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Revamp: The Undead Story (Thai Series)

I really didn't like this BL series at all. The story was weak, the timing was all over the place, and I just couldn't connect with any of it. Everything about how it was made felt totally mechanical. To be fair, I'll give credit where it's due—the idea behind the show was actually pretty interesting, and I'm sure some people might like it, but it just didn't work for me. The series is 10 episodes long, and each one runs for about 50 minutes. The main story is about two guys named Punn and Ramil. Punn runs a shop where he fixes up old antiques, and he gets hired to restore a painting in a gallery. Without knowing it, his blood actually ends up freeing a vampire named Ramil who has been trapped inside that painting for 100 years. Ramil comes out without his full powers, so he’s hunted and really vulnerable, which means he has to depend on Punn for help. Punn isn't sure about it at first, but he gets pulled into this secret world of vampires and old feuds, rea...

The Pass (UK)

I had big expectations from this film, having read some good reviews about it. It had also won the Audience award for the best film in Philadelphia LGBT film festival last year, so I was really looking forward to it. What I didn’t realize until I started watching the film was that it must have been based on a play, because given the nature of the setting of the film, I could not see any other reason and I was actually right. It is an indie film and shows us the issue of fame and sexuality and how a famous soccer player leads a life of denial.

The film is set in 3 parts in three time zones, each set apart by 5 years. Its 2006 and the night before a big soccer match. Best friends Jason and Ade are hanging out in the hotel room, each with a dream of making it big and getting chosen by talent scout. They know only one of them can get picked. Wearing only their underwear, there is a healthy banter thats going around between them, including a surprise kiss from Jason to Ade. Five years later, in another hotel room, Jason, now a famous football star and married is seen with a lap dancer. We find out that its all a setup so that a video of him screwing another girl will help squash the rumors of him possibly being gay. We see the insecurity that Jason is in which has come with fame. Circa 5 more years later. Jason is now divorced living his life in a hotel and super hyper. He invites Ade and they get talking. Ade is out and gay and is happy with a boyfriend but both friends have some unspeakable connection with each other. The lengths Jason will go to insult and instigate Ade just to hide his own frustration and anger and inability to live a truthful life becomes evident in this act.

The film although not very long, feels stretched. At least it did to me. The problem was primarily because of it being set up in hotel rooms and mostly driven by dialogues and acting by the lead characters. Which, by the way, was very good. Jason acts really really well to convey his character of a successful soccer star who handles his insecurities by putting up a big, arrogant defensive shield. And then we have Ade, Who I felt, somehow still had feelings for Jason but could not understand why Jason was behaving the way he is in past or present. There is an excellent tension between the two guys in both the first and third act. In the first act, they share a kiss, that comes out of the blue. And a kiss that has ramifications for the two of them, both immediately and in the years that follow; which we get to see in the third act again. There is more than enough sexual tension between the two guys in the two acts with some purposefully erotic moments, but that prevents from viewers like me to have an emotional connect with the characters.

If you wonder, why so few football professional players have ever come out of the closet, this film gives some good insight but as far as entertainment and holding audience attention is concerned, this film leaves a lot to be desired. (5.5/10)

Comments

luigi43 said…
As usual , I need Your point of view to understand what my eyes saw. The scene when Ade slips into the shower was during first act and showed up in the third one or was after the waiter was kicked out , during the third act?
Golu said…
The last scene we see of the bathroom and them sleeping together was from the first act. KIts only in the end we see what really happened 10 years ago after that kiss..

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