Skip to main content

Chained To My Bully Stepbrother (AI Vertical BL Drama)

By Golu
This is the second vertical AI BL drama I've sat through, and honestly I went in knowing better. I had it on while I was doing cardio at the gym, and what struck me was just how much the plot echoed the last one I watched. Same step brother romance angle, same mystery girlfriend showing up near the end, same extra guy pining after one of the leads. Genuinely the only thing going for it was the runtime, the whole thing wrapped up in forty five minutes flat.  The setup kicks off with Finn moving schools because his mom just married into money. He finds out his new step brother Aiden goes to the same place, and he's warned to keep his distance from him. Their first run in at school is rocky, just like you'd expect, but there's this odd pull between them neither can shake off. Finn keeps telling himself not to read into it because Aiden's straight and openly homophobic. Things shift when some kids start bullying Finn and the student council president, Ryan, steps in to ...
Post a Comment

Burn Your Name (Canada)

By Golu
This truly felt like an indie film. The way the acting was done, the very natural dialogues and the whole presentation was real. The story is firmly places in the realities of human conditions, of relationships, of sex, of friendships, gender and/or gender preferences, of love and how it has the power to triumph despite all odds and yet, at the same time has the ability to bring you to your knees and leave you feeling empty. Yes, the film does test your patience with it being a very conversation focussed story and probably also nicely suited for a stage play, but there still was something charming about the film.

Brad And Emile are best friends for a very long time. Brad is straight and a struggling musician, while Emile is gay and works as an actor. Emile, has a roommate Michelle, who is a dancer and has just returned form her East coast tour. When Brad gets evicted from his apartment for non-payment of rent, Emile asks him to move in with them. Emile and Brad's friendship start to get tested when Brad starts falling for Michelle, only to later find out that she is lesbian. Regardless the dup spend a lot of time together and their relationship develops beyond anything either of them ever foresaw and produces complications with Brad and Emile's friendship. Emile doesn't understand it and he is scared for Brad together his heart broken (Its only later we are told that Emile had been secretly harboring feelings for Brad). Also Emile has been going through his share of issues including an HIV scare. With everything going on, the final nail hots coffin when Brad finds out about Michele's past involving other men and he feels cheated. He decides to move away and work on himself before both his love and friendship is torn and taken away from him. The film has a happy ending where awkwardly the two friends reunite.

The film is definitely more about friendship than love. The film was going well for me, although it was real slow and there were times I was like, just move on and stop talking things that are not adding to the film, but after a while, I got into the rhythm. You know Brad and Michele would get into some love sort of thing but what surprised me was the cliched gay guy falling for his straight best friend. I stirringly think that this aspect could have been kept away from the film. Brad and Emile had such beautiful open friendship so far, that this revelation just spoiled the whole thing for me reiterating the gay stereotype of straight guy fantasy and falling for someone who you can never have. All three actors were natural and did a good job, but the screenplay and dialogues could be crisper. What I appreciated most about the film was no over the top drama or reactions. Every conflict was addressed in a manner that most normal people in there everyday life would without getting hyper about it. Having said that, I can see why this film would not be everyone's cup of tea, It takes a while to get into the rhythm of the film, and by the time it happens, most people would already have lost interest in the film. (5.5/10)
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Phor Lae Lukchai (Thai) [Father & Son]

By Golu
I think the budget of this film was probably too small, but for that, the film definitely offers a different and unique storyline without over dramatizing anything. Yes, some scenes were a bit amateurish but in the bigger scheme of things, that can be overlooked. The film is both beautiful and sad in its own unique way. Aek is a gay dad, whose partner died right around the time their son Nueng was born through surrogacy in a road accident. The relationship between father and son is unpleasant and unstable. We are not really told why, but it seems the father has been unsuccessful in caring and loving his son because of his partner's death. Aek continues to hook up wit hookers. Also, Nueng is constantly bullied by everyone around him for having a gay dad. He has no friends, except Nat, a neighborhood boy, who also happens to be Nueng's boyfriend. In a sudden turn of events Nat is found murdered along with another boy naked. Saddened by the events, Nueng jumps from roof and k...
1 comment
Read more

Sei no Gekiyaku (Japanese) [Dangerous Drugs of Sex]

By Golu
Every person has their own unique way of dealing with loss. This film is as much a psychological thriller as it is a soft porn BDSM portrayal of two young men that makes the film overall horrifying as well as humane. It is really hard to describe the genre of this film in one word. Its important not that the film has some really disturbing scenes so if you go into seeing this film, please proceed with caution. Although any sexual non-consensual activity is not ok, this film has its won strange way of showing that suicide is not the only solution to all life's problems. Makoto is a regular office goer, who just finds out that his girlfriend is probably cheating on him. ON top of it, his parents sudden death coming back from a trip that he forced them to take, he gets completely dejected and decides to commit suicide. Unknown to him, he is saved by mysterious man Yoda Ryoji, and he wakes up finding himself tied up in leather and belts in a very BDSM setting. This mysterious saver soo...
3 comments
Read more

The Shortest Distance is Round 3: Fallen Flowers

By Golu
Continuing with the weird trilogy of "The Shortest Distance", I am so glad that finally I am done with part 3 and won't have to deal with this again in future. Thankfully, as of now the makers have not announced any further parts; which will save all of us on this earth from the embarrassment of watching this in near future. After the first 10 minutes are used in sort of recapping bits of first two parts, the story moves forward. Haruto is now starting to have feelings for Ruka, the mysterious pole dancer from second part. In a fit of rage, Ruka ends up killing the goat man and to save him and Haruto, Shibahara asks them to go underground. Meanwhile Shibahara continues the search for Seiya (the guy who had cut off Haruto's penis). It turns out Seiya is now also taking care of the original club owner from part 1. Both of them were released after they had informed Shibahara of Aoyama's secret location. Shibahara tortures Seiya's boyfriend leading to Seiya killin...
5 comments
Read more