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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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Oscar Wilde About America

By Golu
Oscar Wilde has had quite a few films made on him covering various chapters of his life. I was looking forward to this film hoping to learn something new again, but this film really could've done with a round of storyboarding and editing and maybe a script or even a premise. This pseudo documentary style film reimagines the famous novelist’s 1882 tour of America as taking place at a present-day coast-to-coast road trip. According to the makers, the film is an optimistic reflection of contemporary life in the U.S., where the flamboyant Wilde can find the self-liberation and acceptance that eluded him in his own era.

In 1882, the 27-year-old Wilde embarked on a 150-city tour of the United States, which set records for ticket sales at many of the venues he appeared and made nationwide headlines. Despite never having been to America before, Wilde was hailed and welcomed as a literary genius with an unflagging spirit and a unique wit — both of which are conveyed in the film. This romp reimagines Wilde's 1882 American tour as a present day cross-country roadtrip from New York City to Hollywood, CA. Along the way, Oscar finds the queer joy, love, and liberation that eluded him 141 years ago, with the attendant themes of diversity, identity, and inclusion beautifully expressed in the film. The current Oscar goes from one city to another revisiting those historical places where he could fine all of the above.

This film clearly is not for everyone. I tried to focus and like it but it was almost impossible to. I am not even sure what the makers were trying to say here. On paper this idea may have sounded fun but maybe this is gonna appeal to only a very very niche audience, the percentage of which is going to be minuscule IMO. Maybe I am not the kind of audience that the makes are targeting, but I mean still, there needs to be something interesting. Oscar Wilde was such an interesting persona. All the humor and wit is completely missing here. The film doesn't even really focus on his sexuality aspect until the very end. This one was big bore and disappointment, especially when I was expecting to watch something very colorful. (2/10)
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