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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...

Boxer Shorts

This is a collection of gay themed short films released way back in 2002. I am very surprised that I had not seen any of these in the multiple rounds of short films that I keep watching (maybe I did see Boychick, but I am not sure), so stumbling upon this one was quite fun. All five feature films have interesting stories. The acting and production values are more variable, but still acceptable overall.

Tom Clay Jesus - A one night stand between Tom and Clay which goes nowhere until Jesus enters the picture. Fun is that Jesus happens to be Clay, only there months later, whom Tom fails to recognize. The film looks at a New York area tryst-romance from three perspectives. People want to be loved for themselves, whatever that might mean.

Boychick - A Jewish high-school student in Los Angeles recruits his dream female celebrity performer to help him win the attention of the buff debate team champion. There is a long end credit section that tells "where they are now".

Audit - A married couple show up at an IRS audit in Los Angeles to explain how they have so many expenses and so little revenue. Guess what? The auditor has figured out even more. And what else, the audio happens to be the ex-boyfriend of the actor who is dinghies sexuality from his wife. There were many twists and subtleties.

The Prom Queen - A drag-wearing high-schooler (north of New York City) tricks with the jock who will escort the ambitious prom queen. This was a weird one for me, especially since clearly a close friend of this guy was madly in love with her.

Caught - A Chicago area photographer falls for a pre-med who already has a relationship with a somewhat older man. Actions, confessions, and what else can happen?

This selection is no better nor worse than most of the others. It seems the more shorts in a collection , the greater chance for mediocrity. This is again, one of those generic collection were it is a mix of good and bad. The fun part for me was going back in time and reliving how some of these gay themed shorts were made back in the day. (4.5/10)

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