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The Lost Children

John Stark

The Lost Children (Netflix)- Documenting The Rescue Of Plane Crash Survivors In Harsh Conditions Quick Take: I’m not mad for watching this. It was an interesting story about groups of very different individuals converging to rescue indigenous children after a plane crash. this is a documentary based on a real story of how some children survived a small plane crash in the Amazon, and how they came to be found. A wonderfully complex story, that I wish had audio description. it does have an English dub, as the movie is not in English. However, technically, since you never visually understand … Continue reading The Lost Children

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The Wild Robot

John Stark

The Wild Robot- Dreamworks Beautiful Spin On What It Means To Be A Parent Quick Take: I’ve been waiting to catch up to this point. This is on my list of films to rewatch when I have free time. I caught this in the middle of my awards screener blitz, and it is the best thing Dreamworks has done since How To Train Your Dragon. Following the story of a robot created to help humans, who finds herself lost in the wild where there are none, the robot (voiced by lupita Nyong’o) has to adapt to her new surroundings. We … Continue reading The Wild Robot

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Family Pack

John Stark

Family Pack (Netflix)- Jean Reno Anchors This French Jumanji-esque Adventure Quick Take: Jean Reno stars in French Jumanji, as Netflix has chosen to dub this adventure where a family is pulled into a videogame where a scared village is trying to hunt down werewolves. The various family members end up with their own quirks, but it turns out one of their own might be a lycan, and they have to figure out a way to save them, and get out of the videogame. It is French jumanji, especially since the newer remakes deal with being sucked into video games. the … Continue reading Family Pack

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The Small Screen Diaries- 01/17/25

John Stark

Yesterday, I reviewed the first film of 2025 (for me), in what I’m calling my first Quality Check. It is essentially a stream of consciousness watch. I knew very little going in, nothing about who did the AD, or the general plot of the film. Hopefully, it is somehow helpful, as I frequently don’t get the opportunity to go that much into detail as reviews typically lean toward “was it good?” But if you see Quality Check in front of a review now, it means that review leans more toward was the description effective or good? TV Shows Watched: Silo: … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries- 01/17/25

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Cruel Intentions: 25th Anniversary

John Stark

Cruel Intentions: 25th Anniversary- Still Just A Bittersweet Symphony Quick Take: one of the rare instances where an adaptation or a remake of a source material gains life of its own. Much like how 10 Things I Hate About You went on to have life beyond just the movie, despite just being an adaptation of The Taming Of the Shrew, this adaptation has a straight-to-video sequel that started as a FOX pilot, a stage musical, and a recent Amazon series. roger Kumble’s sexy teen drama from 1999 still can put it wherever it wants. I have nostalgia problems. I often … Continue reading Cruel Intentions: 25th Anniversary

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Red Rooms

John Stark

Red Rooms (2024)- A French Canadian Indie Hit In Need Of Audio Description Quick Take: this is a quickie. Red Rooms was recommended to me, and I also was given a screener. Sadly, to my knowledge, this movie has no known English audio description. It is also a French Canadian thriller, and while it may have fans, i can’t read the subtitles. I need audio description for films not in the English Language. Nevertheless, I sat through this, since the assumption always is that if a film is presented to me without accessibility, it must be in a form that … Continue reading Red Rooms

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The Last Showgirl

John Stark

The Last Showgirl- Pamela Anderson Is Mind Blowing In This Dramatic Turn Quick Take: I’ve had the opportunity to debate this quite a bit since seeing this film, and I prefer to reward talent when i truly believe they are near or at the top of their game. So in a year where Angelina Jolie, Nicole Kidman, Kate Winslet, Soarise Ronan, and others delivered strong performances, none of them were definitively their best. In what is like watching a baby walk for the first time, that can’t be said of Pamela Anderson who was matched perfectly to the right role … Continue reading The Last Showgirl

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The Small Screen Diaries- 01/16/25

John Stark

TV Shows Watched: Goosebumps: S1E5 (Disney Plus) with audio description, High Potential: S1E9 (Hulu) with audio description, Will Trent: S3E1 (Hulu) with audio description, On Call: S1E7 (Amazon) with audio description, XO Kitty: S2E1 (Netflix) with audio description, and virgin River: S6E8 (Netflix) with audio description. Movies Watched: Unstoppable (Amazon) with audio description, Queer (Apple Store) with audio description Before we dive in, we did lose an iconic filmmaker in David Lynch. One of the true auteurs of cinema, and someone whose presence was always felt behind the camera, for better or worse. I have not seen his entire filmography … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries- 01/16/25

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Afraid (2024)

John Stark

Afraid (2024)- Hey Siri, Tell Alexa There’s Nothing Remotely Scary Here Quick Take: I refuse. They tried to follow the AI horror title M3gan, with their own obnoxious title, Afr1d, which is just totally unnecessary. The whole film is unnecessary. this film isn’t scary, there are no consequences, and it is fundamentally everything wrong with cheap horror. John Cho, who seems to get sucked into shitty horror movies rather easily, is the father of this family that gets a special advanced AI, but things start happening, and the AI starts manipulating the children. It is a bafflingly useless movie, which … Continue reading Afraid (2024)

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Look Into My Eyes

John Stark

Look Into My Eyes- A24 Does Documentaries As Well Quick Take: I watched this as part of my screener packet from A24. They did not include audio description. My only viewing, which the video reflects, is that of no audio description. You can catch the film on MAX now with audio description. I’m not looking forward to watching it again anytime soon, so this original review stands. I wasn’t a huge fan of the psychic/medium documentary, and there are other movies I’d rather watch a second time first. This may not do much for you, as you can now access … Continue reading Look Into My Eyes

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Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind: 20th Anniversary

John Stark

Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind: 20th Anniversary- Still An Unforgettable Masterpiece Quick Take: We live in a wonderful time where studios like A24 and Neon are boosting interesting filmmakers, and challenging wide audiences to like films not initially thought to be mainstream. That’s how we get something like Everything Everywhere All At once. But, how is it that in this great age, with the rise of filmmakers like Ari Aster and Robert Eggers, that Michel Gondry is nowhere to be found? I realized, after enjoying Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind for the umpteenth time, that Gondry was a … Continue reading Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind: 20th Anniversary

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Blink Twice

John Stark

Blink Twice- A Strong Directorial Debut From Zoe Kravitz Quick Take: A few actors had really strong directorial debuts in 2024. dev Patel ((Monkey Man) and Anna Kendrick (Woman of The Hour) both proved they have potential, but I was most impressed with Zoey kravitz and her work on the thriller Blink Twice. What a difficult audio description track to write. It is also a hard movie to review, as it gets twisty, and I want you to watch it without anything being spoiled. loosely, the film centers on a waitress who catches the eye of a tech millionaire, and … Continue reading Blink Twice

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Romancing The Stone: 40th Anniversary

John Stark

Romancing The Stone: 40th Anniversary- Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner, Danny Devito Quick Take: If I had a bucket list of films I knew I needed to watch for whatever reason, I would have had this Robert Zemeckis flick on there. It has been on there for 40 years, and it took an anniversary release for me to get off my ass and finally knock this one out. I think every film critic who isn’t claiming Medicare still has films. There were just so many years of film before I was born, and then every year, more is created. Still, before … Continue reading Romancing The Stone: 40th Anniversary

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The Small Screen Diaries- 01/15/25

John Stark

I shook up my Wednesday a bit. i usually watch Will Trent/High potential. but, I decided to see what would happen if I pushed those to Thursday. Would they then have audio description? We’ll find out… in tomrorrow’s diary. TV Shows Watched: Skeleton Crew: S1E8 (Disney plus) with audio description, Goosebumps: S1E4 (Disney Plus) with audio description, On Call: S1E6 (Amazon) with audio description, and Going Dutch: S1E2 (Hulu) no audio description YouTube: The Oscar Expert (BAFTA Nomination Reactions) Best Episode: Skeleton Crew- A nice ending to the season, that closes the door enough just in case Disney doesn’t do … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries- 01/15/25

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The Small Screen Diaries- 01/14/25

John Stark

TV Shows Watched: Goosebumps: S1E3 (Disney Plus) with audio description, From: S1E2 (MGM Plus) with audio description, Ghosts: S4E8 (Paramount Plus) with audio description, First Shift: S1E4 (Amazon) with audio description, and Pop culture Jeopardy: S1E6 (Amazon) with audio description. YouTube: Breakfast All Day (Top 10 of 2024) Movies: None. i started to watch something called The Magic Penguin which was new on Prime, made it a little ways into the movie, and decided there was a better use of my life. It doesn’t have audio description, and seemed awful. Best Episode: From- By a hair. from is still in … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries- 01/14/25