Tinseltown (Vinegar Syndrome's Blu-Ray Review)

Is Tinseltown Treasure or Trash?

Blu-ray Distributed By Vinegar Syndrome / February 26, 2019

Mary Jo Harmon is a small town country girl who dreams of moving to Hollywood to pursue her ambition of becoming a famous movie star. But no sooner than arriving, her fantasies of glitz and glamour begin to get chipped away, as she learns that all of the things she’s heard about LA’s sleazy casting couches, lecherous producers, and perverted parties are…absolutely true! Will Mary Jo ever be able to fulfill her dream, as the world around her turns into an ever greater orgy of disappointment?

Director Carter Stevens’ (Rollerbabies) only West Coast shot film, TINSELTOWN stars Tawny Pearl (Taboo), Eric Edwards, Rhonda Jo Petty (Little Orphan Dusty), Randy West, Pat Manning, Mike Ranger, Jennifer West, David Morris and Jake Teague, along with a memorable supporting performance from William Margold as grizzled talent agent, Morty Green. Nearly impossible to see following its brief VHS release in the early 80s, Vinegar Syndrome brings TINSELTOWN to Blu-ray newly restored from its 35mm negative and featuring an all new commentary track with director Carter Stevens!

Jamie’s Take (2 / 5)

“Who do you think I am?!?”

“A whore, what else?”

This witty bit of dialog that made me bust out laughing is one of the few moments in Tinseltown that I enjoyed. As I have said before I like my smut bizarre and goofy and while Tinseltown does have a few chuckles and some great Hollywood time capsule moments, this adult film is pretty much a run of the mill fuck fest.

Carter Stevens (a legend of his own, having directed over 80 adult films including Legend of the Rope Masters and Rambone) wrote and directed this humorous tale of a mid-west gal (played by Danielle Raye who looks about as dumb as the character she plays) Mary Jo who tells her boyfriend after they get done making magic that she is going to Hollywood to become a star. She gets to California and after enjoying the sights, sets out to find an agent who can get her some gigs. She meets the sleazy Morty Green (played by William Margold who steals every scene he is in) who gets her acting gigs…but she needs to work her way up to the top if you know what I mean…and before you can say “casting couch” Mary Jo is up to her chin with balls as she gets motherfucked in almost every scene.

The film does shifts focus on two other women who also long to be stars / actresses (Tawny Pearl and Ashley Brooks) and while they may be better looking than sleepy eyed Mary Jo, their story line is never fleshed out…what the fuck am I doing? Fleshed out? This is an adult film and everyone makes fuckings, the hell am I thinking of? This is why I am maybe the wrong guy to watch these as I got more of a kick of seeing old school Hollywood and laughing at pratfalls and silly one-liners than the actual sex. I even had to rewind the film a few times as I caught myself falling asleep as I was simply bored whenever the sex started.

But if you like your fucking with hair or seeing some massive hog spitting out boner boogers in slow motion or two women going to town on a pulled apart vagina that looks like a cross between ham, chewing gum and the Sarlac Pit from Return of the Jedi…well you may like Tinseltown. There is a lot of actors in this and so you do get to see a lot of different butts, boobs and boners. I guess that’s good, right? If I had to pick my favorite sex scene, I admit I laughed a little when an actress was getting her hair done by a hairdresser as some guy was between her legs, licking up that vent like a thirsty dog.

Vinegar Syndrome once again provides a solid, gorgeous transfer with little to no print damage and bright colors that explode…I mean pop…I mean look pretty damn nice on the HD TV. Even better is that not only do you get a trailer (sorry youtube doesn’t offer adult film trailers for me to provide to you pervs) but the movie comes with an audio commentary by Stevens himself. These commentary tracks are almost always worth the purchase of the blu ray itself as they are some of the most interesting audio commentaries around, always offering blunt and honest look at the adult film industry and movie making in general.

With the Oscars right around the corner, what better way to celebrate movies by seeing a bunch of wanna be actresses making it…big. Hooray for Hollywood!

Jamie says: One’s Trash is Another’s Treasure.