Friday, Jul 31, 2009    Text size: 

Host Chelsea Handler and her crew of stand-up comics had fun with the hook that "Men of Israel" is believed to be the first gay adult sexpic shot on location in Israel with an all-Jewish cast.

"This is the biggest thing to happen to gay Jews since Streisand," one comic remarked. Another wondered aloud if "an uncut version" would be available.

A clip of that segment has been posted to the studio's LucasBlog.com.

On Monday, "Men of Israel" was the subject of a rumination on Jewish identity in pop culture in "The Big Picture" arts and culture column penned by Patrick Goldstein for the Los Angeles Times.

"I doubt that Michael Lucas is in line to get a cabinet position in the Israeli government, but the New York-based entrepreneur is doing everything he can to — as he puts it — 'promote Israeli culture and tourism.' It's how he's doing it that is unusual," Goldstein wrote.

In Lucas' film "all the guys are openly Israeli and Jewish, with even plausibly Israeli names: Matan Shalev, Avi Dar and Naor Tal," he said. "Whenever Jews are more open about their Jewish identity — as the Adam Sandler, Judd Apatow and Sarah Silverman generation of comedians has been in recent years — it sounds like a healthy development, as it would be for any minority culture."

The two-disc "Men of Israel" Special Edition set was released July 22. The company has been uploading photo galleries, erotic vignettes and related collateral to its promotional microsite MenofIsraelXXX.com.

For sales inquiries, visit Lucas Distribution online, or call (888) 562-9125.