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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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Ball Boy Tactics (Korean Series)

By Golu
This Korean series has its merits and not so good things here. This is a pure romance story between two boys, with their romance unfolding through mutual, conscious choices. There’s no dramatic villain here either; the real challenge lies in balancing public athletic careers with the desire for privacy. It's a campus romance which could have used tighter pacing and a slight more. Eventually, for me it ended up being extremely vanilla and bland. The series has 8 episodes of about 30 minutes each.

Ji Won is a retired gymnast who has just entered university. He used to be a popular athlete, so for a change he just wants to lay low and not get any attention. He meet the basketball star of the university Jeong U , and the two cannot look away from one another. They are both aware of each other's popularity as well. Soon. Friendship and an attraction starts to develop and they both make it obvious in their own way. One day when Jeong U finally confesses his love and aspiration to date Ji Won, that gets him scared and he pulls back asking for time to think despite knowing very well he likes him. Ji Won is worried that as an athlete, seeing with another man in a gay relationship will be detrimental to Jeong U' career and he does not want to be the person responsible for doing so. Jeong U doesn't think that way and is very sure he can balance both. Due to the public scrutiny he constantly faces, Ji Won overthinks everything, has low self-esteem, and often projects his own insecurities onto others. Jeong U, meanwhile, is the more confident, straightforward. Eventually as you would expect, after a. Slight drama, Ji Won realizes that the love they have for one another is far stronger and he gives in and the duo declare themselves as a couple. We also get a bot of comic relief by two of Jeong U's friends. One of them is a huge fan of Ji Won, he is loud, mischievous, and super chatty. He is most disappointed when he realizes he never could see that Ji Won and Jeong U were dating.

So , my big problem with the show is that we are never really explained about why the social paranoia that Ji Won has? We are never told why did he decide to have an early retirement from gymnastics. His character is slow to react to everything, unless he is drunk and so it's hard to connect with his insecurities. At Jeong U knew exactly what he wanted. He is completely smitten by the naivety and innocence of Ji Won and is tackling head on for his love but is constantly pulled back. The series ends up being a very basic campus romance, whereas, what it could focused on giving the audience more understanding of their relationship. As a viewer, I had very little understanding of them as individuals. So as much as I enjoyed two men falling in love, this couple could have been anyone in the campus. It felt like the show was trying to look for drama but there was none here. Another problem was the pacing was inconsistent. There were times sections either happen too slow or at a rapid speed. There were also points where scenes seem to just randomly happen for no reason. There was no real conflict, and the plot just had no sense of direction. The two actors do a decent job and look their part. Jeong U was extremely hot and sexy and so were his two other friends. Ji Won was alright. Overall, according to me, this series is almost as fluffy, largely remaining a not-too-serious campus romance, where most of the drama and heartache stems from Ji-won’s lack of social skills and romantic experience. (4.5/10)
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