Ricky Martin Video:

		List Price: $24.95		Label: Hornbill/BDF Salesrank: 19177 Released: January 31, 2008
		Our Price: $19.95
		Used Price: $19.02
		MPAA Rating: Media: DVD

Live For Sex Die For Love Reviews:
Dark, Compelling and Haunting!
2009-08-22 - I've been a Toby Ross fan for many years, This film is not pure Ross as there is a new director on this film, but none the less this film captured me from the start and kept me focused throughout the entire movie.

I particularly enjoyed the "oral obsession" scene with the eating of the sandwiches and the love song one teenage hustler serenades to the other while eating there Chinese take-out. Ross captured a moment that I wish I had lived in my own life... I especially enjoyed how the film ended with the protagonist escaping the mess he created without recourse.

One weak part of the film is that it was not made clear, although I got it, that Ricky Sinz was the father of the protagonist in the film, this could have been expanded on more, but did not detract from my enjoyment of the film.

The acting was good to great, with the exception of the role of the "Mom" who can make Anna Nicole Smith look like Betty Davis, oh those Betty Davis eyes!!!

This film is not for everyone, but,I enjoyed it on a very weird level.

kinda cheesy...
2009-08-20 - I understand that it is a low budget flick, but the story could've been better and the acting was way off the mark. Ricky Sinz really didn't have too much to do for the first 1/2 to 3/4 of the movie and then all of a sudden he figures prominately?!?! And he only flashed his junk once or twice...If you can find a really cheap copy, and it's a boring day check it out. Otherwise rent any porno with Ricky Sinz if he is yoiur main draw...

Unique, offbeat, and original
2009-07-20 - LIVE FOR SEX, DIE FOR LOVE marks Toby Ross' divergence from the lighter comedies he's been producing over the past few years into much darker and arthouse-esque territory. Ostensibly an erotically charged melodrama about two pseudo-homeless hustlers, directors Toby Ross and Joe Rubin seem to be trying for something more complex and intelligent than standard "erotica." Of course, some explicit sex scenes and amply nudity from porn-star Ricky Sinz certainly add to the viewing experience, but the movie holds its own and is actually rather clever in its cinema-verite stylings.
Clearly shot on a very low budget, directors Ross and Rubin make the most of their resources and lead actor Thorne Brandt is both talented and very cute (in a scruffy and homeless sort of way). However, the reason I ordered this movies is because I knew, after seeing a couple of Ross' other films, that his work is designed to, as he so eleqnetly states on the commentary track, "give your brain a hard on" and I was curious to how it worked in a non-comedic vehicle. It works better than ever before; from the naked very hard shots of Ricky Sinz performing in front of the cock hungry perverts in seedy sex club, to the incredible fast inter-cuts between protagonist Thorne eating a spam sandwich and a gluttonous oral scene between two desperate men.
Additionally, this proto-porn noir has one of the largest penises I've ever seen on film, in a subplot which involves a presumably married man who cruises a trashy booksore looking for sleazy hook-ups. This footage (which makes up a mere 10% of the movie, and is actually worked in via a rather clever "film within a film" type device with security monitors), originates from the long unavailable and acclaimed Toby Ross feature, I LIVE FOR SEX, and it's a treat to see some of the most interesting and erotic moments of that hard to find film present here.
There's also something very genuine about the actors, almost as if they were playing themselves. Especially powerful is a scene between Thorne and a lonely middle aged man, who is willing to be robbed and humiliated for the pretense of affection. Ross and Rubin seem to be driving home the point that we live in an unforgivingly cold and alienating world, where human contact is reduced to a commodity and one bad decision can destroy you forever. Despite some technical flaws, LIVE FOR SEX, DIE FOR LOVE is easily of the most unique and offbeat recent gay themed films to be released on DVD, and definitely one of the most erotic.

One star only because negative stars aren't possible
2009-07-18 - Easily one of the worst films I've ever seen, this essentially plotless vanity project causes you to ponder all of the synonyms for "bad". I'm somewhat an aficionado of cult and offbeat films because I'm interested in diverse points of view, but the question I couldn't answer during or after viewing "Live For Sex Die For Love" was, "what the hell is the point?". A "bonus" interview with the teenaged director (and lead "actor") included on the DVD gives a bit of insight: this film is basically a combination of a failed Toby Ross 1995 porn short married with recently-videotaped "filler" (the director's word, not mine). Poorly lit, the video footage is frequently off-frame, out-of-focus, and weirdly angled, in what I charitably imagine was an attempt at cinema verité but which quickly becomes tiresome, distracting and annoying. Add silly "performances" and a noticeable (and not in a good way) soundtrack, and this is the result. And as bad a result as it is, watch the deleted scenes "bonus" included on the video and you'll quickly understand just how much worse it could have been. Truly mind-boggling.

Advice to those involved in this project: if you have any real aspirations for a future in filmmaking, remove this turkey from your C.V.

A Walk on the Dark SIde
2008-10-22 - "Live for Sex, Die for Love"




Amos Lassen




A Walk on the Dark Side



Hornbill Films has releases of "Live for Sex, Die for Love" with a cast of some of the hottest men to ever appear on a movie screen together. Directed by Toby Ross and Joe Rubin, "Live for Sex, Die for Love" is the story of an evil white slave trader, Rocco and his sidekick, Vincent. They run a sex den where they exploit their clients so that they can have a high standard of living.
In the basement of the building of the sex den is the place where hustlers are kept in cages. These young men are a source of profit and are used for that purpose. In the evenings, they are taken out of their cages to the nearby alley where they are forced to sell their bodies and turn over the profits. The alley is known as "The Walk of Shame" and it is used by the men who, for whatever reason, cannot get in upstairs.
The building is designed to satisfy every sexual need. On the first floor is a "bookstore" where one can chose his pleasure. The second floor is for married and closeted men who want no more than anonymous sexual pleasure. It is a forbidden world and the people who live in it look at it as a home away from home for those who cannot afford to be seen in the company of gay men. In the film, a straight man exposed himself before the group of guys looking for a quickie and the resulting action is not for the weak of heart. The third floor houses men who stay high on drugs.
This is a dark film as it reflects the darker side of life. The only light we see is with the "Tenderloin Brothers", John and Throne, who try to find their way out of the horrible conditions and as they do, they also find that they have feelings for each other.
The movie is somewhat of a throwback to the exploitation films of the 1970's as well as early porn. The movie is haunting in the way that it shows the desperate lives of those regarded as sexual outlaws who attempt to maintain sanity in a place where insanity is the easier option.
The DVD contains a fascinating interview with young teenaged co-director Joe Rubin as well as deleted scenes and a commentary by Toby Ross.