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Stop! That! Train!

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...

Feast (Dutch)

This has to be one of the weirdest 'film' I have seen. It neither falls into dramatic recreation and neither documentary, but he way it is presented is definitely documentary style with interviews and some other snippets which are so damn slow that it can put anyone to sleep. Based on the true story of the infamous Groningen HIV case, in which three men drugged other men and infected them with their own HIV-infected blood, Feast is a bold and provocative film that skillfully reflects the questions of life, death and morality that have emerged from one of the most disquieting stories in contemporary Dutch life. Sadly what the above statement is supposed to represent doesn't get translated on the screen at all.

The film starts with a policewoman displaying all the objects that were at the sex party: from the wine glasses, CDs, to the sex toys. It was weird and long scene, but intriguing. Then we hear the conversation with Hans, one of the perpetrators, at whose house the orgies were hosted. He tells us the story of hw he met Peter online and how the duo used to host group sex parties with drug and bareback sex. He says what he did was not ok, but at the same time blaming the victims, because they should know what to expect at a sex party. And that blood exchange was, in a way, beautiful. Then we see an interview of Peter, who was the main guy behind all this and he shares his perspective saying it wasn't rape but consensual sex and what not. Then randomly we meet a botanist who tells us how virus can be transferred from one tulip to another. And then we see 3 cops interrogating a complainant. The film randomly ends as randomly it started.

I am not sure why this film was made if it wasn't; t even going to take a stand. It was snippets of multiple scenes joined together without giving meaning to it. Are you saying what the two guys did was ok? Because it was not. I understand them trying to justify because thats probably why they did it in the first place but as a film maker you should have an opinion, otherwise why are you making this film. The worse that botanist lady saying how infecting a disease can bring beautiful results on flowers, and depending on the perspective it can have beautiful results. And the idea of mixing blood could be romantic and beautiful. That was just jaw-dropping statement. The film is done in hybrid model mixing documentary, fiction and different perspectives of this creepy criminal case. This could have been interesting but this is an hardcore art house stuff, which despite its possibly interesting premise fails to invoke absolutely any emotions in the audience. (2/10)

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