Here we have "Best in Sex: 2016 AVN Awards" and the title is fairly telling. You see this is from four years ago (still), but probably older depending on when you read this review of mine. And of course in words that are maybe easier to understand you could say that this one here is the adult film equivalent to the Academy Awards. Usually, they go with the formula to have one comedian and two adult film actresses to host the ceremony. Comedian is sometimes male, sometimes female, but the co-hosts directly from the industry are basically almost always girls. This is also the route they took here. The comedian is Kate Quigley this time. Would be a lie to say I am familiar with her at all, but honestly I must also say her hosting did not really win me over here unfortunately. i still think it is courageous for every woman who decides to host this event and therefore I give her props, but I have seen many better hosts in the past, both males and females, to be honest. Maybe she was not raunchy enough, maybe her jokes were still too politically correct. In any case, I will probably not remember her for long. As for the co-hosts, Annika Albrite and Joanna Angel, I was not impressed either, not only because they are not really my type, but also the material and delivery really weren't up there quality-wise back in 2016. As for Angel, I am not entirely sure, but isn't she the one at least partially behind really successful production companies Evil Angel and Elegant Angel? I mean there are not too big-name production companies in the industry despite the gigantic amount of adult films, but these two are really up there with the best and most successful, so maybe Angel is a truly smart businesswoman, but hosting may not be entirely her strength. Maybe Allie Haze would have been a better choice to host. Just mentioning her because she is credited as backstage insider here and her I certainly like more. At least physically. Not sure about everything else. Speaking of backstage, this show I just watched had over ten minutes of introduction on the red carpet. Not sure if those count officially towards the running time, but the 80 minutes mentioned here on imdb are a number that already includes this introduction. So this was not a long show by any means. Actually, they became shorter and shorter over the years, which I would not disapprove. They feel more essential this way because the really old ones honestly were only that long because they included minute-long footage from the nominated films simply shown during the awards show broadcast. However, there are also flaws with these newer editions. The worst is one they are always doing, namely this event takes place in January and it is not released until months later. This time five months because when this was available to the public, we were in the middle of summer already. Really disrespectful to everybody who was part of this show, including winners and nominees. Awards shows always should be shown live. Or at least only one day later. but not almost half a year. As for the people most in charge behind the camera, some of the hosts are also credited as writers, probably because they came up with their own material. Another writer is Gary Miller. So many writers for such a short show. He is also the director and producer here and basically you can say that, for years now, he has been the person in charge of these awards, even if not too much about him is known. imdb does not even have his date of birth. Anyway, good for him I suppose. He also, at least recently, has not worked on too many other projects, but focused on this one here.
As for the people featured in fron of the camera back then, I already talked a bit about the hosts. Besides, they never really have difficulties in getting big name musicians to perform. In this department, females are even more scarce. With Waka Flocka Flame and Southside, they have two males again this time. Hip hop artists that have also won many awards in the past, but compared to some other really global superstars they managed to hire on other occasions, these two are probably among the lesser known music acts from the AVN Awards. They also did not do too much for me. Admittedly, also not my favorite music genre. Alright, what else can I add here. One of the best aspects for me was really that Riley Reid won so many awards, even if I was not too big on her outfit. Have liked her for quite a while and she is a cutie. Always has been, so good for her. Certainly not undeserving. What was up with this shade coming from another actress after Reid's final win? Was that comedy or serious? I am not sure. But if it was comedy, then it wwas not funny and if it was serious, then it was really not classy. Yes, the AVN Awards can be classy too. Should be. But I struggled with the comedy that night in general. The AVNs have done so much better on other occasions. Like the comedian host as not good (as I stated earlier), there was one presenter relatively early on who tried to make a joke and I don't think I have ever seen such poor delivery. It could have been the best joke in the world and nobody would have laughed the way she told it this moment. I almost felt bad for her. She should not even have tried. And then there were these segments including a guy, adult film actor, and there is joking about stuff like an insurance for adult film actresses and other things. Also this was not really particularly funny, although the delivery was not the problem there. The material was just poor. Okay, what else can I say? Like I said, the show was really short this time, so cannot come up with an endless amount of references here. One thing they still have (in my opinion) is that they simply nominated too many people in some of the categories. Definitely has a touch of quantity over quality and I do not really like it. Then the new female starlet really lost it and started crying so hard. I am not sure if it was just awkward and really heartfelt (then good for her!) or if she was acting all along. The big winner in the end was a porn parody for once again. This time Peter Pan. Surprised me a bit because I thought the age of porn parodies was over by 2016, but it was a bit of a comeback apparently. Like back in the day, a Pirates of the Caribbean spoof really celebrated a huge triumph. But well, I cannot say anything about the films in particular. Haven't seen them. I need to talk a bit about the guys now. Ron Jeremy was not there this time, even if this was before his legal troubles. Neither was Randy Spears, which I found a bit of a pity. Like the guy. But some familiar faces were here: Siffredi and St. Croix have been featured during many of these shows over the years. Both also took home awards that night, even if Siffredi as not featured as much as on other occasions. St. Croix, however, got some serious time in the spotlight, but it's kinda sad people have to mention in the end that he took home the supporting actor win because this category is not even featured during the broadcast. Oh well, with the new starlet it is also the same. This category is much more promoted in terms of the females, like as if it is almost the biggest category of the night. But this also displays how the time in teh industry for girls is much shorter than for guys. Just look at Mick Blue. He is considerably older than any of the female winners. Or Siffredi of course. He was in his early 50s back then. Mick Blue is by the way just an alias and he is an Austrian guy. Not too unusual for the European men winning the male key category. Happened many times before. Definitely more often than with the girls. They are mostly Americans. Okay, as for the jokes, did something stay in mind? Yes you don't say working one's ass of in the adult film industry I learned. Or at least not when the buttocks were not involved in what kind of sex they had that gave them the awards, especially not for the guys. Gay scenes are still a rarity here. Or actually not. Lesbians are almost always featured, homosexual men not at all though. Maybe still more of a taboo. In general, the show felt more tame than on other occasions. Hardly any nipples, let alone crotch shots. Cleavage of course, but that you also see elsewhere. Oh yes, one winner's butt apparently has her own area code. And yes, even Shakespeare's Hamlet can be part of an adult film awards show. Kinda brave haha. Alright, I think this is it then. Overall, even if it may not be entirely clear from my review, I did not enjoy particularly enjoy this show. Also felt that the amount of really stunning females this year (straight male, sorry can't help it) was rather low and Reid alone cannot make up for that. Also big thumbs-down for acting as if Stormy Daniels deserves any positive publicity. Boo to the guy mentioning her in the end. Massive thumbs-down to the outcome here. Highly not recommended and I am glad it was this short compared to other editions.
As for the people featured in fron of the camera back then, I already talked a bit about the hosts. Besides, they never really have difficulties in getting big name musicians to perform. In this department, females are even more scarce. With Waka Flocka Flame and Southside, they have two males again this time. Hip hop artists that have also won many awards in the past, but compared to some other really global superstars they managed to hire on other occasions, these two are probably among the lesser known music acts from the AVN Awards. They also did not do too much for me. Admittedly, also not my favorite music genre. Alright, what else can I add here. One of the best aspects for me was really that Riley Reid won so many awards, even if I was not too big on her outfit. Have liked her for quite a while and she is a cutie. Always has been, so good for her. Certainly not undeserving. What was up with this shade coming from another actress after Reid's final win? Was that comedy or serious? I am not sure. But if it was comedy, then it wwas not funny and if it was serious, then it was really not classy. Yes, the AVN Awards can be classy too. Should be. But I struggled with the comedy that night in general. The AVNs have done so much better on other occasions. Like the comedian host as not good (as I stated earlier), there was one presenter relatively early on who tried to make a joke and I don't think I have ever seen such poor delivery. It could have been the best joke in the world and nobody would have laughed the way she told it this moment. I almost felt bad for her. She should not even have tried. And then there were these segments including a guy, adult film actor, and there is joking about stuff like an insurance for adult film actresses and other things. Also this was not really particularly funny, although the delivery was not the problem there. The material was just poor. Okay, what else can I say? Like I said, the show was really short this time, so cannot come up with an endless amount of references here. One thing they still have (in my opinion) is that they simply nominated too many people in some of the categories. Definitely has a touch of quantity over quality and I do not really like it. Then the new female starlet really lost it and started crying so hard. I am not sure if it was just awkward and really heartfelt (then good for her!) or if she was acting all along. The big winner in the end was a porn parody for once again. This time Peter Pan. Surprised me a bit because I thought the age of porn parodies was over by 2016, but it was a bit of a comeback apparently. Like back in the day, a Pirates of the Caribbean spoof really celebrated a huge triumph. But well, I cannot say anything about the films in particular. Haven't seen them. I need to talk a bit about the guys now. Ron Jeremy was not there this time, even if this was before his legal troubles. Neither was Randy Spears, which I found a bit of a pity. Like the guy. But some familiar faces were here: Siffredi and St. Croix have been featured during many of these shows over the years. Both also took home awards that night, even if Siffredi as not featured as much as on other occasions. St. Croix, however, got some serious time in the spotlight, but it's kinda sad people have to mention in the end that he took home the supporting actor win because this category is not even featured during the broadcast. Oh well, with the new starlet it is also the same. This category is much more promoted in terms of the females, like as if it is almost the biggest category of the night. But this also displays how the time in teh industry for girls is much shorter than for guys. Just look at Mick Blue. He is considerably older than any of the female winners. Or Siffredi of course. He was in his early 50s back then. Mick Blue is by the way just an alias and he is an Austrian guy. Not too unusual for the European men winning the male key category. Happened many times before. Definitely more often than with the girls. They are mostly Americans. Okay, as for the jokes, did something stay in mind? Yes you don't say working one's ass of in the adult film industry I learned. Or at least not when the buttocks were not involved in what kind of sex they had that gave them the awards, especially not for the guys. Gay scenes are still a rarity here. Or actually not. Lesbians are almost always featured, homosexual men not at all though. Maybe still more of a taboo. In general, the show felt more tame than on other occasions. Hardly any nipples, let alone crotch shots. Cleavage of course, but that you also see elsewhere. Oh yes, one winner's butt apparently has her own area code. And yes, even Shakespeare's Hamlet can be part of an adult film awards show. Kinda brave haha. Alright, I think this is it then. Overall, even if it may not be entirely clear from my review, I did not enjoy particularly enjoy this show. Also felt that the amount of really stunning females this year (straight male, sorry can't help it) was rather low and Reid alone cannot make up for that. Also big thumbs-down for acting as if Stormy Daniels deserves any positive publicity. Boo to the guy mentioning her in the end. Massive thumbs-down to the outcome here. Highly not recommended and I am glad it was this short compared to other editions.