Category: Movie Review

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Going in Blind: All God’s Children

John Stark

Directed By: Ondi Timoner Documentary Release Year: 2025 *There Is no Known Audio Description For This Title* What Is It?: Shot over five years, the film focuses on two religious entities in Brooklyn, idealistically separate, but seeking to find understanding and common ground in an increasingly divided and racially tense America. The director benefits from her sister being the rabbi of a synagogue, and it is her synagogue that teams up with this historically black Antioch Baptist Church to learn from each other and grow. What Works: There’s a lot to like here. Obviously, the film has its heart in … Continue reading Going in Blind: All God’s Children

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Going In Blind: Dead Of Winter

John Stark

Cast: Emma Thompson, Judy Greer, Marc Menchaca, Laurel Marsden Written By: Nicholas Jacobson-Larson Directed By: Brian Kirk Release Year: 2025 Studio: Vertical Entertainment *Audio Description Was Not Provided At Time Of Screening* What Is It?: A Minnesotan (Thompson) realizes that she may have just witnessed a kidnapping, and may be the girls only hope of survival between her captors, and the harsh wintery landscape. What Works: I go into most films with very little knowledge. So, I really had no idea Judy Greer was playing one of the bad guys. I had this initial visceral reaction to it, like I … Continue reading Going In Blind: Dead Of Winter

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The Small Screen Diaries- 09/20/25

John Stark

TV Shows Watched: Outlander: Blood of My Blood- S1E8 (Starz) no audio description, Black Rabbit: S1E2 (Netflix) with audio description, Dexter: S6E3 (Paramount Plus) with audio description, next Gen chef: S1E2 (Netflix) with audio description, and Pop Culture Jeopardy: The Neverending Story (Amazon) with audio description Outlander: blood Of My Blood- I think I’ve finally settled on Rotten. As we near the finale, I’m missing too much. I can follow the cliff notes version of the cliff notes for the show, but most of the time there are characters I don’t remember, have no idea what their name is, where … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries- 09/20/25

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Going In Blind: Bob Trevino Likes it

John Stark

Cast: Barbie Ferrera, John Leguizamo, French Stewart, Rachel Bay Jones Written and Directed By: Tracie Laymon Release Year: Studio: roadside Attractions *there Is No Known Audio description For This Title* What Is it?: Lily (Ferrera) has a dad (Stewart) that no one could possibly want. Still, she tries. But he has other plans, and emotionally cuts himself off from her. While on social media, she notices a man with the same name as her father, and strikes up a friendship with him (Leguizamo), as he actually is a really nice guy and decent human being, allowing her possibly the chance … Continue reading Going In Blind: Bob Trevino Likes it

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Smurfs

John Stark

Featuring The Voices Of: Rihanna, John Goodman, James Corden, Nick Offerman, Natasha Lyonne, Dan Levy, Hannah Waddingham, JP Karlilk, Amy Sedaris, Sandra oh, Jimmy Kimmel, Octavia Spencer, Nick Kroll, Alex Winter, Maya Erskin, Billie Lourd, Kurt Russell, Marshmallow Written By:Pam Brady, based on characters created in The Smurfs Directed By: Chris Miller Studio: Paramount Release Year: 2025 Runtime: 89 minutes Audio Description Produced By: Written By: Narrated By: what Is it?: An abomination. Oh, sorry, I mean… a very creative reinvention of conceptually what the Smurfs are. in this world, there are four evil sorcerers, and four books of spells, … Continue reading Smurfs

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Going In blind: The Last Rodeo

John Stark

Cast: Neal McDonough, Mykelti Williamson, Christopher McDonald, Sarah Jones, Graham Harvey, Irene Bedard, Written And Directed By:Jon Avent Release Year: 2025 )No Audio Description Provided With Film* What is it?: An aging cowboy McDonaugh) has to rally so he can compete in a rodeo to win a cash prize and save his ailing grandson’s life. What Works: Not my first rodeo of the year, after trying to sit through Wyatt Russell’s Broke without audio description, so I did appreciate that The Last Rodeo had fundamentally way more dialogue. McDonough does a lot more talking about his feelings, which makes it … Continue reading Going In blind: The Last Rodeo

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Going In Blind: The Summer Book

John Stark

Cast: Glenn Close, Emily Matthew’s, Anders Danielsen Lei Written By:Robert Jones, based on the book. Directed By: Charlie McDowell Studio: Music Box Release Year: 2025 *There Is No Known Audio Description For This Title* What Is It?: A young girl spends time with her father and grandmother at their summer house on a small island off the coast of Finland. While she uses this opportunity to assemble a summer book of memories and experiences, the season is colored by the absence of her mother. A meditation on time, memory, and what we leave behind. What Works: I’m an open book, … Continue reading Going In Blind: The Summer Book

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The Small Screen Diaries: 09/14/25

John Stark

TV Shows Watched: Daryl Dixon: S3E2 (AMC Plus) no audio description, From: S3E4 (MGM Plus) with audio description, The Girlfriend: S1E2 (Amazon) with audio description, Red Fish Blue fish: S1E3 (Netflix) with audio description, Have I Got News For You: S3E2 (HBO MAX) no audio description, The Paper: S1E4? (Peacock) with audio description. Daryl Dixon- Of course the show doesn’t have audio description, but what a weird show this has become. originally, there was a Daryl and Carol spinoff, then Melissa McBride backed out, leaving them to cobble together some weird Daryl in France series. So they spend an entire … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries: 09/14/25

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The Top 10 Oscar Wins For Best Actress Of All Time

John Stark

Following in the footsteps of my picks for the Best and Worst Oscar Winners of all time in the Best Picture category, here are my picks for the 10 best Wins of all time. These are a mixture of my favorite performances, iconic roles, and years where clearly the best lady won. #10) Julie Andrews (Mary Poppins) it is an iconic role, and a legendary actress. plus, her biggest competition was arguably Sophia Loren who had just won this prize a year before. It just makes sense with how well known Andrews is in this genre, that she would carry … Continue reading The Top 10 Oscar Wins For Best Actress Of All Time

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Elio

John Stark

Cast: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Remy Edgerly, Brandon Moon, Brad Garrett, Jamila Jamil, Written By: (too many people, three credited with screenplay, three credited with story by, and two who made additional contributions to the screenplay) Directed By: Adriane Molina, Madeline Scharafain, Domee Shi Original Score By: Rob Simonson Release Year: 2025 Studio: Disney/Pixar Audio Description Produced By: No credits Were Listed Written By: Need Credit Narrated By: Need Credit What Is It?: In the latest Pixar offering, Elio is a young boy recently orphaned through the loss of his parents, who is now being raised by his aunt. Elio … Continue reading Elio

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Lilo and Stitch (2002)

John Stark

Cast: Daveigh Chase, Chris Sanders, Tia Carrere, David Ogden Stires, Kevin Macdonald, Ving Rhames, Jason Scott lee, Kevin Michael Richardson, Amy Hill Written By: Chris sanders directed By: Dean DeBois and Chris sanders release Year: 2002 Studio: Disney Audio description Produced By: Deluxe Written By: Narrated By: Laura Post What is it?: After the death of their parents, Noni and lilo are trying to make it together, with the big sister looking after her little sister. But, life is challenging, and Noni has to grow up fast, get a job, and still somehow be there for her younger sister. Lilo … Continue reading Lilo and Stitch (2002)

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The Wrong Paris

John Stark

Cast: Miranda Cosgrove, Pierson Fode, Madison Pettis, Yvonne Orji, Christin Park, Frances Fisher, Madeline Arthur Written By: Nicole Henrich Directed By: Janeen Damian Release Year: 2025 Studio/Streamer: Netflix Runtime: 105 minutes Audio description produced By: (Need Credit) Written By: (Need Credit) Directed By: (Need credit) What is It?: Dawn (Cosgrove) finds out she’s been accepted to a prestigious art school in Paris, but her financial aid package was underwhelming. While she ha some money due to her parents dying before the movie even begins, she’ll need more help if she plans to stay. So, her friend gets her to audition … Continue reading The Wrong Paris

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Aka Charlie Sheen

John Stark

Directed By: Andrew Ramsey Release Year: 2025 Runtime: 2 parts, approx. 88 minutes each Studio/Streamer: Netflix Audio Description Produced By: VSI Written By: (Need Credit) Narrated By: Roy Samuelson What Is it?: ready to talk candidly about all the trials and tribulations, the ups and downs, and face the truth, Charlie Sheen sits down for a fairly comprehensive walk through his life, from growing up the son of a famous actor, and eventually pursuing his own acting career, before gaining a reputation as a bad boy, and having run ins with the law, alcohol, and substance abuse. Now, he’s here … Continue reading Aka Charlie Sheen

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Fight Or Flight

John Stark

Cast: Josh Hartnett, Charithra Chandran, Katee Sackhoff Written By: Brooks McLaren Directed By: James Madigan Release Year: 2025 Audio Description Produced By: Fourth Rock Written By: Narrated By: Jeffrey Hillard What Is it?: A little like the plot simplicity of Speed. Josh Hartnett is a disavowed agent who becomes the only option to catch a spy that no agency has been able to catch. He reluctantly takes the gig, only to find himself not the only one who got the message. suddenly, he’s on a plane full of contract killers, and one of them is his target. What Works: the … Continue reading Fight Or Flight

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The Institute: Season 1

John Stark

Cast: Joe Freeman, Ben Barnes, Mary Louise Parker, Hannah Galway, Julian Richings, Fionn Laird, Simone Miller, Viggo Hanvelt, Arlen So, Robert Joy, Jason Diaz, Jane Luk Based On the Book by Stephen King Length: 8 episodes Streamer: MGM Plus Audio description produced By: Written By: Narrated By: Roy Samuelson What Is it? A convergence of two stories. one follows a teen (freeman) who is kidnapped and wakes up in a facility that is testing kids who are telekinetic or telepathic. it is obviously a shady organization with a dark secret. We also follow a former police officer (Barnes), who moves … Continue reading The Institute: Season 1