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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...

El Tercero (Spanish) [The Third One]

A good concept which could very easily be shown in a 20 minute short film and I can bet you that the impact that this short film would have had is much greater than the impact that this film will ever have. The title pretty much tells us what the film is going to be about but in the process it becomes tiring and lethargic and you start to wonder whether anything concrete will ever happen or not.

Herman and Franco are an older gay couple who have been together for 8 years. They meet Fede, a very young man in his early twenties, online and have a few raunchy conversations about a threesome. Finally they invite Fede for dinner and more. A very nervous Fede arrives anther home and obvious discomfort is seen between the trio. Slowly as the three men eat, chat, and drink plenty of wine, they become more talkative and open. In due time, they are revealing intimate aspects of their lives and histories. Soon after dinner, the romantic encounter starts which ends up in a threesome (a really long scene). The trip sleep together and being good hosts Hernan and Franco make sure that their guest is comfortable and has everything he needs. Fede leaves and the film ends with him sitting in the classroom with memories from last night. We see him smiling with pleasure, having learnt something and most importantly a confidence that wasn’t seen before.

As mentioned, content wise there i snot much. The trio meets online,, meets in person, have threesome and part ways. This simple thing is stretched in such long drawn scenes that it tests your patience. The first act of online chat lasts of about 10-15 minutes where raunchy, steamy messages are exchanged. Then comes the dinner conversation done in 2 long takes of 20 minutes each and finally the sex scene that again last for more than 20 minutes. I really don’t understand why the director had to go so deep in every aspect of their acts and make it tiring. Haven’t the team heard of ‘Sometimes less is more’. This neither classifies as a relationship drama or an erotic thriller; it just offers a very slice of life film, but how I wish it was also an interesting one. The dinner conversations give us a peak into the trio’s character but it soon becomes very dull. It becomes difficult for an audience to care about Fede, as we know nothing about him; he simply seems young, innocent, and uncomfortable.

I seriously recommending doing a very tight edit of the film and present it as a short 20 minute film. The actor are fantastic, they look good, get into the skin of their character, have good chemistry and they do a great job but the screenplay and direction falters big time. In its current form, the film is a bit dull and tiring to be strongly recommended. (4/10)

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