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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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¡Corten! (Spanish) [Cut!]

By Golu
I am not sure how to review this film. A self-spoof of sorts, the film never takes itself seriously even for a second. The film is about a flop director making ridiculous films, who really doesn't care about what other people think and seeing that really unfold in front of you in precisely what the film is about is just meta film making to another level. Part of me feels that the director was smart enough to know exactly what he was making and make spoof on himself but is he dumb enough to actually do that?

A unsuccessful filmmaker is hell bent on making his next film, a queer giallo. Giallo is when a series of murders happen. But while he is shooting for the film, a series of terrible murders start to happen around him. And somehow all the murders can be traced back to him. It starts with a waitress who the maker offers a part in the film, then actor who is supposed to be killed in the first scene in the film, then a famous drag queen who was supposedly the star attraction of the film, then a young boy he picks up at a bar and the list goes on. During all this, there is a young man who has travelled from Madrid who desperately wants to feature in the directors films. All this is being investigated by a lesbian cop and a male guy with a trans partner. The film continues to operate in the meta zone with even the identity of the killer sort of merging between the film and the film within the film.

Its not surprising that the actual director of this film also happens to be the actor playing director in this film. And this is just the beginning. At one point the character exclaims : “Because films need to be made… No matter what!” Which so well describes as to what really is happening in front of you. Throughout the film, I was confused as to how am I supposed to consume this film. A spoof, or a genre that I am not yet familiar with. Apparently the director of the film has already built up a loyal audience and even his own trademark style, which fuses camp and B movie with unbridled send-up, which is fantastic. But this leaves viewers like me confused. The eventual suspense reveal at the end of the killer is still a nice surprise, which most people probably didn't see coming. All in all, this is one of the weirdest meta movies I have seen, although admittedly I have seen only very few of them. (3.5/10)
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