Category: Movie Review

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Swapped (2026)

John Stark

We love our animated critter films don’t we? I know I certainly did growing up. It felt like I had no shortage of films centered around not just animal leads, but those in the forests and trees, the wilderness beyond we so infrequently get to explore. Because of my generation, Ferngully always comes to mind, but it certainly isn’t the only animated feature to explore woodland creatures and their complicated dynamics in their own biome. Netflix does have a surprising amount of animated features worth rewatching, from last yer’s K-Pop Demon Hunters, to older titles like Nimona, Vivo, The Mitchells … Continue reading Swapped (2026)

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Reel Abilities 2026: Lone Wolves

John Stark

This year, I had the honor and privilege to be able to screen several features at this years Reel Abilities international Film Festival, held in New York City.the best part about the festival, is that because it is focused on bringing the disabled voices front and center, the festival had its entire lineup described. Is this heaven? A film festival with full accessibility? Be still my heart. Lone Wolves is one of the narrative features I had the pleasure of enjoying, and when you think of disability representation in film, this likely isn’t it.We are always just so damn inspirational … Continue reading Reel Abilities 2026: Lone Wolves

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I Swear

John Stark

When this finally opens in America, will audiences be ready to receive this story on Tourette’s? for the UK audience, they were treated to i swear, the biopic of John Davidson, a Scottish man who struggled with Tourette’s his whole life, including for a period in his youth and early years when it wasn’t a recognized disability, and he often suffered greatly as a result. UK audiences responded quite well, where it made 6.3 million pounds in the UK. That puts it ahead of Emma Stone’s Bugonia *(4.1 million pounds), but just below something like 28 Years Later, which made … Continue reading I Swear

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Roommates (2026)

John Stark

Happy Madison Productions, Adam Sandler’s shingle, has been responsible for a lot of nepotistic casting, with nearly the entire Sandler family having been in one of his films. Judy Sandler, his mom, popped up in Big Daddy and Happy Gilmore, his dad was in Eight Crazy Nights, his wife Jackie was in Big Daddy, 50 First Dates, Just Go With It, and even by herself in non-Happy Madison works like Duplex. His younger daughter Sunny has been in a ton of movies, but starred recently in You’re So Not Invited To My Bat Mitzvah, and was a voice in Leo. … Continue reading Roommates (2026)

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Thrash

John Stark

I feel like I’m saying the same thing over and over this year, whether I like the film or not. where is the score? Where is the soundtrack? A few films this year have these really lackluster scores that feel like cheap placeholders for an early screening of the film before there’s a finished product, but yet, they remain. the lack of a bombastic thrilling score is just one of the many problems of Thrash, the new netflix original which boldly asks the question: “What if Netflix had made Sharknado?” And what if indeed. Apparently, they would have hired the … Continue reading Thrash

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Faces Of Death (2026)

John Stark

I remember walking past the videotapes of this in my local video rental store, and definitely wanting no part of it. Faces Of death? Nope. I was living in that bubble too, at the time, that believed these videos were real, and not staged. Listen, when I was in school, they were still showing us these snuff films of horrific car accidents to make us not want to drive ever.So, it wasn’t completely unbelievable that something like this could exist. My video chain had a mature label wrapped around it, so you couldn’t see anything other than the title anyway. … Continue reading Faces Of Death (2026)

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Project Hail Mary

John Stark

One Small Step For Man, One Giant Leap For Gosling. Heading into 2026, there was quite a lot riding on the success of Project Hail Mary, which while not an original film, sparked a level of interest as if it was. Those tired of mining franchises to death noted that Project Hail Mary, at the very least would feel fresh, being an adaptation of the novel by Andy weir. The last time we adapted an Andy Weir novel, things went rather well for The Martian, which became a fixture in its awards season, and grossed a respectable amount at the … Continue reading Project Hail Mary

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Mike And Nick And Nick And Alice

John Stark

First off, this audio description track produced by Deluxe is written very well. It has a lot of ground to cover, as nonsensical throwback traverses multiple genres and ideas, trying to create a film casserole from things it finds in the pantry. Explaining this film is utterly bizarre, and perhaps a slight lean in the spoiler section, but sometimes, we must tread where others fear, so we can make sense of things that do not. Nick (Vince Vaughn) is a heavy working for Sosa (Keith David). Sosa has found out that there was a rat that caused his son Jimmy … Continue reading Mike And Nick And Nick And Alice

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Going In Blind: the Voice Of Hind Rajab

John Stark

Disclaimer: I’m a blind film critic. This film has no audio description and its primary language is not English, though English is spoken. My first international contender reviewed for the 2025 season. To my knowledge, no contenders have audio description. Not the ones being distributed by NeoN, Sony Pictures Classics, Amazon, Mubi, or any other company. There’s a belief that blind audiences aren’t worth the funding, because we are a niche audience. if that were truly true,companies like Netflix and Apple wouldn’t be describing their international shows and movies on a somewhat random basis. for example, I got to see … Continue reading Going In Blind: the Voice Of Hind Rajab

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Going In Blind: My Neighbor Adolf

John Stark

Disclaimer: I’m a blind film critic. This movie has no audio description. Roll with me on this. We’re veering out of traffic onto an exit ramp here. I’m not sure this is a review, as much as it is an experience. I basically just consume as much, and try and discuss the merits of audio description. This movie came across my path, and became more important after the passing of Udo Kier. I had a review all queued up, ready to go, but something was amiss. I keep the experience to pretty much what an audience member would get. i … Continue reading Going In Blind: My Neighbor Adolf

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Oh, Hi

John Stark

Disclaimer: I’m a blind film critic. As you wish. It’s a pretty simple movie. Oh, Hi feels like the kind of film that could just keep going further and further off the rails, but it stays pretty much on the first new set of tracks it jumps to. one derailment, and then onward. The question is, will anyone find these characters charming? Will anyone root for these crazy kids? I think more couples will be glad this isn’t them. Weighing how much to tell in the review, that is the question. Molly Gordon and Logan lerman play a couple on … Continue reading Oh, Hi

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Predators

John Stark

Disclaimer: I’m a blind film critic. I’m not Chris Hanson. the new Paramount/MTV documentary Predators, which made its debut earlier this year at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival has some questions. But, does it actually answer them? David Osit shines a light on the former pop culture phenomenon that was To Catch A Predator, and while he’s only slightly in his own documentary, he does seem to suggest that perhaps the ends don’t justify the means. In order for there to be a predator, there must be prey. He explores this by getting different sides of the same coin from … Continue reading Predators

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Regretting You

John Stark

Disclaimer: I’m a blind film critic. I don’t know how to quit you. I get it now. Coleen Hoover is Nicholas Sparks. They stopped adapting every one of Sparks’s novels, so he decided to become Colleen Hoover. Either that, or Hoover only read one novelist, and it’s showing. I know critics have not been kind to this, but it is really hard to do that. Full disclosure, Paramount gifted me a digital copy. It did nothing to sway my opinion, but it saved me either a rental, or waiting for Paramount Plus. I don’t see me rewatching this, but I’d … Continue reading Regretting You

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Black Phone 2

John Stark

Disclaimer: I’m a blind film critic.You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain. Not to brag, but I’m a pretty big fan of the first Black Phone film. It was in my Top 10 of 2022, and I believe I had Mason Thames and Scott Derickson in my top 10 for both Actor and Director. I wasn’t a big fan of horror before losing my sight, but The Black Phone is certainly one of the films that I’m glad I got to experience, because I don’t know if I would have otherwise. Probably, … Continue reading Black Phone 2

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Going In Blind: the Last Republican

John Stark

Disclaimer: I’m a blind film critic, and the director of Hot Tub Time Machine didn’t put audio description on this. Perhaps, it is time to use that machine, and go back and add the description? What happens when a liberal democrat makes a documentary about a conservative republican? In these times, in this political climate, I’m sure the mountain felt a lot steeper to climb. Even being able to have any kind of conversation or discourse when we’ve never been so divided. But, Steve Pink decided to follow adam kenzinger around for his final days in Congress, and document how … Continue reading Going In Blind: the Last Republican