Tag: Disney Plus

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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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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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The Muppet Movie: 45th Anniversary

John Stark

45 years of The Muppets on the big screen. When I noticed that this was an anniversary year, albeit an odd one, I wanted to tackle this because we just had Jim Henson: Idea Man, and even then I felt like I needed to review something Muppet related. This isn’t where it began, but it is the first of the film franchise. I’m also not here to try and tip the scales on what is clearly a time honored classic. No one has been waiting 45 years to hear if I endorse The Muppet Movie. This is not my first … Continue reading The Muppet Movie: 45th Anniversary

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Bit City Greens: Spacecation

John Stark

granted, I’m putting this review up a little late after having seen this when it originally dropped on Disney Plus, but it is important to immediately note that this film doesn’t have audio description on the service. It is such a shame, because even though I have only a teensie bit of knowledge regarding this show, I have to say the movie, or what I could understand of it, reminded me so much of when Disney used to turn their 90’s properties into films, with Ducktales: Treasure Of The Lost Lamp and A goofy Movie. Big City Greens has been … Continue reading Bit City Greens: Spacecation

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Tiger

John Stark

Disney’s requisite DisneyNature release this year is Tiger. Clearly, this is about the diminishing White Rhino population. These titles are always so vague. Like, what is Chimpanzee about? Is Bears an LGBT movie? Kidding aside, if you have the desire to sit down and watch a tiger not know she’s being followed by a camera crew, and given some random name to help us narratively through the feature, then this is your game. For me though, I’ve felt almost exactly the same about every single one of these. Pretty much, they all land at a B, or B-ish. I can’t … Continue reading Tiger

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Wish

John Stark

Wish landed with all the enthusiasm of an audience that did not enjoy the 2022 Disney entry Strange World. There was too much weight on this film being a part of Disney’s 100 years celebration. It was supposed to somehow represent the totality of everything that came after Walt first conceived the mouse that would go on to launch an empire. Somehow, Wish would bring in the audiences who loved early Disney animation like Snow White and The Seven Dwarves, the middle years with 101 Dalmatians, the dark times of The Black Cauldron, the renaissance of The Lion King, the … Continue reading Wish

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Luca

John Stark

As people discuss the downfall of Disney, and the lackluster output by Pixar, I need to point out always that Luca is terrific. This Spring, taking advantage of a release schedule altered by the strikes last year, Disney released Soul, Turning Red, and Luca theatrically, since they did not receive theatrical runs due to the pandemic. I thought Soul was good, but I wasn’t obsessed. I’m not a big Turning Red fan, but Luca is delightful. Taking place off the coast of an Italian fishing village, this is a story of discovery, adventure, family, taking risk, and making the most … Continue reading Luca

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The Small Screen Diaries- 03/19/24

John Stark

Not surprising at all, but CBS will continue to air its Australian import, NCIS: Sydney for its second season, despite already having two NCIS shows, and currently in development on two more. Fun fact, this entire franchise only exists thanks to a series being rescued from cancellation. Possibly the smartest “save our show” ever has turned out to be CBS picking up JAG after it was cancelled at NBC after one season. Without that, they wouldn’t have had the long and successful run of the original show, nor would they have NCIS, NCIS Los Angeles, NCIS New Orleans, NCIS Hawaii, … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries- 03/19/24

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The Marvels

John Stark

The maligned box office flop The Marvels came home to Disney Plus, with audio description by Laura Post and the team at Deluxe. Picking up where something else left off, which then had this spinoff that featured another character but had one from the movie this is a sequel to, whilst incorporating a brand new character from another TV series… this really doesn’t follow just one thing. This is an amalgamation of what happens when a cinematic universe is taken to the furthest degree. So, Brie Larson is back as Captain Marvel, who is technically the star of this film. … Continue reading The Marvels

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The Small Screen Diaries- 03/01/24

John Stark

Timing is everything. Netflix announced the cancellation of The Brothers Sun right after I finished the final episode of the season. I liked the show, and I would have come back for a second season, but I could say that about a number of shows Netflix sends into the void every year. I’m not angry enough to tweet them, or X them. I don’t know why Elon had to go and make that weird. I want to send tweets, not whatever the hell we call it now. But, Michelle Yeoh’s Netflix show is short lived. I will testify that Halo … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries- 03/01/24

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Nei Nei and Wai Po

John Stark

I just want the world to know, that as a blind film critic, I take on this years Oscar nominees as presented to me. Disney Plus currently has this nominee for Best Documentary Short, and much like they’ve been doing with all their other Oscar hopefuls, they said “hey, you know those blind people? yeah, fuck em. Fuck em hard, the Mickey Mouse way.” I totally sat through this film which is entirely in another language, so i could write a review that pointed out that yet again, Disney Plus has put out another Oscar film without audio description.Bobby Wine: … Continue reading Nei Nei and Wai Po

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The Small Screen Diaries- 02/24/24

John Stark

Man, i hope the SAG awards stay on Netflix. no commercials. Say anything you want. Fantastic. The predictable awards were predictable, and the other trophies painted a picture of the Actor and Actress race. Cillian Murphy has now won both the BAFTA and SAG, defeating Paul Giamatti at both. I cannot shake the feeling that Giamatti is winning for The Holdovers. It may just be because of how much I adore Paul, but I love both films and performances. On the actress side, Lily Gladstone closed the gap between her and Emma Stone by winning the SAG Actress trophy, while … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries- 02/24/24

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The Last Repair Shop

John Stark

Oscar nominated for Best Documentary Short, The Last Repair Shop is now on Disney plus, but without audio description (at least when I watched it upon release). I don’t care this time. It’s my party and I’ll do what I want. While there are other exceptional documentary shorts this year, I am in love with this one that focuses on a small group of instrument repair workers who try to make sure the Los Angeles public schools have access to workable instruments. Not only is this a love story of sorts to these people who work in a back room … Continue reading The Last Repair Shop

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The Small Screen Diaries- 02/15/24

John Stark

Did you feel like you got hit on the head yesterday? That’s because Paramount Global has axed streamer Noggin, which launched as a cable channel in 199, before developing its own paid service in 2015. Nine years later, Paramount Global is on fire, and they need to cut costs. A lot of the basic core programs of Noggin are available on Paramount Plus anyway, so I’m sure this is just a redundancy they felt was needed. I was more surprised that 800 people worked for Noggin. Just to balance themselves out, they also cancelled Evil. So, something on either end … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries- 02/15/24

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Bobi Wine: The People’s President

John Stark

This Oscar nominated documentary is just one of many documentaries that Disney Plus seems to not want to bother with audio description. It’s like they have this huge National Geographic wing, but they are afraid to add audio description to most of it. I already reviewed The mission, which was a failed Oscar bait earlier this year, and it lacked audio description. This film, from what I can tell, deserves to be where it is. it just can’t get my vote in terms of accessibility. We all have our causes, and I’m here to discuss film and advocate for accessibility, … Continue reading Bobi Wine: The People’s President