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- 02/13/24

John Stark

Happy Valentine’s Day! For this Valentine’s I got you some TV News to start your day. Apple has renewed Invasion for a 3rd season, while Netflix has picked up Survival Of The Thickest for a second season. The latter of the two took way too long, and must have come down to a budgeting wire. I am shockingly still with Boy Swallows The Universe (Netflix), which is actually better once you get past the pilot. Still, it’s a very odd show, but the 4th episode continues with the boys trying to adapt to living with their estranged alcoholic father, wanting … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries- 02/13/24

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The Small Screen Diaries- 02/12/24

John Stark

Welcome back Jon Stewart, who has returned to The Daily Show once a week through at least the election. Also, Katy Perry is making this her last season of American Idol. Dear Producers, *PLEASE* get an alumni. It is so awkward that two of them have been on The Voice, but not American Idol. It’s time to bring home Kelly, Carrie, Jennifer Hudson, Fantasia, Jordon Sparks, or any of the myriad of female artists whose career has been launched by this show. Honestly, I wish the whole panel was alumni. And with that, I knocked out another episode of My … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries- 02/12/24

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The Small Screen Diaries- 02/11/24

John Stark

So, who won the Puppy Bowl? I know that is the thing on all of our minds this morning. One year, I hope they get Bow Wow to do the halftime show at the Puppy Bowl, or Snoop Dogg. Aside from what everyone else watched, I started Season 2 of Halo (Paramount Plus), which still suffers from its biggest Season 1 problem, which was not having enough distinguishable Spartans other than Master Chief. The Season 2 premiere does work on the development of Bokeem Woodbine’s rogue Spartan, and introduce a new antagonist, but it still needs more than just Master … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries- 02/11/24

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Silent Night (2023)

John Stark

Every year, there’s always some kind of an award for audio description. Not that it reaches mainstream audiences, but for a blind film critic like myself, I’m very aware. If the team at Deluxe and William Michael Redmond aren’t nominated, simply nominated, the actual award itself means nothing. It would be like trying to compete in an athletic event where the obvious choice has somehow been disqualified. It puts a bit of a damper on your win, because the tiger in the fight wasn’t, so you don’t actually know if the win you got was earned. There is zero question … Continue reading Silent Night (2023)

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Bobi Wine: The People’s President

John Stark

This Oscar nominated documentary is just one of many documentaries that Disney Plus seems to not want to bother with audio description. It’s like they have this huge National Geographic wing, but they are afraid to add audio description to most of it. I already reviewed The mission, which was a failed Oscar bait earlier this year, and it lacked audio description. This film, from what I can tell, deserves to be where it is. it just can’t get my vote in terms of accessibility. We all have our causes, and I’m here to discuss film and advocate for accessibility, … Continue reading Bobi Wine: The People’s President

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The Small Screen Diaries- 02/10/24

John Stark

A couple of quick items of business to discuss. Disney not surprisingly went ahead and renewed Abbott Elementary for a 4th season. Honestly, I don’t know why it gets 1 season pickups. Dick Wolf’s dramas still get multi-year deals. Does ABC think Abbott isn’t going to go for a 5th season? Just give it a 2 year deal. Or hell, a 3 year deal. Disney is also sticking with Goosebumps, which I think is a good call, and is considering airing the second season of Only Murders In The Building on linear TV at some point. Also, The Golden Bachelorette. … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries- 02/10/24

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The After

John Stark

With a title this generic, you can be forgiven for not knowing what The After is. However, it means you aren’t paying attention to the list of Oscar nominees, because this one is nominated for Best Short, and it feels like we are really starting to use this category as a sleeper way for people to easily get accolades. This is on Netflix, with audio description, and it has David Oyelowo as the lead. It’s in contention with another Netflix backed short film, The Wonderful Story Of Henry Sugar, which is directed by Wes Anderson and stars Oscar nominees like … Continue reading The After

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The Equalizer 3

John Stark

I don’t know why this is the one film Denzel Washington feels emotionally attached to that he keeps making sequels. The first film was fine. Gritty, he kicked ass, and equalized. Now, somehow he’s in Europe protecting Dakota Fanning and some Italians, and I’m really not sure how we got here. It’s like they are trying to apply the rule of John Wick to the Equalizer, but he works much better as a Luke Cage figure, who defends his own neighborhood than going global. Wick needed to stop a global organization, I’m not sure that fits here. Still, the first … Continue reading The Equalizer 3

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Last Song Of Kabul

John Stark

It made the shortlist for Best Documentary Short at the Oscars, but failed to get an actual nomination. This challenging doc is available on Paramount Plus with audio description, a stark contrast to The ABC’s Of Book Banning, a short documentary that was nominated, yet features no audio description. Last Song Of Kabul is another documentary exploring the ramifications of leaving Afghanistan in Taliban control, as we see a music school and its students worry about their futures. Girls had been gifted the opportunity to learn to play an instrument, but as the girls detail, under Taliban rule, they could … Continue reading Last Song Of Kabul

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The Small Screen Diaries- 02/09/24

John Stark

Ryan Murphy must really not like Truman Capote because he’s not getting great treatment from Feud (Hulu), which honestly isn’t even that interesting beyond that one performance. And, he’s not even the first actor to tackle Truman, so it’s hard to even say he’s better than Philip Seymour Hoffman, who won his Oscar for playing Capote. The audio description is well produced though, which in this day and age seems like a challenge. I also enjoy the audio description on Quantum Leap (Peacock), and I recognize the narrators voice from other projects. Bouncing around through all the leaps and keeping … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries- 02/09/24

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Memory

John Stark

Sadly, this review of memory is based on a screener copy I received, and I don’t have any audio description information as a result. However, you may not even know there was a film called memory in contention last year, and now you know. So, that’s a reason to give me more screeners. I honestly don’t know how there are critics on the internet with clearly less social engagement than me who are getting advance copies of things. Blows my mind. Memory features a recovering alcoholic, played by Jessica Chastain, who attends her class reunion where she notices a man … Continue reading Memory

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The Color Purple

John Stark

You must be adventurous, as I did not specify which version this review would be for. Is this the multi-Oscar nominated 80’s classic directed by Steven Spielberg that helped push forward the acting career of Oprah Winfrey, as well as help Whoopi Goldberg be taken seriously as a dramatic actress? or, is this a review of the 2023 musical adaptation brought to life with songs from the Broadway award winning musical that only managed one Oscar nomination for Danielle Brooks? Why can’t it be both? In fact, this is kind of a review of both films. The Colors Purples, or … Continue reading The Color Purple

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The Abyss

John Stark

Back in December, James Cameron released his restoration of The Abyss theatrically, not just updating it to the technical specifics of modern times, but also tweaking it to his own director’s cut, releasing the version he wanted to release. For a director like Cameron, whose resume is actually quite small as he takes a lot of time to develop an idea, The Abyss is like the Moby Dick of his filmography. It has been pretty notoriously hard to find on any home media up until this point, but now that Cameron has a version of it that he approves of, … Continue reading The Abyss

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The Small Screen Diaries- 02/08/24

John Stark

Some of our favorite shows have started to return. Abbott Elementary (Hulu) is leading that charge, and sadly, they switched audio description providers. It is a pretty obvious artificial voice, and it barely spoke during the season premiere. There are definitely long stretches where if you just walked into the room, you would assume the program totally lacked audio description. It does not. It spoke maybe five times, and while I will not contend that the information given was useful, I will take issue with the fact that there were some other moments where experienced AD writers would have added … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries- 02/08/24

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The Small Screen Diaries- 02/07/24

John Stark

Disney waited patiently for me to finish the first season of Percy Jackson and the Olympians (Disney Plus) before renewing the show for a second season. You know what’s amazing? The total lack of representation. It’s amazing how the shitty character descriptions in this have removed race for blind people. Lance Reddick, a black man, (also, rest in peace), played Zeus in the final episode, and he’s just referred to as wearing a suit and being bald. You know, sighted people can see representation right? Little kids of color can see themselves represented on screen, but when you have audio … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries- 02/07/24