Michael Ninn's paean to a simpler era comes across like a '50s/'60s wet dream with its neon and its pastel furniture, and it's populated by a collection of hot porn gals — Kylie Ireland, Shayla LaVeaux, Jill Kelly — who fit the look perfectly. The film's recurrent songs — one a send-up of You Don't Own Me—tie in beautifully with several themes of the times, like the rise of feminism, teen commercialism — and guys 'n' gals fucking everywhere.

Like most of Ninn's work, one watches it as much for the ambiance as for the sex, and frankly, the former outweighs the latter here, but not by much. Every time you're tempted to fast forward to some explicit action your eye catches some beautifully composed tableau (often entirely computer-generated; even some of the neon), your finger slips off the FF button and you sit back, transfixed. This is not your basic jackoff flick, so don't expect anything plebeian. Frankly, at four A's, we think the original video reviewer underrated Cashmere, even though he did nominate it for direction, videography, editing, special effects and art direction. Those are all well deserved, and we'd add a Best Music nom as well.

The disc also features seven animated "jump to scene" buttons, an extensive commentary track with Ninn and Ireland, a photo gallery with a dozen behind-the-scenes shots, a "slow jams" section, with buttons that'll take you right to the musical numbers, interviews with Kylie, Vicca and Nikita (plus a button to take you directly to that star's hottest scene), plus ads for VCA's Internet service and trailers for other VCA titles.

Bottom line; This is one fine package that demonstrates just about everything of which the higher end of porn is capable. If you carry DVD at all, this is a must-stock item.

Although it's only February, it's unlikely there will be a more visually spectacular couples vid released all year than Cashmere.  And no wonder.  It's the latest jaw-dropping effort from award-winning director Michael Ninn (Sex, Latex, Shock, New Wave Hookers 5), arguably porn's supreme stylist and a virtual future lock for the AVN Hall of Fame.

Not to imply that Ninn is concerned only with the look of Cashmere, an homage to the youth culture of the early, pre-Beatles 1960s (it's awash in pink both literally and sexually)  Far from it. For smack dab in the middle of all that nomination-worthy direction, videography, editing, special effects and art direction is, as always the case in a Ninn vid, some pretty damn hot sex.

Cashmere is a bittersweet remembrance of an off-screen male narrator's fixation on girl group lead singer Penny Lane (Kyle Ireland). When she's not belting out saccharine songs of true love and broken hearts, Ireland spends much of her time warbling into a different kind of microphone entirely; namely the stiff, fleshy type.  That goes for the rest of the first-rage cast of VCA regulars too.

While each of the tape's seven sex scenes takes its time in heating up, all save one or two are worth the wait.

Those that are, include the opener in which a very-blond, leather-jacketed Ireland stares down the camera with a smoldering intensity as she sucks dick outside a neon-drenched drive-in.  Jill Kelly later matches Ireland smolder for smolder as she takes Eric Price deep in her ass, but ups the ante with a steady stream of dirty talk to boot(y).

Scene three finds Ireland frigging herself while watching Jeanna Fine and Anna Malle (as a pair of deliciously wicked, lingerie-clad nuns) take on Randy Spears, who eventually blows all over Ireland's comely countenance.

But the most scalding moments come in a hardware-enhanced gash-a-thon in which Ireland, Kelly, Shayla LeVeaux and RayVeness ravage each other's cunts and bums with a goodly portion of the Doc Johnson catalog.  While pre-sexual-revolution American may indeed have been repressed, it's anything but in Ninn's splendid revisionist vision.