Category: Movie Review

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The Silent Twins

John Stark

Where i Watched it: Peacock English Audio Description?: Yes Narrated by Claudia Dunn Based on a true story about two twin girls who only talked to each other and the odd things that they did. I barely remember this film. I remember it trying to feel like a horror movie without actually being one. It’s a true story, and there are no ghosts. The ending is more effective than anything else, as it lets you know how things happened once the movie is over. The girls are played at two different ages, young and old, and the four women who … Continue reading The Silent Twins

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Easter Sunday

John Stark

Where i Watched It: iTunes English Audio Description?: Yes Does anyone remember Chairman Of The Board? it was this 90’s movie where a movie studio gave Carrot Top money to make and star in his own film. There are so many instances like that over the years, where a comic seems hot at the time, but a studio has no idea what to do with them. So, they either give full creative control to the comedian (ala Louie CK and the legendarily awful Pootie Tang) or they plug them into completely lifeless films. Ellen Degeneres (Mr Wrong), Ricki lake (Mrs … Continue reading Easter Sunday

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This Place Rules

John Stark

Where I Watched It: HBo MAX English Audio Description provided By: point360 Narrated By: Roy Samuelson I saw this over a month ago. I watched so many films over my winter break, plus the films I continue to watch, that catching up on reviews has been a bit of a nightmare. So, pretend this review happened a month ago before the allegations against Andrew Callahan came about. To be respectful to those currently in that state of affairs, i will be making this short, because it’s hard to be effusive about someone’s work while they are also in the middle … Continue reading This Place Rules

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Hallelujah

John Stark

Where I Watched it: Netflix English Audio Description?: No This Leonard Cohen doc ended up on Netflix after failing to get a spot in the final five. It also doesn’t have audio description which seems to be a growing trend in theatrically released documentaries. Netflix and HBO MAX will put it on their own content, but these other acquisitions seem to struggle. Here, the film is largely about the power of Leonard Cohen’s best known song, and it’s musical history. If you want a longer look at Cohen the artist, there’s an older documentary “I Am your Man”, which might … Continue reading Hallelujah

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To Leslie

John Stark

Where I Watched it: iTunes English Audio Description?: No It may surprise you that this out of left field Oscar nominee that made 27K at the box office from something called “Momentum Films” doesn’t have audio description. if it does surprise you, you’ve probably been to an independent film festival and seen films without distribution have accessibility. Especially some incredibly low budget films that wind up at film festivals geared specifically to the blind and visually impaired community, where the films you’ve likely never heard of are made my blind and visually impaired talent. So, no, Leslie doesn’t get a … Continue reading To Leslie

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The Redeem Team

John Stark

Where I Watched It: Netflix English Audio Description?: Yes Apparently there was a period of time where we sucked at Olympic basketball. This is their story. Actually, this is the story of coming out of that period, so i think this film is basically trying to say that the early 2000’s were not great for us, despite Kobe, Allen iverson, and other All-Stars. it wasn’t until all the cards seemed to stack the right deck (Lebron james) that we could be “redeemed”. It’s a pretty straightforward nBA documentary, and considering all the other sports docs I’ve seen this year, this … Continue reading The Redeem Team

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Vesper

John Stark

Where I Watched it: iTunes English Audio Description provided By: Audio Eyes Narrated By: Chris Snyder Indie science fiction can sometimes push the creators to the creative brink. Typically, they lack the Avatar type funding to make a big budget bonanza, so you get something really interesting, like Primer. vesper is more involved than Primer, but still feels limited in its scope. It, like many like it, is set in a dystopian future. There are robots, people living outside the “community”, food scarcity, and clearly an entirely new set of rules of governance. Vesper is a girl who scavenges as … Continue reading Vesper

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After Ever Happy

John Stark

Where i Watched it?: The Third circle of hell Where You Can Watch It?: Netflix English Audio Description?: Yes This film made me question my life choices. I found myself watching a film where the biggest names are buried in supporting roles, as Academy Award Winner Mira Sorvino is forced to take a backseat to whoever the fuck is starring in this garbage. is this part of the After series, or just a coincidence? i didn’t even think of that until it was too late, and I was deep in the film. Then I thought, perhaps there is more to … Continue reading After Ever Happy

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3000 Years of Longing

John Stark

Where I Watched It: iTunes English Audio Description provided By: Deluxe Narrated By: Laura Post and jedidiah Barton It’s sort of amazing that George Miller has so many fans of his work, since he can’t seem to be held down to a specific style or genre. Obviously, a lot of new fans found him when Mad Max Fury Road surpassed expectations, but the same guy who made that film, just made a rather simple movie about two people having a long, rather fanciful, conversation. Oh, and don’t forget Babe: Pig in The City In 3000 years of longing, Idris Elba … Continue reading 3000 Years of Longing

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38 At The Garden

John Stark

Where I Watched it: HBo MAX English Audio Description provided By: 3Play Media Narrated By: James Rodriguez So, the Oscars got this one wrong. This one is the Best Documentary Short I’ve seen this year. For it to have missed out on a nomination actually didn’t surprise me, since the documentary branch is the branch I respect the least. They frequently reject popular documentaries, they turn away from music related ones, and they thought When We Were Bullies warranted an Oscar nomination. This year, they jettisoned many fantastic documentaries from their shortlist including Good Night oppy and Sr. OK, so … Continue reading 38 At The Garden

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Violent Night

John Stark

Where I watched It: Peacock English Audio Description?: Yes When you hear john Wick meets Home Alone, you think that’s a crazy combination, but somehow not. Kevin McAllister probably grew up to be a John Wick. By the way, I would totally love to see a Home Alone with Macaulay Culkin as a grown up Kevin McAllister who is a contract killer…but only at Christmas. Also, no more home Alone movies unless Culkin is coming back as the dad, and Catherine O’Hara as Grandma. I’d mention John Heard, but sadly he passed a while back. So violent Night is Santa … Continue reading Violent Night

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Aftersún

John Stark

Where I Watched It: iTunes (I really need to get screeners, Jesus) English Audio Description Provided By: Deluxe Narrated By: Marsha Bartenelli Like i said above, Screeners. I’d love to reduce my costs, since this whole thing generates no income. Hah. Anyway, this A24 underdog did recently manage a Best Actor nomination for Paul Mescal, and it is well deserved. Let’s just get that right out of the way. Even if you haven’t seen Aftersún, just trust the process. Even if he wasn’t in my or your top 5, it’s pretty hard to deny that he’s not within range. It’s … Continue reading Aftersún

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Till

John Stark

Where I Watched it: iTunes Audio Description Provided By: Deluxe I did manage to squeeze this in just before the Oscar nominations, because i assumed the voters hadn’t lost their damn minds. i was prepared to be taken over by a film that i had seen so many visceral reactions from some of my favorite YouTube critics. I believe even one holdout managed to squeeze this in about the same time i did. I’m going to say up front, this film doesn’t get an A from me, but that doesn’t mean i don’t recommend it. Before I talk about anything … Continue reading Till

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The Apology

John Stark

Where I Watched It: AMC Plus English Audio Description?: no Another film I’m struggling to remember as I catch up from the barrage of films i watched over Christmas break. It was… a lot. Like, a lot. This is actually loosely a Christmas film, as our lead character (Anna Gunn) is visited by someone from her past with some unnerving news. Most of this film is just two people, although Janeane Garofalo appears in a supporting turn, in case you wondered whatever happened to her. Remember how Hard Candy was basically Ellen (now Elliot) Page and Patrick Wilson, but then … Continue reading The Apology

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A Love Song

John Stark

Where I Watched it: iTunes English Audio Description Provided By: A Group of Standup Written By: Ariana Mendez Narrated By: Jason Birmingham This is how you do independent cinema. I hadn’t heard of this until it started to get some minor awards recognition, and then I felt like it should be on my radar. Come to find out, there is actually an audio description track, for a low budget indie drama that made very little at the box office, and you can just call me Sally. Often we think of “do they have the money to pay for audio description?:, … Continue reading A Love Song