The Last House

It’s only been a short period of time since The Last House dropped on Netflix, and I’ve already seen some really wild reactions to the film. The latest in Netflix’s continued onslaught of skipping theatrical brings recent Academy Award nominee Wagner Moura and Greta Lee to a pandemic-era-style film where it’s a limited location, trapped inside a house with seemingly no end in sight. The director bringing this masterpiece to life is Louis Leterrier, the man behind The Transporter, The Incredible Hulk, and Now You See Me, and unfortunately, most recently, Fast X, which was not a great film and … Continue reading The Last House

The Highest Stakes

Every once in a while I watch a movie where I can see that the elevator pitch is solid, and somewhere along the way it just got lost. Maybe there was a good treatment that slowly became muddled in the screenplay, or perhaps the director simply wasn’t sure how to translate the concept to the screen. Whatever happened, The Highest Stakes is built around an interesting premise that never quite works. It reminded me of those morality tales where some unseen force gathers a group of people together for reasons that aren’t immediately clear, with the audience slowly uncovering the … Continue reading The Highest Stakes

In The Hand of Dante

I’d heard about In the Hand of Dante coming out of the Venice Film Festival and knew it hadn’t been especially well received. At the time, though, a lot of the conversation seemed to revolve around the cast and the controversy surrounding their positions on the Israel-Palestine conflict rather than the movie itself. Now that it’s on Netflix, complete with an excellent audio description track from International Digital Center written by Stephen Christopher and narrated by Jamie Lemchek, I finally had the chance to check out Julian Schnabel’s latest film. On paper, this thing should be incredible. It’s produced by … Continue reading In The Hand of Dante

The Small Screen Diaries: 08/06/25

TV Shows Watched: Wednesday: S2E1 (Netflix) with audio description, Platonic: S2E1 (Apple plus) with audio description, Tires: S2E10 (Netflix) with audio description, Smoke: S1E7 (Apple plus) with audio description, Ballard: S1E5 (Amazon) with audio description Wednesday- I’ve seen this getting a few not great reviews, and while the season premiere didn’t scare me away, it also is setting itself up to mess with the formula a bit. First, we seem to have completely written off Xavier, which is random, but they do give a reason. In his place, Pugsley is now being given WAY more screentime, and I really wish … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries: 08/06/25

The Electric State

The Electric State (Netflix)- Millie Bobby Brown, Chris Pratt, Stanley Tucci, Anthony Mackie Years ago I remember when Robopocalypse was being kicked around as a potential summer blockbuster, based on a best-selling novel. I believe Spielberg was actually interested at one time, but likely became more interested in ready Player One. Sometimes it is a blessing in disguise to not have your book turned into a film. I loved the ready Player One book, but not the film. Robopocalypse likely dodged a bullet. What didn’t dodge the bullet is the Electric State. While I have not read the source material, … Continue reading The Electric State

A Family Affair

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

Hitman

Premiering at last year’s Toronto International Film festival, there was some interesting buzz for Hitman. Was it a potential Oscar contender? Who would snap it up in an already tight race? Ultimately, Netflix swooped in, which might have meant a campaign for this year’s Oscars, but that June release date tells me Netflix has other plans. Luckily, the movie stands on its own, and whether it ever wins or is nominated for any major award, this will have fans. It’s the equivalent to last year’s The Killer, which had fans too, even if it really didn’t manifest anything for David … Continue reading Hitman

Unfrosted

Some years ago, admittedly a little hard to remember since I’m not sure the film ever got a real theatrical release, a film called Food Fight existed, and used a lot of these mascot type characters. I’ve seen a lot of negative reviews of Unfrosted, and my sentence as a film judge is that all critics who thought this was bad need to also see Food Fight, because this kinda thing can be a lot worse. When i saw it, it was just freely on YouTube because no one cared about Food Fight. Unfrosted is Jerry Seinfeld’s love letter to … Continue reading Unfrosted

Code Eight: Parts 1 and 2

Netflix has these frequent releases, and one of them was something called Code Eight: Part Two. Immediately, I was like… there was a Part One? How did I miss this? When did I miss this? Well, a few years back, Netflix decided to release a superhero themed original starring the Amells (Robbie and Stephen) and I guess it checked a metric for them. I never remember this happening. But at the speed it took for this sequel to come out answers the question of why we still haven’t seen that Old Guard sequel that was green lit. That means I … Continue reading Code Eight: Parts 1 and 2

Maestro

Where I Watched It: Netflix English Audio Description provided By: international Digital Center Written By: Liz Gutman Narrated By: Jamie Lemcheck Cast: Bradley Cooper, Carey Mulligan, Matt Bomer, Sarah Silverman, and Maya hawk. Written By: Written By: Bradley Cooper and Josh Singer Directed By: Bradley Cooper The nose. Everyone had an opinion on the nose. Well, good news Mr. Cooper, you’ve landed yourself a blind film critic, and I’m not judging your makeup team here. This is about whether or not Bradley Cooper has anything to say as a filmmaker, and I think he does. Usually, because I don’t get … Continue reading Maestro

Leo

Where I Watched It: Netflix English Audio Description?: Yes Written By: Liz Gutman Narrated By: Jamie Lemcheck Cast: Adam Sandler, Bill Burr, Cecily Strong, Jason Alexander, Rob Schneider, Allison Strong, Jo Koy, Sadie Sandler, Sunny Sandler, Ethan Smigel, Roey Smigel, Jackie Sandler, Heidi Gardner, Robert Smigel, Nick Swardson, Stephanie Szu, and Chris Kattan. Written By: Robert Smigel, Adam Sandler, and Paul Sado. Directed By: Robert Marinetti, David Wachtenhem, and Robert Smigel Tread lightly when expecting something from a Happy Madison production. Admittedly, the reason I still watch Adam sandler’s output is that I hope that every once in a while … Continue reading Leo

The Killer

Where I Watched It: Netflix English Audio Description Provided By: International Digital Center Written By Liz Gutman Narrated By: Jamie Lemcheck In some regards, streaming deals have been very good to certain filmmakers. Martin Scorsese, for example, has benefitted a lot from having large budgets for his films The Irishman and Killers Of The Flower Moon, two adult dramas that never would have been handed that much money for a film looking to recoup money at the box office. Then we have David Fincher and his Netflix deal, which led to the underrated Mindhunter, but also the overrated Mank. I … Continue reading The Killer