| Review:
(Note: Since our latest review they knocked the
price back down $10 to $29.95 monthly. All the more reason to join.-Eds.)
AUGUST 2006 RE-VISIT
Wow. It's been over three years since we last visited
this site. What--aside from the name change from Explicite to Explicite-Art--has
been going on?
Well, the important thing to say is that this is
another one of those really good sites that has maintained its edge.
That's not so easy to do. The way the Internet is these days, standing
still is not an option. You have to be constantly re-designing your
members area and upgrading the quality of your content. And this takes a
lot of time, talent, and money. So when we go to a site that's been
around for a while and see that it's just as good, relative to the
competition, as it ever was, we appreciate the effort that's being made.
Most of our original comments still stand. This site
showcases the work of French photographer John B. Root. Though it's set
up like a lot of the other erotic art/photography sites, it's actually
quite a bit more explicit (hence the name). You will see a lot of
hardcore action here: double penetrations, blowjobs, toy-play, peeing,
anal, and other stuff. But it's still very nicely produced. Sort of the
best of both worlds: high art and gonzo. When we visited this time they
were up to 47,420 photos and 728 videos. A new update is added six days
a week. The site layout is bright and friendly and we had no trouble
finding the stuff we were looking for. They've also added a new rating
system with coloured penis positions ranging from pointing down (bad) to
pointing up (great). It's a small thing, but it caught our eye and made
us smile.
But on to what you really care about. The picture size
seems to be the same: a 600x400 small size (with zoom function), and
1800x1200. Looking back at our original review we can see where we
thought 1800x1200 was maybe getting too big. Of course now there are a
number of sites that offer 4000 and 5000 pixel pics. But to be honest we
don't really groove to pictures that big. It's not like you're gaining
that much. And, depending on what you have your screen display set at,
who wants to have to scroll around the page just to see everything?
As for the videos, there is now an excellent range of choices for
downloads. The new stuff being added is all high-resolution, and the
older stuff is in the process of being upgraded. The formats are:
- Mpg1 (640/480 px, 1600 Kbps)
- Div X (720/576 px, 2000 Kbps)
- Quick-time (H254, 720/576 px, 2000 Kbps)
- Wmv (400/300 px, 500 Kbps)
- Ipod (320/240 px, 300 Kbps, Mp4, PSP compatible)
All
this
is
really
good.
The
only
gripe
we
had
this
time
out
was
that
they
knocked
the
price
up
almost
$10.
So
this
is
now
a
pretty
expensive
site.
But
given
the
amount
of
content,
the
quality
of
the
content,
and
how
well
run
it
is,
we
thought
it
was
worth
it.
Root's
hardcore
just
looks
better
than
almost
any
other
hardcore
you're
going
to
see
on
the
Internet.
And
the
girls
(debutantes)
have
a
quality
and
character
that's
hard
to
define.
They're
professional
but
not
glam,
natural
but
not
amateur.
Maybe
that's
something
that
Root
is
creating
as
much
as
bringing
out,
but
whatever
it
is
it
works.
MAY 2003 REVIEW
Explicite.com is the official site of French erotic
photographer/pornographer (is there a difference?) John B. Root. If his
name doesn't sound French, that's because it's not his real name. You
can read a lot more about him--and by him, if you know French--in
the personal section of the site. One thing struck us: This guy seems to
be a real team player. It was nice how much time he spent talking
about the people he works with, including his musicians and models. Not
a lot of ego, which is strange in this business.
As the main entry page attests, this is "a site crowned by the
critics." The reviews have been quite positive (you can browse them
below). And this is deserved. Explicite is a high-end studio site with a
good design, loads of exclusive content (also some borrowed from Sexy-Babes.tv), and very high quality work. The
pics come in two sizes, 600x400 and a nice 1800x1200.
You can browse through the low res images (which are still pretty good)
and use a "zoom" function to blow them up to supersize.
And the big photos are truly huge. Almost, we thought, a little too big.
After a certain point the wallpaper-plus effect seems almost
counterproductive. But this is only a meditative point on whether you
can really have too much of a good thing.
Root is a well-known filmmaker (at least in France, where you can
watch porn, apparently, on TV), and there is a big section of "Les
Films." (That doesn't mean lesbo films, by the way, but "the
movies.") The catch with these movies is that they can only be
viewed as streams. No downloads. This is because they are real movies,
not just behind-the-scenes studio stuff. So it's not such a bad thing
(unless you don't have highspeed, in which case you won't be getting
nearly as much out of this site). The movies are in French, but when was
the last time you listened to porn with the sound on anyway? And this is
Root's complete oeuvre (this language thing is contagious), so he isn't
holding anything back. It's sure a lot more than Andrew
Blake is offering.
The photo sections are split into Debutantes, Hardcore, and Attic
(the stuff that's not considered ready for Prime Time). The models are
better than average, but are definitely something a little different
than American pornstars. A little less glamorous, more natural, and
younger (we hear that's a French thing). Those of you who follow the
Europorn scene will probably recognize some names, like Ally Mac Tyana. Very nice. There are also video clips that can be
downloaded to go with most of the picture sets.
Site design is pretty clean and easy, with some nice little touches
like a site search function, slideshow browsing (to keep one hand free),
and even a rating system. A few little gripes: The classification scheme didn't
make much sense to us. Hardcore sets are in the Debutante area, while
some plain solo galleries are in with the Hardcore. Our suggestion: Just
stick with a model directory. Also the English text isn't always very
good. For a site as professional and upscale looking as this, it's
always a bit disconcerting to find so many mis-spellings and grammatical
errors. As if that ever stopped a porn surfer from having a good time.
For some reason the more artistic photographers who will do
hardcore--think of names like Andrew Blake, Suze Randall, etc.--always
seem to be missing a little of the intensity, heat, moistness, or
whatever that seems (unfortunately) to be the preserve of the gonzo
smutmasters. Root's hardcore isn't overly formal, but it does seem a
little cold at times. The lesbian sets definitely seem to come
out the best.
But these are just the usual quibbles. This is a very big, very
attractive site, offering, when we visited, nearly 20,000 photos and
330 videos. The site tour offers a very full and up front preview of
what you get. Substantial updates are occurring every couple of days. The
price is high end, but there is a lot of quality content being
delivered. There's little that we would
call fetish, but it is definitely hardcore and . . . explicite.
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