Jayde Nicole Video Review

Reviewed by Richard Christy

I went out and got this DVD solely for Jayde Nicole and was surprised by the other beautiful models including, Veronika Zemanova (best looking Russian chick ever), Tyran Richard, (kind of generic, but has great tits) Lindsey Voulo, (best looking Jewish girl I've ever seen). The others that I haven't mentioned were really hot, but not as good as the ones at the beginning of the video. Jayde Nicole's sequence was kind of lame but she is still very pretty. And while I would have liked to have seen Jayde from further away she was still nice to look at, most of the shots in her intro sequence are very close-up so you don't to see the whole package. Apart from those few gripes, this is a good solid addition to any collection if you're into Playboy Playmates like Miss Nicole.

Sure, the Playboy 2006 Video Calendar is a slick production but fails to please this viewer very much. As is the problem with Playboy's videos, the company just doesn't want to let fans see "all" of their favorite Playmates like Jayde Nicole. Now, I'm not talking about open-legged shots like Amber Campisi does, but the lack of detailed "kitty" shots that show what each centerfold has is very frustrating. If you like breast shots, then pick it up. However, if you wish to see what the Playmates have between their legs, then keep dreaming.

I bought this for Jayde Nicole but was pleasantly surprised with the other Playmates in it. This DVD basically captures the best of two eras of Playboy. In the past, older calendars had very stunning Playmates, but the segments were too short and there were too many costumes, elaborate sets, etc. The calenders of the last two or three years have longer segments, but the Playmate quality isn't what it once was. Dasha Astafieva, for instance, was a real dud, as was last years' PMOY Kara Monaco. I used to skip over a lot of the vignettes, but not in this one. With this video you get the longer segments and arguably the best overall crop of Playmates like Jayde Nicole ever on one of these calendars. Perhaps best of all the camera work actually seems inspired here, unlike many Playboy fare that seems to say "Oh, I'm supposed to be focusing on the naked women?" or the last couple of calendars where the cameramen must have been thinking "can we get this over with so I can go on my cigarette break?" That's not to say that there isn't still some "fluff" here; it's still Playboy after all, they're not going to get the camera perfect, but it's the best effort I've seen from them in a long time. It's not perfect. The scene with Dasha Astafyeva is super hot, but overal, there should have been more Jayde Nicole footage.

During the main program’s 37 minutes, we see Miss Nicole in a mixture of settings. The set-ups will seem familiar to fans of Playboy videos, as we’ve seen plenty of similar material in the past. But what are you going to do? It's Playboy after all. Lots of beautiful nude women but not a lot of imagination. Five vignettes form the majority of the piece. Jayde bounces around a movie lot to a crappy country tune and then she poses nude in an artist loft while rubbing paint all over her body. Then, out of nowhere, fellow Playmate Stephanie Larimore shows up and starts rubbing paint on herself. Jayde, of course, likes this and approaches Stephanie. The two rub themselves against each other for a while, but never actually get it on. This scene really makes me long for natural-chested Playmates whose breasts would have looked great rubbing against Jayde's beautiful boobs.

In the next fantasy sequence, Jayde Nicole snags some dude’s cameraphone and takes nude pics of herself, while in another, movie-star Miss Nicole escapes the paparazzi and then poses for a different guy on a rooftop. The other elements show Jayde in classic pinup poses which are nice, but boring. There should be more girl-girl scenes with super hotties like Spencer Scott nude. I heard they did a scene together, but it wasn't on this video for some reason.

Like the other Playmates Jayde Nicole tells a little about herself as she dances around. She quickly appears topless wearing a denim skirt then more dancing wearing a white top and a purple skirt. Next there is a close-up of her buns in white panties. She poses some more in clothes and in a couple of topless scenes then she appears nude in silouette in a door. She hams it up for the camera while clothed, including flexing her muscles then appears topless wearing only a pair of bikini bottoms. Next, Jayde gets the full-frontal treatment while kneeling outdoors. The camera swings over to her nicely shaved kitty the pans up over her breasts and on to her face. Numerous shots of her completely nude follow, including her posing out on the grass and more of her silhouetted in the doorway. Next Miss Nicole appears in purple lingerie. She pulls it up revealing her boobs then there is one last shot of her nude in the doorway and then In the finish we see Jayde back in the white top and blue jeans she started in.

The scene changes and we find ourselves in front of a large mansion. As the gate mysteriously swings open he slowly move inside. Suddenly we are taken inside where Jayde Nicole is sitting on the floor wearing black lingerie. Next we view her in a black bra, garters and stockings sitting on a chair. Now she’s nude on a bed and then nude while sitting on the floor. She twirls around wearing the black lingerie then appears nude in a couple of shots. Next she gets the full-frontal treatment with the camera panning up over her body. She poses on a couch wearing red panties and bra while pages from a calendar fly around the room. Then Jayde rolls on the floor while topless. She walks towards us wearing a black bra and panties with a red curtain as a background. There are more nude scenes of Miss Nicole on a couch with the camera panning over her body. The final sequence has Jayde standing in the room as the camera pulls back and then we cut to the shot of the same gates in the opening shot but now they are closing on us.

In between these pictorial elements Jayde chats about her life and her personality, or lack there of. She also tells us about her experiences with the Playboy empire. These don’t fill a lot of time, however, as the vignettes dominate the program. As always, we learn little real information about the model. Playmates always talk in generic tones about themselves and their stupid careers, so these Jayde Nicole segments quickly turn tedious. I suppose the DVDs have to include them, but they’re really not that great and barely worth watching.

The DVD Grades: Picture A-/ Audio B+/ Bonus B-/Overall B-

Playboy Video Centerfold: Playmate of the Year Jayde Nicole appears in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 on this single-sided, single-layered DVD; due to those dimensions, the image has not been enhanced for 16X9 televisions. While not perfect, Year was better looking than most Playboy products. Colors was mostly positive. The tones consistently looked natural and vibrant. Overall, the main problems was softness, but the program was still attractive enough for a “B-“. Sharpness seemed decent. At times, some softness popped up, usually due to a gauzy style of photography apparently meant to smooth out some of Jayde Nicole’s harder edges. Delineation was erratic, as some shots were crisp and concise while others looked liked they’d smeared Vaseline on the lens which I really hate. For instance, the scene with Monica Leigh was so blurry that you could barely tell who was who. Is that Jayde or Heather? I can't tell because there's so much vaseline on the lens!!!.

The Dolby Surround 2.0 soundtrack seemed more ordinary, though it was a little better than other Playboy mixes. The soundfield only moderately broadened out from the center. Most elements stayed in the middle, but music showed some Jayde Nicole elements. Those elements heavily dominated the program, and the songs blended mildly to the side and surround channels. Dialogue stayed in the middle, and the occasional effects remained centered as well other than some light echo which was okay.

As we head to the supplements, we find a few materials. First we get some Behind the Scenes. These include glimpses of “Jayde Nicole’s Playboy Magazine Photo Shoot” and “Playmate of the Year DVD Shoot”. Both work the same way, as we watch the sessions and hear comments from Jayde about the experiences. She adds pretty decent insight into the recreations of classic photos for the first featurette, but she gives us nothing of us in the second one. There she just talks about how amazing and wonderful everything was.

So in conlusion, if you're a huge Jayde Nicole fan, then by all means, get this DVD. You'll enjoy it.