Skip to main content

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...

Bite Me (Thai Series)

After having seen some good food based BL series, I was quite looking forward to this one. But despite having a high production, having spent money on presentation , decent actors, there are way too many issues with this show. The series is a classic example of a huge potential going to waste. There is absolutely no passion, no excitement, no drama, no connection; nothing. Of course, when expectations are huge, the disappointment is big too. I will talk more about it later. The show has 11 episodes of about 45 minutes each.

Aek is a university student. He is very interested in cooking since he was a kid. HIs mother runs small local restaurant in his hometown, but despite Aek's interesting cooking, her mother wants him to focus on academics and get a job so he doesn't have to work in kitchen very day. To make ends meet, Aek works as a food delivery guy. One day his food pick up at a high end restaurant is delayed, the chef Aue personally comes to apologize and gives him food as a sign of apology. Aek immediately recognizes the aroma. Impressed Aue offers him a job as a chef in his restaurant, which he initially declines because of his mother butter agrees to after being coached by his close friends. The two of them have a good tuning going on. Aue is looking to participate in a cooking contest in which he also gives Aek's name. This upsets him and he agrees to it later. In fact he even says that it has been his dream. While all this happens, we get to see some basic stories of some other characters. One day finally chef Aue opens up to his feelings for Aek, but he declines and says he thinks of him no more than a brother. Aek apparently is still too focussed on letting his mother down. The mother son finally have a heart to heart and Aek finally accepts love of Aue.

You must be wondering if that's really indeed is the plot of this show. Trust me, there is actually no plot. Amongst the many problems of the show. , one of the biggest is incoherent screenplay. They just keep throwing scenes at you without a proper thread. Since it was a food show, in which by the way, you get to see some gorgeous mouth-watering recipes, I wanted to give it a go, but it was hard to keep attention. Firstly the show moves at such a pathetic slow pace, right from walking to talking to everything else, you could even watch the show in 2x speed and still feel it is extremely slow. The conflicts are added just for the heck of it. Aek throw random tantrums. First he rejects job, then he rejects participation in contest, he then rejects the love; I was like what there'll is wrong with the guy. All his outbursts of emotions made little sense and they never explained why he was so paranoid about every little thing in his life, when most of problems were exaggerated and could be solved with one conversation. Not to mention that Aue was no less. Just because Aek likes food and is a good chef, was this the only reason that he fell in love with him. There is absolutely zero romance or love build up. And then less we talk about all the side stories thrown at us, the better. Suddenly we have Aue's ex who is befriending Aek. Then the restaurant manager girl's affair with some other chef and plenty more like these, which are not just boring but have zero bearing to the continuity of the show.

The show started off so well with its amazing production quality, stylish presentation and I was hoping for something sophisticated, but oh man! What a downhill it was from there. Literally nothing happens till like episode 6 or 7. Uninteresting drama, poor dialogues, unnecessary conflicts; all of these have no impact at all. Both Aek and Aue are decent actors and very good looking but their interactions are so watered down that you'll barely feel any passion between the characters. In fact, there's almost no intimacy between the two. The visuals of food were the actually only impressive part of the show. Everything else was mediocre, with mostly style and no substance. And I really don't know why everything was soooooo slow in this show. With good editing and some rewriting, this show could have been a good 1 hour film, but as it stands now, it is not bad but just a big bore. (4/10)

Comments

Miisu said…
This series is a really peculiar phenomenon. When I watched it in the middle of the Grand Darkness, it was perfectly fine, reminded me exactly the same atmosphere and working environment of the restaurant I worked at during my internship - and took my attention away from the damn depressing darkness. The equipment, dedication and issues looked so familiar and I was surprised that there were no goofs about the actual work. Although I would have liked a bit more drama around the cooking contest storyline, but that's probably my personal thing again. Or maybe I expected this because the author (Sammon) knows how to create drama and I watched it almost right after "Manner of Death" and "Triage". The brand placement however was not a welcome distraction :D Probably the first series where it made me cringe.
Golu said…
OMG!! The brand placement was sooooo obvious. I mean they didn't even try to be subtle about it, at all !!
Miisu said…
Well, at least the bottle design was different (and the contents of the bottle as well, I presume) - not the omnipresent gay elixir in the yellow bottle that has to be held with the big number 0 to the camera lens :D

Miisu-trying-to-see-the-positive-in-this-and-that :D
Golu said…
lol
nothing misses your sharp keen eyes
Miisu said…
Yeah, I wish I could turn that function off sometimes - or dim it a little :D While other people move on with their life, I'm sitting and thinking if there has ever been a character who has actually finished the bottle of that yellow-labeled 0-elixir or other brand placement bottled drinks. They only seem to take one sip and that's it :D
Golu said…
lol.. you crack me up

Popular posts from this blog

Phor Lae Lukchai (Thai) [Father & Son]

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...

Gaya Sa Pelikula (Filipino Series) [Like In The Movies]

Pinoy BL series seem to be catching up to the popularity of the Thai shows. And I must say that they are doing a pretty good job at it. Where Thai series started to get repetitive with so many shows based in a college setting with seemingly similar storylines, Pinoy series are offering the viewers with new and interesting stories and some really good sets and surroundings. This series was 8 episodes of about 25-20 minutes each. Karl, a 19-year old introvert architecture student is in the middle of an identity crisis. Prior to the start of the second semester in college and forced by his parents, he moves into his uncle's condominium unit so that he can learn to be financially independent. Karl takes on odd jobs online to do so. But when one of his major clients suddenly goes MIA, he is left short on funds and without a means to pay for his utilities. An opportunity presents itself when his cocky neighbor Vlad has to hide from his family and proposes to share Karl's space for th...

The Tuxedo (Thai Series)

When I saw this series with 8 episodes of about 20-25 minutes each, I thought, good: Finally someone has come to senses and made a show which is not stretched out and they have tried to squeeze in a decent storyline in a good small episode format. But unfortunately, despite a decent premise on hand, the clunky writing, bad screenplay and an extreme tasteless portrayal of mental illness makes this show, not a fun watch. By the time it finishes, you just want to laugh off at the entire absurdity of it all. Aioun is talented tuxedo designer and very much in demand but he has handful of clients and he builds suits only for people who he feels a connection to. One night when his younger brother is about to get mugged, he is helped by a total stranger named Sichol. Since he tears his suit in the fight and has an interview the next day, Aioun gifts him a suit form his design as an expression of thanks. Sichol's interview is for. Personal assistant of a man named Nawee, a wealthy heir to h...