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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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Stupid Genius (Vietnamese Series)

By Golu
I am not sure if I would call this show strictly as a BL, but it's somewhere in there. But primarily, this is the story of a misfit class of high schoolers- the worst students in the class. The main character and his friends consistently get the worst test scores in their class. Despite their notorious reputation, a new teacher wants to inspire them to take school more seriously. Some gifted classmates become mentors and give tutoring lessons. As they study together, the protagonists develop an attraction to each other. The show is just 6 episodes averaging at 15 minutes each.

We are introduced to mainly 4 and more school students who are considered part of the worst class and will likely fail. A new teacher takes upon himself to change this , but for this he needs to motivate them. Khoa is a talented badminton player who aspires to be selected for Vietnam's national team, but the teacher tells him that he will need to improve his grades as well if he really aspires to make it to the team. Khoa enlists the help of Vinh, an academically gifted classmate. Despite his outstanding grades, he is in the same class as the other failing students. After a few misunderstandings and planned coincidental meetings, Vinh agrees to help him with studies. Over the period of time they both develop feelings for each other. In parallel we also see some other stories about other classmates, but Ince they do not directly involve BL love, I am not gonna stress more on that.

This series has no real ‘ending’ which I was pleasantly surprised by. It does not conclude. We honestly do not know whether they passed their final exams or not, except that we do find out that they have been manipulated into studying in a most thought provoking, imaginative and creative way. The BL in the series is cute, awkward, and so clumsy.  But I guess, these are supposed to be high school students, so somehow it works in the grand scheme of things. Having said that the BL focus in the show is less than 20% of the overall series. The couple's kissing was kinda awkward, and not just once but twice. Their flirting feels juvenile and doesn't convey the feeling of two teens infatuated with each other. It felt quite shallow. To be honest. The show was made with a. Simple intention to probably entertain. Each episode contains many cheeky jokes, snappy one-liners, and silly shenanigans. Stupid Genius is hilariously goofy and may succeed in putting a smile on your face. But then you need to be in that mindset. Personally, I went in to see a BL series and I just got a glimpse and not more. This show is clearly directed towards teenage audience. There are too many dumb jokes and not enough intelligent ideas and my recommendation would be to just ignore this one for now. (2.5/10)
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