Category: Movie Review

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Back To Black

John Stark

The short life of Amy Winehouse is explored in this biopic by Sam Taylor Johnson, who starts with a clearly very talented Amy (Marisa Abela) before she signs to a major label, and her career explodes. Her tumultuous life is explored in a somewhat neutral tone, where no one really seems to be at fault, including Amy, for anything that happened. While she begins a rocky relationship with what many of her fans believe was an enabler, but much like everyone in Amy’s life, it seems to suggest that no one really tried to make her go to rehab, but … Continue reading Back To Black

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Honey I Shrunk The Kids: 35th Anniversary

John Stark

Meet the Salinsky’s. They aren’t your normal suburban family. Their dad, Wayne (Rick Moranis) is an inventor, and he’s working on his latest gadget, much to the ire of their next door neighbors. After a chance accident, four kids find themselves at the mercy of his invention, when they find themselves shrunk down smaller than ants. Now, they have a short period of time to fix their situation before their own backyard becomes their demise. I love this film. when I hear Wayne Salinsky, I automatically think of this franchise. It has a special place in my heart, and the … Continue reading Honey I Shrunk The Kids: 35th Anniversary

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Red Right Hand

John Stark

In a film that feels like it skipped theatres, Orlando Bloom heads an ensemble cast as a man who gets pulled into his dark past unwittingly, in order to save those he cares about. Bloom doesn’t get many lead opportunities anymore, but perhaps the most interesting performance in this is from Andie MacDowell, who made her early start playing sweet but smart characters in 90’s romcom’s, and here plays a polar opposite. This is a film where likely the title is the best thing about it, and most people who watch the film will forget having seen it. If it … Continue reading Red Right Hand

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Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire

John Stark

Following the events of Godzilla Vs Kong, and somehow likely incorporating the events in Monarch from Apple plus, Godzilla X Kong is the latest in the American version of Godzilla mixing with Kong and other titans as a franchise. This sequel is directed by Adam Wingard, and starring Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, and Dan Steven’s leading the human team. The world is finally at some kind of peace, as Kong is now in Hollow Earth, and Godzilla is left on the surface to fight off any titans that would seek to encroach on his domain. Basically, we’ve accepted that … Continue reading Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire

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Fancy Dance

John Stark

Lily Gladstone is having her moment. It is excellent to see her out front, gaining name recognition as an indigenous actress. Here, we have a film steeped in tribal culture, and it is told from a member of the Seneca tribe herself, Erica Tremblay, in her feature directorial debut. Apple Plus, I suppose out of gratitude for Lily Gladstone killing those flower moons, is carrying it. The narration is Roy Samuelson, who is everywhere these days. Fancy Dance is very much a representation effort for indigenous artists of North America. The movie begins with a thanks/certification from the Cherokee nation, … Continue reading Fancy Dance

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The Runaway Bride: 25th Anniversary

John Stark

Even though I’m pleased to report that this film has audio descritpion on Paramount Plus, it does always strike me as to what titles do and don’t. This title especially, because the audio description track sounds like it was made at least 10+ years ago, and with the way audio description tracks rarely travel, it was a pleasant surprise to see that this was something that someone had maintained this track. Kudos. A lot of my anniversary releases target films that have audio description. Runaway bride is not a significant classic, but it was quite the hype of its time, … Continue reading The Runaway Bride: 25th Anniversary

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State of Consciousness

John Stark

This movie is on Peacock, it has audio description, the description is fine, and the movie is awful. Emile Hirsch is stuck in this, and we owe him an apology. I think he got sucked into movies this terrible because we did not give him his much deserved Oscar nomination for Into The Wild. Into The Wild, at last glance, was still in the IMDB Top 250, because most people have realized it is a terrific film that we missed the boat on and thought it only needed a Hal Holbrook nomination. Granted, that is a fantastic nomination, but now … Continue reading State of Consciousness

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Sixteen Candles: 40th Anniversary

John Stark

I’ve been using the year to bounce around the various streaming services to try and catch some movies having Anniversary years that also are available with audio description. This John Hughes classic is on Amazon, and that means I’m not sure if it has human audio description. I’m leaning toward No, but I’ve heard much worse. It is possible they’ve started using better voices, but these films don’t have audio description credits, so it is hard to tell if that is what this is. This is actually my first time through this, and I’m probably going to ruin your nostalgia. … Continue reading Sixteen Candles: 40th Anniversary

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A Family Affair

John Stark

One of my favorite things about this movie is the audio description. It is another winning combination of Liz Gutman and Jamie Lemcheck, and these two fine women have made it a point to point out Zac Efron’s hotness as much as possible. It isn’t just how Gutman writes the description, mentioning his physique, but how Lemcheck actually sells it. Women and gay men everywhere appreciate it. A script from the male gaze probably would have tried to do a similar thing to Nicole Kidman, but it just doesn’t work for this film. This is a romantic comedy at its … Continue reading A Family Affair

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I Am Celine Dion

John Stark

You might think this is a confession, letting you know after all these years, these mediocre stream of consciousness reviews are actually being written by Celine Dion. I mean, they are, but that’s not it. It’s not so much that Celine Dion is my ghost writer, but rather I’ve trained my AI to write reviews in the style of Celine Dion. So, because you loved me enough to read this, I’ll do this all by myself. Before streaming services, we used to have thoughtful conversations on our documentary subjects. Now, this is almost like content creation, with aspiring documentarians being … Continue reading I Am Celine Dion

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Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F

John Stark

Just like Top Gun came back after a long hiatus with its hero in the title, Beverly Hills Cop is back on the beat for a fourth entry, with most of Axel Foley’s name in the title. It a really odd and uncomfortable choice, and headed into this, I wasn’t sure that Netflix would be able to pull this off. Mark Malloy? A feature directorial debut? On this? This film had all the makings of another hot trash Netflix title that just gets put out to appease algorithms. After all, CBS has a quite high profile pilot for a TV … Continue reading Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F

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The Ministry Of ungentlemanly Warfare

John Stark

Guy Ritchie is one of those directors that I likely have seen 75% of their work. I know there are a few titles I’d have to cram if I was going to rank his body of work, but I used to be a big fan. even when he started to get commercialized, I still enjoyed his Sherlock Holmes movies. but, he’s not perfect, and some of his films just lack that Lock, Stock flair that attracted us to him in the first place. that is not the problem with The Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare, an action comedy that feels like … Continue reading The Ministry Of ungentlemanly Warfare

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Black Barbie

John Stark

Obviously, 2023 belonged to Barbie. it was the top grossing film worldwide, and managed multiple Oscar nominations, even winning for What Was I Made For? I feel like this documentary is not reactionary, but something that was in the works anyway. It explores how Barbie is important to black girls, and dolls in general. How black women have worked hard at Mattel to make sure Black Barbie exists, and that she’s not Barbie’s friend, because no one grows up wanting to be someone’s friend as their aspirational choice. this is retrospective, personal, and the only thing that’s lacking at all … Continue reading Black Barbie

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Trigger Warning

John Stark

I’m a believer in the idea that certain things can move the needle in a positive or negative direction. yes, there’s a core movie, but sometimes something stands out that is better or worse than the rest, and it is possible to move your feelings about that film just a little bit. For example, sitting through a movie you don’t really care for, only to find out that it secretly was headed to a mindfuck of an ending. That ending alone could sway you. Sometimes, because Netflix’s mold relies on one or two stars anchoring a project, the charisma of … Continue reading Trigger Warning

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Iron Will: 30th Anniversary

John Stark

I’m very nostalgic. I’m one of those people who watches a movie like 17 Again, and thinks that I’d love that opportunity. Even more, I’d love to have the knowledge i know now, and repeat my childhood. We had Saturday Morning Cartoons, afternoon cartoons when we got out of school, a block on Saturday night, kids played with physical toys… outside, and I mostly watched films aimed at kids. My parents took me to the theatres to see Batman in its original theatrical release, and I fell asleep. So, the beginning of my film journey is dominated by films aimed … Continue reading Iron Will: 30th Anniversary