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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...

En Soap (Danish) [A Soap]

This was a very very odd film. It was like a cross between a film and a soap opera. It was shot like a soap, with 10 min incidents which would be followed by a quick summary by a narrator (just like it happens in a daily soap). Unfortunately, the movie was s lethargic as would be a daytime soap, with no direction as to whatever. And then the movie abruptly ends, just like  a daily soap would end when sponsors would have no more money to pump in.

Charlotte decides to randomly move out of her husband's house because she in unhappy. We don't know the real reason. She moves to a shitty neighborhood and even as the husband tries to find out what went wrong, she is too busy thinking just about herself. She just wants to be alone. One day she meets Veronica, who lives one floor below her. Veronica is MTF and is waiting for a letter from the authorities to get her operation done. Initially Charlotte mocks her but slowly they start becoming cordial with each other. They keep going back and forth between friends, cordial acquaintances and outright rude to each other. There comes a point where Veronica tries to attempt suicide and Charlotte takes care of her dog. Charlotte indulges in random sex with strangers and one night when her husband comes, he gets so agitated by his wife's behavior that he beats her. Veronica saves Charlotte and takes care of her for next few days. A strange sexual tension starts developing between the 2 (which was very disturbing for me). The sexual tension also goes through awkwardness, weird reactions. Once Charlotte reacts badly and other time Veronica pulls back. Charlotte then decides to go back to her husband but within few minutes again changes her mind and goes to visit Veronica and they just smile.

Yeah! thats how this movie ends. My reaction was also wtf!! The story was interesting and could have been so much better with proper direction but it failed bad. Charlotte pretty much 2 expressions throughout the film. Either that of boredom and disgust and one where she smiles every time she sees Veronica and has this wicked 'I am gonna judge you' smile. In my opinion, Charlotte's character was that of a total bitch. She didn't know what she wanted from life, for love, for friends or whatever. She says some of the meanest things to pretty much everyone around her. On the other hand Veronica is a case of absolute depression and self-loathing individual. A little more background on both of these individuals would have helped. The movie is also very dark sine it is primarily shot in 2 apartments. I bet it was made on a low budget but at least the production values do not look tacky. Acting by Veronica was also ok. Nothing extra-ordinary IMO.

A below average movie for me. The film maker has tried a different way of story telling which definitely did not work for me. (4/10)

Comments

Unknown said…
TO THE PERSON WHO WRITES THESE BLOGS.... YOU HAVE TO WATCH SHELTER.... IT IS MY FAVOURITE GAY THEMED MOVIE EVER!!!!!
Golu said…
Of course i have seen the film Shelter
http://alternatesexuality.blogspot.com/2008/04/shelter.html

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