Skip to main content

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...
Post a Comment

Eisenstein In Guanajuato

By Golu
I think this is the kind of film where it is important for the audience to know what they are actually getting into. And by that I mean, not just the storyline of the film but also a bit of history about the film and the subjects of the film. This film specifically relies too much on pieces of information about a then well-known Russian film-maker who was quite popular. And in this film, we get to see the unauthorised biography of what could have happened when he along with his crew visited Mexico to shoot for his next film.

In 1931, Eisenstein, famous Russian director, drove from California to Guadajuato, after two years of unsuccessfully trying to get a production started in Hollywood. Eisenstein in a clownish and an eccentric  man who gets very fascinated by the country and finds too much similarities and differences between his motherland and Mexico. Canedo, is a handsome academician who has been assigned to the director to show him around and be his companion. The director who came to shoot his dream ‘Que viva Mexico’ ends up shooting almost 250 miles of the film , never to get to edit it, but in the process gets too diverted by exploring his own sexuality, his love that he will soon find out for Canedo. The primary focus of this film is to show the intensity and chemistry between the two leads, how Eisenstien comes to terms with losing his virginity and embrace who he is himself and possibly explore love.

The film is grand and is filmed in a very theatrical, over the top large frameworks, with large monologues but actually thats the kind of setting that is needed for such a film. Setting the facts outright, I may not have liked the film but I can totally feel the passion of the makers behind this film. This film, if for nothing, will definitely be remembered for shelling elaborate scene where Eisenstien loses his virginity to Canedo. A very graphic yet poetic scene, this forms the crux of the relationship evolving between the two men. Apparently it was this sexual encounter in Mexico that defined the kinds of films that Eisenstein used to make and will end of making after returning back from Mexico. My interest in the film failed very early on, because I just couldn’t connect with anything significant happening. The two men would walk around various parts of the city, or sit naked in the hotel room talking about all kinds of things, which for some may add to the story but for me it did not. Other characters would just come and go without adding anything significant. Performance wise, I think the actor playing the lead role does a very very good job.

I can see the film doing rounds of gay festival circuits with such in your face nudity and sex-scene and getting popular but I highly doubt that will this film ever find any appreciation outside this circle. (3/10)
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Phor Lae Lukchai (Thai) [Father & Son]

By Golu
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...
1 comment
Read more

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

By Golu
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...
23 comments
Read more

The Tuxedo (Thai Series)

By Golu
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...
25 comments
Read more