Tag: audio description

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The Descendants: The Rise Of Red

John Stark

Somewhere way back there, I reviewed Disney’s Descendants, because it became this phenomenon, and I have touched base with a few of their big touchstones. I made sure to check out the first two High School Musical film, I’ve seen Camp Rockk, and of course Descendants. Now, The Rise Of Red is on Disney Plus, both the first and most recent effort are Deluxe by Laura Post. So, rather than go yet another review of the first film, let’s just leapfrog. This version has basically set the original crew free. There’s a nice tribute to the deceased Cameron Boyce, but … Continue reading The Descendants: The Rise Of Red

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Sausage Party: A Second Look

John Stark

Yes, I’ve reviewed this film before. The great thing about maintaining a website this long is that someone can look back and see what I initially wrote about Sausage Party. with the release of the new Amazon series Sausage Party: Foodtopia, I took the advantage of Sausage party being on Netflix, with audio description, to watch and see how the audio description holds up and compares. Also, is this film still funny? I do want to type this part out. It’s important. This film stars the vocal talents of: Seth Rogen, Kristen Wiig, Jonah Hill, Michael Cera, Edward Norton, Salma … Continue reading Sausage Party: A Second Look

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Space Cadet

John Stark

Emma Robert’s press tour for this was a nightmare. It’s never good to go out and talk about how film criticism has devolved before your film comes out, because it hasn’t. There are just more film critics. I can promise Emma, that if we went back to the simpler times, with eight critics as she remembers (which never happened in her lifetime), her Rotten Tomato score would still be zero. I look at this, and I wonder what Emma saw in it to defend it so much. The movie is based around a young woman (Robert’s) who once was super … Continue reading Space Cadet

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Speed: 30th Anniversary

John Stark

Often when critics and various awards groups gather at the end of the year to honor the years best, it is with a very narrow view of what we thought best represented that year.Many times, blockbuster films, or even films that just didn’t reach a wide enough audience, end up being rediscovered, or really holding on and becoming an essential film standing the test of time. This is often the toughest job of all, because film critics and historians can always pull lesser known films throughout the years, but the truth is that a film like Speed ends up with … Continue reading Speed: 30th Anniversary

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The Imaginary

John Stark

This is the year of imaginary friends I guess. I’ve seen three films centered around them, and this is my review of the second. Netflix has an animated adventure about an imaginary friend, who becomes worried that he’s being forgotten, and gets some help from other imaginary friends on how to stay alive. It’s actually kind of interesting how this film handles imaginary friends, with them disappearing if forgotten, but they find safe havens, like libraries, that radiate with enough imagination to keep them alive. However, when our main imaginary friend suspects that something might be wrong with his human, … Continue reading The Imaginary

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Back To Black

John Stark

The short life of Amy Winehouse is explored in this biopic by Sam Taylor Johnson, who starts with a clearly very talented Amy (Marisa Abela) before she signs to a major label, and her career explodes. Her tumultuous life is explored in a somewhat neutral tone, where no one really seems to be at fault, including Amy, for anything that happened. While she begins a rocky relationship with what many of her fans believe was an enabler, but much like everyone in Amy’s life, it seems to suggest that no one really tried to make her go to rehab, but … Continue reading Back To Black

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Honey I Shrunk The Kids: 35th Anniversary

John Stark

Meet the Salinsky’s. They aren’t your normal suburban family. Their dad, Wayne (Rick Moranis) is an inventor, and he’s working on his latest gadget, much to the ire of their next door neighbors. After a chance accident, four kids find themselves at the mercy of his invention, when they find themselves shrunk down smaller than ants. Now, they have a short period of time to fix their situation before their own backyard becomes their demise. I love this film. when I hear Wayne Salinsky, I automatically think of this franchise. It has a special place in my heart, and the … Continue reading Honey I Shrunk The Kids: 35th Anniversary

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Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire

John Stark

Following the events of Godzilla Vs Kong, and somehow likely incorporating the events in Monarch from Apple plus, Godzilla X Kong is the latest in the American version of Godzilla mixing with Kong and other titans as a franchise. This sequel is directed by Adam Wingard, and starring Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, and Dan Steven’s leading the human team. The world is finally at some kind of peace, as Kong is now in Hollow Earth, and Godzilla is left on the surface to fight off any titans that would seek to encroach on his domain. Basically, we’ve accepted that … Continue reading Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire

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Fancy Dance

John Stark

Lily Gladstone is having her moment. It is excellent to see her out front, gaining name recognition as an indigenous actress. Here, we have a film steeped in tribal culture, and it is told from a member of the Seneca tribe herself, Erica Tremblay, in her feature directorial debut. Apple Plus, I suppose out of gratitude for Lily Gladstone killing those flower moons, is carrying it. The narration is Roy Samuelson, who is everywhere these days. Fancy Dance is very much a representation effort for indigenous artists of North America. The movie begins with a thanks/certification from the Cherokee nation, … Continue reading Fancy Dance

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The Runaway Bride: 25th Anniversary

John Stark

Even though I’m pleased to report that this film has audio descritpion on Paramount Plus, it does always strike me as to what titles do and don’t. This title especially, because the audio description track sounds like it was made at least 10+ years ago, and with the way audio description tracks rarely travel, it was a pleasant surprise to see that this was something that someone had maintained this track. Kudos. A lot of my anniversary releases target films that have audio description. Runaway bride is not a significant classic, but it was quite the hype of its time, … Continue reading The Runaway Bride: 25th Anniversary

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State of Consciousness

John Stark

This movie is on Peacock, it has audio description, the description is fine, and the movie is awful. Emile Hirsch is stuck in this, and we owe him an apology. I think he got sucked into movies this terrible because we did not give him his much deserved Oscar nomination for Into The Wild. Into The Wild, at last glance, was still in the IMDB Top 250, because most people have realized it is a terrific film that we missed the boat on and thought it only needed a Hal Holbrook nomination. Granted, that is a fantastic nomination, but now … Continue reading State of Consciousness

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Sixteen Candles: 40th Anniversary

John Stark

I’ve been using the year to bounce around the various streaming services to try and catch some movies having Anniversary years that also are available with audio description. This John Hughes classic is on Amazon, and that means I’m not sure if it has human audio description. I’m leaning toward No, but I’ve heard much worse. It is possible they’ve started using better voices, but these films don’t have audio description credits, so it is hard to tell if that is what this is. This is actually my first time through this, and I’m probably going to ruin your nostalgia. … Continue reading Sixteen Candles: 40th Anniversary

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A Family Affair

John Stark

One of my favorite things about this movie is the audio description. It is another winning combination of Liz Gutman and Jamie Lemcheck, and these two fine women have made it a point to point out Zac Efron’s hotness as much as possible. It isn’t just how Gutman writes the description, mentioning his physique, but how Lemcheck actually sells it. Women and gay men everywhere appreciate it. A script from the male gaze probably would have tried to do a similar thing to Nicole Kidman, but it just doesn’t work for this film. This is a romantic comedy at its … Continue reading A Family Affair

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Summer Of Sam: 25th Anniversary

John Stark

I’ve been using anniversaries as an excuse to celebrate the audio description behind certain films. Spike Lee’s Summer Of Sam actually has audio description on Paramount Plus, and I missed it upon release, and actually have never seen it. It boasts a promising cast, led by John Leguizamo, Adrien Brody, Mira Sorvino, and Jennifer Esposito. Spike Lee loves to tell stories about New York City, so a time capsule back to the time when the Son OF Sam killer had a neighborhood. Lee uses his vast ensemble, which is much more than the four I already listed, to show this … Continue reading Summer Of Sam: 25th Anniversary

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Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F

John Stark

Just like Top Gun came back after a long hiatus with its hero in the title, Beverly Hills Cop is back on the beat for a fourth entry, with most of Axel Foley’s name in the title. It a really odd and uncomfortable choice, and headed into this, I wasn’t sure that Netflix would be able to pull this off. Mark Malloy? A feature directorial debut? On this? This film had all the makings of another hot trash Netflix title that just gets put out to appease algorithms. After all, CBS has a quite high profile pilot for a TV … Continue reading Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F