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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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Mexican Men (Short Stories)

By Golu
This collection of short stories titled ‘Mexican Men’ is a collection of five encounters that are sensual & seductive and are the works of 2 very popular film makers of Latin cinema. Most of the films emphasise on the aesthetics of some handsome Latino men, and very little attempt to include a conventional plot. I had mixed feelings after watching the series. Actually not all 5 short stories are gay themed (sigh!) but they are still good.

Trémulo (Trembling)
Carlos, an adult teenager works in a barber-shop. One day his eyes meet with Julio, a customer. Julio returns in the evenings asking for a shave (or maybe to meet Carlos). They spend the night together, eating, chatting and even dancing getting increasingly close, with sexual tension building between them. They both know that this is short lived but was still amazing. The best film in this collection, this is the sort of film that you watch and anna be in love again. Brilliant!

Young Man at the Bar Masturbating with Rage and Nerve
This documentary film follows a man who works as a rent boy, which helps to support his real passion of dancing. However, for him these two things are not mutually exclusive, with sex and dance playing similar roles. This is more like a constructed documentary with interviews and scenes and sections that have obviously been staged. But surprisingly, it still makes for uninteresting story with how our protagonist discovers what its like being gay, his passion and desire to do something with his dance and how does prostitution fit into all this.

Nubes Flotantes [Wandering Clouds]
This short film about swimmers uses highly choreographed dance movements to tighten the sexual tension and emotion between people. Two young men are swimming, while in voiceover one of them tells us about their relationship – a mix of friendship and rivalry with an undeniably homoerotic edge. When a third guy joins, who is homophobic, a bubbling anger is brought up to the surface. A decent exploration on homophobia and difficulties of maintaining relationship.

Atmusfera [Atmosphere]
So this is one of the films that is NOT a gay themed film. A loud speaker talks about the dangers of the world, a possible epidemic and caught between that are 3 characters. The streets are abandoned and slowly the characters want to find the truth. An incontrollable desire forces them to leave in search of the sea. Weird but lyrical !

Vivir [To Live]
Weirdest of them all and again not a gay film. A short film set in three parts showing three different emotions (at least that is my interpretation). Through art and dance, the film explores both the characters’ emotional closeness and distance.

The first 2 films are really good. The rest are just meh!



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