Category: Movie Review

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Interstellar

John Stark

Where I Watched it: Amazon English Audio Description Provided By Deluxe Narrated By Tanzi Alexander I actually started rewatching all of Nolan’s films this year when I was asked to be a guest on a podcast, so I could discuss how Nolan’s films are great, and how they translate in terms of audio description. Since I’ve only been blind for the past six years, it means most of his catalog was available to me in their initial runs visually. So, I’ve seen interstellar, and I’m fairly certain a deep dive on my site will reveal my initial thoughts. I remember … Continue reading Interstellar

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Asteroid City

John Stark

Where I Watched It: Peacock English Audio Description?: Yes Wes Anderson is one of the few directors where I’ve actually managed their entire filmography. He is one of those very influential directors whose style speaks to cinema lovers, but always really stands out as a director who makes the kinds of choices that make me wonder how do we appropriately convey his quirks to a blind audience through audio description? He has released three films in the span of my vision loss, and none of them have pushed into my Top 5 of his filmography. To be fair, it seems … Continue reading Asteroid City

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Heart Of Stone

John Stark

Where I Watched It: Netflix English Audio Description provided By: International Digital center Written By Liz gutman Narrated By: Annaleigh I actually don’t get excited for big budget Netflix action films anymore. Too frequently, thre’s something about them that’s missing. They are very shiny, but I think if it was released theatrically, they wouldn’t be making a lot of money. That’s not to say I don’t enjoy Netflix films. I do from time to time, it’s just a film like this has me more with trepidation going in than most titles would. The world has long wanted a female Bond … Continue reading Heart Of Stone

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Somewhere in Queens

John Stark

Where I Watched It: iTunes English Audio Description?: No I still like to review films that don’t have audio description to talk about why they need them. I also like to remind these various companies that they are not at a 100% level of accessibility, so they should be constantly striving toward that. Even though iTunes is great for letting us know what has audio description, the fact that only a handful of titles are actually available to a blind audience with audio description is still disconcerting. I chose Somewhere In Queens because I wanted to see what Ray Romano … Continue reading Somewhere in Queens

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Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret

John Stark

Where I Watched It: iTunes (VOD) English Audio Description Provided By: Deluxe Narrated By: Erin Nixon I was more of a Beverly Cleary kid in Elementary school, along with whatever was on my reading lists. I’m pretty sure I’ve never read Are you There God? It’s Me, Margaret. That did not have any bearing on my ability to enjoy the film, nor did my gender. This isn’t just a film for girls, or for tweens. It’s just a really great story. Margaret is a young girl whose parents up and relocate at the beginning of the film, and she’s just … Continue reading Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret

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Paint

John Stark

Where I Watched it: AMC Plus English Audio Description?: No Owen Wilson plays a Bob Ross type. That’s the movie. you can all go home now. Well, so there’s more to it than that. Sure, he has a perm, and lives in a van (though perhaps not down by a river), and suddenly has competition from a pretentiously named new artist who doesn’t like to paint mountains and trees. She’s rather paint a bullet train. It’s a quirky film, and Wilson’s supporting cast, which include untouchable stalwarts like Stephen Root and Catherine Keener, do some nice work in their roles. … Continue reading Paint

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Sisu

John Stark

Where I Watched It: iTunes (VOD) English Audio Description provided By Deluxe Narrated By Jedidiah Barton I can’t fully credit John Wick with the existence of this type of film, since absurd action films have long been the staple in our film diet. It often used to just be a really thin plot that gave an action star reason to kick ass, but now that we have all these stunt crews and elaborate visual effects, a film like Sisu, which takes place in WWII era Finland has all the blessings to send its audience to the proverbial brink. And i … Continue reading Sisu

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Allegiance

John Stark

Where I Watched it: Broadway HD English Audio Description?: No Once again, another title by Broadway HD that lacks audio description. However, I’m not here to continue to pound that point home today, though it is so important. As i watched Oppenheimer, it had me thinking about so many things that we may or may not have done correctly,and some really effective stories told from this time period. As much as I’d love to review Grave of The Fireflies, I would love to do that with audio description, plus it’s not on any of the multitude of services I subscribe … Continue reading Allegiance

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The Super Mario Bros Movie

John Stark

Where I Watched It: Peacock English Audio Description Provided By The Media Access Group Narrated By Leilani Jones Wilmore Wahoo! For all of us gamers who can claim to be among the first, fan service is headed our direction. Sure, there have been video game adaptations, but they typically suck. And for a lot of people who have wanted some of these legacy franchises like The Legend Of Zelda adapted somewhere. Now with the critical success of The Last Of Us on television, it could be even on TV. But, Illumination took the horns of Bowser and rode Nintendo’s flagship … Continue reading The Super Mario Bros Movie

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Hidden Strike

John Stark

Where I Watched It: Netflix English Audio Description?: Yes When I saw the #1 movie on Netflix was a 2023 release starrring Jackie Chan and John Cena, my interest was tantalized ever so slightly. I couldn’t remember the last time I saw Jackie Chan in something, and I’ve been pretty happy with the trajectory of Cena’s career. He really seems to understand the joke, and he seems pretty up for anything. If you question that, watch Blockers. I wasn’t really thinking that this would be a Chinese production, but it’s fairly well executed, considering I’m really not familiar with too … Continue reading Hidden Strike

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Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 3

John Stark

Where I Watched it: Disney Plus English Audio Description?: Yes Narrated By: Laura Post There is something rather refreshing about watching a film after all the major critics who get screenings have had their say. Will I agree? Or, will I push back? I think Guardians on their final outing was mostly well received, and i agree with that. There’s something kinda disrespectful about Bob iger taking to platforms to claim the doom and gloom, and following some of the clickbait YouTubers who think Disney is broken. if anything, Guardians Vol 3 proves that Marvel isn’t broken, and Disney Plus … Continue reading Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 3

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Oppenheimer

John Stark

Where I Watched it: In Theatres (Regal) English Audio Description?: Yes Narrated By: Laura Post Well, that was an experience. For those of you who notice I do not review content while in theatres a lot anymore might catch, I actually went for Oppenheimer. mostly because i am an invited guest on a podcast I’m recording next week, and i was specifically asked to watch Oppenheimer. Not only did I need multiple headset replacements, but the headset audio quality sounded like laura Post was talking to me from beyond the grave. I get better quality and consistency at home. I … Continue reading Oppenheimer

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Jesus Revolution

John Stark

Where I Watched It: Netflix English Audio Description?: No I’m certain that audiences of faith based films don’t care what critics have to say. rarely do the audiences really ever, unless something looks sketchy and is getting either dreadful reviews, or if something is just beloved by everyone who has seen it. I have seen faith based cinema that is a steaming pile of dog shit just asking for money to be thrown at it, and using people’s religion as a way to make a buck, and some attempts at rather decent storytelling. Jesus Revolution is surprisingly the latter of … Continue reading Jesus Revolution

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Gray Matter

John Stark

Where I Watched it: MAX English Audio Description?: Yes This is the newest winner of the project Greenlight series. Of course, back in the day, the winner got a theatrical release, but I suppose you get what you get nowadays. The judges made sure to pick a woman of color to show off how underrated that group is. I watched the first episode, and i was a little disappointed we got to the winner so quickly. On the plus side, they chose Mia Issac to headline this, and I’m a big fan. She delivered two fantastic performances last year in … Continue reading Gray Matter

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42nd Street

John Stark

Where I Watched It: Broadway HD English Audio Description?: no I actually reached out to Broadway HD and never heard back about their audio description. So, I guess the only way to keep pushing for it is to continue to talk about the content and why it needs it. 42nd Street is a great show to do that with. Even though I was somewhat familiar with the show and many of the songs, this was my first time with any sort of start to finish production. So I was excited to see what was in store, and like some other … Continue reading 42nd Street