Category: Movie Review

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Merry Little Batman

John Stark

Where I Watched It: Amazon English Audio Description Provided By Deluxe Narrated By: Jedidiah Barton Featuring Luke Wilson as Batman I am truly considering this in my top 10 of the year. I know it’s a silly Christmas special, but it brought me so much joy. Merry little Batman is the animated DC entry I didn’t know I needed, fully of fun, laughs, and heart. And Luke Wilson. Technically, the movie does center around young Damien Wayne, Bruce’s son, who is readying himself for Christmas, but mostly for being Batman himself. In this version, Batman wiped out all crime before … Continue reading Merry Little Batman

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The Velveteen Rabbit

John Stark

Where I Watched it: Apple Plus English Audio Description?: Yes Cast: phoenix laroche, Alex Lawther, and Helena Bonham Carter. Written By: Tom Bigwell Directed By: Jennifer Perrott and Rick Thieley If I did this review just a few days ago, I’d be talking about the chances of this being another Oscar entry for Apple, like last years The Boy, The Mole, The Fox, and the Horse, which was nominated for Best Animated Short. This isn’t on any short list. Perhaps, the combination of animation and live action made it hard to determine which short category it should be in, but … Continue reading The Velveteen Rabbit

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Mr Monk’s Last Case

John Stark

Where I Watched It: peacock English Audio Description?: Yes cast: Presumably, the cast of Monk. This one is barely a review. It’s more of a conversation. I probably could break this down, and review it, but I don’t think I should. Truthfully, I’ve never watched Monk. I only watched this because I was with someone else who loved Monk, and the only reason I’m bothering with a post is because it had audio description. And yes, the audio description seemed to be fine. it is a detective story, so picking up clues along the way feels integral. It also really … Continue reading Mr Monk’s Last Case

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Candy Cane Lane

John Stark

Where I Watched It: Amazon English Audio Description?: Yes Cast: Eddie Murphy, Tracee Ellis Ross, Jillian Bell, Nick Offerman, Chris Redd, Timothy Simons, Ken Marino, and David Alan Grier. Written By: Kelly Younger Directed By: Reginald Hudlin I saw Amazon had something called candy Cane Lane, and i just assumed it was some random Christmas movie garbage starring people who starred on a TV show 30 years ago. Then, I found out it starred Eddie Murphy, and everything changed. While this isn’t a great new classic, it has so much potential as a film, and it’s great to have Eddie … Continue reading Candy Cane Lane

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Family Switch

John Stark

Where I watched It: Netflix English Audio Description Provided By: International Digital center Written By: Dakota Green Cast: Jennifer Garner, Ed Helms, Emma Myers, Brady Noon, and Rita Moreno. Written By: Victoria Strauss Directed By: McG Let’s hit that audio description first. Dakota Green’s script for the audio description is the smart way to go. Instead of trying to follow the absurdity of a six way Freaky Friday, she decides that when the character’s soul, if you will, moves from one body into another, after a little bit of explaining it, you realize that the character name has moved to … Continue reading Family Switch

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Diary Of A Wimpy Kid: Christmas Cabin Fever

John Stark

Where I Watched it: Disney Plus English Audio Description Provided By Descriptive Video Works Narrated By Arin Brennan Is this an Animated short? Is it a feature? It runs at 62 minutes, I believe, which puts it in this very grey area. Either way, it is definitely the holiday version of Diary of A Wimpy Kid, and after several live action iterations and this being the third animated entry for Disney Plus, it felt like time. I mean, Dreamworks has a Bad Guys holiday special, and they only got one film. The first two made me wonder why we remaking … Continue reading Diary Of A Wimpy Kid: Christmas Cabin Fever

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Leave The World Behind

John Stark

Where I Watched it: Netflix English Audio Description Provided By: International Digital Center Written By: Liz Gutman Narrated By Jabari Gray Cast: Julia Robert’s, Ethan Hawke, Mahershala Ali, Myha’al, Farrah Mackenzie, Charlie Evan’s, and Kevin Bacon. Written and Directed By: Sam Ismael I went through all the emotions while watching this roller coaster. I remember at the top of my YouTube review, I said this movie gets all the grades. It had me so confused, up and down, weird shit, great shit, experimental takes, great acting, bad acting, cool ideas, unoriginal ideas, and then right at the end… I realized. … Continue reading Leave The World Behind

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Indiana Jones and the Dial Of Destiny

John Stark

Where I watched It: Disney Plus English Audio Description Provided By Deluxe Primary Narration By: Jedidiah Barton Cast: Harrison Ford, Phoebe Waller Bridge,Antonio Banderas, Toby Jones, Mads Mikkelsen, John Rhys-Davies, Karen Allen, Boyd Holbrook, Thomas Kretchmann, Shaunee Renee Wilson, and Ethann Isador. Written By: Jess Butterworth, John Henry butterworth, David Koepp, and James Mangold Directed By: James Mangold It is true that James Mangold is not Steven Spielberg, and while it is hard for any director to tilt their windmill at Spielberg, Mangold is one of the directors that has earned the right to be a household name by now, … Continue reading Indiana Jones and the Dial Of Destiny

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Indiana Jones: From The lost Ark To The Crystal Skull

John Stark

Where I Watched Them: Paramount Plus English Audio Description?: Yes Starring: Harrison Ford Featuring: Karen Allen, Kate Capshaw, Sean Connery, Cate Blanchett, John Rhys-Davies, Shia LaBeouf, and Ke Huy Kwon, among others. Directed By: Steven Spielberg In preparation for watching the final indiana Jones films, i revisited all four films that precede it. From the first to the last, it is unlikely you’ll be surprised which is my least favorite, but you may be surprised by which is my favorite. Still, this is just a cursory look at the franchise. Starting at Raiders Of The Lost Ark, the audio description … Continue reading Indiana Jones: From The lost Ark To The Crystal Skull

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Showing Up

John Stark

Where I Watched It: Apple VOD English Audio Description Provided By: Deluxe Narrated By Laura Post Cast: Michelle Williams, Hong Chau, Judd Hirsch, Amanda Plummer, Andre 3000, John Magaro Written By: Jonathan Raymond Directed By: Kelly Reichardt First Cow is still on my very long list of “I’ll get around to it”, so this is my first experience with Reichardt. Showing Up ended up winning an all inclusive Altman award, which blessed the entire production. No one asked me. I think as an independent film, or a meditation on normality, and the banality of existence, Showing Up works. but as … Continue reading Showing Up

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American Symphony

John Stark

Where I Watched it: Netflix English Audio Description provided By: International Digital center Written By Liz Gutman Narrated By: Sri Gordon Documentary Directed By: Matthew Heineman The What really gets me about American Symphony is at what point did someone decide to make the film? Director Matthew Heineman perhaps thought that he had a simple story when he started following musician John Batiste. Perhaps what drew him to the project was the idea of a more contemporary artist taking a shot at doing something with a more classical lean. Little did he know that along this journey, he would also … Continue reading American Symphony

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May/December

John Stark

Where I Watched It: Netflix English Audio Description Provided By International Digital Center Written By Liz Gutman Narrated By Briggan O’Brian Cast: Natalie Portman, Julianne Moore, and Charles Melton. Written By: Mark Thomas Directed By: Todd Haynes sometimes when I dive into specific directors, I take what I know of their past work, and I can imagine they very likely are using the same tricks. Wes Anderson is such a consistent example of a clear visual connective tissue running through his films. Even his animated features, like the Fantastic Mr Fox match the style. I could know nothing about the … Continue reading May/December

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The Naughty Nine

John Stark

Where I Watched It: Disney Plus English Audio Description?: Yes Cast: Winslow Fegley, Derek McCabe, and Danny Glover Written By: Jed Elinoff Directed By: Alberto Belli You could do worse. It’s one of the handful of Christmas themed movies that Disney had in its output, and it had the most unique of the plots. I know the elevator pitch was someone just saying “Ocean’s Eleven for kids at Christmas” and this got a green light. but, the initial concept of kids on the naughty list conspiring to get the gifts from Santa they believe they deserve is a solid concept. … Continue reading The Naughty Nine

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It’s A Wonderful Knife

John Stark

Where I Watched It: AMC Plus English Audio Description?: No Cast: Jane Widdop, Joel McHale, Justin Long, Jess McCloud, Katherine Isabelle, Aiden Howard, and Erin Boyce. Written By: Michael Kennedy Directed By: Tyler MacIntyre Considering last year Violent Night was a bit of a riff on home Alone, it makes sense that another Christmas classic would be up for revamping. In case you can’t put two and two together, it’s A Wonderful Knife is very similar to It’s A Wonderful Life. Winnie is your average teenager, hanging out with her teenage friends. Her dad works closely with a very motivated … Continue reading It’s A Wonderful Knife

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The Exorcist: believer

John Stark

Where I Watched It: Peacock English Audio Description?: Yes Cast: Leslie Odom Jr., Lidya Jewett, Ann Dowd, Norbert Leo Butz, Jennifer Nettles, and Ellen Burstyn. Written By: Peter Sattler and David Gordon green Directed By: David Gordon Green This is my first film in The Exorcist franchise. I truly have not ever taken the time to at least sit down and watch the first film, which is constantly on my to-do list. but, jumping in with David Gordon Green’s attempt at requelling another franchise didn’t make me feel terribly lost. It’s a brand new story with homage to the original. … Continue reading The Exorcist: believer