XX Factor's Hard Choice Award Winners Announced

PHOENIX — The winners of the 14th Annual Hard Choice Awards, granted by XX Factor e-zine movie reviewer Onan the Vulgarian, have been announced.

Unlike other adult industry awards, the Hard Choice Awards are accompanied by little fanfare - there are no statuettes, no ceremony, no presenters prancing about on stage - but everyone still hopes to receive Onan's nod.

In revealing the awards, which are granted annually to the movies Onan believes represent the best efforts of the previous year, the Vulgarian compared 2007 to a tortoise: "slow and steady wins the race."

"In a time when pundits warn of the demise of DVDs, producer-director Chris Ward and co-director Ben Leon had the cojones to mastermind a six-disc, 20-hour sexual marathon called Grunts, and to sell it for over $100," he wrote. "It simply blew everyone out of the water. Not only was it good, it was very, very good - and it sold like hotcakes. Grunts is now the War and Peace (War and Piece?) of gay porn, and it's the line drawn in the sand for those who say the DVD is dead."

For the first time, a Hard Choice Award was presented to a Web-based studio.

Without further ado, the winners:

Performer of the Year
Jesse Santana
Runners-up: Steve Cruz, Vinnie D'Angelo, Tory Mason, Lucio Maverick

Best Film - USA
Grunts, Raging Stallion Studios
Runners-up: Communion, Hot House Entertainment; Fear, Titan Media; The Intern and Gigolo, Lucas Entertainment

Best Film - Foreign
El Rancho, Kristen Bjorn Productions
Runners-up: The Crave, Tom Bradford Presents; Night Eyes, Bubble B Entertainment; Splash, Studio 2000; Summer Cruising, AYOR Studios

Best Director - USA
Chris Ward and Ben Leon, Grunts, Raging Stallion Studios
Runners-up: Tony Dimarco, The Intern and Gigolo, Lucas Entertainment; Brian Mills, Fear, Titan Media; Steven Scarborough, Communion and White Heat: Trunks 4, Hot House Video

Best Director - Foreign
Kristen Bjorn, El Rancho, Kristen Bjorn Productions
Runners-up: Tom Bradford, Here Cums the Bridegroom, Private Man, and The Crave, Tom Bradford Presents; Lucas Kazan, The Men I Wanted, Lucas Kazan Productions; Danny Ray, Hot Property, High Octane Productions

Best Director - Web
Bryan Ockert, ChaosMen.com

Best Screenplay
Tony Dimarco, The Intern and Gigolo, Lucas Entertainment
Runners-up: John Bruno, Line-Up, Mustang Studios; Marco Guerra, Punks, FPG Entertainment

Best Actor - USA
Braxton Bond, Dare, Falcon Studios
Runners-up: Buck Angel, Buckback Mountain, Buck Angel Entertainment; Jake Deckard, Grunts, Raging Stallion Studios; Jason Ridge, My Virtual Jr. Daddy, Virtual Male; Ricky Sinz, Grunts, Raging Stallion Studios

Best Actor - Foreign
Flavio Valentino, Bodyguards, Olympus Studio
Runners-up: Drago Lembeck, One Track Mind, Private Man; Dean Monroe, Rich Kid, Private Man; Glen Santoro, Here Cums the Bridegroom, Private Man; Samuel Dolce, The Men I Wanted, Lucas Kazan Productions

Best Supporting Actor
Christian Cruz, The Intern, Lucas Entertainment
Runners-up: Jan Fischer, Brotherhood, Buckshot Productions; Jesse Santana, The Stone Age, EON Films; Chuck Scott, Depraved, Channel 1 Releasing; Ray Star, Gigolo, Lucas Entertainment

Best Non-sexual Performance
Ryan Block, Hungry 4 Sex 2, Gino Pictures
Hon. Mention: Spencer Quest, Gigolo, Lucas Entertainment

Best Videography
Hunger, Black Scorpion Video
Runners-up: Communion, Hot House Video; El Rancho, Kristen Bjorn Productions; Gigolo, Lucas Entertainment; H2O, Titan Media

Best Film Editing
Edge Series #1, ChaosMen.com
Hon. Mention: Grunts, Raging Stallion Studios

Best Art Direction
H2O, Titan Media
Hon. Mention: The Crave, Tom Bradford Presents

Most Passionate Sex
Gage Weston and Mitch Branson, Hawai'i, COLT Studio
Hon. Mention: Buck Angel and Lobo, Buckback Mountain, Buck Angel Entertainment

The Year's Best Sex
Carmello and Kidd, Steel Curtain, Pitbull Productions
Adam Cooper and Race, A(dam) to Z(ack), ChaosMen.com
Dean Monroe and Brian Bodine, Cock Shots, Studio 2000
Jesse Santana and Tyler Saint, Fraternity Gangbang 2, Jet Set Men
Kadu Meyer and Pedro Lamasta, Friends & Lovers, U.S. Male
Eric Hung and Robert Van Damme, Hungry for Sex 2, Gino Pictures
Ray Star and Todd Welch, Welcome to Paradise, Lucas Entertainment
Remy Delaine and Roman Ragazzi, Tailpipes, Raging Stallion Studios
Roman Ragazzi and Barrett Long, Playback, Raging Stallion Studios
Sancho Sun and Richard West, Night Eyes, Bubble B Entertainment

Best Sex for 3 or More
Mason Wyler, CJ Madison and Roman Ragazzi, Miami, Collin O'Neal's World of Men
The fuck orgy in Mirage, Raging Stallion Studios
Robert Van Damme, Josh Weston and Brad Rock, The Muscle Pit, Big Blue Productions
Marc Williams, Zen and Rodney, Marc's Hawaiian Dreams, BlackMen.Net
Jake Dakota, Andrew Justice and Tyler Saint, Vanished, Mustang Studios
Nick Piston, Jay Armstrong and Vinnie D'Angelo, Full Throttle, Hot House Video
Arpad Miklos, Cole Ryder and Steve Cruz, When Bears Attack, Channel 1 Releasing
Vinnie D'Angelo, Matt Cole and Steve Cruz, Communion, Hot House Video
Dean Flynn, Francois Sagat, Brody Newport, Diesel Washington and C.J. Madison, Fear, Titan Media
Flavio Valentino, Kane O'Farrell, Alfredo and Renato Belaggio, Bodyguards, Olympus Studio

Best Solo
Ricky Sinz, Grunts, Raging Stallion Studios
Runners-up: Tommy Blade, Forbidden Dreams, Raging Stallion Studios; Tom Chase, Minute Man 29: Built, COLT Studio; Drago Lembeck, One Track Mind, Private Man; Brad Star, Please Don't Tell, HIS Video

Best Oral Sex
Shane Leblanc and Jeremy Hall, Vancouver Nights, Fierce Dog
Runners-up: Muzzafar and Jalal Aldin, Arabian Tales 2, Alexander Pictures; Jeremy Hall and Victor Banda, H2O, Titan Media; Roman Heart and Tony Martin, Ivy League, Falcon Studios; Joey Amis sucks everyone in sight, Mating Season, Bel Ami
(Corollary: Best Ball Sucking: Proven Straight, Jet Set Men)

Best Rimming
Ray Star and Todd Welch, Auditions 18: Florida, Lucas Entertainment
Hon. Mention: Tory Mason, Jan Fischer and Emilio Sands, In His Dreams, Rascal Video

Best Daddy-Boy Sex

Arpad Miklos and Zack Randall, Gigolo, Lucas Entertainment
Hon. Mention: Roman Heart and Chase Hunter, Basic Plumbing 3, Falcon Studios

Best Butt Parade
Grunts, Raging Stallion Studios (Furry)
Beach House Diaries, Men of Odyssey (Smooth)

Most Fuckable Boy in the World
Kidd
Hon. Mention: Troy Allen

Best Music
Dardo, Hunger, Black Scorpion Video
Runners-up: Jer Ber Jones and Dudley Saunders, Buckback Mountain, Buck Angel Entertainment; JD Slater, Erotikus, Centurion Pictures XXX; Rock Hard, Hawai'i, COLT Studio
(Corollary: Best Sound Effects: The Crave, Tom Bradford Presents)

Having a Blast! (Cumshot)
The cast of Splash, Studio 2000
Hon. Mention: Mario McCabe, who climaxes every two minutes in Uncut Cock Pool Party, Lucas Entertainment

Best New Kids on the Block

Performer: Steve Cruz
Director: Jake Deckard
Studio: FPG Entertainment

Rub Me the Right Way
Kurt Koenig and Tom Engelhoff, "Not for Sale," Why the Wooden Indian Wouldn't, Athletic Model Guild

Best Mind Fuck

Tyler Cane and Kai Grant, Campus Pizza, Titan Media

Best Classic DVD
The Idol, Bijou Video

Savage Humor Award
The "Michael Lucas Found Dead" publicity campaign for Gigolo

Cleverest Title
In Tents Orgasm, Euroboy XXX

Onan's Pantheon of Michelangelo Bodies
Blu Kennedy, Alexy Tyler

Deepest Throat
Milan Gamiani

Best Buns
Carlos (a.k.a. Oleg Tarkowski, Karel Rok, Cole Powers, Karel Kohlicek)

Best Chest
Dean Flynn

Hottest Man on the Planet
Roman Ragazzi

Chance Erotic Moment
Guy Parker's gymnastics fantasy, Bottom of the 9th: Little Big League III, All Worlds Video

Immor(t)al Dialogue
Christian Cruz to Ben Andrews, who is about to get his first blow job: "Don't worry, I've done this before." - The Intern, Lucas Entertainment

Best Credits

Ranger, Mustang Studios