Tag: audio description

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An Officer And A Gentleman

John Stark

Love lift me up! Yes, this is part of a series where I’ve been crunching some Oscar films that I hadn’t seen before. I always assumed this was a romantic drama that I’d get around to if I felt like it. The romantic part is the least interesting thing about this film. the most interesting? It has audio description right now on MAX! Also, I had no idea Taylor Hackford (Ray, Ant-Man) directed this. It’s a shame that Richard Gere wasn’t nominated, and when it comes time to revisit this year, I hope I have finally seen enough content to … Continue reading An Officer And A Gentleman

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The Small Screen Diaries- 01/19/24

John Stark

I found out that Apple isn’t moving forward on a third season of Schmigadoon. Honestly, I was shocked they made a second. Very pleasantly surprised, as I love that show, but still surprised. Not shocked by the cancellation, especially after they also ditched The After Party last year. I also wasn’t surprised by who won Celebrity jeopardy (Hulu) this week. That’s the person that I assumed would win the whole thing, so the fact they made the final three doesn’t shock me.I laughed at the audio description. At the very end, when our lovely narrator is filling in that lead … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries- 01/19/24

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The Shepard

John Stark

Disney Plus has another short film contender this year in which they partnered with Alfonso Cuaron. Just like last years, it’s also vaguely a Christmas movie, and it’s also just OK. I feel like these budgeted short films with major talent attached to them are kind of making the short category less fun for breakthrough potential from new directors. It’s a perfectly nice film set on Christmas Eve, with a predictable ending. It involves wartime, and planes. Talking about something this short much beyond that will spoil it entirely, so let’s just say I have faith in any audience to … Continue reading The Shepard

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Bedknobs And Broomsticks

John Stark

This little window of time where I keep watching random titles on streaming services that were nominated for Oscars but I still hadn’t seen has been rewarding. One of those titles is this film right here. Yes, I’ve never seen the utterly bonkers Bedknobs and Broomsticks. It feels like a project that was green lit because of the success of Mary Poppins, and Angela Lansbury jumped in because she was affronted that she wasn’t Mary Poppins, so she was going to do this… dammit. Disney has let Roundabout do the audio description, which has been a mixed bag in the … Continue reading Bedknobs And Broomsticks

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Dog Day Afternoon

John Stark

My readers are learning a lot more about which classics have eluded me all these years as I continue to fill the pre-Oscar nominee period with Oscar nominees I had never seen. Of course, this is a biggie. It’s usually on lists of the best films ever made, and I’m positive is on an AFI list of some kind. Sidney Lumet, making his second appearance in this timeframe, directs Al Pacino in an electric performance about a bank robbery gone wrong. Of course, they didn’t count on being up against One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest. But, with multiple Oscar … Continue reading Dog Day Afternoon

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society Of The Snow

John Stark

Where I Watched It: Netflix English Description Provided By Descriptive Video Works Written By David Chen Narrated By Paula Hoffman Directed By JA Bayona I posted a review of this on my YouTube, and i happened to mention that the film was a little long. Not necessarily a bad thing, depending on how you pace the film, and someone commented that 72 days in the Andes is a long time. Well, yeah, and as intensely tragic as these circumstances are, the film isn’t 72 days long either. Movies are meant to capture and funnel the ideas into a more succinct … Continue reading society Of The Snow

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Amistad

John Stark

when I was in film school, there used to be classes that tackled the body of work of a prolific director. When I took it, I was lucky enough to land Alfred Hitchcock, so I’ve taken a class that was a full dive into the Cock. But, the semester before was Steven Spielberg, and perhaps I would not be here having to admit I never saw Amistad. Although, after having seen it, i can actually feel pretty good in saying it’s not in my top 10 for whatever year or crop of films it was against. Spielberg has heavy hitters, … Continue reading Amistad

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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

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Vanilla Sky

John Stark

Where I Watched It: MGM Plus English Audio Description?: Yes Starring: Tom Cruise, Penelope Cruz, Cameron Diaz, Jason Lee, Kurt Russell, Timothy Spall, Noah Taylor, Tilda Swinton, Michael Shannon, Johnny Galecki, Ken Leung, and Alicia Witt. Written and Directed By: Cameron Crowe My Oscar shame tour is continuing up until Oscar nominations are announced, with me taking this time to review films I had never seen before that were nominated. MGM Plus had an odd selection, and most didn’t have audio description, or I had seen them. I landed on Vanilla Sky, which I have seen, because I figured time … Continue reading Vanilla Sky

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The Small Screen Diaries- 01/13/24

John Stark

The fourth episode of Squid Game: The Challenge (Netflix) just feels like filler. The audio description team, with Sri Gordon as narrator, is still doing solid work, but this episode was just a lot of dumb challenges. The only interesting one was having them vote off three people. That and the way they handled it was fine, and since we ended on a solid number, with 70 contestants remaining, it felt like that was where we needed to go. While I don’t know the results of the Jack In the Box game, it’s not everyone competing, and the fact that … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries- 01/13/24

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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

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The Wiz

John Stark

As you might have noticed with my review of Harriet, I’ve been dipping into the realm of Oscar nominees I had never seen before, since January is the month for Oscar voting, my Best Of 2023 lists, and eventually Oscar nominees. We already had the Golden Globes, we’ve had SAG nominations, DGA nominations, BAFTA shortlists, and today the PGA is supposed to be announced. So, my second title of shame is The Wiz. This is the original version with Diana Ross and Michael Jackson, which is surprisingly directed by Sidney Lumet. This classic musical was nominated for four Oscars, despite … Continue reading The Wiz

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Earth Mama

John Stark

Where I Watched It: Paramount Plus (with Showtime) English Audio Description?: Yes Cast: Tia Nomore, Erika Alexander, and Bokeem Woodbine. Written and Directed By: Savanah Leaf Two very different stories about impoverished mothers trying to care for their child in seemingly impossible circumstances opened this past year, and A Thousand and One really took up the space in that conversation. But, despite the terrific performance of Tiana Taylor, the ending of that film makes it truly tough to use as a benchmark where it seems it wants to land. However, Earth Mama has a different approach, as no two stories … Continue reading Earth Mama

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The Small Screen Diaries- 01/10/23

John Stark

As promised, I tackled Echo (Disney Plus), but just the first episode. I’m not a huge fan of the binge watch. I like to savor my shows, especially ones with only 5 episodes, and the next Marvel show is quite far off. I thought it was a strong start, but it didn’t break into the top echelon of Marvel shows for me, which really no one has ever topped WandaVision. Some critics have hailed it as what Marvel needs right now, and I say it could ahve been, if they had let Echo stand on her own in the pilot, … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries- 01/10/23

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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