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: 07/27/26

John Stark

TV Shows Watched: House Of THe Dragon: S3E6 (HBO MAX) with audio description, Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed: S1E7 (Apple) with audio description, Million Dollar Secret: S2E8 (Netflix) with audio description, Ted: S2E8 (Peacock) with audio description, Stranger Things: Tales From 85- S1E9 (Netflix), Last Week Tonight: Most Recent (HBO MAX) no audio description, and Breaking Bad: S4E6 (Netflix) with audio description House Of The Dragon- Connor DeWolfe is writing, in my humblest of opinions, the best AD at the moment, for a currently running series. There’s so much detail being pulled out of a broad ensemble, and being brought to life. … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries: 07/27/26

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Bait: Series Review

John Stark

This is what happens when Amazon owns the James Bond franchise. It’s corporate synergy at its finest, and honestly, it’s a winning concept. The fact that they decided to give it to Academy Award nominee Riz Ahmed is one of the better judgment calls they’ve made. Bait asks a fascinating question: what is it actually like to have your name floated as a possible James Bond? How could something like that help your career? How could it hurt it? What does it do to your life when you go from being a relatively unknown actor to suddenly having the entire … Continue reading Bait: Series Review

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The Sheep Detectives

John Stark

I think in any other year, The Sheep Detectives would be in the Oscar conversation, which seems like a crazy thing to say because just hearing there’s a movie called The Sheep Detectives immediately makes you wonder how on earth. But hear me out. Babe was a Best Picture nominee because it was original, it had heart, and it really took advantage of the technology available at the time to tell this wonderfully charming story about a little pig. The Sheep Detectives feels like that kind of unexpected movie. It takes this absolutely bonkers premise about a shepherd, played by … Continue reading The Sheep Detectives

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the Dink

John Stark

If pickleball is invading our lives, eventually it was going to invade the cinemas, and Apple is just the studio to take advantage of it. The Dink is the latest comedy from Josh Greenbaum, the director of Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar, and continues the plague upon our people that is pickleball. I say that jokingly. I’ve never played pickleball. I have no idea what it’s like. I don’t even conceptually understand the sport. But it seems to be one of those things where people either absolutely love it or absolutely hate it, and that’s exactly what … Continue reading the Dink

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The Small Screen Diaries: 07/26/26

John Stark

TV Shows Watched: The Walking Dead: Dead City: S3E1 (AMC Plus) no audio description, Margo’s Got Money Troubles: S1E8 (Apple) with audio description,Strip Law: S1E9 (Netflix) with audio description, The Westies: S1E4 (MGM Plus) with audio description, Top Chef: Season Finale (Peacock) with audio description, Pop Culture Jeopardy: S2E14 (Netflix) with audio description, The Hawk: S1E3 (Netflix) with audio description, Marshals: S1E10 (Paramount) with audio description The Walking Dead: Dead City- On the AMC Plus app, this show is tagged as having AD. More importantly, since I switched to the app between S2 and S3, AMC Plus doesn’t know I’ve … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries: 07/26/26

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Lee Cronin’s The mummy

John Stark

I would not consider myself an authority on the Evil Dead franchise, since I have not seen the entire thing. I have yet to find the first two films with audio description, so prior to Evil Dead Rise, I had only seen Army of Darkness and the 2013 Evil Dead remake. But I really liked Evil Dead Rise, so Lee Cronin found a fan in me. The way he balanced comedy and horror simultaneously was fascinating. He made a film that was funny and scary, incredibly gory and yet somehow completely captivating. So when Lee Cronin’s The Mummy came out, … Continue reading Lee Cronin’s The mummy

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Abbott Elementary: Season 5

John Stark

When Abbott Elementary first premiered, it felt like a breath of fresh air. At a time when streaming services were dominating the television conversation, Abbott Elementary reminded people that network TV could still produce an Emmy-worthy comedy. A lot of that comes down to creator Quinta Brunson, who also stars as Janine Teagues. Yes, this is a review of Season 5, but since I never reviewed the previous four seasons, it’s important to say up front that I’ve loved this show from the beginning. The early seasons deserved every bit of the awards attention they received, including Sheryl Lee Ralph’s … Continue reading Abbott Elementary: Season 5

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Margo’s Got Money Troubles: Season 1

John Stark

Apple TV has quite a few shows on its roster that somehow always seem to fly under the radar. Even during awards season, when they have critical praise and plenty of support, they never seem to get quite the attention they deserve. The math just never adds up. A show like Stick, which certainly had its fair share of awards potential, walked away empty-handed this year, along with series like Smoke, Criminal Record, Down Cemetery Road, For All Mankind, and the recently returned Trying, which has always eluded Emmy voters. Yet Margo’s Got Money Troubles, with the pedigree of David … Continue reading Margo’s Got Money Troubles: Season 1

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The Small Screen Diaries: 07/25/26

John Stark

Coming up this week, a few movies to note, The Devil Wears Prada 2 (Disney Plus) on Wednesday, The Drama (HBO MAX) on Friday, and the new The Devil’s Mouth (Amazon) on Wednesday with Katherine Newton and Lana Condor. Returning shows include The Walking Dead: Dead City (AMC Plus) today, Batman: The Caped Crusader (Amazon) on Friday, and a few new ones including The Bombing Of Pam Am 103 (Netflix) and Furious (Hulu) with Emmy Rossum and Lola Pettigrew (it sounds a little like Killing Eve to me). TV Shows Watched: I Will Find You: Full Series (Netflix) with audio … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries: 07/25/26

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72 Hours

John Stark

Tim Story certainly has a diverse slate of films on his resume. He’s already crossed paths with 72 Hours star Kevin Hart in the Ride Along franchise, but Story has bounced around from Barbershop to Fantastic Four to Ride Along to Tom and Jerry to The Blackening and now this, along with sequels to several of those films. He certainly doesn’t have a niche, although I’m not really sure he has a strength either. He does seem to do his best work in films with predominantly Black casts, or at least Black leads, as most people would probably put Fantastic … Continue reading 72 Hours

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I Will Find You: Series Review

John Stark

I’m not a Harlan Coben fan. I think he’s highly overrated, or at least his television adaptations are. I’ve enjoyed very few of them. Previously, I would have said Shelter was the best adaptation of one of his books. However, this Sam Worthington-led limited series, running eight episodes, features a stacked cast, delivers a fairly thrilling ride, and even though I saw certain twists coming, it’s far better than I expected it to be. Sometimes Coben’s stories reach a little too far. They swing too wide, becoming increasingly nonsensical as they go. The adaptations I’ve liked the most are the … Continue reading I Will Find You: Series Review

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Mortal Kombat 2

John Stark

Instantly comparing sequel to sequel, Mortal Kombat 2 scores a flawless victory over Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, the original sequel to the 1995 film that launched this franchise onto the big screen. That movie is atrocious. I probably should review it at some point, but that would require me to actually sit down and watch Mortal Kombat: Annihilation again, which feels a bit like asking someone to intentionally contract food poisoning or drive their car into a lake. We all know those are terrible ideas, and no reasonable person should be expected to volunteer for them. Mortal Kombat 2 is also … Continue reading Mortal Kombat 2

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The Small Screen Diaries: 07/24/26

John Stark

TV Shows Watched:Silo: S3E4 (Apple) with audio description, Stuart Fails To Save The Universe: S1E1 (HBO MAX) with audio description, Detective Hole: S1E7 (Netflix) with audio description, Off Campus: S1E7 (Amazon) with audio description, Will Trent: S4E16 (Disney Plus) with audio description, and Abbott Elementary: S5E22 (Disney Plus) with audio description Silo- So everyone will talk about that last scene. Get this episode in before your friends spoil it for you. The AD here was fine, like it has been thus far. I have no problems with Silo, and I love the series. I won’t go into the episode, since … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries: 07/24/26

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They Fight

John Stark

My first encounter with They Fight came during the 2026 Tribeca Film Festival. I had the opportunity to screen the film in advance, but it would have meant watching it without audio description. At the time, I already knew it was headed to Hulu in the near future, and the option to wait for the accessibility I need was more important to me than getting an early review. With all due respect to the wonderful cast and crew, it’s hard out here for a blind film critic. As I’m writing this review, I’m currently being ignored by another studio because … Continue reading They Fight

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Man On Fire: Season 1

John Stark

Perhaps I should give the Tony Scott-directed Denzel Washington film Man on Fire another look, because after watching Netflix’s adaptation starring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, a recent Emmy nominee for Wonder Man, I’m reconsidering the entire concept. It’s possible there was something I missed more than 20 years ago when I watched the original film, which at the time didn’t resonate with me. I wasn’t much of a fan despite strong performances from both Denzel Washington and a very young Dakota Fanning. The Netflix series changes a number of things, mostly so that if they decide to continue Man on Fire … Continue reading Man On Fire: Season 1