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: 08/13/25

John Stark

TV Shows Watched: Alien Earth: S1E1 and S1E2 (Hulu) with audio description, Chief Of War: s1E3 (Apple Plus) with audio description, All of Us Are Dead: S1E7 (Netflix), Leanne: S1E9 and S1E10 (Netflix) with audio description, Irish Blood: S1E1 (Acorn) no audio description, Ballard: S1E7 (Amazon) with audio description Alien: Earth- Love it. I love how the show is taking its time to develop these characters and this world. there’s some carnage, some new ways for people to die, new aliens, and synthetic humans. If you were on the fence, I thought this was great. Watching a bunch of actors … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries: 08/13/25

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Leanne: Season 1

John Stark

Cast: Leanne Morgan, Kristen Johnston, Blake Clark, Ryan Stiles, Celia Weston, Hannah Pilkes, Jayma Mays, Graham Roger’s, Tim Daly, Andrea Anders Created By: Chuck Lorre Length: 20 episodes Streamer: Netflix Audio Description By: post House Digital Written by: Narrated By: What Is it?: The stand up comedienne is given her own eponymous sitcom, playing a grandmother whose husband of over 30 years decides he’s not having fun anymore in the marriage, and leaves her behind. With the help of her family, Leanne will rise again. What Works: Not everything Chuck touches turns to Gold, but instead of doing his usual … Continue reading Leanne: Season 1

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Going In Blind: Push

John Stark

Cast: Alicia Sanz, Raul Castillo, David Alexander Flynn Written and directed By: David Charbnier and Justin Powell Studio/Streamer: Shudder Release Year: 2025 There is no known audio description for this title. What Is it?: A pregnant realtor, trying to sell a murder house, is unexpectedly attacked by a crazed individual. to make things worse, not only does she have to survive, but she’s also in labor. What Works: Theoretically, the premise. There was some nice music, sometimes. what Doesn’t Work: Shudder, despite producing audio description for many of its theatrical releases, hasn’t quite figured out how to do it for … Continue reading Going In Blind: Push

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Apollo 13: 30th Anniversary

John Stark

Cast: Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, Bill Paxton, Gary Sinise, Ed Harris, Kathleen Quinlan, Miko Hughes, Chris Ellis, Xander Berkeley, Clint Howard, Ray McKinnon, Christian Clemenson, Brett Cullen, Roger Corman Written By: William Broyles Jr Al Reinert based on the book Lost moon by Jim Lovell and Jeffrey Kluger Directed By: Ron Howard Original Score By: James Horner Notable Producers: Brian Grazer Studio: Universal release Year: 1995 runtime: 140 minutes Audio Description Produced By: Deluxe Written By: Narrated By: Ron Snow What Is it?: the true story of thee astronauts who were headed to the moon, when a mechanical failure changed … Continue reading Apollo 13: 30th Anniversary

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The Small Screen Diaries: 08/12/25

John Stark

TV Shows Watched: The Sandman: S2E9 (Netflix) with audio description, The institute: S1E5 (MGM Plus) with audio description, Countdown: S1E8 (Amazon) with audio description, Hitmakers: S1E2 (Netflix) with audio description, Mindhunter: S1E7 (Netflix) with audio description, Breaking Bad: S2E8 (Netflix) with audio description The Sandman- Still consistently great audio description from DVW. Some of the best moments of description are what happens to Fiddler’s Green, and the description of that, but also Loki continuing his mischief. The episode was petty centric on Joanna Constantine and The Corinthian, but definitely ended on a dour note for Dream. The Institute- What a … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries: 08/12/25

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Abraham’s Boys

John Stark

Cast: Titus Welliver, Brady Hepner, Judah Mackey, Jocelin Donahue Written and Directed By: Natasha Kermani, based on characters created by Bram Stoker Original Score By: Brittany Allen Studio: RELJ/Shudder Release Year: 2025 Audio Description Provided By: Audio Eyes Written By: Sean Boggs Narrated By: Nicole Cyrille What Is It?: Abraham Van Helsing has left his pst behind him, moved his wife Nina, and their two sons all the way across the world to California, hoping to escape evil. But, evil is everywhere. Maybe evil followed them. Maybe… it never left them. I don’t normally hit big spoilers in my reviews, … Continue reading Abraham’s Boys

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The Ballad of Wallis Island

John Stark

Cast: Tom Basden, Tim Key, Sian Clifford, Akemnji Ndifornyen, and Carey Mulligan. Written by: Tom Basden and Tim Key, based on the short film. Directed By: James Griffiths Original Score By: Adem Ilhan Studio: Focus features Release Year: 2025 Audio Description produced By: Written by: Narrated By: what Is It?: A musician takes a high paying gig to supposedly play a concert for a small crowd on Wallis island. When he arrives, he realizes just how small the audience will be, and his benefactor has booked another act, forcing a reunion of a musical duo that broke up years ago. … Continue reading The Ballad of Wallis Island

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The Small Screen Diaries: 08/11/25

John Stark

TV Shows Watched: Black Mirror: S4E1 (Netflix) with audio description, The hunting Wives: S1E3 (Netflix) with audio description, Dexter: Resurrection: S1E4 (Paramount Plus) with audio description, Leanne: S1E5,6,7 (Netflix) with audio description, King of The Hill: S2E13 (Hulu) no audio description,Last week tonight: Most Recent (HBO MAX) no audio description yet, The Gilded Age: S3E8 (HBO MAX) with audio description Black Mirror- The USS Callister episode. I’ve heard so much about this, and it was the first episode to get a sequel. It’s a bit silly. The idea that they would retain their memories, when he’s basically just doing a … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries: 08/11/25

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Freakier Friday

John Stark

Cast: Jamie Lee Curtis, Lindsay Lohan, Julia Butters, Sophia Hammons, Manny Jacinto, Mark Harmon, Chad Michael Murray, Vanessa Bayer, Stephen Tobolowsky, Maitreyi Ramakrkrishnnan, Christina Vidal, Haley Hudson, June Diane Raphael Written By: Jordan Weiss, Elyse Hollander, based on characters created by Leslie Dixon and Heather Hach, and a book by Mary Roger’s Directed By: Nisha Ganatra Original Score By: Amy Daugherty Studio: Disney Release Year: 2025 *Note: Special shoutout to Regal, without whom I would not have been able to view this film without audio description. Your consistency for broken audio description equipment is unmatched. If Disney would like me … Continue reading Freakier Friday

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Freaky Friday (2003)

John Stark

Cast: Jamie Lee Curtis, Lindsay Lohan, Mark Harmon, Chad Michael Murray, Harold Gould, Stephen Tobolowsky, Christina Vidal, Ryan Malgarini, Haley Hudson, Willie Garson Written By: Heather Hawke and Leslie Dickson, based on the novel by Mary Roger’s Directed By: Mark Waters Studio: Walt Disney Pictures Release Year: 2003 Audio desProduced by: Deluxe Written by: Narrated By: what is it?: A remake of the original, and the book, which has a mother, Tess (Curtis) switch places with her daughter Anna (Lohan), as Tess’s pending nuptials to a new man in their lives (Harmon) looms. But is he really the reason they … Continue reading Freaky Friday (2003)

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Freaky Friday (1977)

John Stark

Cast: Jodie Foster, Barbara Harris, John Astin, Dick Van Patten, Written By:Mary Roger’s (based on her own book) Directed By: Gary Nelson Studio: Walt Disney Pictures Release Year: 1977 Runtime: 98 minutes Audio Description Produced By: Deluxe Written By: Narrated By: What Is it?: A mother (Harris) and daughter (Foster) believe they would have it so much easier if they were in each other’s shoes, so something freaky happens, and they swap bodies. Now, they’ll spend a day living the life they thought they wanted, only to realize the grass isn’t always greener. What Works: I was born after this, … Continue reading Freaky Friday (1977)

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The Small Screen Diaries: 08/10/25

John Stark

TV Shows Watched: Outlander: Blood of My Blood- S1E2 (Starz) no audio description, Platonic: S2E2 (Apple Plus) with audio description, The Summer I Turned Pretty: S3E3 (Amazon) with audio description, And Just Like That: S3E11 (HBO MAX) with audio description, Dexter: S5E10 (Paramount Plus) with audio description, Pop Culture Jeopardy: Still semifinals (Amazon) with audio description, Ballard: S1E6 (Amazon) with audio description, Breaking Bad: S2E6? (Netflix) with audio description Outlander: Blood of My Blood- Not much else to say since yesterday. It’s still a show that needs audio description. It’s bizarre how inaccessible Starz is, yet they’ve been around forever. … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries: 08/10/25

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The Phoenician Scheme

John Stark

Cast: Benecio Del Toro, Mia Threapleton, Michael Cera, Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson, Rupert Friend, Bill Murray, Willem Dafoe, f Murray Abraham, Riz Ahmed, Bryan Cranston, Charlotte Gainesborg Written By: Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola Directed By: Wes Anderson Original Score by: Alexandre Desplat Studio: Focus Features Release Year: 2025 Audio Description Provided By: Written By: Narrated By: What Is it?: A death prompts a rush for control of what he left behind, causing one of the parties (del toro), to traverse the globe finding ways of manipulating others into slowly helping him gain majority control. Along the way, he’s accompanied … Continue reading The Phoenician Scheme

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Fantasia: 85th Anniversary

John Stark

Release year: 1940 Studio: Disney Runtime: 124 minutes Audio Description Provided By: Deluxe Written by: Narrated By: What is it?: A classic. Walt Disney originally intended for Fantasia to be a living project, and continue to evolve more over the years. Despite feature length animation being relatively new still in 1940, it didn’t attract the same attention as Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, and didn’t get a second wind until fantasia 2000. The movie takes mostly silent animated shorts and sets them to classic compositions. Each segment is accompanied by a live orchestra, slightly visible on screen, with a … Continue reading Fantasia: 85th Anniversary

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Simple Plan: the Kids In the crowd

John Stark

Directed By: Didier Charette Studio/Streamer: Amazon release Year: 2025 Audio Description Provided by: Written By: Directed By: What Is It?: A documentary about the pop punk band Simple Plan.From their creation and influences, to the shocking reality that they are still popular today. Enjoy this Canadian band responsible for more hits than you might remember. What Works: the documentary works. It just feels like what we’re getting more and more of. The rise of streaming services, I truly believe, has pushed the rise of documentaries. Not just investigative documentaries, but the kind that bring people in. By that, I mean … Continue reading Simple Plan: the Kids In the crowd