Category: Movie Review

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Dear Evan Hansen

John Stark

Starring: Ben Platt, Kaitlyn Dever, Amy Adams, Julianne Moore, Danny Pino, Colton Ryan, Amandla Stenberg, and ink Dodani, Directed By Stephen Chbosky Where I Watched it: Apple VOD English Audio Description Available? Yes The Plot: Based on the Tony winning musical about a despondent youth (Platt) who after a chance encounter with a classmate (Ryan), who shortly after ends up committing suicide, is thrown into a complicated world of white lies and blurred lines that continue to get out of control. What Works: So the source material is strong. I loved hearing so many of the songs here, and especially … Continue reading Dear Evan Hansen

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Summer Of Soul Or How The Revolution Could Not Be Televised

John Stark

Featuring footage that includes many major black musicians around in 1969, as well as interviews and commentary from current day talking heads. Directed By: Questlove Where I Watched it: Hulu English Audio Description Available? Yes The Plot: Questlove revisits the Harlem Music Festival from the summer of 1969 that was such a celebration of black artists and black pride, and deeply personal. What Works: So there are different schools of thought on what I’m about to say here. The latter being that when a documentarian is so deeply connected to their own subject material they can run the risk of … Continue reading Summer Of Soul Or How The Revolution Could Not Be Televised

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The First Wave

John Stark

Starring: A bunch of first responders and medical professionals who might have saved your life. Directed By: Matthew Heineken Where I Watched It; Hulu English Audio Description Available?: No. The Plot: Taking a rather voyeuristic approach to the beginning of the Covid pandemic, director Matthew Heineken makes a film that not just shows us what these hospitals and their staff were going through, but attempts to encapsulate that period of time for future generations. What Works: Well, it’s hard to hate on a film that is largely celebratory of the hard working medical professionals who spend so many hours, days, … Continue reading The First Wave

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Nobody

John Stark

Starring: Bob Odenkirk, Connie Nielsen, Christopher Lloyd, RZA, and Michael Ironsides. Directed By Ilya Naishuller Where I Watched it: HBO MAX English Audio Description Available?: Yes Plot: A seemingly mild mannered middle aged man (Odenkirk) has his life turned upside down after a home invasion goes too far… and his daughter loses her kitty Kay bracelet. What Works:This was a ton of fun. I had heard some really good things, and in a sub genre already dominated with the Taken and john Wick universes, it was a nice take on a retreaded format. And imagining Bob Odenkirk as an action … Continue reading Nobody

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The French Dispatch

John Stark

Starring: Benecio Del Toro, Bill Murray, Adrien Brody, Tulsa Swinton, Frances McDormand, Timothee Chalamet, Edward Norton, Bob Balaban, Henry Winkler, Jeffrey Wright, Saorise Ronan, Owen Wilson, Lois Smith, Tony Revolutions, Anjelica Bette Fellini, Willem Dafoe, Christopher Waltz, Anjelica Huston, Liev Schrieber, Lea Seymour, Alex Lawther, Rupert Friend, Griffin Dunne, Fisher Stevens, and Jason Schwartzman. Directed By Wes Anderson Where I Watched It: Apple (VOD) English Audio Description Available?: Yes The Plot:Follows three different journalistic accounts told by reporters of the fictitious French Dispatch of the Kansas Evening Sun, an American outpost set in a fictional city in France. Truly, this … Continue reading The French Dispatch

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Being The Ricardos

John Stark

Starring: Nicole Kidman, Javier Bardem, JK Simmons, Nina Arianda, Tony Hale, Jake Lacy, Clark Gregg, Alia Shankar, and Christopher Dunham. Directed By Aaron Sorkin Where I Watched It: Amazon English Audio Description Available/: Yes The Plot: Following primarily a tumultuous week on the set of I Love Lucy, the cast and crew attempt to put together an episode amidst claims that Lucy (Kidman) is a communist and Desi (Bardem) is a philanderer. The film also uses flashbacks and flash forwards to encapsulate us in the lives of one of America’s most famous and timeless on screen (and off screen) couples. … Continue reading Being The Ricardos

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The Tragedy Of MacBeth

John Stark

Starring: Denzel Washington, Frances McDormand, Katherine Hunter, Brendan Gleeson, Corey Hawkins, Stephen Root, and Sean Patrick Thomas. Directed By: Joel Coen Where I Watched It: Apple TV Plus English Audio Description Available?: Yes The Plot: Unfortunately, this film is not Denzel Washington haunting any daring stage actor who has the courage to say MacBeth instead of “The Scottish Play”. Instead, this is just Shakespeare’s text of Macbeth (Washington) a Scottish lord who becomes convinced that he can make a power grab after consulting with witches (Hunter), and with the full support of his wife (McDormand). What Works: It’s Shakespeare’s text, … Continue reading The Tragedy Of MacBeth

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The Last Duel

John Stark

Starring: Matt Damon, Adam Driver, Jodi Comer, Harriet Walter, and Ben Affleck. Directed By Ridley Scott Where i Watched it: HBO MAX English Audio Description Available?: Yes The Plot:What a hard movie to market. This story revolves around a knight (Damon), his former squire (Driver), and the titular duel that comes about after a dispute involving the rape of the latter’s wife (Comer). And it is set in the 1300’s, during the reign of Charles VI. What Works: I remember when this film was released theatrically in October, and it bombed. To be honest, I keep my ear to the … Continue reading The Last Duel

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The Tender Bar

John Stark

SStarring: Ty Sheridan, Ben Affleck, Lily Rabe, Max Martini, and Christopher Lloyd. Directed By George Clooney Where I Watched it: Amazon English Audio Description Available?: Yes The Plot: JR narrates this coming of age hybrid following your dreams true story, starting out with himself as a young child being raised by his single mother (Rabe), while living with his grandfather (Lloyd), because his dad is a classic douchebag alcoholic that walked out. JR gets most of his male influence from his Uncle (Affleck), who works at a bar called Dickens, and the various men who frequent his establishment. Later, he … Continue reading The Tender Bar

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Ride The Eagle

John Stark

Starring: Jake johnson, Susan Sarandon, JK Simmons, and Darcy Carden. Directed By: Trent O’Donnell Where I Watched it: Hulu English Audio Description Available?: No. Plot: Leaf (Johnson) is a transient musician living two shakes away from rock bottom when he discovers that his estranged mother (Sarandon) has died, and left him her cabin in the woods, provided he finish her bucket list. What Works: Full disclosure, as a blind critic, reviewing something without audio description, you can take this however you want. There is a good idea buried in this film that after multiple rewrites might have actually had some … Continue reading Ride The Eagle

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The Eternals

John Stark

Starring: Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Angelina Jolie, Kumail Nanjiani, Lauren Rudolf, Kit Harrington, Salma Hayek, Brian Tyree Henry, and bill Skarsgard. Directed By: Chloe zhao Where I Watched it: Disney Plus English Audio Description Available?: Yes The Plot: Inexplicably set in the same marvel Cinematic universe as everything else that has been happening, there are these celestial beings that travel all throughout the universe, and on Earth there is a specific group, The Eternals, that are here for a reason not even they fully understand… nor will the audience. What Works:…I’ll get back to you on that. What Doesn’t WWork: … Continue reading The Eternals

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The Map Of Tiny Perfect Things

John Stark

Starring: Kyle Allen, Katherine Newton, Jermaine Harris, Josh Hamilton, Al Madrigal, and jorja Fox. Directed By Ian Samuels Where I Watched it: Amazon English Audtio Description Available?: Yes The plot: You’ve seen this before. it’s a time loop movie, that actually even directly references past time loop/time travel movies, just so you know that it knows it’s not breaking new ground. In this variation, a teenager (Allen) is repeating the same day, and in his day he has fallen for a mysterious girl (Newton), with whom he spends an uncomfortable amount of time trying to get her to change a … Continue reading The Map Of Tiny Perfect Things

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8 Bit Christmas

John Stark

Starring: Neil Patrick Harris, Steve Zahn, June Diane Raphael, Winslow Fegley, and David Cross. Directed By; Michael Dows Where I Watched it: HBO MAX English Audio Description Available?: Yes The Plot: In present day, a father (Harris) deals with his daughter requesting a cell phone for Christmas by recounting when he was eleven and really wanted a Nintendo for Christmas. What Works: Look, I know this film isn’t reinventing the wheel here. The storytelling aspect that helped make The princess Bride such a hit, as it cut back and forth between the banter from Peter Falk and Fred Savage, and … Continue reading 8 Bit Christmas

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The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard

John Stark

Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L Jackson, Salma Hayek, Antonio Banderas, Morgan Freeman, Frank Grillo, Richard E Grant, Caroline Goodall, Gary Oldman Directed By: Patrick Hughes Where I Watched It: HBO MAX English Audio Description Available?: Yes The Plot: A bunch of Hollywood executives saw the box office results for The Hitman’s Bodyguard and decided to try and turn it into the next buddy cop type action franchise. True to form, a third is added prominently into their dynamic, giving Salma Hayek more screen time than in the first film. And, because talent was inexplicably drawn to the franchise, Antonio Banderas … Continue reading The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard

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F9: The Fast Saga

John Stark

Starring: Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Nathalie Emmanuel, John Cena, Charlize Theron, Sung Kang, Kurt Russell, Jordan’s Brewster, Helen Mirren, Shea Wiggum, JD Pardo, Lucas Black, Shad Moss Directed By: Justin Lin Where I Watched It; VOD (Apple) English Audio Description Available?: Yes The Plot: Family. But seriously, for the ninth entry in this franchise, Vin Diesel expertly gaslights you through an insanely improbable storyline, using a ton of flashbacks, to tie in a story and make it seem like it was always inevitable, and you just weren’t paying attention. Explaining the plot is a spoiler in itself, … Continue reading F9: The Fast Saga