Category: Movie Review

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the Dink

John Stark

If pickleball is invading our lives, eventually it was going to invade the cinemas, and Apple is just the studio to take advantage of it. The Dink is the latest comedy from Josh Greenbaum, the director of Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar, and continues the plague upon our people that is pickleball. I say that jokingly. I’ve never played pickleball. I have no idea what it’s like. I don’t even conceptually understand the sport. But it seems to be one of those things where people either absolutely love it or absolutely hate it, and that’s exactly what … Continue reading the Dink

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Lee Cronin’s The mummy

John Stark

I would not consider myself an authority on the Evil Dead franchise, since I have not seen the entire thing. I have yet to find the first two films with audio description, so prior to Evil Dead Rise, I had only seen Army of Darkness and the 2013 Evil Dead remake. But I really liked Evil Dead Rise, so Lee Cronin found a fan in me. The way he balanced comedy and horror simultaneously was fascinating. He made a film that was funny and scary, incredibly gory and yet somehow completely captivating. So when Lee Cronin’s The Mummy came out, … Continue reading Lee Cronin’s The mummy

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72 Hours

John Stark

Tim Story certainly has a diverse slate of films on his resume. He’s already crossed paths with 72 Hours star Kevin Hart in the Ride Along franchise, but Story has bounced around from Barbershop to Fantastic Four to Ride Along to Tom and Jerry to The Blackening and now this, along with sequels to several of those films. He certainly doesn’t have a niche, although I’m not really sure he has a strength either. He does seem to do his best work in films with predominantly Black casts, or at least Black leads, as most people would probably put Fantastic … Continue reading 72 Hours

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Mortal Kombat 2

John Stark

Instantly comparing sequel to sequel, Mortal Kombat 2 scores a flawless victory over Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, the original sequel to the 1995 film that launched this franchise onto the big screen. That movie is atrocious. I probably should review it at some point, but that would require me to actually sit down and watch Mortal Kombat: Annihilation again, which feels a bit like asking someone to intentionally contract food poisoning or drive their car into a lake. We all know those are terrible ideas, and no reasonable person should be expected to volunteer for them. Mortal Kombat 2 is also … Continue reading Mortal Kombat 2

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They Fight

John Stark

My first encounter with They Fight came during the 2026 Tribeca Film Festival. I had the opportunity to screen the film in advance, but it would have meant watching it without audio description. At the time, I already knew it was headed to Hulu in the near future, and the option to wait for the accessibility I need was more important to me than getting an early review. With all due respect to the wonderful cast and crew, it’s hard out here for a blind film critic. As I’m writing this review, I’m currently being ignored by another studio because … Continue reading They Fight

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Mortal Kombat (2021)

John Stark

The year is 2026, and Mortal Kombat 2 is finally upon us. As such, it led me to revisit Mortal Kombat, the 2021 reboot of the classic video game franchise. I wasn’t just revisiting it out of some completionist need either, because I definitely had seen the film before. I know I had. The pandemic years were kind of a blur, but I remembered enough to know I’d watched it, while somehow remembering almost nothing about what actually happened. That’s never a great sign for a movie, and it’s exactly why I wanted to give it another shot before diving … Continue reading Mortal Kombat (2021)

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Going In Blind: Middle Life

John Stark

Since this movie is called Middle Life, of which I would currently identify, I felt triggered by the simple existence of the movie. Being in the middle part of my life, being asked to review Middle Life is like living through some weird curse. I get it. I have not yet achieved all that I should have, and likely never will. The insignificance of humanity. The idea that we will go on to do far greater things than we ever actually do. For the main characters in Middle Life, Andy and Ryan, they just have to get through a movie … Continue reading Going In Blind: Middle Life

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The Odyssey

John Stark

Christopher Nolan has done it again. I feel like you’re waiting to know what is the thing that he has done again. And since there are hundreds upon hundreds of people releasing their opinions about The Odyssey due to a staged backlash against the film ahead of its release, I will say that what he has done again is give me tinnitus. I have only ever gotten tinnitus twice in my lifetime, and both times have been because of Christopher Nolan movies. So I’m pledging right now that whatever Christopher Nolan makes next, I don’t care what it is, I’m … Continue reading The Odyssey

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Going In Blind: Test

John Stark

If we’re going to be incredibly reductive, then Test is probably going to be known as the gay bodybuilding movie. Or at least the gay bodybuilding movie of 2026. Let’s face it. Muscular men posing on stage, covered in oil, is far more intertwined with queer culture than some people probably realize, especially when you put it that way. But Brock Yurich doesn’t settle for making a movie that’s content to exist because of its aesthetic. Drawing from his own experiences in the bodybuilding world, he wrote a screenplay that uses that environment as the backdrop for something much more … Continue reading Going In Blind: Test

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Avatar: Fire And Ash

John Stark

I suppose I should start this by admitting that I didn’t experience Avatar: Fire and Ash the way James Cameron probably intended. I didn’t see it on the biggest screen imaginable. I waited until it arrived on Disney+, and then I watched it on my phone. Well, “watched” is a strong word for a blind film critic. I can’t see the screen anyway, so the size of it doesn’t really matter to me. What did matter was finally getting to experience it with the absolutely tremendous audio description track produced by Deluxe and narrated by William Michael Redman. This is … Continue reading Avatar: Fire And Ash

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Obsession

John Stark

I don’t know if you’ve heard, but YouTube has arrived. It took a while, but all of a sudden it seems like YouTube is front and center this year, thanks to a couple of directors sending their creative goods into cinemas, including Kane Parsons, who leapt from YouTube into Backrooms, as well as Markiplier, who self-distributed his Iron Lung film earlier this year. While these directors are not the first to make the leap from YouTube, last year Chris Stuckmann finally released Shelby Oaks, and the RackaRacka duo has already broken through with Talk to Me and Bring Her Back. … Continue reading Obsession

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Dead Calm (1989)

John Stark

I chose Dead Calm randomly this year because of the passing of Sam Neill. While looking through his filmography to rank my favorite performances, I realized the biggest omission on my part was Dead Calm. Of all the films I hadn’t seen, this was the one that stood out as the most essential. So in honor of Sam Neill, I’m finally reviewing the 1989 psychological thriller Dead Calm, directed by Phillip Noyce, who would later go on to direct Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger, Rabbit-Proof Fence, The Bone Collector, and Salt. That’s a pretty solid résumé. Dead Calm is … Continue reading Dead Calm (1989)

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Going In Blind: The Floaters

John Stark

I actually ended up watching two summer camp movies in the same day, because it’s summer, so it’s the perfect season to release summer camp movies. When else would you put them out? Christmas? That doesn’t make any sense. Of course movies set at summer camp are going to come out in the summer, which means I’m probably going to end up reviewing them in the summer. By chance, I watched two back to back, and while both were surprisingly good, I did like The Floaters just a little bit more. Ironically, neither one has audio description. The Floaters stars … Continue reading Going In Blind: The Floaters

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Going In Blind: Camp (2026)

John Stark

I went to camp exactly one time as a kid, and that was enough for me. It wasn’t a theater camp, a band camp, or a Bible camp where everyone shared some common passion. It was just an outdoors camp with hiking, activities, and all the things parents think build character. Maybe they do. I just never felt the urge to go back. Camp, the new Canadian film from Avalon Fast, takes a very different approach to the idea of summer camp. This isn’t a place where kids learn archery or horseback riding. It’s a camp for troubled youth, and … Continue reading Going In Blind: Camp (2026)

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Lorne

John Stark

Live from New York, it’s Lorne, a documentary about Lorne Michaels. And I probably don’t have to tell you where it’s streaming. I think you can figure that one out. Here’s a hint: it’s a pretty safe place for Lorne Michaels to land. That’s right, it’s on Peacock with audio description. Of course it is. The film comes through Focus Features, which is under Universal, which is tied to NBC, and NBC owns Saturday Night Live. So if you’re expecting a documentary that takes a hard look at its subject, you should probably adjust those expectations. They may not have … Continue reading Lorne