Skip to main content

English Teacher: Season 2 (TV Series)

I was a huge fan of season one, that sharp, satirical humor really worked for me and I rated it pretty high, so I went into this season with high hopes. Unfortunately it let me down hard. Not only did the jokes just not land for me this time, I actually found myself checking out and bored during nearly every episode. Honestly I'm not shocked the show got cancelled after this season. Same as before, it's ten episodes, each about twenty minutes long. Same cast is back, but everything felt off somehow. Alvarez's character Mr Evans shifts from being this loveable mess who deals with life through neurotic charm into more of a grown man trying desperately to fit into some kind of Bro Code Brotherhood of America thing. We've still got Malcolm as the boyfriend, Gwen as his high energy best friend, Markie the gym teacher, plus the principal and Rick. Evan and Malcolm are officially a couple now, but things are rocky between them. Markie's still saying offensive stuff with go...

Available Light

Should've known better the second I saw Todd Verow's name attached to this film. That name alone tells you exactly what you're signing up for, his usual brand of weird experimental stuff that definitely isn't for everyone. It sure wasn't for me. There's some nudity scattered in along with a couple sex scenes, but there's really no actual story here at all.

Basically the whole film is just a bunch of loosely connected snapshots of gay men in different cities, all trying to outrun their loneliness through love, lust, or some mix of both. It mostly takes place across New York, Paris, and Berlin, the cities people tend to think of as gay capitals. Some of these little segments show characters getting ready to meet someone or coming home after a one night stand, all without a single word of dialogue. Other segments have a bit more talking, but overall there's barely any dialogue at all, it's clearly not the point here. And that's basically the entire film in a nutshell. It's just men either pleasuring themselves or hooking up with other guys, but that undercurrent of loneliness never really goes away. As someone watching, you end up feeling like both a voyeur, catching glimpses of these private moments you're not really meant to see, and also somehow a participant, filling in the blanks about what these people are going through and drawing connections between them that might not even be real. Honestly, this was just bad.

Bottom line, pretentious and empty with nothing to actually hold onto. (0.5/10)

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Phor Lae Lukchai (Thai) [Father & Son]

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...

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

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...

Gaya Sa Pelikula (Filipino Series) [Like In The Movies]

Pinoy BL series seem to be catching up to the popularity of the Thai shows. And I must say that they are doing a pretty good job at it. Where Thai series started to get repetitive with so many shows based in a college setting with seemingly similar storylines, Pinoy series are offering the viewers with new and interesting stories and some really good sets and surroundings. This series was 8 episodes of about 25-20 minutes each. Karl, a 19-year old introvert architecture student is in the middle of an identity crisis. Prior to the start of the second semester in college and forced by his parents, he moves into his uncle's condominium unit so that he can learn to be financially independent. Karl takes on odd jobs online to do so. But when one of his major clients suddenly goes MIA, he is left short on funds and without a means to pay for his utilities. An opportunity presents itself when his cocky neighbor Vlad has to hide from his family and proposes to share Karl's space for th...