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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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Even After (Filipino Series)

By Golu
This series was such a snooze fest and over the top random drama that we as audience didn't need. Made during Covid-19 pandemic times when everyone  was using the remote format to tell stories (clearly inspired by Gameboys or Hello Stranger), this show has absolutely nothing going fo sit: a simple/basic story, bad actors and acting (ever the top), silly screenplay and to top it all extremely bad direction. All I did in this 10 episodic series was continuously roll my eyes in disbelief. Thankfully all episodes were 12-14 minutes duration except that last one which was almost 25 minutes long.

Zag, who lives with his aunt is a blogger and feels lonely. He randomly picks a guy Sergio from dating apps and starts messaging him on Facebook. Turns out that Sergio is himself a loner whose parents are going through separation. So he doesn't mind Zag's distraction. Meanwhile Zag is so desperate to have a boyfriend, he shamelessly flirts with him and eventually Sergio warms up to him. Suddenly we meet Zirgo, Zag's friend from childhood living in Canada, who wants Zag to move to Canada. He has crush on Zag but latter treats him like a brother. Virgo even talks to Sergio to convince him to move to Canada, which he does. But Zag's feelings for Sergio keep growing over a period of next few weeks and even Sergio (whom Zag nicknames as Zig) starts feeling for him. Eventually Zag decides that he would rather stay back in Philippines for his love for Sergio.

Just about everything is wrong about the show. I mean if I start getting direct Facebook video calls from a random guy, I would dismiss him off as a big creep. That too when the guy is not charming at all. Zag just comes out as annoying and irritating rather than charming, which is what probably the makers were going for. He just randomly picks a guy form dating website and calls him and starts flirting. I mean, how can you be so desperate. Then we have his friend, a guy with whom he shares all his secrets and their interactions were a big yawn. Meant to evoke laughter, I would just cringe at every single one of their interaction. Sergio I so better. He is so slow that yo feel like shaking him up and get a reality check. Randomly a girl from his childhood is also introduced who suddenly professes her love for Zag knowing very well he is gay. I mean, the story goes all over the place. Sergio and Zag have absolutely no chemistry. Just because they both have some troubled family situation, I snot a reason enough to feel attracted and date one another. The way they say their lines feel rehearsed. They rarely seem to feel the emotions their lines suggest. They often spit out the words rapid-fire, without taking the time to let their characters emote. Clearly, the budget is super low key of the series but hat I son excuse for the shoddy acting and direction. As I mentioned before, this is a series that us as viewers of gay drama did not need. Stay away. (2/10)
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