

lasts but a minute. After evoking a promise to mend his ways (complete with

"kiss-the-cross") the grandparents let Jozeph go, and he runs away again.

This time, however, he's intent on making it to Prague, and winds up flagging

a taxi driven by Mylan Forman, whose first appearance on screen was in

Higgins' "Andel's Story 2: The Running of the Bulls" (All Worlds), where he

was ravished anally by several men. His video achievement thus far, however,

was his incendiary coupling (as Juro Boulac) with Ladislav Pekar in final

scene of "Winning Ways" (Studio 2000), the recent romp from Higgins' Prague

protégé Jan Novak. Mylan is without question the most muscular, and quite

possibly handsomest, bottom in Higgins' ensemble -- a crew-cut blond with

piercing blue eyes that simply undress the beautiful Jozeph as he gets into

the cab and announces that he wants to go to Prague but has no money. I was

quite expecting a spurt of cum to fly out of Mylan's pants into his eye from

the way Higgins framed his response to Jozeph's plight: "Well, what the

hell," as he shifts into gear.

Once in Prague, Jozeph protests that he wishes he could do something for

Mylan's kindness, and when asked what he has in mind, responds with a line

that, unless it's a Czech idiom, might have gotten lost in the subtitle

translation: "I can give you a hand roll." We are transported to an abandoned

barn attic where Mylan is butt-naked except for tight, torn denim shorts,

bathed in light and being caressed to the strains of opera (I don't know

which) by an adoring, shirtless, Jozeph. It's straight out of a painting by

Rafael.

This is a gentle, somewhat hesitant, love scene filled with discoveries --

Jozeph finds Mylan's straining cock through a hole in his shorts, pulls it

out and adores it, licks and kisses Mylan's incredible abs and pecs, and

takes his first piece of cock, which quickly turns into a gobble. Mylan pulls

Jozeph's hot rod from his white sport boxers, spending some time on his

delicious navel ahead of time, then -- professional that he is -- gives

Jozeph a lesson in cocksucking. They evolve their tryst through several

artfully staged 69 positions before (out of nowhere) Jozeph produces a dildo,

and proceeds to warm up his new friend's hole. He then plunges his owns

substantial rocker up Mylan's fully round and rewarding butt until he pulls

out in a spew of thick white goo, matching his new lover's seed. Transformed,

Jozeph pines that Mylan and he should live together, but though he professes

he would like to, tells his lover that he must leave for Bosnia in the

morning. They fall asleep in each other's arms (and damn it if I didn't sigh

while wiping my stomach dry).

Higgins then takes us to a traditional Czech festival, "The Burning of the

Witches," which serves to further his intent of getting us to love his

adopted homeland, and to introduce us to Martin Pravda, Roman Tomas, and Ivo

Skala, who sort of bump into each other as tourist observers throughout the

festivities. Ivo, a crew-cut, buff, top who bears a slight, but more mature,

resemblance to Higgins' star Carlo (of "Carlo & Friends," William Higgins

Presents), eventually finds a sleeping post in a tree house. He wakes there

the next day and spies Roman and Martin going through the woods, stripping

and wading into a stream. Roman, a tall, lithe dark beauty with some chest

hair, has got one of the longest cocks in Europe -- a good 10-incher.

However, the revelation here is Martin Pravda, an early Higgins star whom I

hardly recognized. He grew his hair and buffed up, and turned into one of the

most stunning young men in the movie; indeed, I think he steals it from under

everyone's cock. He does this by unabashedly worshipping cock -- he begins by

kissing Roman by the stream and dropping to gobble that magnificent dong.

Then, when they spot a naked Ivo, who gets embarrassed and tries to put his

hardon between his legs, Martin pulls the cock through his thighs and sucks

it from behind. Martin then double-sucks both of the others until they spurt,

Ivo sending more than his share all over the place, with Martin worshipping

the spilling of every drop. The boys then climb into an old barn attic (lots

of them in the Czech Republic) and finish their tryst with both Ivo and

Martin fucking Roman in a variety of positions. "Clair de Lune" is the

soundtrack. It works.

We are now in a square in Prague. Four men are taking off for their military

stint in Bosnia; their friends, or lovers, are there to see them off. Here we

are introduced to the stars of PB1 and PB2 -- the hulky Jirka Kalvoda, and

the exceptionally beautiful Pavel Korsakov, who is on crutches, and who

clearly is trying to hide the pain he feels seeing his lover, Jirka, going

off to war. Jozeph is there also, waving goodbye to Mylan, as is Ivo hugging

Martin goodbye. Also there is a post-pubescent sad-eyed bunny named Peppino

Sobato, who gives a hug to Marko Giacomo. The soldiers pull away, and Pavel

Korsakov is left alone, on crutches, until Peppino approaches him and tells

him he "knows a place" where they can sit and talk. They get into a cab

(driver is Higgins), and wind up in yet another loft.

Obviously hampered by his condition, Pavel was probably in no shape for one

of his traditionally wonderful fuck-fests, so Higgins turns this scene into

an almost melancholic mutual jerk-off -- and it works. "I already miss Jirka

so much," Pavel says to Peppino, and starts to strip. What follows is one of

the more sensuous mutual jack-off scenes you're likely to see. With sweet,

longing looks, and a soundtrack to match, the two strip, mostly to Pavel's

soft toned instructions, which are downright sensual in Czech. Peppino is

given a lesson in eroticism by Pavel, whose instructions are sometimes in

subtitles, but for the most part need no translation. By the time they reach

a mutual climax, Pavel's closing lines are anti-climactic: "You are young and

have so much to learn. And I have the time to teach you." Hey, Higgins --

bring on PB4!

Now we are at the Bosnian front, in the winter, in the snow. In the barracks

some Czech and Russian soldiers decide to put on a little show, a la

"Cabaret." The lovely Andel, Higgins' first big star, a soft-faced beauty

with full red lips, a wonderfully ingratiating smile -- and nice cock and

fantastic ass, plays the Joel Grey character. Then Martin Pravda and Libor

Taborsky come out in wash-mop drag and the three do an Andrews Sisters

routine. Two of the Russians then show a thing or two about their own way of

dancing and the entertainment (well, the stuff with clothes on) comes to an

end, the fun begins.

Andel and Jirka are scheduled for patrol, and as they leave, Martin and Libor

(the Andrews Sisters) start groping each other. Meanwhile, in the audience,

Mylan leans over and kisses Bill Zeeman, a short, dark haired powder keg;

Pavel Holub cops a feel from Marko Giacomo; and Zdenek Romany wastes no time

and goes down on the long, long cock of Roman Tomas. Across the room, Martin

and Libor are fucking around with one of the Russians, and before long, it's

everyone into the pool. This is an orgy that is highlighted by two main

cinematic effects: Live sucking and breathing -- it's exceptional, especially

when there's no musical background; and wonderful lighting. Indeed, this is

one of Higgins' best orgies ever because of the lighting. The scene is in a

dark building, but you see every inch of skin (going into every aperture),

hear every moan and lick, and witness some extraordinary sex.

Zdenek Romany is a major player here, eating cock and getting his butt

stuffed in virtually every take -- this is a really attractive Slavic type

with a fantastic ass and halfback body. Martin Pravda eats every dick in

sight, while Bill Zeeman serves as a pumping board for half a dozen cocks.

Mylan Forman provides some wonderful moments sucking cock through a

chain-link fence, popping up and down on cocks in a sit-fuck fashion, and

simply spreading his legs from wall to wall for impatient poles to plow.

Roman Tomas keeps his long cock busy, and his butthole filled. Libor

Taborsky, who was usually a top in other Higgins films, takes it up the wazoo

with abandon here. Indeed, there is so much sex going on, so many cum-shots

from each of the participants that I can only imagine that it had to be

filmed over more than two days. On film it lasts more than 40 minutes -- and

that's a full-length video from some studios! (You can imagine what my

laundry bill is for that scene alone.)

Finally, we are placed in a pretty dicey situation. With Pavel Korsakov

watching reports of NATO's bombing of Serbia on TV back home, his lover Jirka

and the beautiful Andel are captured on patrol, tortured and thrown into a

makeshift prison, handcuffed together. Here Higgins lets the natural effects

of loneliness; melancholy, fear, and sexual attraction take over. We are left

to eavesdrop on Jirka and Andel as they try to get out of their primitive

handcuffs, and succeed in part; then Andel whispers that he's cold and Jirka

bundles him close. And they kiss. Their love scene is unusual in that it is

all one-way. Andel worships Jirka, who allows his cock and body to be

engulfed by the adoring Andel, who then takes Jirka's substantial pole in

sit, doggy and straddle positions. It's really not as cold a scene as it

sounds, thanks almost exclusively to the wide-eyed wonderment of Andel (who

really should be hauled out of retirement by Higgins and set loose on the

screen again).

The ends of both the love scene and the movie should not be revealed here;

you have to see it in order to appreciate the overall effect which Higgins is

trying to achieve with this, and other, segments of a growing body of work

which has already matched, if not dwarfed, his American career in terms of

imagination, artistry and pure sexuality. It is the genius of this one man

who has bridged the male porn industry for almost four decades now, and I for

one am absolutely certain that when and if he decides to leave Prague, he

would be able to define an entirely new male porn genre wherever he might

alight. New Zealand, anyone?

*** Highly, Highly Recommended ***

To order -- "Prague Buddies 3: Liebstod" -- contact:

William Higgins Presents

E-mail: William@WH.cz

House One

6045 Vineland Avenue

North Hollywood, California 91606-4911 U.S.A.

Phone: (818) 985-3224 - FAX: (818) 508-5001

Catalina Video

P.O. Box 7016

Tarzana, California 91357-7016 U.S.A.

Phone: (800) 562-1891 - (818) 708-9200 - FAX: (818) 708-3160

###

*** Highly, Highly Recommended ***

"Prague Buddies 2: Verbotene Leibe" (William Higgins Presents)

C-A-S-T

Jan Dvorak a.k.a. Max Orloff a.k.a. Pavel Novotny

A priest pedals his bike down a quaint country lane, clutching a small

bouquet of flowers in one hand. The buildings around him are dusted with a

light coating of snow. His face, reddened by cold, is handsome, even pretty.

He spies a couple of young men, one dressed in camouflage. As he watches

them, they duck into a barn. His eyes show titillation, intrigue, and perhaps

a bit of reproval.

Nope -- it's not a new PBS series. It's "Prague Buddies 2: Verbotene Leibe,"

the worthy sequel to a gay video classic. "Prague Buddies 2," like its

predecessor, takes place in the countryside near Prague, and the moodiness

and heat of the original is intact, even turned up a notch for the sequel.

Building on "Prague Buddies" sublime, poetic eroticism, "Prague Buddies 2"

dares to delve into territory both sacred and profane. What other video in

recent memory has had the guts to show a priest pulling his massive dick out

of his cassock while peeping on an orgy between several gorgeous young men --

then delivering a volcanic, record-breaking cum-shot.

And what a priest he is.

Casting for this role must have been fun for director William Higgins. Let's

see ... where can I find a guy with the face of an angel and a body made for

(mortal) sin? He found him: Jan Dvorak is unbelievably handsome. He has the

look of a Versace runway model matched with the body of an athlete -- not to

mention being hung like a horse. As the observer (mostly) in PB2, Dvorak

follows the sexual action until, at times, he can't take it anymore -- and

whips it out. He doesn't ever actively participate, really -- I don't know

whether this was intentional, since he's playing a priest (which certainly

fits the plot), or a personal choice. Either way, just watching him on screen

is pure delight.

The guys the priest spies in the first scene actually do get it on in a barn

-- a working barn, mind you, full of livestock (I can only imagine the

smells!). As they fuck and suck themselves to oblivion, (and where did they

find that dildo in a barn, by the way?), the animals meander around them.

Original, to say the least.

Speaking of dildos, there is quite a lot of half-hearted sort of dildo play

in PB2, but it never really goes anywhere and never lasts very long -- it's

almost like product placement. (It's not that big a deal, I just wonder why

it was included at all, since there's so much real, live dick around anyway.)

PB2 features no fewer than two orgy scenes and one three-way (with "Prague

Buddies" stars Pavel Korsakov and Jirka Kalvoda). Both orgy scenes are

inventive and erotic -- they take positions and creativity with combinations

to a new level, and in the second one, bottom Jamom Ramon is a scene-stealer

with his sultry good looks and bedroom eyes. Again, as with PB, the studs

look directly into the camera at times, tearing the wall between actors and

audience down.

In the final, climactic three-way, when Higgins brings Dvorak together with

Korsakov and Kalvoda, Dvorak watches and gets off while Kalvoda again plows

Korsakov's sexy, hairy ass. Dvorak delivers, as earlier, a rocket cum-shot, a

talent for which he will no doubt become famous.

As in the first PB, Higgins again uses classical music as a soundtrack. For

me, it's much preferable to the repetitive twang, twang, twang usually heard

in videos, and only serves to heighten the Eastern European atmosphere. Like

PB, PB2 ends with the promise of a sequel, a third in a trilogy, perhaps? If

Higgins finds more stunners like Dvorak, I'm ready already.

*** Highly, Highly Recommended ***

To order -- "Prague Buddies 2: Verbotene Leibe" -- contact:

William Higgins Presents

E-mail: William@WH.cz

House One

6045 Vineland Avenue

North Hollywood, California 91606-4911 U.S.A.

Phone: (818) 985-3224 - FAX: (818) 508-5001

Catalina Video

P.O. Box 7016

Tarzana, California 91357-7016 U.S.A.

Phone: (800) 562-1891 - (818) 708-9200 - FAX: (818) 708-3160

###

*** Highly, Highly Recommended ***

"Prague Buddies" (William Higgins Presents)

C-A-S-T

Zdenek Romany

Pavel Korsakov

Milan Forman

Vilen Zeman

Michael Holub

Leave it to award-winning, veteran gay porn auteur William Higgins to stage a

comeback in which he practically reinvents the genre. "Prague Buddies" is

much more than just another dip into the seemingly inexhaustible pool of

beautiful Eastern European studs. It's destined to become a porn classic, and

already deserves to be placed alongside Higgins' other outstanding work,

which includes "The Young and the Hung" (Catalina Video). And "Prague

Buddies" is -- dare I say it? -- fresh. A new approach to porn -- call it

"Gay Romance Classics." With beautiful, golden videography by Pavel Nikos and

Higgins' deft direction, and an outstanding cast of gorgeous, natural studs,

all of whom ooze sensuality from their very pores, this is one of the best

videos of this or any other year. The premise, which works very well in the

context of the video, is the initiation of two new members into a secret male

athletic fraternity. As you can imagine, there are lots of shower scenes, and

enough gear to satisfy any athletic or military uniform fetish you can

possibly imagine.

>From the first moments of the video, in which a totally nude, totally

>hot

young man lights a torch, Olympic-like, and hands it off to the next relay

runner (also totally buff and nude), the viewer knows this is not your

average video. And it isn't -- Higgins isn't afraid to let these guys look

natural -- from their hairy balls and asses to their uncut dicks, the sweat

that pops out on their bodies when they fuck and -- can you believe it? --

the mussed-up hair on their heads. There's no discernible eyeliner in this

video, either, much to my delight. The two initiates into the "Prague

Buddies" are darkly handsome Zdenek Romany and compactly built stud muffin

Pavel Korsakov (who has one of the best asses of all time). Their initiation

involves getting sprayed by beer, jerking off on their knees, then getting

sprayed by cum from the uncut dicks of all the other members of the buddies.

Hey, where do I sign up?

The following scenes all begin in an athletic context and, except for one,

they all end up with the guys fucking and sucking in different exterior

locales. I'm telling you, abandoned barns and bombed-out buildings never

looked so inviting.

First is a physical therapist's office, where blond, movie-star handsome

Mylan Forman has brought his buddy Vilen Zeman after Zeman suffered a sports

injury. When hunky doctor Michael Holub takes Zeman back to the examining

room he leaves Forman in the waiting room. Of course there's more going on in

the inner office than physical therapy, and soon Forman has stripped off his

uniform and is jerking on his beautiful uncut dick while Holub ravishes

Zeman. Higgins does a slow pan down Forman's hunky body, from his furry,

sculpted pecs capped with quarter-sized dark brown nipples, to his

golden-downed six-pack abs, to his throbbing uncut dick. It's worth a few

rewinds, trust me.

For my money, the best scene in the video is next, between Korsakov and big

blond hunk Jirka Kalvoda. If anyone could make your pants small with just a

look, it's Kalvoda. The scene begins with a montage of the two guys just

hanging out together, working out at the gym, showering together, watching TV

half-naked -- you know, typical guy stuff (!). At the end of the montage, the

two are trapped outside in a rainstorm, taking refuge under their capsized

rowboat. Korsakov turns to Kalvoda and says "Women are not worth loving ...

love me instead." Who could refuse a line like that? See what I mean about

romantic? The two find a barn and then begin a long kissing and touching

scene, which of course leads to hot, worshipful sucking and fucking. The

chemistry between these two actors is astounding -- the long sultry looks,

the soft caresses, the urgent kisses, the way Kalvoda slowly fucks Korsakov's

tight little butt -- I'm keeping the tape cued to this scene simply because

it's one of the hottest interactions between two porn actors I've ever seen.

Two more three-way scenes round out the video. The first is between

longhaired Pavel Dubcek, initiate Zdenek Romany and Karel Pisek, winner of

the lips-to-die-for award. Again, the studs are hotly sensual, whether it's

Romany and Pisek giving Dubcek a side-by-side blowjob or Dubcek fucking

Pisek's ass while Romany sucks Pisek's prick (try saying that fast three

times!).

The last real scene in the video finds gorgeous dark-haired stud Martin

Pravda retrieving his Polish cousin (Tomas Novatny) from the train station.

Novatny has aspirations of joining the Prague Buddies (and at this point, who

wouldn't?) and proves his athletic prowess through fencing with buddy Janusz

Dickovsky. It may be a first -- using fencing whites as a uniform fetish in a

porn video -- but it works for me. Pravda gets so turned on watching his

cousin fence that he takes out his dick and starts to jerk off. Then the

three daisy-chain-suck, and Dickovsky gets fucked by Pravda while Novatny

plays with his very large uncut meat.

Yet another distinguishing characteristic of "Prague Buddies" is that the

studs often break the "fourth wall," that is, they look directly into the

camera. This sometimes happens in video, but usually not until the end of a

scene, with a kind of knowing wink at the audience. Higgins thumbs his nose

at this convention, and allow the studs to look into the camera while they're

in the act -- a very unusual (and sizzling) way to bring the viewer into the

action.

"Prague Buddies" ends with a scene that is a setup for a sequel, and for

once, viewers will be left panting for more. I know I'm there. After more

than ten years absence from directing, William Higgins has created a video

that leaves you wanting much, much more.

It's quite a comeback.

*** Highly, Highly Recommended ***

To order -- "Prague Buddies" -- contact:

William Higgins Presents

E-mail: William@WH.cz

House One

6045 Vineland Avenue

North Hollywood, California 91606-4911 U.S.A.

Phone: (818) 985-3224 - FAX: (818) 508-5001

Catalina Video

P.O. Box 7016

Tarzana, California 91357-7016 U.S.A.

Phone: (800) 562-1891 - (818) 708-9200 - FAX: (818) 708-3160

REVIEW - "Prague Buddies: 1, 2, 3" (William Higgins Presents) - REVIEW

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