Tag: Apple Plus

Movie ReviewLeave a comment

Argyle

John Stark

Matthew was experienced in the field. He had been kicking around an idea for quite sometime, and was looking for a buyer. This wasn’t his usual ask, this was an investment. An idea to change all future ideas. He needed a buyer, and one with deep pockets. luckily enough, he knew just the mark. They never saw it coming. When Matthew exited the meeting, he had carte Blanche. He had hoped for maybe a solid 75, maybe 100 million, but they blew that out of the water with double his expectations. Confused, Matthew started to wonder how he would use … Continue reading Argyle

TVLeave a comment

The Bloody Hundredth

John Stark

The only film this year to list Tom Hanks and Hitler in the “cast list” section on iMDB. This is the companion documentary to Masters Of The Air, a fantastic limited series on Apple Plus, which was also narrated by Laura Post. This documentary tells the true story, and in many ways would be a spoiler if you wanted the series to surprise you. Real interviews are used, along with footage from the era, and commentary from those involved in the creation and production of Masters of The Air, explaining why this story is so worthy of its own incarnation. … Continue reading The Bloody Hundredth

TVLeave a comment

The Small Screen Diaries- 03/19/24

John Stark

Not surprising at all, but CBS will continue to air its Australian import, NCIS: Sydney for its second season, despite already having two NCIS shows, and currently in development on two more. Fun fact, this entire franchise only exists thanks to a series being rescued from cancellation. Possibly the smartest “save our show” ever has turned out to be CBS picking up JAG after it was cancelled at NBC after one season. Without that, they wouldn’t have had the long and successful run of the original show, nor would they have NCIS, NCIS Los Angeles, NCIS New Orleans, NCIS Hawaii, … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries- 03/19/24

TVLeave a comment

The Small Screen Diaries- 03/16/24

John Stark

Apples Never Fall (Peacock) is just a travesty. Mostly, the show suffers from poor direction and writing, but I can pinpoint some specifics. This show centers around a retired wife (Bening) who goes missing from her family, and former tennis star husband (Sam Neil). Her kids think something is afoot, so they start investigating, and over the course of 7 episodes, we will learn why Apples Never Fall (far from the tree). They introduce a character, Savannah (Georgia Flood), who shows up in the middle of the night supposedly fleeing domestic abuse. Flood delivers one of the worst performances I’ve … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries- 03/16/24

TVLeave a comment

The Small Screen Diaries- 03/14/24

John Stark

I’m not really sure what was going on with the actress playing Crystal on The Connors (Hulu), but her few lines were some of the worst line readings I had heard in a long time. Honestly, it felt like a regular person had won the chance to be on The Connors from their live studio audience, and had never acted before. I loved the meta moment where Darlene was trying to answer a trivia question in which she would be the answer in the real world. I also watched Abbott Elementary’s (Hulu) very special post-Oscar episode, which was hilarious as … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries- 03/14/24

TVLeave a comment

The Small Screen Diaries- 02/24/24

John Stark

Man, i hope the SAG awards stay on Netflix. no commercials. Say anything you want. Fantastic. The predictable awards were predictable, and the other trophies painted a picture of the Actor and Actress race. Cillian Murphy has now won both the BAFTA and SAG, defeating Paul Giamatti at both. I cannot shake the feeling that Giamatti is winning for The Holdovers. It may just be because of how much I adore Paul, but I love both films and performances. On the actress side, Lily Gladstone closed the gap between her and Emma Stone by winning the SAG Actress trophy, while … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries- 02/24/24

Movie ReviewLeave a comment

Napoleon

John Stark

Two years ago, Ridley Scott released the underrated The Last Duel, which went on to be largely ignored coming out of the pandemic, but still has its fans. I was recently putting together material for my Best Of 2023 lists for this year, and I noticed that my 2021 Award for Best Director went to Ridley Scott for The Last Duel. So, when i say Napoleon is not his best, please understand this is a man who is a very undervalued titan in this industry. Ridley Scott, who has never won an Oscar, is back again this year with Napoleon, … Continue reading Napoleon

TVLeave a comment

The Small Screen Diaries- 02/15/24

John Stark

Did you feel like you got hit on the head yesterday? That’s because Paramount Global has axed streamer Noggin, which launched as a cable channel in 199, before developing its own paid service in 2015. Nine years later, Paramount Global is on fire, and they need to cut costs. A lot of the basic core programs of Noggin are available on Paramount Plus anyway, so I’m sure this is just a redundancy they felt was needed. I was more surprised that 800 people worked for Noggin. Just to balance themselves out, they also cancelled Evil. So, something on either end … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries- 02/15/24

TVLeave a comment

The Small Screen Diaries- 02/04/24

John Stark

the way my week works, is that I typically try and introduce new shows on Sunday to my rotation, and then Monday starts going through another episode of each show I’ve decided to continue with. So, this Sunday, my watching of Sexy Beast (Paramount Plus) was so disjointed and interrupted, I decided I’d just use its “second” episode that would happen later this week to rewatch the pilot coherently. but, technically I tried. While I do really enjoy the Jonathan Glazer film on which the series is adapted, it’s been years since I’ve seen the film. At least twenty, but … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries- 02/04/24

Movie ReviewLeave a comment

Killers Of The Flower Moon

John Stark

No matter what words I have for this film, it already has won a barrage of trophies, and is a Best Picture nominee this year, among its many other nominations. Of course, it is directed by Martin Scorsese, who earned his 10th Best Director nomination, becoming the most lauded living director.It’s part of the reason streaming services like Apple and Netflix give him massive budgets for films that likely will never make that back. The profile his films hit, and the status he gives to them during awards season is almost this intangible quality you can’t put a price on. … Continue reading Killers Of The Flower Moon

TVLeave a comment

The Too Much TV Roundup- 01/14/24

John Stark

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day! I don’t think I watched anything yesterday that fits with today. Maybe I’ll try to do that on the day of, but then I’ll be mentioning it the next day. It’s like having a Newsweek subscription nowadays, when everything has already been discussed. The Critics Choice awards last night were pretty predictable. I did see one site refer to Emma Stone’s win as a “shocker”. Really? Yes, Lily won the Globe… but so did Emma. They were just finally in the same category. Interestingly, the same “journalist” had nothing to say about the “shocker” … Continue reading The Too Much TV Roundup- 01/14/24

TVLeave a comment

The Small Screen Diaries- 01/12/24

John Stark

Apple better be continuing on with For All Mankind. That season finale was a beast, and did exactly what I thought it would. Because the show takes these leaps forward in time, original cast members have to keep being shaved off because there’s only just so much you can age a person. Just like how last season ended with a few original cast members exiting, it’s highly likely that the way certain characters are written, means the end for them on the show (at least as regulars). However, there was one prominent character whose future was not shown, and that … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries- 01/12/24

TVLeave a comment

The Small Screen Diaries- 01/11/24

John Stark

Starting off my column of the day with bad news. MAX has inexplicably struck again, cancelling Julia after two seasons, thus ending Sarah Lancashire’s terrific performance as the famous chef. I refer to everything I said when they cancelled Our Flag Means Death, reminding you that this is a company that used a completed film as a tax write off. But, sadly, Julia isn’t the only show exiting stage right. ABC has announced this will be the final season of the Good Doctor. After failing to produce a spinoff, it’s time for the ABC drama to go away, I guess. … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries- 01/11/24

TVLeave a comment

The Small Screen Diaries- 01/09/2024

John Stark

I was totally all ready to watch Echo yesterday morning during my workout period, and it turned out that it didn’t drop until later? Weird. Anyway, I’ll have thoughts on the first episode of that in the next episode. I really want to start by acknowledging the loss of Adan Canto, who fans might know from The Cleaning Lady, but I recognized from Designated Survivor. A rather surprising loss, as he was only 42. Also, I would be remiss in mentioning that MAX, in their continuing wisdom, has decided not to do a third season of Our Flag Means Death. … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries- 01/09/2024

TVLeave a comment

The Small Screen Diaries- 01/04/24

John Stark

Well, I reached the season finale of Upload (Amazon) finally, and wouldn’t that be insane if this show didn’t get a 4th season? Just. Wow. Also, made it through part three of Far Away Downs (Hulu), which I love the fact it has an Australian narrator. I didn’t see Australia before watching this version, so I’ll be doing this in reverse, but this seems like a really toned down Baz Luhrmann. Usually his movies are big loud and fast, and this doesn’t feel like him at all. I wonder if he stripped his soul away ffor this version, or if … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries- 01/04/24