2009 AVN Award Winners

January 9^th through January 11^th the Adult Entertainment Expo was held in Las Vegas this year. As part of the weekend festivities the 2009 AVN Awards were given out. This is the big red carpet event of the adult industry. Winning an AVN is the equivalent to winning an Oscar or Golden Globe.

I remember many years back when I first learned about the AVN awards. I laughed. It struck me as funny that awards would be given out for sexual performances. Since I have started reviewing movies, I have to take back that laughter. I have learned a lot about the adult industry and I have come to realize that there are a lot of adult actors and actresses out there who could easily make their way in mainstream Hollywood movies, but choose not to. Many of these stars, like Sasha Grey, have been given more than small parts in major movies. While there is still something taboo about those in the adult industry, the performers are starting to get the recognition they deserve and adult entertainment is starting to become respected as a legitimate form of entertainment.

Today I emailed two of my favorite directors congratulating them on their wins. There is third director that I wish I had been able to congratulate but, sadly, it wasn't to be. I know he is happy just to have been nominated. That in itself is a big deal. When you consider that there are over 1500 adult movies released in any given month, being singled out of thousands of the years releases as one of the best is an honor.

Digital Playgrounds Pirates II: Stagnetti's Revenge, the movie that currently holds the record for most money spent on an adult feature, walked away with a total of 15 AVN awards out of the 30 it was nominated for including Best Actor (Evan Stone), Best Director - Feature (Joone), Best Video Feature, Best Supporting Actor (Ben English), Best Supporting Actress (Belladonna), Best Special Effects and Best Screenplay. That is really an impressive feat, especially when multiple actors and actresses were up for the same award for the movie. There was no way the movie could earn all 30 awards it was nominated for.

The other big winner was Brad Armstrong's movie Fallen. Brad Armstrong has been under contract with Wicked Pictures for a number of years and late last summer he officially released his 100^th movie for Wicked. Fallen won four awards, which seems like nothing next to Pirates II, but when you consider that Fallen was up against Pirates in almost every category it was in, it is no surprise that the second largest award winning movie of the year only took home four awards.

That is no reflection on Brad Armstrong though. He has a special gift for storytelling that won him one of the biggest sought after awards, Director of the Year.

Not Bewitched XXX, an x-rated parody of Bewitched took home a number of awards as well. Porn veteran Nina Hartley received the award for Best Non-Sex Performance, fan favorite Teagan took home an award for Best Solo Performance and director Will Ryder earned himself an award when Not Bewitched XXX was named Best Sex Comedy. I was sure that Not Bewitched XXX would be up for an award as soon as I watched it. I was also sure that his Not the Brady's XXX sequel Not the Brady's XXX: Marcia, Marcia, Marcia would be nominated for the same award, but it wasn't. Will Ryder always takes special care with his parodies to keep them as true to the original as possible right down to time period specific props.

Congratulations to all the winners, and for those that want to view the entire list of 127 winners, check out the AVN website.