Kendo's lewd Christmas, a red Santa hat. A Christmas tree that sparkles during every sexual encounter.

This time, I don't need to repeat myself like a broken record (stuck in that vicious cycle) to introduce "Kendo's Merry Christmas." This brand-new piece (or you could put it anywhere) showcases the high-quality eroticism of this prolific British porn director, rather than his previous affected artistic attempts. Ironically, it's more artistic than his dozens of miscalculated and pretentious works of art. The master's technique reminded me of how great jazz improvisers handled classical pieces, such as Dexter Gordon—a true exemplar. Many 1930s and 40s musicals, movie themes, or folk songs were rendered with a soft yet masculine quality by "Long Tall Dex," making listening to him live in a jazz club a unique experience. Kendo has abandoned the sentimentality of Christmas, replacing it not only with the expected eroticism but also with contrasting, atmospheric embellishments. How audacious! After a period of silence (in a time when the adult film industry is struggling), this media group has revived some new releases, but this time it's incredibly sloppy—the opening credits are missing, and the closing credits are wrong. The cast and crew list for Kendo's daring film, *Explicit Milf*, appears on the screen, but I found the correct list on the portable DVD case. The cast is almost entirely newcomers, with the sexy newcomers Amirah Adara and Carla Cox being the most outstanding. They are languid and alluring, not the typical large-breasted women of British adult films, and both wear Christmas-themed costumes, including red Santa hats. Every sex scene is filmed against a backdrop of a twinkling Christmas tree, and the film is permeated with a melancholic midnight atmosphere. The soundtrack is equally somber, and in a minor key. Is Kendo trying to convey the message that Christmas is not only a joyous holiday, but also a time for tragic suicide? No, but he did manage to rid this clichéd Christmas-themed entertainment of overly sweet sentimentality, and overall I was quite satisfied. (Even the piano rendition of "God Bless the Gentlemen" is in a minor key.) Filmed in Budapest (there are some transitional shots, but all scenes take place in warm, safe indoor settings), it's a fine film, and hopefully this won't be Ken's last.