Tag: audio description

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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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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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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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War Of The Roses: 35th Anniversary

John Stark

War Of The Roses: 35th Anniversary- Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner, Danny Devito Quick Take: Both Romancing The Stone and War Of The roses hit anniversary years in 2024. The latter, directed by Danny Devito, is something I feel like I saw my mom watching once, tried about five minutes, and then it was over my head. As a kid, I really loved my kids centric fare, so I could have seen this anywhere from 1989-1993 and not understood or cared. Now, I see this as a nice reread for Michael Douglas and Kathleen turner. It isn’t the best. I think … Continue reading War Of The Roses: 35th Anniversary

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Kneecap

John Stark

Kneecap- An International Hopeful With Audio Description! Quick Take: From what I can tell, because I’ve seen almost the entire shortlist, this is one of two International Oscar hopefuls with audio description. If you’d like to check it out, Sony Pictures Classics currently has this on Netflix. It is Irish, and centers around the preservation of the Irish language, in staunch defense to the British colonial rule that seems to perpetually plague the Irish. They speak this language to keep it alive, and Kneecap is actually a punk rock band that rocks out in Irish. There is a fair amount … Continue reading Kneecap

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Blitz

John Stark

Blitz (Apple Plus)- It Could Have Been So Much Better Quick Take: Steve McQueen is a great director. 12 Years A Slave, Widows, and Mangrove are all excellent.This is not. He made a very mediocre war film that was Apple’s final hope, that Oscar prognosticators had thought might find a groundswell at BAFTA, and it just ended up being one of the lost films of the year. Honestly, I didn’t hate Blitz. The audio description is insufficient, but it isn’t bad. It is just disappointing. Sometimes, it is bad to be disappointing. Like, while I still need to fully review … Continue reading Blitz

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The Remarkable Life Of ibelin

John Stark

the Remarkable Life Of Ibelin- A Love Letter To Those Gamer Friends You’ve Never Met Quick Take: The Warcraft doc of the year, available now on Netflix, talks about a player who was disabled, and found his online family through gaming, only to sadly pass away. It made me think a lot about being a gamer, and when someone you’ve known for sometime as a gamer tag just disappears, you wonder why. Before going blind, I played a ton of online games, and had a rich base of friends I’d never met. Some of us had exchanged real life information, … Continue reading The Remarkable Life Of ibelin

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Borderlands

John Stark

Borderlands- Eli Roth Was An Odd Choice For A PG-13 Version Quick Take: A lot has already been said about Lionsgate’s expensive foray into adapting Borderlands for the big screen. Not enough is being said about Lionsgate likely being the reason for the problem. Borderlands is a fun game, and it does have a story, which you advance through with the help of the most obnoxious sidekick in Claptrap. You can also team up with friends in the franchise, and run missions together. I’ve long wanted a Left 4 Dead movie, especially with how many excellent horror directors there are … Continue reading Borderlands

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Rob Peace

John Stark

Rob Peace- Am Inspirational Story weighed Down By Being An Inspirational Story Quick Take: Chiwetel Ejiofor tries his hand at directing again, and also acting in this inspirational film that is too busy being inspirational to really ever get off the ground. When we meet our young protagonist, we see that he has this challenged relationship with his father, which is made worse when his father is accused of, and convicted of murder. His son then has to balance seeking a better life for himself, getting an education, moving on with his life, finding love, and all the while burdened … Continue reading Rob Peace

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Escape From Alcatraz: 45th Anniversary

John Stark

Escape From Alcatraz: 45th Anniversary- Clint Eastwood Must Get Off The Rock Quick Take: This is one I fell in love with at some point when it was on cable. It was in pretty decent rotation, so I think I’ve seen it more than once prior to watching it again with audio description. This is available in the Apple Store, if you are curious to see if Clint Eastwood can break out of the Rock. This is one where he’s just acting, and not directing, though it feels like he could have easily done both. It is an action packed … Continue reading Escape From Alcatraz: 45th Anniversary

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Message In A Bottle: 25th Anniversary

John Stark

Message In A Bottle: 25th Anniversary- Kevin Costner, Robin Wright, Paul Newman, Nicholas Sparks Quick Take: Get out the Kleenex. It is time for a good old fashioned Nicholas Sparks cry. This guy loves to make depressing romantic movies. Here, Robin Wright plays a journalist who finds this, well, you know, and decides to find out who wrote it. that leads her to a sad but hunky Kevin Costner, who is still mourning the loss of his loved one, while trying to care for his recovering alcoholic father (Paul Newman). Of course, she doesn’t tell him about the messages, and … Continue reading Message In A Bottle: 25th Anniversary

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Stop Motion

John Stark

Stop Motion- A Horror Spin On The Painstaking Filmmaking Technique Quick Take: Shudder outdid themselves on several of their titles this year, producing some really interesting original fare. They even sponsored some international offerings vying for the International Oscar. Stop Motion is a great idea, that stumbles in the execution. It isn’t particularly surprising, and theres too much of a sense of predictability. There could have been so much more inventiveness with regard to the use of the art of Stop Motion, but it treads more into a psychological thriller, with a protagonist descending into madness. it certainly isn’t the … Continue reading Stop Motion

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Uncle Buck: 35th Anniversary

John Stark

Uncle Buck: 35th Anniversary- john Candy Is Still One Of The Greats Quick Take: A John Hughes classic. Back in September, when I first watched this with audio description, it was fun getting to enjoy John Candy again. Of course, this movie also introduced us to Macaulay Culkin, and was the reason Hughes recommended him for Home Alone. But, it does feel like we had such a brief period with john Candy, a thoughtful comedian who likely would have gone on to pursue the same dramatic swings as robin Williams. I think we never truly got the best of Candy, … Continue reading Uncle Buck: 35th Anniversary