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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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Macho (Spanish)

By Golu
My first thoughts were that this film was a reverse gay comedy but as the film progressed, I felt that it kept getting more and more confused. Was it a farce, a wannabe comedy, a satire or just a comment on social expectations. What started off initially as fun, the handling of the gay portions of the film felt so regressive, which is completely unacceptable given the film came out in 2016 in Mexico.

Evaristo is a famous fashion designer of women's clothing. Apparently he used his gay-ness o gain more popularity than his actual designs. We soon find out that even though physically he comes out as very effeminate, he is not actually gay. In fact he uses this perception to his advantage to hook up with women. He is getting a documentary done on him to record his creative process. As there are threats to his prospective empire, his partner suggests that he bring a man in his life and hence he forces himself to date the handsome office boy Sandro (a handsome gay man recovering from the loss of his husband's death), so that it could help him squash the rumors of him being a closeted heterosexual. Series of confusions begins, and finally Evaristo is exposed of being straight guy with the pictures of his escapades with one of his favourite models Vivi all over the place. Though Sandro feels cheated, eventually he helps Vivi put up a great show for Evaristo who goes into hiding. All's well that ends well and Evaristo, Sandro and Vivi end up marrying.

Yes, the treatment of the film is as lame as the story is. It is a cheap attempt at camp LGBT comedy which so carelessly exploits gay stereotypes. Moreover it doesn't even help in advocating for a broader inclusion of the same diversity some of its protagonists so desperately want to represent. Its not to say that its homophobic, but its just stupid at so many levels. Why does Evaristo keep going back to Sandro all the time; why do Vivi and Sandro have this sudden connection, how can a famous person like Evaristo get away with pretending to be gay all this while while he has slept with over 300 women in last 2 years. There are many such scenarios that upset me, like Evaristo kicking Sandro for kissing him, or Sandro saying that sexuality is a choice (what?) and more. On a positive note, the film has a very rich and posh look. It looked like money and effort was spent to make this film very chic and fashionable, both in terms of good looking people and sets and clothes etc. Acting wise the lead actor does a great job, but somewhere the story misses the bus.

It is a very light entertainer but nothing that you would wanna go out of your way to watch this. Some of you may even take offense to a lot of things here. Choose wisely. (4.5/10)
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