This movie was simply weird. I went in really wanting to like it, but the pretentious, overly poetic atmosphere, along with the choppy editing that jumps back and forth in little five- to ten-second bursts, made the whole thing feel stretched out for absolutely no reason. It was way too self-indulgent, if you ask me. Honestly, this could've been cut into a fifteen-minute short without losing a thing. I also still have no idea what was going on with the women dancing along the beach while this overwrought, flowery narration played over it. The story moves at a snail's pace toward a confrontation you can spot coming from a mile away, and it only gets more boring as it approaches. By the time it finally happened, I'd completely checked out as a viewer, even though the film has two genuinely good-looking guys in the lead roles. The premise is pretty straightforward. Lorena and Diego are attempting to make a new life for themselves in a small coastal town, both anxiously beginning new jobs—she's a baker and he's a teacher. Separately, they each meet a thoughtful young man named Vicente, and his love of art pulls them both toward him. Lorena brings him into a film project she's working on, while Diego is drawn to him in a way that makes it increasingly difficult to keep burying his attraction to men, something that has quietly been straining his marriage all along. So as Diego and Vicente begin something on the side, with Diego constantly doubting himself and never fully embracing it,…
Right from the opening minute, the show signals that it shouldn't be taken seriously. This bizarre little sci-fi comedy is a Korean-Thai BL collaboration centered on an alien prince who crash-lands in the middle of a struggling bakery. Like many joint productions, it seems designed to appeal to audiences in both nations simultaneously. Despite having eight episodes of roughly 25 minutes each, the series feels undercooked. The production quality is unexpectedly low for such a collaboration, the editing feels awkwardly stitched together, and while the visual palette suggests goofy sci-fi fun, the show never quite delivers on that promise. Wooju is a young man attempting to revive his late father's bakery, though he lacks any actual baking talent. His life changes one night when a spaceship crashes directly onto the premises. From the debris emerge two aliens: a prince named Raon and his loyal canine servant Hachi, the latter of whom becomes obsessed with the quality of earth dog food. Following an awkward exchange regarding their alien status and their inability to pay for the damages, Wooju decides to keep them there and puts them to work. Through the use of magic, they begin producing various baked goods, which unexpectedly turns the bakery into a success. It is revealed that Raon's arrival on earth was no accident; he was searching for Wooju's father, who had been his close friend and mentor on the planet Kaunclion, where the father had also taught him how to bake. Meanwhile, Raon's fiancée arrives on earth to find him, only to fall for a cop…
It has been some time since I watched a movie set during the Pandemic, but this production immediately transported me back to that bizarre era that feels like a lifetime ago. By writing the script and starring as the lead character Chico, the Brazilian filmmaker successfully recreates that specific headspace of isolation, Zoom calls, and the social distancing that eventually became a new normal. However, the film is dull. While the director's intended message might have worked well as a short film, the actual experience involves stretching everything into long scenes where almost nothing happens. Living through lockdown alone, Chico is a bear who treats covid protocols like sacred law, spending his time watering plants and following workout videos. This rigidity has caused his friends to label him the protocol police, a reputation that has slowly pushed them all away. During a Zoom call, he receives even more bad news when his long-distance boyfriend ends their relationship, claiming he is no longer bisexual and has been sleeping with women throughout the pandemic. Despite his lonely routines, Chico remains horny, and watching porn is no longer enough to satisfy him. He reaches out to an old flame to arrange a hookup in perhaps the least seductive manner possible, asking the guy if he would like to have sex while following all the protocols. When the guy arrives, a charged scene of sexual simulation unfolds behind plastic curtains, eventually leading to them being fully naked and having sex with their masks still on. However, the moment the guy pulls his mask off,…
Having rated season one quite high because that sharp, satirical humor resonated so well with me, I approached this season with high hopes. Unfortunately, it let me down hard. I found myself bored and checking out during nearly every episode, as the jokes simply failed to land this time around. Given this experience, I am not shocked the show got cancelled after this season. As with the previous run, it consists of ten episodes, each about twenty minutes long. Even with the same cast returning, something about this felt fundamentally off. Alvarez’s character, Mr Evans, undergoes a shift from a lovable mess who navigates life with neurotic charm to a grown man desperately attempting to join some sort of Bro Code Brotherhood of America. While Malcolm remains the boyfriend, Gwen is back as his high-energy best friend, and we still have Markie the gym teacher, the principal, and Rick. Although Evan and Malcolm are officially a couple now, their relationship is rocky. Markie continues to crush hard on Gwen—who is back with her jobless boyfriend—while still making offensive comments despite his good intentions. Meanwhile, Rick stays lost in his own weird world, pursuing his next terrible business idea. This season forces Evan to confront various biases regarding himself and those around him. The dinner at the principal's place was the one episode that actually worked for me; meeting the principal's daughter's husband, a very flamboyant guy from the South, highlights how Evan can't wrap his head around the idea that someone so openly gay presenting could be genuinely in love…
