Skip to main content

Burnout Syndrome (Thai Series)

By Golu
True to its title, this show tries to capture burnout not as some big dramatic collapse but as this slow, draining exhaustion that quietly eats away at relationships and how you see yourself, and honestly it makes the characters feel really real. The pace is slow on purpose, and everyone here is flawed and full of contradictions, nobody's simple. It uses this messed up boss and employee dynamic to sneak in some pretty smart commentary on society. The story digs into toxic work culture, mental health struggles, and how money ends up running our lives whether we like it or not. And yeah, there's a love triangle thrown in too, because of course there is. This one runs ten episodes, each around 45-55 minutes. Jira's twenty eight, broke, and struggling to make it as a painter. Nothing's going right for him, his art isn't selling, he's got no steady job, and he's basically on the edge of falling apart. His best friend Ing does what she can, finding him odd jobs an...
Post a Comment

The Last Straight Man

By Golu

This was an interesting film. I have very mixed feelings about it and still can’t decide what to make out of it at the end. Hopefully while writing this piece, it will get clear in my head. the few things that come to my mind after seeing the film is that it must have been made on a ultra low budget. Because the entire film has been shot in one hotel room along with some pics here and there but pretty much every single thing happens there. So the production cost has to be really low. Keeping that in mind, the film has been done actually pretty well.

Lewis and Cooper have ben the best of friends for a while. At Cooper’s bachelor party, when he gets too drunk , he decides to just stay back with Lewis at his hotel room. More shots follow and Lewis admits to being bisexual or maybe even on path of being gay. Thankfully Cooper doesn’t over-react and since he has never messed around with a guy, they end up doing so. Thankfully again, no drama happens in morning and the friends part way still being the best of buddies. Soon we se that this now becomes an annual event, where the 2 buddies spent the same day in the same hotel to screw and catch up. Something that was supposed to be just fun, slowly is turning into something else. They both open up to each other sexually and emotionally that they had not thought of. Lewis is falling involve but part of it still bothers Cooper since he has wife and a kid. They meet again a few years later and then again. What we are privy of are the conversations that happen between the 2 men and how it brings them closer to each other. Five nights over a ten year period are depicted, showing how their friendship/relationship changes, and exploring the boundaries of sexuality.

Since the entire film is based on the conversations between the 2 men, a lot depends on the dialogues of the film, which to be honest range from moderate to decent to good to mediocre. Often I felt that the conversations were going no-where and the film was unnecessarily being stretched, which I still believe, and the film would have been much better with a tighter editing. But then someone could argue that it is necessary to show the dynamics changing between the 2 men. The performances between 2 men is quite alright actually. Neither great shakes but not terrible either. Lewis is mostly the logical one  and Cooper just wants to let loose having to live a life for 364 days a year that he probably doesn’t enjoy. What surprises me is that the film is shown over 10-12 years but the duo doesn’t change at all over the course of years. Just getting a french beard for one of the nights, doesn’t make a huge change.

A decent watchable  film but unfortunately it fails to hold at the attention of the viewers. It needs crisper editing. (5.5/10)
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Phor Lae Lukchai (Thai) [Father & Son]

By Golu
I think the budget of this film was probably too small, but for that, the film definitely offers a different and unique storyline without over dramatizing anything. Yes, some scenes were a bit amateurish but in the bigger scheme of things, that can be overlooked. The film is both beautiful and sad in its own unique way. Aek is a gay dad, whose partner died right around the time their son Nueng was born through surrogacy in a road accident. The relationship between father and son is unpleasant and unstable. We are not really told why, but it seems the father has been unsuccessful in caring and loving his son because of his partner's death. Aek continues to hook up wit hookers. Also, Nueng is constantly bullied by everyone around him for having a gay dad. He has no friends, except Nat, a neighborhood boy, who also happens to be Nueng's boyfriend. In a sudden turn of events Nat is found murdered along with another boy naked. Saddened by the events, Nueng jumps from roof and k...
1 comment
Read more

Sei no Gekiyaku (Japanese) [Dangerous Drugs of Sex]

By Golu
Every person has their own unique way of dealing with loss. This film is as much a psychological thriller as it is a soft porn BDSM portrayal of two young men that makes the film overall horrifying as well as humane. It is really hard to describe the genre of this film in one word. Its important not that the film has some really disturbing scenes so if you go into seeing this film, please proceed with caution. Although any sexual non-consensual activity is not ok, this film has its won strange way of showing that suicide is not the only solution to all life's problems. Makoto is a regular office goer, who just finds out that his girlfriend is probably cheating on him. ON top of it, his parents sudden death coming back from a trip that he forced them to take, he gets completely dejected and decides to commit suicide. Unknown to him, he is saved by mysterious man Yoda Ryoji, and he wakes up finding himself tied up in leather and belts in a very BDSM setting. This mysterious saver soo...
3 comments
Read more

The Shortest Distance is Round 3: Fallen Flowers

By Golu
Continuing with the weird trilogy of "The Shortest Distance", I am so glad that finally I am done with part 3 and won't have to deal with this again in future. Thankfully, as of now the makers have not announced any further parts; which will save all of us on this earth from the embarrassment of watching this in near future. After the first 10 minutes are used in sort of recapping bits of first two parts, the story moves forward. Haruto is now starting to have feelings for Ruka, the mysterious pole dancer from second part. In a fit of rage, Ruka ends up killing the goat man and to save him and Haruto, Shibahara asks them to go underground. Meanwhile Shibahara continues the search for Seiya (the guy who had cut off Haruto's penis). It turns out Seiya is now also taking care of the original club owner from part 1. Both of them were released after they had informed Shibahara of Aoyama's secret location. Shibahara tortures Seiya's boyfriend leading to Seiya killin...
5 comments
Read more