Tag: audio description

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Till

John Stark

Where I Watched it: iTunes Audio Description Provided By: Deluxe I did manage to squeeze this in just before the Oscar nominations, because i assumed the voters hadn’t lost their damn minds. i was prepared to be taken over by a film that i had seen so many visceral reactions from some of my favorite YouTube critics. I believe even one holdout managed to squeeze this in about the same time i did. I’m going to say up front, this film doesn’t get an A from me, but that doesn’t mean i don’t recommend it. Before I talk about anything … Continue reading Till

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A Love Song

John Stark

Where I Watched it: iTunes English Audio Description Provided By: A Group of Standup Written By: Ariana Mendez Narrated By: Jason Birmingham This is how you do independent cinema. I hadn’t heard of this until it started to get some minor awards recognition, and then I felt like it should be on my radar. Come to find out, there is actually an audio description track, for a low budget indie drama that made very little at the box office, and you can just call me Sally. Often we think of “do they have the money to pay for audio description?:, … Continue reading A Love Song

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Fall

John Stark

Where I Watched It: iTunes English Audio Description Provided By: Deluxe Narrated By: Nicole Sansorella It could be a controversial statement to say that Fall is not for the blind. i mean, we do have accessibility here, and Nicole Sansorella and the team at Deluxe are working overtime to make this make sense, but Fall just doesn’t work. To be honest, this limited location thriller concept has worked better in the past. Granted, every single version of this i can come up with, I was able to see. The Shallows really stands out to me as creating high stakes, and … Continue reading Fall

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Armageddon Time

John Stark

Where I Watched it: iTunes English Audio Description provided By: The Media Access Group Narrated By: Adrienne Barbeau What I knew about Armageddon Time going in was that it was basically a failed Oscar bait film. It wasn’t getting the kind of reception it had hoped for from all the precursor awards/ That doesn’t always mean a film is bad. Mass got zero nominations last year only because Oscar voters suck. Not because the film did. So maybe Armageddon time was this year’s Mass. It’s not. It’s like Kanye’s fever dream. Racist Jewish people. I’m not really sure what James … Continue reading Armageddon Time

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Retrograde

John Stark

Where i Watched It: Disney Plus English Audio Description?: Yes This pull out of Afghanistan is becoming a hot bed for filmmakers. I already watched the documentary Escape From Kabul earlier this year, and now Retrograde looks to tell a very similar story. My problem here is that while I didn’t give Escape From Kabul a terribly high grade at the time, after watching Retrograde, it’s clearly the better documentary. Escape From Kabul, which is available on HBO MAX, mostly focused on the clusterfuck at the actual airport. It got tons of insane footage, and had interviews with people who … Continue reading Retrograde

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Funny Pages

John Stark

Where I Watched it: iTunes English Audio Description?: Yes Owen kline’s directorial debut is a bold statement for the kinds of stories he wants to tell moving forward. The son of Kevin Kline, who does have an acting background himself, has decided to shoot for this john Waters-lite style. He’s not quite subversive enough to go full Pink Flamingos, but tehre’s something about kline’s adoration for garbage, and featuring a character who believes the only way to ever be a true artist is to start from the bottom. Kline is saying a lot here, not just about artists, but possibly … Continue reading Funny Pages

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The Flagmakers

John Stark

Where I Watched it: Disney Plus English Audio Description provided By Zoo Digital Narrated by Tanzi Alexander The Flagmakers is one of the lucky few films on the short list for Best Documentary Short, and it has the pleasure of being featured on Disney Plus. Although, if you’re asking me if I believe the members of the Documentary branch of the Academy care about Disney Plus… It’s a great find, in terms of a story the world knew nothing about. Make a film about the most American thing anyone could think of, and show the world that most of those … Continue reading The Flagmakers

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Devotion

John Stark

Where I Watched it: Paramount Plus English Audio Description?: Yes Perhaps, if I had seen Top Gun Maverick in theatres the day it was released, and allowed myself some gigantic amount of time, or at least the maximum amount before watching Devotion, I might have found something worthwhile in this movie. I hate coming in here and saying that someone’s real life, their true story is boring. But, Devotion is boring. It just is. I don’t think it’s the fault of those who lived a life so the tale could be told, it’s just unfortunate timing. when you follow Top … Continue reading Devotion

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She Said

John Stark

Where I Watched It: Peacock English Audio Description Available?: Yes Journalists break stories. And if they can break them fast enough, we can actually get a movie out while their main target is still in litigation. If you recall, this dropped at the same time Harvey Weinstin’s case in Los Angeles was going on, and I definitely found it amusing that the judge had to tell the jury not to watch the trailer for the film. In general, I wish more people would watch She Said. no, not because it’s my favorite film of the year or anything, but Maria … Continue reading She Said

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The Pale Blue Eye

John Stark

Where I Watched it: Netflix English Audio Description Available?: Yes This isn’t the first Oscar bait Netflix film that just didn’t work on me. This season, I’ve already tanked two of their actually well-reviewed hopefuls for various reasons. The pale Blue Eye is getting that treatment, and i think Netflix might be ok with that. when you look at the marketing for this, and the fact that it technically dropped on Netflix in January, you might consider this a 2023 film. You’d be wrong. This had a qualifying run for Oscar consideration, it’s just not getting a ton of momentum. … Continue reading The Pale Blue Eye

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Tar

John Stark

Where i Watched it: iTunes English Audio Description Provided By: The Media Access Group Narrated By: Andrew Thatcher You’ve probably heard quite a bit about this tour de force Cate Blanchett turns in this year in Todd Field’s Tar. Certainly, it’s because the film is well crafted, and Blanchett is one of the best living actresses. But in Tar, a film that explores and seems to have something to say about our new world we’ve created for ourselves, the complex theories in Tar likely make this a limited appeal film. I know that critics love this film, but I don’t … Continue reading Tar

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The Eternal Daughter

John Stark

Where I watched It: iTunes English Audio Description?: Yes Narrated By: Darren Polish This film has one of the most obsessively and aggressively annoying sound designs. This, and the Amazon movie Nanny, are both designed to drive you mad by creating sound design that isn’t scary, but so obnoxious you lose your damn mind. The whole reason this film exists, and why someone like Martin Scorsese would be a producer (Yes, really) is Tilda Swinton. This is a perfect A24 release. it’s artistic as fuck, and people will debate and dissect this for years to come. The reality is that … Continue reading The Eternal Daughter

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The Menu

John Stark

Where I Watched It: HBo MAX English Audio Description?: Yes It’s actually been fun watching the progression of the film from festival, to release, to critics groups, the Globes, and now a long shot at the Oscars. The Menu is one of those films we can’t really talk about. Like, I really need to spend the next five paragraphs talking about the dwindling gorilla population or something. Because, The Menu is not a face value film, and that’s what makes talking about it so damn hard. Basically, a group of people are given the opportunity to eat at this super … Continue reading The Menu

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If These Walls Could Sing

John Stark

Where i Watched It: Disney Plus English Audio Description?: Yes I think I was most surprised at how long the Abbey Road studio has actually been open. I didn’t realize it’s been 90 years. And considering that the documentary is directed by Paul McCartney’s daughter, i really expected it to be Beatles centric. but, it’s not. I mean, it mostly is. if you are a fan of The Beatles, there is some focus on them as you might expect. But there’s also focus on artists who came before, and after. There’s commentary on specific songs recorded there, like Alfie, and … Continue reading If These Walls Could Sing

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After Yang

John Stark

Where I Watched it: iTunes English Audio Description provided By: Deluxe Narrated by: Darren polish This is one of those films i actually attempted to watch without audio description earlier in the year on Showtime, but it became abundantly clear to me really fast that this film was unwatchable without audio description. I still believe that, even after enjoying it with Darren’s narration. The film is just so entrenched in this indie science fiction world, it’s almost like a love letter to what could be, or what might have been. Colin Farrell, who had the best year of his life, … Continue reading After Yang