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...
8 episode of about 8-9 minutes each. The lead actor's sister friend is obsessed with the guy and keep visiting home. One night when the lead is drunk, he kisses this boy who is now madly in love with this older boy. Embarrassed and clueless about what to do next, he starts avoiding him, but can't go further since the young boy is relentless. Back home, his sister also turns out to be lesbian and all his worries about "why am I attracted to boys" fades away. He finally admits to his feelings and we get two loving couples. A low-stake straight forward series.
4 part, 7 minute each. Two guys have been chatting online where a guy named Alt has been giving advice to Ian. When they decide to meet Ian is surprised to see that Alt is his senior, which shocks Ian. He runs away feeling cheated for. No reason. His best friend then advices him to at least her his senior's side of story. Apparently he was always in love with him, but didnt know how to approach and hence this online method. Love soon follows. This series makes no sense where conflict is randomly put aside and suddenly they are a couple madly in love.
4 episodes of 5-6 minutes each. Two childhood friends who have lived near each other. When Gu Sen's mother has to travel to Beijing on business, she leaves her son living during the summer at the house of Shen Jing Yu and his mother. On Chinese Valentine Day, as per Chinese legend, Shen is given various options to do multiple things so that he can meet love of his life. The stubborn young man will ignore the result again and again, which is none other than Gu Sen. But no matter how hard he tries, he won't be able to stay away from him side. A nice comic series. Not a BL but bromance at best.
6 episodes of about 10 minutes each. The main character has a secret crush on his closest friend, a top student who'll soon graduate and enter an elite university. Even though their friendship is only platonic, they share moments that feel almost intimate. They have a common friend who always jokes around. When he finds out that our lead has a crush on the other guy, he decides to help them both confess their feelings for one another. Before they head their separate ways, the protagonist must choose whether to confess or stay silent about his feelings. It's a short and sweet simple friends to lovers trop BL love story.
4 part of about 6-8 minutes each. The main character has ended a long-term relationship with his ex-boyfriend. After the breakup, his jilted lover still harasses him around the school campus. The protagonist pretends to date his friend and shows off the staged romance in front of his ex. As the charade continues, genuine feelings begin to grow between them. Each episode feels less eventful than the last as the so called couple shares little to no chemistry. The performances are also awful. There was no need for this story.
A drama within a drama. This is a 4 part, 10 min each Chinese series set in Japan. It’s a romantic story between a photographer and a model from an erotic magazine, as they shoot a film that belongs only to the two of them, right in the heart of Kyoto. As the camera rolls, work and feelings start to blur—are they acting, or falling in love for real? This was really boring to watch honestly. No moral compass, given both were involved with girls (in fact the director was even married). Avoidable!!
8 episodes about 8 minutes each. This is the story about a quiet man and his relationship with a friendly delivery worker, who shows up to his place all the time :(. During each visit, the chatty delivery guy tries to start a conversation and get to know him better. Typically, the protagonist is shy and struggles to open up to others. He's pleasantly surprised by how close they became over time. The delivery guy claims that he sees a lot of kindness in the guy and the two try to get a relation started. An extremely boring series with bad awkward dialogues or no chemistry. Avoid!
4 episodes of about 15 minutes each. Cheng Sun moves in with Cheng Hai as a roommate. Chang Hai is Capricorn and is not very good with expressing his feelings. While slowly his roommate starts to develop feelings for me, he is not sure what Cheng Hai feels because he is not expressive, and the roommate keeps blurting "You Capricorns...". The series is about how they both fall in love and how an unexpected visit from his ex makes Cheng Hai realize that sometimes it is important to not just fee but express also. This is a small budget series shot entirely in one apartment, with good and cute shy actors playing their characters well.
6 episodes of about 10 minutes each. The story is about the romance between a writer and his personal trainer. The main character is a bestselling author who lacks inspiration for his next project. As his deadline approaches, he goes to a nearby gym to find new ideas. The protagonist befriends a charming fitness instructor, who is a fan of his work. They meet often for their one-on-one training sessions. Each visit brings them closer as their feelings grow. The romance develops at a comfortable pace without rushing the relationship. Although there are a few dull moments here and there and I think those exercising moments would have been better if there was some light hearted flintiness. Overall just a decent show.
Just before college, Ian's friend Min U's little brother, Jayden, has a crush on Ian and confesses. Years later, Ian returns to the city and needs a place to stay. He ends up staying with Jayden. Despite their cozy chats, both feel awkward because of the past. They both wonder if their feelings have changed since the last rejection. The story is stretched for no reason and there is a lot of pointless conversation. Story is messy and leads have not much chemistry. Thankfully it's only 12 episodes of 10-12 minutes each and the series is completely avoidable.
6 episodes averaging 10 minutes each. Like the previous ones, the story is set in Japan, with Chinese actors/characters. This is a love story between two half brothers. When the older half brother comes to live with his mom after 10 years, the younger is not happy but they eventually warm up to one another and next thing you know is that they are kissing and into each other knowing that this kind of relationship is wrong. The mother sees it and throws out older brother and younger one dies when a friend of his tries to force himself on him, but only for a twist. Life gives him another chance. This time how will he make things right for his love, or will he go for some sort of revenge. Th story was decent but execution was full of flaws and you can only laugh at some of the silliness. Also BL between two half brothers is something that will not be acceptable to most.
Not a mini-series but not enough meat for a special review. 40 episodes of 3 minutes each. Two boys, Sheng Kaixin and Gu Yisen are best friends with a girl . They stay together until their teenage years, when Gu Yisen's family suddenly moves away. 10 years later, Sheng Kaixin and Mo Ning are struggling to make a living, when a friend, Li Yan, offers Sheng Kaixin a personal assistant's job for another manager friend, within the company he works at.
When he starts the job, he recognises his boss is Gu Yisen, who apparently has amnesia now since his parents died din a car accident. He is now a grumpy, cold-faced man, who gets drunk in bars each night.
Although Sheng Kaixin is efficient at his job, Gu Yisen doesn't seem to like him at first, and keeps firing him, but since it was Li Yan who hired him, he still keeps the job. Meanwhile the traumas that changed Gu Yisen's personality are gradually revealed. This is not a BL at all.
The heir to a Taiwanese business empire, who is hiding in Japan, hires an actor to play his boyfriend in real life, to escape the marriage arranged by his family and to pretend he is gay. Lines begin to blur as they spend time together and try to act like a normal couple to make their story more believable. When his fiancé arrives, she tries to dismiss this as a phase, but by this time the feelings have grown string between the two men. 5 episodes of average 10 minutes. Another China series based and set in Japan. Cute leads with good chemistry but clichéd and rushed story.
A guy gets a call from wrong number trying to reach his ex-girlfriend telling him he will take his life. Scared, this guy goes the bar and brings the drunk boy home. The duo meet gain at a photo shoot later and become friends. Turns out our original guy is also recently heart broke after his boyfriend left him. So when the ex-boyfriend comes back suddenly, he gets various emotions but finally controls. The new straight guy meanwhile starts to fall for the innocent and righteousness of this man and asks him to his boyfriend and kisses him. 4 episodes of 10 minutes each, I would say this was pretty basic and strictly ok.
This 2 part 22 min each series had so much going for it and a good case study on how to make these. A poor construction worker once meets a drunk guy at night and they become friends. The guy is gay and has a boyfriend but is going through a rough patch in his relationship. Meanwhile this poor guy has cancer and is getting treatment done by a doctor who goes out of his way to help the boy. He even helps him get a job and hears him out on how the boy has started to fall for the drunk guy he met. Turns out that doctor is the boyfriend of that man and we see how suddenly jealousy takes over and all the path and humanity that doctor had suddenly vanishes because the guy he was taking care of, may end up hurting him. I really really enjoyed the show. With a tight script, it tells you so much about human behavior and moral ambiguity. Highly recommend. Available on PDID Film channel on YouTube.
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