Author: John Stark

Blogger. EIC of macthemovieguy.com. Contributor to mjsbigblog.com and houseofgeekery.com. Previously featured on starpulse.com.
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The Small Screen Diaries: 08/17/26

John Stark

Loosely, I’ll say I’m feeling discriminated against this morning, though I won’t provide context. I did have to casually accuse/suggest that in an email, which is not fun. TV Shows Watched: Lanterns: S1E1 (HBO MAX) with audio description, Widows Bay: S1E10 (Apple) with audio description, Avatar: S2E7 (Netflix) with audio description, Tracker: S4E? (Paramount) no audio description, Elzabeth: Season Finale (Paramount) with audio description, and Last Week Tonight: Most Recent (HBO MAX) no audio description Winner: Lanterns Loser: Tracker I don’t know why Tracker lost AD for an episode, but considering I also watched Elzabeth without problem, then Tracker just … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries: 08/17/26

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Avatar: The Last Airbender: Season 2 (2026)

John Stark

We are certainly living in a golden age of television, regardless of how you feel about the endless adaptations. The fact that we’re getting so many of them, and that they are as well funded as they are, is at least promising because some of them are producing quality work. Thirty years ago, science fiction, fantasy, and superhero television meant shows like seaQuest DSV, Earth 2, The Flash, Xena: Warrior Princess, and Sliders. I remember that live-action Flash series starring John Wesley Shipp, who would later play Dawson’s father on Dawson’s Creek. Budgets were lower and casts were largely filled … Continue reading Avatar: The Last Airbender: Season 2 (2026)

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Going In Blind: The Magic Far Away Tree

John Stark

When I was growing up in a different time and a different generation, back in the days when churning butter was a thing, before electricity, when dinosaurs were roaming the Earth, I loved to read books. I had plenty of children’s books, and because I read so voraciously, I moved fairly quickly up the age bracket, routinely reading material above my grade level, except for Goosebumps, which was just for fun. I definitely grew up in the Goosebumps generation. We were always presented with the summer reading list, and the goal was to check off as many books as possible, … Continue reading Going In Blind: The Magic Far Away Tree

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The Small Screen Diaries: 08/16/26

John Stark

TV Shows Watched: The Walking Dead: Dead City: S3E4 (AMC Plus) WITH audio description, Unconditional: S1E8 (Apple) with audio description, The Westies: S1E7 (MGM Plus) with audio description, Avatar: The LAst Airbender: S2E6 (Netflix) with audio description, The Rookie: S8E10 (Disney Plus) with audio description, and The Five Star Weekend: S1E2 (Peacock) with audio description The Walking Dead: Dead City- I’ve suspected in the past that AMC Plus uses synthetic voice, and I’d still buy that here. They tipped their hat previously when the narrator couldn’t pronounce the name of a character, so I operate as if this was synthetic. … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries: 08/16/26

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Is God Is

John Stark

Somehow Is God Is slipped completely by me. I remember seeing it listed when it was opening in theaters, and it was a film starring Sterling K. Brown and Vivica A. Fox, and I immediately thought, why is this being released theatrically? I also thought it was probably a Christian movie, and it is anything but. It’s amazing what happens when you actually know what something is about, but I skip nearly every trailer for a film, so I work largely off of what studios send me and what other critics are talking about. It wasn’t until after Is God … Continue reading Is God Is

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Off Campus: Season 1

John Stark

The expectations were pretty high going into Off Campus, as Amazon had already picked up the show for a second season, feeling ultra-confident that it had a new hit on its hands. It comes from Elle Kennedy’s popular book series, which allows the show to have almost a Bridgerton-like structure, meaning the focus can shift to a new couple each season. But I grew up on these types of shows, coming-of-age teen dramas. I was blessed to be there for the arrival of The WB, starting off with shows like Dawson’s Creek, moving into things like One Tree Hill and … Continue reading Off Campus: Season 1

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Going In Blind: The Snare

John Stark

I was not part of the After School Special generation. I did not come home after school to watch a weepy teen drama about life lessons, but if that were still a thing, I imagine The Snare could have found a place among the pantheon of what I’m sure are legendary classics. It’s very much a cautionary tale, both for teenagers in terms of being a coming-of-age story and for parents who apparently need to get all up in their kids’ business 24/7, because the world from The Snare’s perspective is very much waiting to find your children and eat … Continue reading Going In Blind: The Snare

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The Small Screen Diaries: 08/15/26

John Stark

Coming up this week, a bit of a slow week, Lanterns (HBO) premieres tonight, Outer Banks (Netflix) returns for a final season on Thursday, with Conan O’Brien Must Go (HBO) dropping on Friday. Disney is celebrating itself all week long with various content on Disney Plus, and features like Passenger (Paramount) and Mother Mary (HBO MAX) hit their streamers. I also believe THe Christophers (Hulu) is dropping this week. TV Shows Watched: Avatar: The LAst Airbender S2E1-5 (Netflix) with audio description, Pop Culture Jeopardy: S2E16 (Netflix) with audio description, Marshals: S1E12 (Paramount Plus), Little House On The Prairie: S1E7 (Netflix) … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries: 08/15/26

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The Bear: Season 5

John Stark

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. That’s the phrase, anyway. But here, it’s also the question, because I already reviewed the fifth and final season of The Bear once, and I still didn’t feel like I adequately explained why it didn’t work for me. Then I looked at that 97% Rotten Tomatoes score and realized just how far into the minority I’m going to be when I put up a Rotten review for this show. So I wanted to come back and really pin down why. The best explanation I can give is surprisingly simple: Season 5 … Continue reading The Bear: Season 5

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Monstrous Me

John Stark

Obviously, if you’re here, you know I’m a blind film critic. Or maybe you don’t. Maybe you found this review, clicked on it thinking it was just another review of Monstrous Me, and just learned that a blind film critic exists. I’m also an advocate for audio description. So pretty much whenever somebody comes to me and says, “Hey, will you review my movie? It has audio description,” I go, “Sure.” I want to support films that bothered to snag an audio description track for people like me, since major studios are still releasing titles without them. It’s funny that … Continue reading Monstrous Me

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Don’t Say Good Luck

John Stark

I’m sure many critics don’t really know what to do right now. We’re in a little bit of a daze. It’s certainly an unfamiliar place. Had I known that this would be what it was, I would have tried to get an advanced screener so I could get my thoughts out on this film earlier. But instead, I watched it with the normies on Netflix. And color me surprised that Happy Madison produced a coming-of-age drama starring Sunny Sandler, which is both extremely on brand for them, given the actress, and extremely off brand for them, given the fact that … Continue reading Don’t Say Good Luck

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The Small Screen Diaries: 08/14/26

John Stark

Two shows entered cancellation thunderdome, with one getting renewed, and the other cancelled. Stuart Fails To Save The Universe has been picked up for a second season at HBO MAX, while the synthetically described Deli Boys failed to make it to a third season.Synthetic narration. It may be hazardous to the health of your series. TV Shows Watched: Silo: S3E7 (Apple) with audio description, Stuart Fails: S1E4 (HBO MAX) with audio description, Tomb Raider King: S1E1 (CrunchyRoll) with audio description, Detective Hole: S1E8 (Netflix) with audio description, Will Trent: S4E17 (Disney Plus) with audio description And in other news, stay … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries: 08/14/26

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The Witness (2026): Series Review

John Stark

Well, at least it was only three episodes. I know that’s not necessarily the most reassuring way of convincing you to watch a show, but these days, sometimes reminding an audience that something is appropriately lengthed instead of being drawn out for ulterior motives is oddly refreshing. The Witness could have been some 10-episode limited series where every aspect and detail of the case was spread out and beleaguered, with additional material packed in for dramatic effect until the passage of time slowed considerably and we spent a lifetime in a story that is rather simple for what it is. … Continue reading The Witness (2026): Series Review

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The Small Screen Diaries: 08/13/26

John Stark

TV Shows Watched: Citadel: Season 2 (Amazon) with audio description, Stranger Things: Tales From 85 (Netflix) with audio description, Life Larry and the Pursuit Of Unhappyness: S1E6 (HBO MAX) and Who Wants To Be A Millionaire: S5E3 (Disney Plus) with audio description Citadel- I did review this yesterday, so check it out. Also, if you were thinking about watching the second season of Citadel, and have pushed it down your watchlist, move it up before someone ruins that finale for you. Jaw dropped. I couldn’t go enough into it in my review, but the show takes a really big swing … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries: 08/13/26

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Wishing You Were Somehow Human Again: X-Men 97: Season 2

John Stark

I just want to take a second right up here at the top of my review to be grateful for this moment. To be living in a time where Marvel saw the value in their X-Men animated series from the ‘90s and brought it back to life, returned many of the original voice cast, and tried to keep the structure of the series intact. This was the show I grew up with. The Saturday morning cartoon I fell in love with, and the X-Men became my superheroes of choice. Other people elevate Batman, Superman, Spider-Man, Hulk, or any number of … Continue reading Wishing You Were Somehow Human Again: X-Men 97: Season 2