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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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Settle Down (Web Series) (Canada)

By Golu
There are so few comedy stuff out there that every content that comes out is anticipated a lot. I did not know anything about this 6 part Canadian series, but I was happy to be pleasantly surprised. It is exactly the light queer kinda comedy we need right now. It is about relationships, the many and varied forms they can take, and the many and varied challenges and obstacles they present, both real and imagined. Each episode explores the challenges of queer love through new client stories, tackling themes of anxiety, commitment issues, and unconventional relationships. These clients and their stories reflect various topics about queer dating, love, and sex.

Mason runs a podcast about love. Relationships and settling down while also running a match making business for queer personnel, a welcome change from the plethora of apps available. He has been married to Jarod for a few years , who has been very supportive of the business but of late Jarod feels that his work is more important for Mason thereby completely ignoring the dynamics and love and importance of their own relationship, which is kind of ironical since he runs a relationship expert podcast. Over the duration of 6 episodes, Mason struggles to find a work-life balance is threatening to taint his budding love empire beyond repair. We meet new clients every episode while we also see his dynamics and support via his best friend Ben, who himself is going through and off and on relationship with a hot guy and has body positivity issues. We also meet the girl who works with Mason and a new barista friend that Ben and Mason make over the course of time. Their antics and advice add humor and depth to the narrative. Together, they navigate a world where love is rarely perfect, but always worth fighting for. When Jarod cannot take anymore, they even go for relationship counseling, but Mason, who supposedly knows everything about love eventually is unable to save his own marriage.

Settle Down offers a refreshing take on the complexities of relationships, exploring themes like anxiety, commitment issues, and unconventional love. Each episode weaves together Mason’s personal journey with compelling client stories, exploring the highs and lows of contemporary queer love. Thankfully, the show doesn't make things soppy. Instead, it is very relatable, you laugh with what you see and you even find comfort in some of these scenes. No relationship is perfect and no individual is perfect. It all needs constant work and you can never take your partner for granted. The demise of many relationships is often a result of poor communication, and I think Settle Down tackles that perfectly. The fact that the show is created by POC, it is nice to see a mixed representation of communities in the show. The show does what many other series fail to do by capturing the push and pull of what it means to be ambitious and still be accountable to others. Kudos to the makers and the director who also plays the lead Mason. Great acting by not just him but everyone else in the casting. Not only the visuals are very good quality production, the locations, the outfits, the vibe and thoughtful creation of each character really made every single person stand out in their own way, corresponding with the whole creation. I thoroughly enjoyed this show and we can really use series like this that try and mirror the real challenges that we all face in our day to day lives without giving us stress about it. It's refreshing to see a show that balances humor, heart, and authentic representation so effortlessly. (7.5/10)
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