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Stop! That! Train!

By Golu
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...
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Mary Lou (Hebrew)

By Golu
I have time and again said that I am not a big fan of musicals. Its even harder when the language is not your first language because the subtitles really don't translate that well. But there are movies at time which make you sit and take notice of them. You might not understand the language but the music and the acting are so engaging that you, for a change, dont mind of the subtitles are not doing complete justice to the film as such. This film, was originally a 4 part TV mini series but it fits perfectly well as a movie.

The story is based on songs of Israeli pop legend Svika Pick. Miriam is an adoring fan of Svika Pick. She dreams of being a famous singer. She calles herself Mary Lou based on famous song of Svika Pick. Following her dreams of singing for the legend, she mysteriously abandons her son Meir on his tenth birthday. Meir starts making stories about her mother. Only Shuli, a girl from his school believes in him and they become best of buddies. Time passes and before their graduation in school, they both fall for the same guy Gabi. When Gabi publicly humiliates Meri for his unwanted public display of love for Gabi, he leaves for Tel Aviv in search of his mother. He meets Ori there who falls in love with Meir but Meri is not. He joins a club of drag queens and slowly himself becomes a very famous singer all along continuing his search for his mother. Along the journey, we witness what happens to Shuli, Gabi, Ori and other drag queens in the club with enchanting music backing the excellent story. When finally Mier thinks he knows what happened to his mother, he gets a shock from his father who then finally decides to tell the entire truth to Meir. But it helps Meir finding himself and becoming a grown up better person.

The film is backed up by excellent singers and performers as actors. The film has pop music and good picturization but it also encompasses sorrow, pain and longing. Meir not only carries the entire film on his shoulder but he also brings an emotional resonance to all of his scenes. He is ably supported by the entire cast. You actually feel for all the characters. I think they were all developed with just the right information and to a certain extent, they were all given a proper ending too. I felt really bad for Ori. I loved the line "We all want what we can't get". Isin't that so true? The singing in the film is passionate though at time I wished that there wasn't a song and the film would just proceed faster.

Apart from a little drag towards the end of the film, I completely enjoyed the film. It was still an engaging, damn near irresistible flick. (7.5/10)
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