Critique Page for Amazon Supermodels #2

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Amazon Supermodels #2, by BuiltMore Productions; copyright © 1992, W.I.G. Limited.
Reviewed June 10, 1997.
Review revised July 7, 1997.

          This is another review which was long in coming; it covers a videotape first released in 1992, but which hadn't had the exposure to be seen in a wide, public forum; as a consequence, there had been no published critique on it up to this writing.

          For those who came in late, BuiltMore Productions had been around for years, but gained Internet exposure in 1996. The company now has its own Web site, http://www.builtmore.com.
          B.M.P. deals almost exclusively in special-interest videotapes, including amazon warrior tapes, comic book heroine type adventures, women weightlifter/bodybuilder tapes, and the line that really interests me, the Amazon Supermodels series, which focuses on the allure of very tall women. "Special-interest" may not be very accurate in regard to the Amazon Supermodels tapes, as a love of tall women is mainstream; look at the best-known fashion models (and actresses) -- among them are Elle MacPherson, Jerri Hall, Alana Stewart, and Stephanie Seymour, all 6 feet tall [correction -- Seymour is 5'10"], and Rachel Williams and Julie Strain, both 6'1". Numerous lesser-known models are 5'11" and 5'10". With these tapes B.M.P. simply pushes the envelope in this regard, presenting models no less than 6'0" tall, with no higher limit -- testimony to the fact that a woman can be very tall, and no less beautiful than her more compact sisters.

          There are some wonderful videotapes in this series, and some not quite so good. The producers have experimented with different camera techniques and special effects, some pretty neat, some so-so, and others that suck. ASM #2 was made without the defined structure of later tapes, nor with their experimentation/innovation.

          BuiltMore Productions' tapes are made on a low budget, since it's a small outfit without the capital outlay of a large corporation. But, as did the Japanese for so long with their limited resources, B.M.P. does what it can with what it has.

          Listed in the opening credits are Producer Jim Woodard (owner of the "Amazons Arena" BBS and Web site); Executive Producer Nersi Navab (who did MOST of the work -- by the way, note the earlier spelling of his name); and Director Samuel M. Oldham (who did the REST of the work).

          And now, the women:

          First up is tape footage from "The Montel Williams Show." While the executive producer considers Cheryl Baldinger, a model seen later in this tape, to be the star (without whom the tape may never have been made), the final result makes the "Montel Williams" excerpts appear to be the true star. That was not the producers' real intent, and use of copyrighted TV material may appear an ethical gray area, but I'm told by this producer that permission was granted to use excerpts of the show for promotional purposes, with the stipulation that they not be used on television. I learned that here as with later talk shows the video producers found most of the women and arranged for them to appear on the show.
          This installment of "The Montel Williams Show" deals with the allure of very tall women, and shorter men's attraction to them. The show features 6'9" Connie Waikle, 6'3" Bunny Glamazon, 6'2" Veronica Lyday, and 6'2" Diana Meier. As a member of the audience invited for comments, Sam Oldham gets in the act, his first time on camera (of which I'm aware). Interviews of the women on the show are interleaved with further interviews off the set.
          The first to be interviewed is Bunny Glamazon, a strip-tease dancer and feature performer who appeared in night clubs all over the U.S. and Canada. At 6'3" she's the tallest stripper in the U.S. in recent years, and measures a disquieting 63FFF-28-38, 190 pounds. She's an Indiana native now living in southern Georgia. At this writing she's retired from dancing and operates a business in Valdosta, Georgia, but in 1992 when this Montel Williams segment came out she was going strong and becoming a legend with tall woman lovers around the country. [Update: in 1999 Bunny Glamazon returned to dancing and modeling.]
          Look up --- w-a-a-y, w-a-a-y u-p. 6'9" Connie Waikle was discovered by Nercy Navab in a Los Angeles area restaurant with her "petite," 6'3" boyfriend Brian, who appeared on the Montel Williams show with her. A small-town girl, she got through college on a basketball scholarship. She also appears in the first Amazon Supermodels videotape. Brian describes her as very gentle, which must be a great disappointment to masochists, but is a very attractive feature to me and other men. At this writing she's married. (Sigh.) Guys, it would be a boon to us if her parents didn't believe in birth control. Holy candy store, Batman!
          6'2" Veronica Lyday mentions the problems of guys shorter than she who believe they can handle her stature but after a while can't cope with it (silly guys). Bunny concurs, and cites her ex-husband's embarrassment at her wearing high heels. Veronica is seen dancing with a much shorter man professionally. He's the more animated dancer, only because she's not as experienced. She's lean and beautiful, and her diminutive dance partner makes her look huge by contrast. Rrrrgh!
          Next is 6'2" Diana Meier. She's short-haired, broad-shouldered, yet has a girlish face and voice -- in contrast to her height and build she's almost pixie-ish. Diana describes how a man 9 inches shorter than she was obsessed with her, and how a woman in a rest room screamed, thinking she was a man.
          There's a closing sequence of Bunny Glamazon talking with BuiltMore associate Dan Siever, and a rare appearance by Nercy Navab on camera, hugging Bunny. I said it before, and I'll say it again. You lucky bastard! (Ooh, look! He has more hair on top than he has nowadays.)

          The rest of the tape shows numerous tall women, some giving lengthy interviews, others shown briefly with short descriptions of them. We see 6'2" Cheryl Baldinger, one of Nercy's favorites. Cheryl has long, lush, dark blond hair, a pretty face, and is quite athletic, with rather muscular, well-toned legs -- a little TOO muscular for me, but fans of this sort of build will drool -- uh, admire her. Wearing a short (on her) dress, she frequently pirouettes to show off her legs. Among her athletic interests are swimming, for which she got a full scholarship to college and did some serious competitions; bicycle racing, for which she qualified to go to Olympic trials; track and field; volleyball; horseback riding; fitness training, which she does for a living. She was "Sunny" on "American Gladiators," and auditioned for the title role for a proposed "She-Hulk" television show.

          The scene changes to a picnic sponsored by the San Diego Tall Singles Club. We meet Uwe Seyler, a man visiting from a tall club in Germany. Woh-ho!! He has three women with him! BIG gals! More on them later. He talks about the history of the tall clubs in Germany and Britain, about the spread of tall clubs throughout western Europe, and the opportunity to meet people from the tall clubs of eastern Europe, which wasn't possible before (note: this tape was made within a couple of years of eastern European countries' going non-Communist).

          Next we get an interview of Lorrie Garrett, a 6-foot, 190-pound amateur bodybuilder. She doesn't look very tall, but then, she has a broad build. Long, curly hair, somewhat plain facial features, modest in the bust, wearing a short dress that is soo tight... you definitely do a double-take on this one. She'd done track and basketball in high school, wasn't very skilled in the latter, yet people were still after her to play basketball.

          6'3", 38-32-38 Louise Ross is up next. She's from a small town in England, and speaks with a rather cockney-sounding accent (Whoot saay, Guvnah?). She speaks rather quickly, so it's not easy to make out everything she says. She works as a bartender, exercises in a gym, plays electric base guitar, likes movies, bowling, and ice skating, and has other interests I can hardly make out through her rapid-clip, heavily-accented English. One thing I CAN make out, though, is something that greatly prejudices me against her: her involvement in Disco. My hatred of Disco is intense, and I won't waste your time discussing it here. There are numerous scenes of Louise exercising in the gym, which some viewers will love, but I'll pass on this one.

          A white stretch limousine pulls up, and out of the driver's seat comes 6'0" Julie Sangari. She's pretty, modestly-endowed, with short dark blond hair. Except for the shades she wears, she looks a little like the comic strip character Winnie Winkle. Since she was a swimmer in school (she got a full scholarship to U.C.L.A.), she has muscular, well- toned legs, which are shown to good advantage in her short dresses. In some scenes she has a flower in her almost-nonexistent cleavage. I've seen this sort of thing before -- small-breasted women with a flower between their breasts. Maybe some fashion consultants believe this enhances their beauty -- the appeal escapes me. I've never seen a LARGE- breasted woman with a flower there. (A few of THEM could swallow a SUNflower. Ahem. Vulgar.) In closing, she invites us for a limousine ride with her; her car was from Palace Limousine Service, (714)457-1826. Update: the company at this writing does business as Versailles Limousine Service, and Julie no longer works there. She quit a year after this video interview was done, to start her own business in computers. Beauty and brains? Well, you wouldn't be bored with this woman.

          The scene switches to Las Vegas, where we see the impressive Evelyn Johnson, also known as "The Mighty Ev." Ev stands 6'2" (and "would LIKE to weigh 225 pounds," implying what we clearly see, that she's quite hefty). She likes it when the BuiltMore people call her "heroically proportioned." I don't know about you guys, but I'd love to be swallowed up in this woman's warm, ample embrace. Aarrnnga! We see Dan, with his tape measure out as usual, measuring her legs. When Nercy remarks that she is for some men the ultimate in feminine allure, she says "Thank you" with an embarrassed laugh. Inside info: she didn't really want to pose, and B.M.P. almost didn't get her. I'm glad she's here. It makes me wonder, though, how many great prospects turned down the opportunity to appear in a BuiltMore Production.

          There's a brief sequence in a shopping mall with Heather Martindale. She's 6 feet tall, 150 pounds, which looks thin on her, especiallly following Ev. She ran track and field, played tennis, and rode horses. She likes to swim and surf, also; though small in the bust, she is fit and has shapely legs (the outline of them shows through her tight-fitting pants). At the time she was taped she was a Political Science major at U.C.L.A. Not bad-looking, though her long dark hair is restrained in the back and not shown to good advantage. Another feature I don't care for is her wearing "clogs," those awkward-looking shoes that were fashionable in the late 1960's. A model with some potential, but we're not likely to see it realized in a B.M.P. video since five years have passed [as of this writing] and she's most likely in greener pastures by now. Of course, I could be wrong.

          Two models are interviewed in the apartment of Nercy Navab (Damn it, Nercy! You lucky ba-- oh, forget it.). 6'1" Cindy Wheeler is a slim, lovely, long-haired brunette with somewhat angular features. She's extroverted, witty, silly, sweet, and fun. She does have a preference for taller men, though, and recounts a relationship she had with a 5'5" guy. I hate to see a tall woman express such a sentiment, but she does make the breakup sound funny, as the guy stood on the high step and she stood on the low step, looking down to him, telling the guy that there are lots of other tall women out there (wishful thinking -- how many of the few tall women don't share the male-taller bias?). She hastens to add that she envies shorter people, and wishes that she were they. Okay. Other matters. She did acting, modeling, singing, and writing scripts (a stock joke around Hollywood is that everybody and his brother, including the trash collector, has a script). Anyway, Cindy's fun to watch. She manages to drag in front of the camera her friend Elise Malinka, who is the subject of the next paragraph.
          Elise is more subdued, if not shy, than Cindy. She's quite modest, as evidenced by her body language. She is 6'0" barefooted, 6'2" in her not-so-high heels. Being tall had not been a problem for her, and the first person she dated was shorter than she. She's not gorgeous, but she is nice-looking -- slender, with long brown hair. At this taping she was interested in acting and music, and imagined herself in the future as a concert pianist. Well, I do hope she made up her mind; either acting or concert (classical) piano requires dedication. She had been enrolled in the Miss Teen Minnesota Pageant when she graduated from high school (either she's very smart, or more nervous than she looks, or my ears are starting to go -- it sounded as though she said she was 13 when she graduated from high school). Elise likes hiking, volleyball, and skiing, was once a lifeguard.
          Something I learned about the two women described here: they're both Mormons. They're attractively yet tastefully dressed, with hemlines at the knee. Well! One thing I learned about Mormons is that they watch their diets. That could account for why these women are so pretty and healthy-looking. I also note that these people love life and are full of optimism; that certainly appears the case with Cindy. If you're not a Mormon and would like to marry one, you may have to convert to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, but the woman you marry will be dedicated to you, and tend to your every need and want...

          Up next is one of my favorites, 6'4" Sarah Thamer. Nercy's apartment again. I've got to move in with that guy. At this taping Sarah was a basketball player "by trade" (her words) who had recently switched to volleyball, and had decided to favor "brains over brawn" (ditto) and pursue an education in architecture. At this writing she is an architect, though she doesn't need a drafting board to add substantially to the city skyline. Long brown hair, with a nice figure wrapped in a tight-fitting dress that ends only halfway down her well-toned thighs. My only recommendation to her would be to stand with better posture; the rest is great! As she walks around, and sits crossing and uncrossing her legs, like Sharon Stone in "Basic Instinct" (but with MUCH longer legs!), we tend to think selfish thoughts. Mmmmh, she has large hands, with long, long fingers -- I like! Sarah describes the usual problems as a tall child, and the mixed reactions she gets from men, but says that in business people take her more seriously, so her stature is like a gift. There is height comparison between her and a shorter man. In the closing sequence they're sitting; he stands up, and then SHE stands up, and up, and up. Rrrowwlff!

          Once again we see the picnic site of the San Diego Tall Singles club. Pat Ockel is there having her trained pot-bellied pig walk in circles for its food. More on her later. Uwe is back, with his German women. The first woman to whom we're introduced is 6'2" Katja Viemeister. We see her walking up and down the field of vision of the camera, dressed in a modest black dress. Katja has long wavy red hair and a nice slender figure. She runs a pet shop in her homeland. Here's a sign of the poor editing in these early ASM videotapes: Nercy is asking, "Do you know what her interests are? Her interests?" We don't get the answer.
          The next woman is Katja's 6'4" sister, Sabine. Owww! Yeeoww! Arraghh! Ahum. Cough. Well. Rather plain-featured, hair cut too severely short in back, but what a figure. In that bikini! Solid, heavy, and curvy at the same time. Those legs! Those feet! And her bra? Well, uh, I'll have to explain this in a roundabout way. Years ago I dated a 6'2" woman of not-so-modest endowment who had a way of drawing attention to her assets: she'd wear a pendant around her neck that plunged into her cleavage and disappeared completely. To try to see the pendant is to look right into her bra, which makes you feel awfully fresh and embarrassed. Well, Sabine wears a pendant the same way (blush). She works for a gardener, which could account for why her hair is cut so short and high in the back; gardening is hard, sweaty work, often in the sun, and that haircut is cool. Oh, by the way, her interests are reading and traveling. I want her!
          We next see Tanja Osthoff. At 6'1", in loose-fitting clothes she seems short after we've seen Sabine and Katja. Like Sabine she wears her hair rather short. Tanja is a nurse; her interests include "Volleyball, and volleyball, and volleyball, meeting new friends, and traveling."
          Note: in the tape's ending credits the surnames of Katja and Tanja are switched. I learned of the error from Uwe Seyler on a more recent visit to the U. S.

          Pat Ockel returns with her pig. Ordinarily I'd consider anybody who has someone running in circles to be demanding, but Pat sounds nice enough, so I'll withhold judgement. She stands 6'1", solidly built (Pat, not the pig). She has long, brown hair (a lot of brunettes in this video). Pat loves animals (she'd adore some of us, right, guys?), has a degree in exotic animal management and training, and expressed a desire to work for the San Diego Zoo. She works on her house, and has very physical hobbies, among them bicycling, skiing, canoeing, and sky-diving.

          Seventeen women! No wonder this review is so long. Hope you find it interesting.

          The presentation closes with a TV news excerpt, with Bret Lewis of KNBC, Channel 4 in Los Angeles, talking in the Weekend Sports News segment about the changing standards of feminine beauty, and citing BuiltMore Productions as a company catering to some of the new standards. The report includes sound bites of women involved in amazon videos.

          This review is information-intensive, but then, there is more to most of the interviews/monologues than in later tapes in this series. I've also taken the liberty of giving extra information not available on the tape.

          This video has its flaws, but it was in my opinion a good early attempt at a tall women presentation. Anyone wanting to take a chance on this tape can access an order form at

http://www.builtmore.com

or via "snail mail," write to
BuiltMore Productions
Post Office Box 571
Santa Monica, Ca.   90406-0571
and inquire about "Amazon Supermodels" #2.

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Wilfred D. DeVoe, [email protected]