Title: The Catalyst Studio: Ninn Worx Director: Lorraine Sisco Cast: Adriana Sage, Daisy Marie, Jassie, Kimberly Kane, Faith Leon, Britney Manson, Marie Luv, Emily Marilyn Genres:: All Girl (Lesbian), Blondes, Blowjobs, Fantasy Condoms: Sometimes Reviewer: SexHerald Staff

Rating:

Interviews with Micheal Ninn, founder of Ninn Worx, over-emphasize the fact that he does not work out of porn valley, that he’s won over 70 AVN awards and that he was never a porn actor, he just simply knew he could do it better than everyone else. The website for Ninn Worx makes larger claims that this reviewer was unable to verify. Statements like: “such highly respected mainstreamers as Martin Scorsese and Drew Carey have said publicly that they admire Ninn's work” or the suggestion that Ninn “invented” stars looking into the camera whilst performing fellatio – the B.J. Eyes.

It seems that Micheal Ninn holds the other directors of Ninn Worx to very high standards. In an AVN article reproduced on the front page of his site, he claims: "We are going to develop a thing called 'artcore.' We're going to develop the smaller picture to be watchable too, and not to put style over substance, but to make style important to what we do."

Watching The Catalyst, one could assume director Lorraine Sisco sat down with Ninn Worx producers and displayed a series of fashion magazine clippings and threw out some buzz-phrases like “power-struggle” or “black and white.” The check was written for makeup artists, stylists and wardrobe, stars cast and The Catalyst was underway.

The ladies of The Catalyst are all beautiful, and are all given a special amount of attention to make them the stars. In the opening scene, Kimberly Kane enacts sex as a power stuggle between two people while in a specially designed black latex dress and matching collar. Her eyelashes extended like wings from her smoky eyes, her hair is cloned from a recent issue of Vogue. She has sex in the afternoon daylight, culminating in a nice, right-on-the-vagina money shot.

The scene with Marie Luv and Jassie comes fourth in the five scene line-up. Luv spends the entire scene pouring a white liquid over her dark toned skin while lounging in a bathtub. Jassie is lead into the scene on a leash, in bondage gear, complete with an equestrian-sized bit. The use of color is sparse, the only deviations from the purely black and white scene are the star’s lipstick and the red wood flooring.

It’s all very pretty, and the premise on the back of the packaging promising to “explore our sexual desires and not our realities” looks like it is being fulfilled. However, you may have noticed that this review has yet to mention the actual sex.

The one problem with The Catalyst is that the sex takes a back seat to the style. Each scene starts with a brief hyper-stylized montage for around two minutes. Then, abruptly, the music drops low and the sex begins. After such an audio visual build-up I was expecting some mind-blowing sex. Instead, I received sub-par sex noises, predictable positions and stars too worried about their costumes and makeup to get down.

Originally, when I heard Ninn’s coinage of “artcore,” I thought that he could have just as easily subbed in the word “erotica.” After watching The Catalyst, I understood the difference. Striving to create stylized porn while competing with much more arousing fare made by more established studios is difficult and worthy of a hybrid between art and hardcore. Sadly, The Catalyst falls short on the hardcore portion.