Tag: Allison Janney

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Minions And Monsters

John Stark

The Despicable Me franchise has been a bit of a downhill ride. I would comfortably say that I enjoyed the first two Despicable Me films, but once they introduced Dru, Gru’s twin brother, and had Steve Carell essentially doing the same thing twice, I started to lose interest. Despicable Me 4 certainly didn’t do anything to help me regain it. I enjoyed the first Minions spinoff a bit more than most people seemed to, but its sequel, Minions: The Rise of Gru, didn’t do much for me. Especially considering Minions was already a prequel, making The Rise of Gru a … Continue reading Minions And Monsters

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Miss You, Love You

John Stark

Jim Rash, best known for playing the Dean on Community,along with his years spent at the Groundlings, and that time he won an Oscar with Nat Faxon for writing the screenplay to The Descendants, is making his solo feature directorial debut. He and Faxon broke out and made the excellent The Way Way Back, and followed that up with the not so excellent Downhill.But, Rash proves he still has a lot to give in this film he wrote and directed, which is not adapted from anything. It does feel so much like a play, like Rash was trying tow rite … Continue reading Miss You, Love You

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Everything’s Going To Be Great

John Stark

Cast: Bryan Cranston, Allison Janney, Benjamin Evan Ainsworth, Jack Champion, Simon Rex, Chris Cooper, Laura Benanti Written By: Steven Roger’s Directed By: Jon S. Baird Release Year: 2025 Audio Description Produced By: Alpine Group Written By: Narrated By: Tansy Alexander What Is it: A teenager (Ainsworth) attempts to come of age, but isn’t quite sure in which direction. he’s disgusted by the word vagina, but also isn’t certain which way he leans. His troubles are exasperated somewhat by his absurdist upbringing as the youngest in a theatrically minded family, whose patriarch (Cranston) eats, sleeps, and breathes theatre, while his once … Continue reading Everything’s Going To Be Great

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American Beauty- 25th Anniversary

John Stark

25 years ago, Sam Mendes took a screenplay from Alan Ball, and directed a simple film about peeling off the shine of suburbia. This went on to win a bunch of Oscars, including Best Picture, forever cementing itself in film history. But in the 25 years since, it has suffered from the passage of time. Some feel like it feels just too 1999. is this really middle class suburbia? Do mom and dad actually earn enough for this lifestyle? Is this just a modern Lolita, or a response to the reflective teen nightmare that was Columbine? Is this an early … Continue reading American Beauty- 25th Anniversary

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The Creator

John Stark

I first tried watching this on Hulu shortly after it released, but not right away. it did not have audio description, nor did it through Hulu on Disney Plus. Months later, I finally was able to watch this film with the wonderful description done by Deluxe and William Michael Redmond. I avoided really reviewing the film the first time, because I had a feeling I was enjoying the film, I just couldn’t understand it. Man, I was missing a lot. the creator stars John David Washington as a man caught in a futuristic war where countries look very different, AI … Continue reading The Creator

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The Too Much TV Roundup- 09/24/23

John Stark

A tentative deal has been reached between the studios and the writers. The details have yet to be made public, but should be shortly as the membership has to vote on it. An official vote by leadership happens on Tuesday, which will solidify this a bit more, and possibly allow some writers to return to work. Most writers will have to wait until the contract is fully ratified by the WGA as a whole, but writers for talk shows are expected to resume possibly later this week, as all they need is for Tuesday’s vote to pass. 11) Daryl Dixon … Continue reading The Too Much TV Roundup- 09/24/23

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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 People We Hate At The Wedding

John Stark

Where I Watched It: Amazon Audio Description Provided By: The Media Access Group Narrated By: Zambie Page I’ll tell you right off the bat what you need to know. If you’re here because you use audio description, then get ready for some light, but totally appropriate shade. I’m not sure if Page also wrote the script for the narration, but whoever did, I applaud them. Late in the film, one of the characters is on an airplane reading a book. Not a big deal, right? Characters do this all the time. but as the narrator notes for those of us … Continue reading The People We Hate At The Wedding

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Lou

John Stark

Where I Watched It: Netflix English Audio Description Provided By: Descriptive Video Works Sometimes, I really enjoy the fact that I don’t watch trailers (since they rarely have audio description). That was I can be surprised by something like Lou, where I just launch Netflix and see “from producer JJ Abrams”, and that’s really all I needed to know. What I checked in for is one of those “particular set of skills” films that (Thank God) does not star Liam Neeson. Instead, for something completely different, we’ve got Allison Janney ready to kick someone’s face in. And if you aren’t … Continue reading Lou

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Emmy Winners

John Stark

Honestly? I didn’t watch the Emmy’s tonight. I’ve lost all hope that the Emmy voters have any idea who to vote for. The nominations are silly. And, oh look, Breaking Bad swept the drama category. Oh, hey, Modern Family won… again. Breaking Bad has already won the Emmy for Best Drama series (last year). Anna Gunn won last year. Aaron Paul won two years ago. He won the year before that. Bryan Cranston won that year too. Cranston also won in 2009, and 2008. Bryan Cranston has now won 4 Emmys for playing Walter White, Aaron Paul has won three, … Continue reading Emmy Winners

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Emmy Watch: And The Nominees Are…

John Stark

Outstanding Drama Series: Mad Men True Detective Game Of Thrones House Of Cards Downton Abbey Breaking Bad Outstanding Comedy Series: The Big Bang Theory Louie Modern Family Orange Is The New Black Silicon Valley Veep Outstanding Miniseries: American Horror Story: Coven Bonnie and Clyde Fargo Luther Treme The White Queen Outstanding Movie: The Normal Heart The Trip To Bountiful Killing Kennedy Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight Sherlock: His Last Vow Lead Actor In A Drama: Jeff Daniels (The Newsroom) Jon Hamm (Mad Men) Matthew McConaughey (True Detective) Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad) Woody Harrelson (True Detective) Kevin Spacey (House Of Cards) Lead … Continue reading Emmy Watch: And The Nominees Are…

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Movie Review: Struck By Lightning

John Stark

STARRING: Chris Colfer, Rebel Wilson, Allison Janney, Sarah Hyland, Dermot Mulroney, Christina Hendricks, Ashley Rickards, Angela Kinsey, Matt Prokop, Graham Rogers, Carter Jenkins, Allie Grant, Robbie Arnell, Brad William Henke, Ken Marino. WRITTEN BY: Chris Colfer DIRECTED BY: Brian Dannelly So you want another generic teen movie? Look no further than Glee star Chris Colfer’s screenwriting debut, Struck By Lightning, which got buried in limited theatrical release earlier this year, and is silently now on video. All this despite featuring Rebel Wilson in a rather large role. Why, you may ask yourself, was this not given a larger release, especially … Continue reading Movie Review: Struck By Lightning