Skip to main content

Stop! That! Train!

Coming out of the same studio that gave us RuPaul's Drag Race, and stacked with a whole crew of former contestants, Stop! That! Train! plays like RuPaul basically taking a bow for the entire franchise she's built. It's not really a gay film in the traditional sense, but with so many drag stars from Ru's shows popping up alongside a few cameos from well known out gay actors, I figured it earns a spot on this blog anyway. The whole thing is completely over the top, packed with GenZ slang, loud flashy visuals, and humor that's constantly winking at you knowing how ridiculous it is. Going in you'd assume it's meant to be a laugh riot, and a lot of critics online seem to be eating it up, but I just couldn't get into it at all. I've never really been someone who vibes with campy silly stuff like this, so honestly my reaction doesn't surprise me one bit. The setup follows Tess and DeeDee, two low level stewardesses who sneak onto the fancy Glamazonian E...

200 American

What happened last night was the reason I started this blog. 2 minutes in the movie and I was like, I think I might have seen this movie before and yes it was true. Well but at least now I can put a review unlike last time and help myself avoid the confusion again. On the onset, a good thing about the movie was that it wasn't targeted at sex. It was a genuine story of men falling in love and showcasing a chapter of every gay man's life.

Conrad, a gay man , owner of an ad agency lives in NY and is a control freak by nature. This is the reason that leads to his breakup with his partner Martin. To get over him, he hires an Aussie hustler Tyler. After spending night with him, realized that Tyler is a nice guy who wants to become a photographer. He wants to help him and offers him a job in his company on the same amount that he makes doing hustling. Conrad still wants to make things work with Martin. Meanwhile Tyler whose real name is Ian (Tyler was his hustler name) is being approached by his supervisor Michael. Michael starts falling for Ian and so does Ian but he fears about his past. Ian tries many times to tell Michael about the truth but somehow is not able to tell. At a office party, things comes out in open leading to a scowl between Conrad and Martin who are trying to talk out things between them, and Michael who is deeply hurt. Ian is sad because he himself wanted to tell Michael the reality. Ultimately everything works out fine in the end when Ian tells him the real reason why he as doing it because he needed money to get married to a girl so that he could stay in the country.

Ian was very very cute. Actually so were Michael and Conrad. The good thing was it did not have drugs, abuse, murders, gay bashing or any twisted character. It was a simple story of love and what lie brings to you. There is nothing outstanding about the movie, but it is still much better than what other so called genuine gay movies have to offer though I fail to understand why the title of the movie.

A simple story told with heart. Definitely could be watched. (6/10)

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Phor Lae Lukchai (Thai) [Father & Son]

I think the budget of this film was probably too small, but for that, the film definitely offers a different and unique storyline without over dramatizing anything. Yes, some scenes were a bit amateurish but in the bigger scheme of things, that can be overlooked. The film is both beautiful and sad in its own unique way. Aek is a gay dad, whose partner died right around the time their son Nueng was born through surrogacy in a road accident. The relationship between father and son is unpleasant and unstable. We are not really told why, but it seems the father has been unsuccessful in caring and loving his son because of his partner's death. Aek continues to hook up wit hookers. Also, Nueng is constantly bullied by everyone around him for having a gay dad. He has no friends, except Nat, a neighborhood boy, who also happens to be Nueng's boyfriend. In a sudden turn of events Nat is found murdered along with another boy naked. Saddened by the events, Nueng jumps from roof and k...

Gaya Sa Pelikula (Filipino Series) [Like In The Movies]

Pinoy BL series seem to be catching up to the popularity of the Thai shows. And I must say that they are doing a pretty good job at it. Where Thai series started to get repetitive with so many shows based in a college setting with seemingly similar storylines, Pinoy series are offering the viewers with new and interesting stories and some really good sets and surroundings. This series was 8 episodes of about 25-20 minutes each. Karl, a 19-year old introvert architecture student is in the middle of an identity crisis. Prior to the start of the second semester in college and forced by his parents, he moves into his uncle's condominium unit so that he can learn to be financially independent. Karl takes on odd jobs online to do so. But when one of his major clients suddenly goes MIA, he is left short on funds and without a means to pay for his utilities. An opportunity presents itself when his cocky neighbor Vlad has to hide from his family and proposes to share Karl's space for th...

The Tuxedo (Thai Series)

When I saw this series with 8 episodes of about 20-25 minutes each, I thought, good: Finally someone has come to senses and made a show which is not stretched out and they have tried to squeeze in a decent storyline in a good small episode format. But unfortunately, despite a decent premise on hand, the clunky writing, bad screenplay and an extreme tasteless portrayal of mental illness makes this show, not a fun watch. By the time it finishes, you just want to laugh off at the entire absurdity of it all. Aioun is talented tuxedo designer and very much in demand but he has handful of clients and he builds suits only for people who he feels a connection to. One night when his younger brother is about to get mugged, he is helped by a total stranger named Sichol. Since he tears his suit in the fight and has an interview the next day, Aioun gifts him a suit form his design as an expression of thanks. Sichol's interview is for. Personal assistant of a man named Nawee, a wealthy heir to h...