Damon & Hunter Sells Out!
Melbourne, Australia — Despite unseasonably cold weather and a steady rain, an overflow crowd turned out for last night’s world premiere of Damon and Hunter: Doing it Together at the 2006 Melbourne Underground Film Festival, (MUFF).
It was the sort of night when most Melbourners choose to stay home and watch the tube, but that didn’t stop an overflow crowd from showing up for the unveiling of Tony Comstock’s latest erotic effort, Damon and Hunter: Doing it Together . Late arrivals struggled to pack themselves into the Glitch lounge as the crowd waited expectantly for doors to the theater to open. Once they did, it quickly became clear that folding chairs in the aisle weren’t going to provide enough seats. As the first screening started, hasty arrangements were made for another screening which started in a second theater 15 minutes later.
“Showing sexually explicit films publicly is strictly forbidden in Australia,” noted director Tony Comstock, “so it’s incredibly flattering that MUFF and Glitch would take a chance on showing this film. As much as it is a celebration of sex and love, the public exhibition of Damon and Hunter is an act of defiance, a challenge to the status quo, a pointed question – why is the depiction of joyous, passionate, carnal love treated like a crime?”
In a world where it seems the only way “serious films” address sex is by having one or more of the lovers die or get cholera or consumption, “Doing it Together” dares to show sex as pure joy, where the only consequences are good. In the whole range of emotions a director might hope to incite in his audience, arousal remains the last taboo – a taboo Tony Comstock’s films gleefully break.
“It’s my sincerest hope that last night, in that darkened theater in Melbourne, people were getting turned on by Damon and Hunter. I hope jeans were getting stretched tight by hard cocks; I hope panties were being dampened by wet pussies. I hope people had smiles on their faces as they thought about how wonderful it feels to love and be loved.”
The much ballyhooed “Free Lube!” promotion threatened to become an embarrassment when it was realized that supplies of Eros Bodyglide 30ml bottles were insufficient to provide for the overflow crowd. In the end one-per-person became one-per-couple, and a minor crisis was averted.
“I’ve always thought my films would make a great appetizer for a couple before they made a main course out of each other, ” said Comstock. “I’m glad that so many people came to see this film with someone they love!”
July 14th, 2006 at 4:13 am
Congratulations TC and Peggy, the premiere was a great success! The Glitch Bar lounge was abuzz with a sense of anticipation as the crowd milled around chatting and drinking before making a rush for the cinema entrance when it was announced that Damon and Hunter would be commencing.
As you noted, there were indeed too many people for one session so another in the adjacent cinema was hastily convened – thanks to the quick thinking Eugene!
The film looked amazing on the big screen, lush and clear and bright where it needed to be and soft and warm where it counted. Those two handsome boys had the audience charmed within a few moments and kept them that way- there was laughing in all the right places, and lots of nodding in agreement when Damon or Hunter touched on a topic that struck a chord. And there were plenty of those moments – somehow I’d forgotten how quietly humorous and sympathetic they are as a couple. One gent I chatted with called Damon and Hunter “endearing” and the film “uplifting, easy to watch and very erotic. (People said a lot of very nice things – I’ll put that in my blog report
)
To be honest I was a tiny bit anxious about how people would respond to the explicitness. Would they be shocked and if they were what would happen then? Other than my own rather naïve surprise and delight at just how big everything looks on a cinema screen no one seemed shocked at the lack of coy angles or fades to black. I haven’t been amongst a crowd watching sex happening on a big screen before but oddly it felt just fine, more than fine – there was that weird magic when a group of people becomes an audience sharing a common experience and it felt quite natural and right to be watching those two men do their thing.
It was a wonderful night, one at which I was completely honoured and delighted to be representing and caretaking your lovely film.
Ell
July 15th, 2006 at 5:54 pm
Yes, yes, yes echoing Ells comment. A wonderful night and disarmingly delightful crowd of people . We ended up i the overflow room- which was as intimate as a gaggle of friends in a loungeroom on big soft sofas. Really good response by all and stimulated much converstaion around eroticism, film, porn, real couples versus directed sex. aNd hard cocks and wet pussies? Well I can at least account for one lot, and have no doubt there were many more
July 20th, 2006 at 5:22 am
How fortunate that MUFF’s Eugene was quick enough on his feet to get that second screen organized! There’s nothing quite like being in the dark with a bunch of strangers and feeling the room become one as it watches a flick. I would have felt terrible if you had missed your chance to see the film as a part of an audience, Sabine!
And I am, of course, delighted by the damp panties, most especially yours!