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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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Play The Devil

By Golu
A first queer film from Trinidad and Tobago. I am surprised that I had not heard of this film and I am even more happy that I saw it last night. It is such a beautiful film. Two things stood out immediately for me after finishing the film. First that I need to add Trinidad to my list of places to visit asap and secondly the lead actor has a very bright future and how amazing the young guy was, in a role which was full of layers and was a wonderful opportunity to showcase his talent.

Gregory is a young 18 year old boy who belongs to a lower class working family. Thankfully he is gifted and is family's only hope to win scholarship to get in a medical school. Although secretly he wants to be a photographer. He has been raised with ethics and morals by his very loving granny. His life spins out of control when he meets James. James is a successful middle age business owner who is in his marriage just because of his daughter. James initiates friendship and and career and life guidance for Gregory but there are strings attached. One weekend at the beach house, the two guys get physical and now Gregory is even more confused. Not only he is dealing with career choices, now he is also questioning his sexuality, and all this while having to face the burden of doing the right thing for his family. Gregory asks James to leave him alone but for some reason or the other, the 2 keep crossing each other's paths. Finally during carnival time, when men cover themselves in blue paint and do a symbolic dance to flirt with evil, Gregory mistakenly plays the devil himself and ends up killing James in a fit of anger. Life is not going to be the same again for Gregory.

The relationship and the interaction between James and Gregory is shown developing in a very interesting manner. James starts as a mentor, becomes a friend and ultimately becomes a lover. Its hard to say if James had genuine feelings or was he playing with Gregory's sensitive persona. I feel it was former since he says at one point that he has more to lose with everything that is going on. Having said that, it was also weird that James cant respect Gregory's need for privacy and inserts himself into Greg's family life. The lush landscape of Trinidad foregrounds the well-paced, beautifully shot, and brilliant drama. I really wanna visit there now. The ending is a bit disturbing yet poetic. Gregory and his best friend, covered in blue paint, come to the edge of a lake after their long trek after murdering James, wading far out until their heads are submerged by water. Gregory's character was pretty complicated. He is intelligent, sensitive, artistic where people around him want him to become a man by doing it with a girl or man-ning up to actions, stop being 'soft' etc. Gregory's rejection of James is not to do only with sexuality. It is also because of his uncertainty of removing himself from his family, the small town and the hidden artistic sensibility. As an actor Gregory is spot on. He expresses Gregory’s growing turmoil in every glance and gesture. When he tells his grandmother that his father will never be who she wants him to be, he’s also talking about himself. The film towards the end beautifully shows the carnival festival.

This is a beautiful, absolutely must-see film for people who are craving for something meaningful, poetic yet dramatic. It brings you in a world that you may have not seen otherwise and you are thankful to the filmmakers to take you through this journey. My rating is probably higher than what you may feel, but hey, I am entitled to my opinions. :) (PS: The english is really hard to understand in a lot of places because of the very strong accent.) (8/10)
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luigi43 said…
Trinidad remind me Rita Hayworth and Glenn Ford...... Anyway , returning to "Play the devil", I 've seen another story .
May be saddest but more real , for the islands . A story of a social climber . Of course this is just my humble opinion.
October 9, 2018 at 2:41 PM
Golu said…
Do you mean another film or in this same film? when other story are you referring to?
October 10, 2018 at 10:33 AM
luigi43 said…
The same film :I'm still convinced "the boy" was using the man for his purpose of upgrading social class. I 've lived in Tobago and the beautiful Country was ( 20 years ago) not very safe at all.
October 10, 2018 at 3:18 PM
Golu said…
I am sure the country is not safe at all for openly gay people. I actually never felt that the little boy was using the rich guy for changing his social class. In fact I found it total opposite.
October 10, 2018 at 9:19 PM
luigi43 said…
Luckily , for once and for the first time , we have a different opinion about one topic ! Love as usual.
October 11, 2018 at 4:13 PM
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