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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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Mates (UK)

By Golu
This film was probably made on a shoe string budget with only 5 actors and being shot in open fields. A hiking movie probably catering to male bonding, friendship, coming out and gay awakening of sorts, it is difficult to box this film in a specific genre. The film, maybe too simple, wasn't that bad to be honest. Except the direction style was a bit amateurish and something like from early 2000s.

The film starts with a shy and awkward guy Connor, traveling across to different corner of London just to jog with Nathan. It is obvious that He probably has some sort of a crush on him. When Nathan invites him for a hiking trip, he agrees, but it's only at the beginning he realizes that another buddy is also coming along. It's too late for Connor to back out now. The hiking starts and the new macho friend doesn't really get along very well with Connor. During these walks, there is a father-son also hiding a the son Adam reaches out to Connor. IT is very obvious that Adam is hitting on Connor but he doesn't take the hint, until on the second day, the macho guy makes it obvious to Connor.  Connor doesn't know how to react, and he tells Adam that he is not really gay. The awkwardness grows between three friends on multiple issues including when Adam touches Nathan in a friendly way. Clearly Nathan has his own issues about sexuality (which we are never clearly told). By the end, Connor decides he doesn't want to hike anymore and decides to go back home. On his final goodbye with Adam, he gives him a kiss and they decide to meet again.

The film's hero was in the right place but I have to say that it was a little bit all over the place and a bit unclear. Connor clearly has a crush on Nathan but what does Nathan think about him is not made obvious. You can see that he is not happiest to see Adam giving attention to Connor, but also at some point t does feel that Nathan is enjoying the little attention that Adam is occasionally giving him. So, where does Nathan stand in all this, wrt to his sexuality, and his feelings for Connor is never made very clear. Similarly, with Connor. I thought he was comfortable with himself, so why would he say he is not gay to Adam. Sure, he has a crush on his friend and he could have said he doesn't like him. It felt like all the three main characters wanted to have a back up in their pockets. When Connor rebukes Adam, he suddenly stops talking to him, ignore him and in fact flirts a little bit with Nathan. Similarly after initially rebuking Adam and finally figuring that he will probably not get close to Nathan, he goes back to Adam and kisses him. Nathan is a confused man. And the straight macho friend is to just stir shit up. It felt like no one wanted to genuinely explore their feelings. Also, Adam deciding that Connor is the man of his life in just one awkward meeting was a bit too much. I mean its 2023. Things works very different these days. I think we needed but more character build up on these people. There were dialogues thrown about bullying but that doesn't go anywhere. It is as if the makers are teasing us with multiple possibilities but never really exploring anything. 

The actors do an alright job with the script limitations they are provided. The landscapes are nice, lush and green; but the film is all talk, talk, talk. I can see some people find it boring because not a whole lot is actually happening. To be it was strictly an average film. With just about 80 minutes duration, it was an easy watch and it didn't bore me. But it really was just very very basic. It gives the vibe of those TLA released independent gay films that came out in early this century. (5.5/10)
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