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The Small Screen Diaries- 01/26/25

John Stark

TV Shows Watched: The Night Agent: S2E4 (Netflix) with audio description, From: S1E4 (MGM Plus) with audio description, WAGS to Riches: S1E2 (Netflix) with audio description, American Primeval: S1E4 (Netflix) with audio description, Cross: S1E8 (Amazon) with audio description, Virgin River: S6E10 (Netflix) with audio description, The Rookie: S7E3 (Hulu) with audio description, The Daily Show: Thursday’s Show (Paramount Plus) no audio description Movies Watched: The Substance (Screener) with audio description, Sing Sing (screener) no audio description, Kraven The Hunter (Apple Store) with audio description, and Ad Vitam (Netflix) with audio description Best Episode: From- This show really is letting … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries- 01/26/25

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Vermiglio

John Stark

Vermiglio- Golden Globe Nominee For Best International Feature Quick Take: And yet, another International Oscar hopeful that bit the dust. It did manage a golden Globe nomination, but this Italian film missed out on the Oscars. It lacks audio description, so unless you are fluent in Italian, I don’t foresee this being your thing. However, I’ll always dive back in if somehow this gained audio description in English along the way. it technically qualifies as LGBTQ, but the main story is not. I’d explain it, but my knowledge of the film is all second hand. My experience sitting through this … Continue reading Vermiglio

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Flow

John Stark

Flow- A Blind Film Critic Reviews A Silent Animated Film With No Accessibility Quick Take: Yes, I was provided a screener for the Golden Globe winner for Animated Feature. no, despite being nominated for two Academy Awards, and the most obvious film to require audio description of the year, it has no known audio description. this is a cash and awards grab. This is already on VOD. It flew through theatres, like it has some rapid half-life to make the most money it can, before people go back to celebrating The Wild Robot. Yes, I listened to this movie. I … Continue reading Flow

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The Room Next Door

John Stark

The Room Next Door- Pedro Almodovar’s English Language Feature Debut Quick Take: this was a screener from Sony Pictures Classics, and it lacked audio description. The film does have audio description, and I plan on reviewing it again when it eventually lands on Netflix, where Sony movies go eventually. This is just a few initial thoughts, in case I don’t come back around. Pedro Almodovar’s English language debut has been pushed as being not as good as his best work. Almodovar has such a long list of iconic Spanish language films that it is hard to say this, or any … Continue reading The Room Next Door

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Piece By Piece

John Stark

Piece By Piece- Pharrell Plays With LEGO’s quick Take: Piece by piece, brick by brick, putting it together. Sorry, my Sondheim got away from me. I managed to catch this Pharrell Williams documentary back during the consideration frame, but I think most people weren’t grabbed by the gimmick, and left it alone. The film is a documentary, but is shot using LEGO’s, so everyone appears as a LEGO figure. At the heart, it is a celebration of Pharrell and his music, but done in such a way that if he ever got a parking ticket you wouldn’t know. There’s so … Continue reading Piece By Piece

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The Small Screen Diaries- 01/25/25

John Stark

Yesterday, i hinted at some shows I was watching still (like The Pit), which are just there because a wave of TV hasn’t hit. Next week, a bunch of shows return, including Matlock, Elzabeth, Ghosts, The Recruit, and Mythic Quest, along with premieres of promising new shows like Your Friendly Neighborhood Spiderman and Watson. Some of these current shows I’ve been watching are living on borrowed time. TV Shows Watched: The Night Agent: S1E3 (Netflix) with audio description, the Traitors: S3E5 (Peacock) with audio description, The Agency: S1E10 (Paramount Plus) with audio description, Harley Quinn: S5E3 (MAX), Dexter: Original sin … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries- 01/25/25

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Emilia Perez: A Second Look

John Stark

Emilia Perez: A Second Look- 13 Oscar Nominations Was Enough To Trigger English Audio Description! So, I originally made a pretty big fuss about the lack of audio description on the major Oscar contender from netflix. I did sit through the film, with only Spanish available at release, and reviewed the film as it was presented. I addressed the problems with the lack of inclusivity on a film touting nothing but, and how Netflix had previously ignored fellow Spanish-language Oscar nominees like El Conde, Brdo, and Roma, none of which got audio description in their respective years. But, as Timothee … Continue reading Emilia Perez: A Second Look

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The Devil’s Bath

John Stark

The Devil’s Bath- Shudder Sponsored Austria’s Failed International Oscar Bait Quick Take: This is why I push so much for international content, because viewpoints from around the world are so important in a day and age where we seem to want to isolate ourselves from everyone and expel those different from us. The Devil’s Bath takes a hard look at women’s mental health during a time when people didn’t think about mental health. We’re still in the age of lobotomies. Men use to diagnose “hysteria”. So, Austria’s bid for an International Oscar, which didn’t make the shortlist, has no English, … Continue reading The Devil’s Bath

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Things Will Be Different

John Stark

Things Will Be Different- Without Audio Description,I Had A Wildly Different Take Quick Take: I just got a ton of screeners, OK? So, this came my way, without audio description, and I did not know what it was. I had a completely different reaction to the film, because I didn’t realize time travel was an element. It was totally lost on me, so this is a great example of how we just can’t have movies in English, with no audio description, and assume blind people will follow them. I thought something was happening, sure, like some form of insanity, but … Continue reading Things Will Be Different

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Fat Albert: 20th Anniversary

John Stark

Fat Albert: 20th Anniversary- There’s A Reason We Can’t Have Nice Things Anymore Quick Take: Not all anniversary releases are golden, not all are memorable, and not everything with audio description is a good film. This is my second time through this live action adaptation of the classic cartoon series, and something has dramatically shifted since 2004. I just can’t put my Jell-O finger on it. The refreshing thing about watching this 20 years later starts with the continued growth of Kenan Thompson. We see him 20 years ago, knowing he was a fresh cast member on Saturday Night Live, … Continue reading Fat Albert: 20th Anniversary

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The Small Screen Diaries- 01/24/25

John Stark

Sometimes, this does feel like shouting at the wind. And then sometimes, you shout, and the wind shouts back. Netflix has finally uploaded an English Audio Description track for Emilia Perez, officially giving us 10 Best Picture nominees with audio description. I’m actually impressed by the job done, considering it was just a little over two months ago when the movie landed on Netflix with no audio description. I’ll have a full review later, but I’m certain it was a late commission, and a rush to put out. If Netflix had just commissioned the track back in May when they … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries- 01/24/25

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Inheritance (2025)

John Stark

Inheritance (2025)- Phoebe Dynevor and Rhys Ifans In A Father/Daughter Twisty Treat Quick Take: releasing today in theaters, Inheritance is the first title from IFC Films to kick off hopefully another year with some gems. Last year, they paired with Shudder on a handful of my favorites, like Oddity and late Night With The Devil, but also were responsible for my favorite film of 2024, Ghostlight. Everyone else can fall all over the year end Oscar bait, but Ghostlight had me at “what light on yonder window breaks”. As with most screeners, I was not passed audio description. I’m fairly … Continue reading Inheritance (2025)

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Red One

John Stark

Red One (Amazon)- Really Overcomplicates The Magic Behind Great Holiday Movies Quick Take: Talk about a film that made zero impact on me. My video was shot after having seen it, and just now catching up to this, I’ve almost entirely forgotten this film. I remember Chris Evans, and his character’s backstory. he had an accent. Dwayne Jonson was here. But, my brain has deleted this, because it was so average. I remember the films I loved or liked, and I remember the movies I didn’t like or hated, but put enough time between me and a movie I’m mostly … Continue reading Red One

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All We Imagine Is Light

John Stark

All We Imagine Is Light- Oscar Shortlisted, Golden Globe Nominated, Audio Description Forgotten Quick Take: This is a pretty quick one. Nominated for Director and International Feature at the Golden Globes this year, this entry from India, which is not their official Oscar submission, lacks audio description. I did sit through the movie, and my most profound thought was “sounds like a lot of rain”. I’d love to experience international cinema, but it seems as though the barricades and gatekeeping are going to work against us. Feel free to check out my video, but the grade is definitely unwatchable due … Continue reading All We Imagine Is Light

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Dead Poets Society: 35th Anniversary

John Stark

Dead Poets Society: 35th Anniversary- Robin Williams Is Still The Captain Quick Take: For whatever reason, we do really enjoy watching movies about inspirational teachers at prep schools. While peter Weir’s Dead poets Society certainly was not the first, nor the last, it has endured. it is a tough realization to think this movie only has turned 35 years old, and it is far from Robin Williams’s last performance. Perhaps that is why I enjoy this so much, is because the Captain (My Captain) here is Robin Williams. Tasked with teaching and opening the minds of a group of young … Continue reading Dead Poets Society: 35th Anniversary