Tag: Deluxe

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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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Tarzan (1999): 25th Anniversary (with Tarzan II!)

John Stark

Come stop your crying, it will be an all right. I know you just watched The Acolyte, and you are missing classic Disney, which is a great time to take a look at what Classic Disney looked like. Following my celebration of The Lion King, in all its 30th Anniversary glory, five years later they released Tarzan. It’s one of the divisive movies that not everyone loves, but I do. And if you think just because we hit the sweet spot with TThe Lion King, Inside Out 2, and Tarzan, that I adore everything Disney, this just happens to be … Continue reading Tarzan (1999): 25th Anniversary (with Tarzan II!)

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Movies With pride: Am I OK?

John Stark

On the last day of Pride Month, I’m closing it out with a review of a 2022 Sundance hit that is just now landing on MAX. Starring Madame Webb herself, Am I OK is the directorial debut of Tig & Stephanie. There are so many directing duos out there, from the Coens, The Wachowskis, and The Daniels to this married couple, I feel like they need a name to combine them, but Stephanie didn’t take Tig’s last name. But, I’ve seen this couple represented before on screen, and they are freaking adorable together, so I was really excited to see … Continue reading Movies With pride: Am I OK?

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Sasquatch Sunset

John Stark

You know, I appreciate a good shot in the dark every once in a while. A filmmaker who just is willing to go completely outside of the box, building himself a new box, and doing his own thing. You need to understand that Sasquatch Sunset is not for everyone. It just isn’t. But, what it is, is certainly not derivative. It isn’t another superhero movie, or a sequel, or a remake. It’s not a prequel. It is an original work through and through, and there has to be something said for that. At the end of the day, this is … Continue reading Sasquatch Sunset

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Movies With Pride: Love Lies Bleeding

John Stark

I’m always amazed by the cult of A24. They’re just a distribution company, yet there are some out there that think this studio is carefully curating the best cinema of the year. If not the best, certainly the most challenging. I don’t disagree with the latter, as A24 films always seem like we’d never see them released by anyone other than A24 or Neon. Rose Glass’s Love Lies Bleeding is very much one of those films. I struggle to see where a film where the two leads are lesbians would fit in, especially in a way where the studio would … Continue reading Movies With Pride: Love Lies Bleeding

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Problemista

John Stark

If I had known this thing was so close to dropping on MAX, i wouldn’t have renewed it. I will say, that with almost 100 titles so far this year, this is currently at the top of my list. I am probably the only person who can say that, since I think everyone is likely to have seen something at one of the festivals by now. But for me, I thought this quirky A24 comedy hit the mark, a rare feat for what has been a fairly mediocre year thus far. The audio description is produced by Deluxe, with primary … Continue reading Problemista

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Arthur The King

John Stark

There is this wonderfully perfect Saturday Night Live sketch Mark Wahlberg Talks To Dogs, and in so many ways this feels like the feature adaptation of this. You will find Mark Wahlberg having many conversations with a dog in this movie.Is it enough? Based on a novel that has a much longer title, Arthur The King isn’t really about Arthur, so much as it is Mark Wahlberg playing a guy who competes in extreme challenges and needs one more shot at glory before he retires and becomes a stay at home dad. Marky Mark has come a long way. Still, … Continue reading Arthur The King

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Imaginary

John Stark

This feels like the film that should have been the first release of 2024. We always seem to need to sacrifice and suffer through a mediocre or terrible horror film to start every year, like a ritual sacrifice. I also sat through a barrage of reviews trashing this film, so when I finally got around to Imaginary, I was ready to believe that this would be battling my eventual thoughts on a Winnie The Pooh: Blood and honey sequel for worst picture. But, no. It’s not good, but there are worse films this year. there are films that have made … Continue reading Imaginary

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One Life

John Stark

When I heard the title of the new Anthony Hopkins film, it reminded me of all those Hacksaw Ridge trailers where Andrew Garfield would say “…just one more”. Sadly, One Life, is an abandoned Oscar bait film. This happened to a few films released at the end of the year, when the distributor behind the film already had their primary contenders. This is like the “in case of emergency, break glass”, except that for a random recognition from the BAFTA’s, One life went largely without being lauded. Neon did the same thing with origin, A24 had The iron Claw, Amazon … Continue reading One Life

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Dune: Part II

John Stark

in preparation for this masterpiece of a film, I felt compelled to warm up my Dune knowledge by rewatching the first film. I have to say,as someone with no prior knowledge of anything Due before watching the first Denis Villeneuve entry, I wasn’t jumping all over it like a lot of people. I think about the aspect of my blindness, and how that affects my watching and enjoyment,and there is a possibility that the spectacle just doesn’t translate, and I’m left with a script that is difficult to follow. I’m careful not to complain too much, because I hate data … Continue reading Dune: Part II

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Turtles All The Way Down

John Stark

The further we go through John green’s catalogue of novels into film adaptations, I’m realizing this guy wrote one really great book, and some just OK books that keep getting adapted anyway. Probably the second best adaptation I’ve seen of his work was looking For Alaska, which had the benefit of being a limited series and expanding upon the material and really getting everything in there. Turtles All The Way Down is emotionally manipulative, with a few strong performances, and also has parts that just don’t work. the meat of the story revolves around a teenager (Isabela Merced) who is … Continue reading Turtles All The Way Down

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Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes

John Stark

I definitely felt the trepidation about returning to this franchise, especially after the strength of the Caesar trilogy. Matt Reeves was passing the buck to Wes Ball, who made one good Maze Runner film, and some mediocre sequels, so I wasn’t sure what to think. Honestly, this film isn’t even running on star power here. The biggest featured actor not doing motion capture work is Frea Allen, and Owen Teague is taking the very tall order left behind by Andy Serkis as the main motion capture actor. Caesar is gone, 300 years have passed, and our Apes are in a … Continue reading Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes

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Rise, Dawn, and War For The Planet Of The Apes

John Stark

In preparation for Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, I rewatched one of my favorite trilogies of all time. I’m elated that all three films have available audio description… somewhere. For me, I bought the trilogy in the Apple Store, to make sure I have all three. I have VlueRays of all three as well. I’ve seen Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes probably 4 times prior to this, Dawn probably twice, and admittedly I think I had only seen War once. Rise of the Planet Of The Apes has audio description provided by Deluxe, written and narrated … Continue reading Rise, Dawn, and War For The Planet Of The Apes

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Ordinary Angels

John Stark

When this film first dropped, it seemed like it was just another faith based film. Those always depend on the budget, and often can vary widely in quality. Last year I saw a few faith based films that weren’t terrible. This really isn’t faith based. It just happens to have a guy who attends church, and later in the film a church parking lot is used. Otherwise, this feels less like Miracles From Heaven and more about a redemption story mixed in with a perpetually tragic family drama. American Idol alumni, and current Jack reacher, Alan Ritchson stars as a … Continue reading Ordinary Angels

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Madame Webb

John Stark

the internet certainly has an opinion on this film. It’s like a grand offense that occurred, the cinematic equivalent of slapping someone’s mother. But is it really? If you want to comb back through, you’ll see that I didn’t quite buy the doom and gloom of Morbius, if for no other reason than it was the most normal performance Jared Leto has ever given. But, Madame Webb also has moments where it clearly could have been at least a decent film. So, let’s break down the hate, and see if it’s warranted. but first, the audio description. Laura post and … Continue reading Madame Webb

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I.S.S.

John Stark

Now is an excellent time to make more thrillers about tensions between America and Russia. I’m not sure we really ever stopped, though I do remember the Red Dawn remake specifically switched the baddies to North Koreans because they couldn’t run the Russian narrative at the time. Well, now we are shooting So you Think You Can Dance alumni Ariana Debose into space. Yeah, I know, she won an Oscar. But she started on So you Think You Can Dance. #neverForget Debose plays an astronaut we know next to nothing about, as the movie starts with her already on her … Continue reading I.S.S.

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Schindler’s List

John Stark

Not that the internet needs one more review of Schindler’s List. Let’s be honest and say that all these years later, and this is as engrained in the finality of cinema as Citizen Kane, The Wizard of oz, or Casablanca. 30 more years could pass, and nothing will change in regard to Steven Spielberg’s historic accomplishment. I somehow missed the official 30th anniversary of this film last year, and was reminded of it earlier this year when The Zone Of Interest caused many to reference this classic. It had been years since I saw this, and what I saw was … Continue reading Schindler’s List

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The Beekeeper

John Stark

There are different types of movies in the world. there’s the kind that attracts critics and film snobs, and they debate the merits of a lot of films no one will ever watch again. too many of those people don’t understand the appeal of something like The Beekeeper, which is one of the dumbest movies I’ve seen in terms of plot, but it was also oddly a blast to watch. Jason Statham clearly wanted his own John Wick style franchise, and David Ayer was happy to oblige. The upside is that this movie has audio description by Jedidiah Barton and … Continue reading The Beekeeper

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The Mummy (25th Anniversary)

John Stark

So one of the cool things happening with the lack of releases is that we are getting more and more anniversary rereleases, like Brendan Fraser’s underrated The mummy. This Stephen Sommers flick is something I already own on DVD, but without audio description. The rerelease allowed me to experience the audio description, and encouraged me to explore the sequells, also with audio description. Fraser’s first foray is one of those random moviegoing experiences I still remember. I was actually out of town and my mom dropped me off at the movie theatre, knowing I would be good to go. I … Continue reading The Mummy (25th Anniversary)

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Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom

John Stark

There was a little conversation around making a film in a studio system with influence, and how Madame Webb likely had a solid creative team but Sony interfered and made shit. That conversation, for some reason, did not happen for Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom, a film do inconsequential, Warner Bros opened it the same weekend as two other Warner Bros titles (Wonka and The color Purple). Had they believed this sequel had gas in the tank, doing so for three recognizable franchise films over Christmas is insane. Even in a slower market affected by the strike, you are still … Continue reading Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom

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The Creator

John Stark

I first tried watching this on Hulu shortly after it released, but not right away. it did not have audio description, nor did it through Hulu on Disney Plus. Months later, I finally was able to watch this film with the wonderful description done by Deluxe and William Michael Redmond. I avoided really reviewing the film the first time, because I had a feeling I was enjoying the film, I just couldn’t understand it. Man, I was missing a lot. the creator stars John David Washington as a man caught in a futuristic war where countries look very different, AI … Continue reading The Creator

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Next Goal Wins

John Stark

Back when we were predicting the 2022 Oscars, this film was rumored to be hitting that block, until it got pushed. Now, it wasn’t the only film to get pushed, and some films did end up benefitting from moving, like Killers Of The Flower Moon. However, after seeing next Goal Wins, I’m not sure why it was ever “in contention”. Not that I didn’t like the film, it is just your basic inspirational sports drama. I caught this on Disney Plus with audio description by Deluxe, with narration by Mary Song. The narration is fine, since this is a grown … Continue reading Next Goal Wins

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Wonka

John Stark

there’s certainly something to a franchise that has made Pure Imagination the touchstone of all the thematic elements. From the completely out there elements of the chocolate factory, various candy creations, to the cartoonish world these characters inhabit, imagination may be prominent, but never really pure. Starting as a novel by Roald Dahl, the story of a young boy with a golden ticket and his chocolatier hero has leapt from book to film, to film, to stage, and back to film again as a prequel. Wonka shows us the wacky candyman before he got super famous. And for reasons, this … Continue reading Wonka

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Dream Scenario

John Stark

A24 has to manage their portfolio better. It is a little like how WB dropped Wonka, Aquaman and the lost Kingdom, and the Color Purple on the same weekend. A24 needs to figure out their awards contenders, so films like Dream Scenario, The iron Claw, and other late entries aren’t forgotten. I’m happy Nicolas Cage got a Golden Globe nomination, but with the work he’s been putting in recently in films like this, Pig, Massive Talent, and a few other choices, I feel like we are pulling him away from exceptionally awful straight to streaming titles. he had at least … Continue reading Dream Scenario