2010 AVN Awards Recap

The Oscars of the adult entertainment industry were held over the weekend (Jan 9, 2010) in Las Vegas in conjunction with the adult entertainment tradeshow, the Adult Entertainment Expo. While even the porn industry has suffered just as everyone else in dark economic times, proving that not even porn is recession proof, the AVN Awards are proof that while quantity has suffered quality has not.

In the two weeks prior to the AVN Awards every adult starlet could be found on Twitter talking about shopping and dress alterations as they prepared for the biggest event in adult entertainment. Meanwhile those who follow and report on the adult industry were wondering why James Bartholet's Best Non-Sex Performance was for Hustler's Not Happy Days XXX instead of X-Play's Flight Attendants.

Despite who was nominated for what, it was no surprise that comedian Thomas Ward won Best Non-Sex Performance for his portrayal of Cliff Huxtable in Not the Cosby's XXX from X-Play. Thomas Ward put forth a remarkable performance and when the trailer for the movie was released had a lot of people fooled briefly into thinking that Bill Cosby was actually in the movie. He's just that damn good.

X-Play took home a number of awards including Flight Attendants for Best Sex Comedy and Not the Cosby's XXX for Best Parody, an award that was shared with The Sex Files from New Sensations. While it's a bit disappointing that neither movie stuck out a bit more from the other, they are very much the yin and yang of x-rated parodies. Not the Cosby's XXX representing the humorous sitcoms and The Sex Files representing the more serious dramas. Both movies paid excellent homage to the original TV shows and Kimberly Kane did such a remarkable job as Scully that she won best actress for her role in The Sex Files.

In 2009 Will Ryder renewed the excitement for x-rated parodies with his own take on things. Gone are the days of cheesy porn parodies that have very little in common with the original movie other than a play on the title. Ryder went above and beyond the call of duty and made his own recreations of popular sitcoms. Paying close attention to casting and set design, Ryder and his partner in crime, Scott David, have put X-Play on the map by creating sitcom episodes that contain sex. All anyone has to do is watch Not the Cosby's XXX or Not Married with Children XXX to realize why he was named Director of the Year.

Speaking of Not Married with Children, Eric Swiss won the award of Best Actor for his portrayal of Al Bundy. Eric Swiss is Ed O'Neil's x-rated clone.

The big winner of the night though was the movie The 8^th Day from Adam and Eve with nine awards, including Best Feature. Adam and Eve has never quite been able to brand themselves with a movie but it looks as if they have succeeded with The 8^th Day. This is the first movie that director Ren Savant has made in about three years and it also stars the only Indian male porn star, Ameatabh Bachan, ironically in a non-sex role. Those two things alone make the movie stand out on the surface, but once you start watching it you soon realize that this is one of those movies that if you pulled out the sex it would do really well at the box office as a science fiction post-apocalyptic end of the world drama.

Derrick Pierce, a very talented and popular male star, finally got some recognition with the Unsung Male Performer of the Year Award. With this award AVN publicly recognized that Derrick doesn't get nearly the credit he deserves for his talent and contributions to the industry. Not only is he very talented and one of the most popular male stars, proving that women do watch porn, he also hosts The Friday Night Three-Way on Playboy Radio every week.

Next I want to talk about the Jenna Jameson Crossover Star of the Year Award. Originally this award was called The Crossover Star of the Year Award. The first year it was presented was 2006 to Jenna Jameson. She won again in 2007 causing the award to be renamed The Jenna Jameson Crossover Star of the Year. Stormy Daniels won in 2008 and the award was not presented in 2009. This year one of the biggest names in adult entertainment, Sasha Grey, has won it with good reason. She's going to be a tough act to follow in 2011. Sasha has done things her way from day one and at the age of 21 owns her own company, GreyArt. Ironically, the horrible treatment she received on Tyra Banks in 2007 after she entered the world of Adult Entertainment has done nothing but help her career. She is probably the most recognized starlet, even by those who don't watch porn, at the moment. Her mainstream work includes Steven Soderbergh's Girlfriend Experience, fashion modeling for American Apparel, and appearing on the Smashing Pumpkins album, Zietgeist, performances in music videos and her own independent music project. Her latest project, working with PETA in their new "To Much Sex Can be a Bad Thing" spay and neuter campaign, was unveiled at AEE over the weekend. Sasha Grey is really a force in the adult industry to be reckoned with.

Congratulations to all the AVN Winners! The full list of winners can be found on the AVN Awards website.