The American Council Of The Blind through the Audio description project is once again ready to bestow honors on some deserving nominees. The five films and five television shows were recently announced as final voting opens. Check out the nominees beloww. You can vote for the awards here: (https://bit.ly/4eCvbmJ). The People’s Choice Awards will be awarded virtually in a ceremony on November 13th at 7:30PM.

The Nominees Are:

Back In Action (Netflix)- I actually did a review/quality check of this title. I’m actually surprised by this nomination, not because it lacks in quality necessarily, but it is the only streaming exclusive on this list. Popularity has a lot to do with it, and I’m sure like most people’s choice awards, it means that not only did you like the audio description, but you liked Back In Action enough to warrant the nomination. Another thing I’ve thought about, largely because of the nomination of Snow White is timing. Back In Action released in January when it was fresh in peoples minds. There certainly were some older titles forgotten because our nomination window is so weird. We have a range of March 2025 back to September 2024. That means every movie from last summer, which included films like Deadpool and Wolverine, Wolves, Inside Out 2, and Furiosa (just to name a few). I liked this track, but I can’t help but think voters have short term memory, and our nomination window doesn’t benefit some of the bombastic summer tentpols everyone saw, but probably forgot were technically eligible.

Flow- Now this is a cool nomination. In principle, I like it, because WBD stepped up and did the right thing. This film was submitted all over without audio description, even to me as a blind film critic. My first viewing of this was without AD, and it is a film with no dialogue. I vehemently believed and still do, that if you have money for an Oscar campaign, you have money for audio description. It wasn’t until Flow landed on MAX that WBD ponied up for a movie they didn’t make, nor did they benefit from in the Awards race. not only that, but they also allowed that track to be used on the physical criterion release, so even if Flow disappears from Max, fans can still have permanent access. This is a great nomination.

Snow White- My least favorite of the nominees, because the film is such a hot mess. it is itself an amalgamation of ideas, like it was told what it needed to be by a committee of studio executives, which left us with a stunted film that never fully becomes anything. I’m not even sure the description of the “miners” was that great. this benefitted from release date, though the box office on this wasn’t great, and I’m surprised enough people saw it to nominate it. Disney had better releases that could have been considered. Notably, since we include streaming titles, an inspired choice would have been Out Of My Mind. not only is it a better film, but it would have celebrated disability representation as well. That being said, that also isn’t the best Disney track from the period, which really should have gone to Deadpool and Wolverine.

The Substance- A terrific nomination, a terrific track, and one of my favorites in the eligibility period. It also encourages Mubi to continue to commit to audio description as a distributor. So not only does it reward excellence, it actually encourages a newcomer to keep striving for it.

Wicked- This movie earned it for the dance scene alone, which was so well done. Also, props for disability representation. I’m so confused as to why Universal was the only one of the nine nominees across film and television to not provide a clip for voters in final consideration. Still, with the love for Wicked, and how many people saw it, I think this will win.

My Pick: The Substance (though I’d be really happy with Flow or Wicked. Nothing against Back In Action, but I wouldn’t have put Snow White in the top five.

Television:

Dexter- original Sin? Original Dexter? it is literally just listed as Dexter, which I believe did finally get audio description in the last year on Paramount Plus. So I’m truly curious if people voted for the original Dexter, or the new one. I know one of my fellow film critics caught some mistakes in original Sin, so I’m a little surprised it is here. However, if people also voted because they binge watched the original… then maybe? It’s such an od nomination because it doesn’t specify Original Sin. so, congrats to the totality that is Dexter.

Dying For Sex- Man, talk about benefitting from release. Not That the track is bad. I like the track, and its frankness, but considering all of TV, across all genres, and this ended up here? It isn’t because it’s not great, it has more to do with me not believing enough people watched this to make the cut. but, if just enough people were watching as they were nominating, then it benefitted from that. It deserves to be here, don’t misread me, I just didn’t realize enough people voted for it. Especially considering a lot of blind and low vision people have reservations about the audio description on Hulu, and how certain series and films seem to lack it.

Goosebumps: Season 2- this is a fun choice. Another show I’m surprised to see, but only because of audience. Like, you realize that House of The Dragon, The boys, Bridgerton, The Rings Of Power, and other huge shows were eligible, they just released at the beginning. Maybe the AD studios need to run campaigns. Goosebumps dropped in January. I was so surprised to see it here, but it doesn’t have a bad track. It has a really good one that embraces the horror of the series.

The Penguin- probably the best nominee here. This one ended up getting a mention in variety for how its audio description track was really above and beyond. I loved this show, and the track was great. no notes. It’s also a huge show, so I’m not surprised it made the cut.

The Pitt- Also a big new show from last season. Not surprised it had fans. I like this nomination. I’m not sure it would e in my personal top five, but it is a consistently solid track, and this is a well liked show. I think this could win. it isn’t so old people will forget it, and it was a word of mouth show people started to watch late, so it is still fresh.

My Vote: Bridgerton. But, since I can’t, I think I might go with its spiritual sister and give dying For Sex a nod. I’m truly surprised to see it here, and actually impressed to see it. I mean, I would have thought Landman had a better shot. Also, no Adolescence? I think I’m more proud that our voters are actually trying to be discerning, and picking things like this, instead of the game show crap that used to get nominated here. We’re really starting to pick great choices. The only one I have qualms with is Dexter, and that’s because I’m not sure what people voted for, since it isn’t specifically nominated as original Sin. I would not have nominated Original Sin, and I have thoughts about old shows acquiring audio description being in contention with current programs. Often, that lacks fanfare, and I’m sure a lot of excellent work has been done to update older titles, but we just don’t know if it was eligible.

Who are you voting for? Who should have been nominated? Is it time to have more nominees or a third category? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.