Author: John Stark

Blogger. EIC of macthemovieguy.com. Contributor to mjsbigblog.com and houseofgeekery.com. Previously featured on starpulse.com.
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Mean Girls (2024)

John Stark

They call themselves The Plastics. They’re shiny fake and hard. Sometimes, when you strive to appease everyone, you end up appeasing no one. Luckily, that isn’t the case with mean Girls, the musical adaptation that hit theatres in 2024, but it does suffer from a lack of identity. The movie is neither a complete reimagining of the original film. Or a faithful adaptation of the musical. Hell, it isn’t even a new version of the musical, in the way that they just fill the movie with new songs. It tries to be everything. On Wednesdays we wear pink. Get in … Continue reading Mean Girls (2024)

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Players

John Stark

I want to enrich my cinema experience. I want to watch less bad, or mediocre movies. But the problem is, I actually like certain actors. So, when Netflix regurgitates something with a generic title like Players, I ignore it. Then I notice it stars Gina Rodriguez (Jane The Virgin, Not Dead Yet), Damon Wayans Jr (Happy endings, let’s Be Cops), and Tom Ellis (Lucifer), and I really am genuinely supportive. The same thing happened with Dan Levy’s writer/directorial feature debut earlier this year. Normally, with a lesser known actor,I would have passed on Good Grief. Netflix keeps hiring actors I … Continue reading Players

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Orion And The Dark

John Stark

I would have liked this concept to go to basically anyone but who actually made this. Arguably, even Dreamworks knows they didn’t stick the landing, which is why you are just now hearing about this as a Netflix original. It’s Dreamworks Animation. This is the same parent company that was more than happy releasing Ruby Gilman Teenage Kraken last year, and had no problem putting Megamind Vs The Doom Syndicate straight to Peacock. Meanwhile, they ditched this. Joke is on them, because it is better than that Megamind sequel (more on that in its own review). Orion and the Dark … Continue reading Orion And The Dark

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The Small Screen Diaries- 04/06/24

John Stark

Kicking off today’s diary with the new shows first. Sugar (Apple Plus) is so stylish, so cool, so swag that I can’t help but be enamored with it. It has all those feelings of The Maltese Falcon and Philip Marlowe, and seems like the kind of project we could have revived Humphrey Bogart for. But, Colin Farrell is surprisingly terrific as John Sugar, a private detective who is hired by a wealthy grandfather (James Cromwell) to find his granddaughter who has gone missing, and keep it out of the papers. Despite the jazzy soundtrack, and the swag of the times, … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries- 04/06/24

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The Small Screen Diaries- 04/05/24

John Stark

Well, NBC went and fucked it all up again. Strong language, I know. Right off the bat. There’s really no other way to open with NBC repeating the same mistake. Quantum Leap has been axed again, without bringing anyone home. No finale season. They didn’t even get what LaBrea got with those handful of episodes to wrap things up. Honestly, you could probably just do a two hour Quantum Leap event, bring everyone home, including the (sorry, spoilers) two current leapers, as well as Sam. Bring everyone home. Call it a day, and never touch this franchise again. But no. … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries- 04/05/24

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The Small Screen Diaries- 04/04/24

John Stark

I decided to check out the hot new limited series, Ripley (Netflix), which has All Of us Strangers star Andrew Scott playing Tom Ripley, in a loose reimagining of The Talented Mr Ripley. Translating a book to film often shortens the material, but into a limited series, and you can keep a lot more of the subject matter. The question is whether or not this sustains the run as well as the film managed to. Johnny Flynn and Dakota Fanning c-star. The audio description here was perfectly fine. If I had any note, it would be to lean more in … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries- 04/04/24

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The Small Screen Diaries- 04/03/24

John Stark

Even more TV news! And it concerns a show I watched yesterday! Will Trent (Hulu) has been renewed by ABC for Season 3. Not really surprising. The narration can be better. I did figure out that they are creating a multipurpose track that can go anywhere, which is why we keep using torches. but, it is shooting for the bare minimum, with there being times when description might have been nice. For example, when the captain gets dressed up in advance of her press conference, a couple of the cast make reference to that, but we have no idea what … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries- 04/03/24

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The small Screen Diaries- 04/02/24

John Stark

I can’t believe we are in April. Time flies. Speaking of time, remember how yesterday I mentioned American Idol finally figured out audio description? They didn’t. It was a glitch in the matrix. To offset this error I made ABC renew Grey’s Anatomy for Season 21. It’s not an even trade, but Grey’s is coming back next year. The Gentleman (Netflix) is a fun idea. I wish this was being done with something that felt a lot more Guy Ritchie than this. I know he’s directed some of this show, and remains a producer, but I miss the energy Ritchie … Continue reading The small Screen Diaries- 04/02/24

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The Small Screen Diaries- 04/01/24

John Stark

I shall mention this, only because of the context. Recently, in an update, the Audio Description Project (AFP.acb.org), added American Idol as having audio description on ABC. So, now the work becomes getting that audio description to travel to Hulu for anyone who doesn’t watch the show live. It has taken them this long, but there is now audio description on Idol, apparently only if you watch live. I watched this on Hulu, without, so there’s your status update. What did have audio description was The Completely Made Up Adventures Of Dick Turpin (Apple Plus), which is one of the … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries- 04/01/24

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The Small Screen Diaries- 03/31/24

John Stark

I started Renegade Nell (Disney Plus), which is about a woman in medieval times who is given a temporary, and seemingly random ability to beat up bad guys. She learns more about this in the first episode, which expertly has her learning things so the audience can learn along with her. It is one of the strongest pilots I’ve seen recently, which does an excellent job of introducing us to the characters, and giving us an idea of the season long arc, while slowly building the rule book for how Nell’s abilities work. This is certainly a first episode where … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries- 03/31/24

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The Trolls Trilogy

John Stark

In preparation for watching the third entry in the series, Trolls Band Together, I decided to just do the whole darn trilogy. Somewhere back on my site is my reaction to the original Trolls, which I was able to see before losing my eyesight and transitioning to blind film critic. So I understand the character designs. The second film, I skipped. i didn’t like the second. Now, I’m trying to talk about audio description, so let’s just cover all three of them, shall we? The first one introduces us to the world of Trolls.I had a few of these as … Continue reading The Trolls Trilogy

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Upgraded

John Stark

There are fleeting moments in the audio description where I feel like the description is strong. There are moments where I feel like it isn’t making the best choices. And, there are long moments where it seems like there is no audio description. Upgraded is in many ways a film you’ve already seen. A young woman looking to move up in her field must deal with her difficult boss while working on a huge life changing opportunity and juggling this cute new guy she just met. That is this film in a nutshell. They just change some things around, throw … Continue reading Upgraded

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The Small Screen Diaries- 03/30/24

John Stark

Alright. Let’s talk about the new show on Amazon, The Baxters! Oh wait, this doesn’t have audio description. Never mind. It sounds awful. Next! OK. Let’s try this again. The new show A Gentleman In Moscow (Paramount Plus with Showtime) starring Ewan McGregor as a former Count who lives in Russia, and has his title, money, and land stripped from him with the rise of communism, and is forced to live in the servants quarters of a hotel. The audio description here is great, and I’ve been hearing this narrator on a lot of Paramount Plus (and Showtime/CBS) content lately. … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries- 03/30/24

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Lift

John Stark

Sometimes, i don’t mind seeing a film just a little bit after the flood of critics and online haters. It really gives me perspective. I always approach every movie as neutral as possible, but often, the crowd is right. Maybe not quite to the extremes.While I didn’t really care for either Meg 2 or The Expend4bles, I definitely saw worse last year. Lift was getting that kind of bad press, and I’m going to lightly disagree. It’s not worth fighting over, but in a rotten/fresh, thumbs down/up world, I’d recommend this over not recommending it. Kevin Hart leads an all-star … Continue reading Lift

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Irish Wish

John Stark

I remember watching The Parent Trap remake in the 90’s, and getting that first dose of Lindsay Lohan. She really seemed like a talent that would maintain, and for a long time, it felt that way. She never really could overcome the tabloids, and her attention seeking parents. To this day, I know the names of her mother and father, neither of whom are actors. They didn’t even need a Keeping Up With show. They just wouldn’t go away. Somewhere after a bad movie, and some bad press, Lohan retreated. Now, she’s trying to come back, and it is really … Continue reading Irish Wish