Tag: Jeffrey Wright

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Wake Up Dead Man

John Stark

Disclaimer: I’m a blind film critic. If you build it, he will come. In Rian Johnson’s third outing in what is called the Knives Out series (for no other reason than it being the title of the first Benoit Blanc outing), we are asked to have a little faith. or, perhaps it is better to have a lack thereof. Johnson’s Wake Up Dead Man may center in a church, but this is no Murder In the Cathedral. If you dress it up with simplicity, it could be seen as a modern day version of that, but woven in Johnson’s narrative … Continue reading Wake Up Dead Man

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Highest To Lowest

John Stark

Cast: Denzel Washington, Jeffrey Wright, Ilfenesh Hadera, A$AP Rocky, Aubrey Joseph, Elijah Wright,Rick Fox, Rod Strickland, Ice Spice, Frederick Weller, Michael Potts, Dean Winters, LaChanze, Wendell Pierce Written By: Alan Fox, based on the novel Kings Ransom, and the Akira Kurosawa film High and low Directed By: Spike lee Original Score By: Howard Drossin Release Year: 2025 Studio: A24 And Apple Films Runtime: 135 minutes Audio Description Produced By: Pixel logic Written By: (Need Credits) Narrated By: Katherine Grantham What is it?: Spike Lee retells what Kurosawa once already adapted, putting a modern flair on the story. Here, we have … Continue reading Highest To Lowest

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American Fiction

John Stark

Rarely is a debut film so exceptionally biting in its attempt to drive home a point, but Court Jefferson’s American Fiction is that pleasant surprise. As a white male film critic, even though my main purpose is to come at this perspective as a blind film critic, i always look at certain films and wonder if what i have to say is valid, or even what criticisms I could offer. Honestly, I have none. So, this time, I have nothing to worry about. My only criticism at all is just in how the film is received, as I wasn’t quite … Continue reading American Fiction

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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- 01/06/24

John Stark

The creative arts Emmys were last night, and some really interesting choices were made. Did your show win any of the below the line awards? Was your favorite guest actor or actress awarded a trophy? Also, the National Society of Film Critics (an aspirational group for me) named Past Lives as the film of the year, but my favorite pick of theirs was giving an honorable Mention to Rachel macadams for Are You There God, It’s me Margaret? I did think it was weird that Zone of Interest was the Best Picture honorable mention, won director, and was recognized as … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries- 01/06/24

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Rustin

John Stark

Where I Watched It: Netflix English Audio Description Provided By: International Digital Center Written By Dakota Green Narrated By Sri Gordon This time last year I was still eternally optimistic about Danielle Detweiler getting an Oscar nomination for her terrific work in Till. It seemed like the support for Till had been stripped down to just her commanding lead performance, but no matter, she delivered a powerhouse performance voters couldn’t turn away from. I forget that just because a black actor or actress delivers a terrific performance doesn’t necessarily mean they will end up on the final list. Flash forward … Continue reading Rustin

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Asteroid City

John Stark

Where I Watched It: Peacock English Audio Description?: Yes Wes Anderson is one of the few directors where I’ve actually managed their entire filmography. He is one of those very influential directors whose style speaks to cinema lovers, but always really stands out as a director who makes the kinds of choices that make me wonder how do we appropriately convey his quirks to a blind audience through audio description? He has released three films in the span of my vision loss, and none of them have pushed into my Top 5 of his filmography. To be fair, it seems … Continue reading Asteroid City

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The Too Much TV Roundup- August 9th

John Stark

You know? This was a pretty good day in terms of television watching. Shows that had previously started to let me down have seemingly course corrected. 1) Breeders (FX/Hulu) English Audio Description Available?: no I generally really do try and make sure the show on top is an audio described title, which makes this all the more frustrating. but I swear, Breeders feels at times like it might just be the best show on TV. It certainly is the best one that no one ever seems to be talking about. In No more part 1, we are dealing with the … Continue reading The Too Much TV Roundup- August 9th

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No Time To Die

John Stark

Starring: Daniel Craig, Lea Seydoux, Rami Malek, Jeffrey Wright, Ana de Armas, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Whishaw, Lashana Lynch, Naomie Harris, Rory Kinnear, Billy Magnussen, and Christoph Waltz. Directed By: Cary Jogo Fukunaga Where I Watched it: Amazon English Audio Description Available?: Yes Description Provided By: Deluxe Narrated By: Jedidiah Barton The plot: Bond (Craig) has retired following the events of Spectre, but just when you think you’re out they pull you back in. He even has a new squeeze (Seydoux), and this guy (Malek) has to ruin his peace by being another megalomaniac with some delusions of grandeur that involve … Continue reading No Time To Die

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The Batman

John Stark

Starring: Robert Pattinson, Zoey Kravitz, Paul Dano, Jeffrey Wright, Colin Farrell, John Tuturro, Andy Serkis, and Peter Sarsgaard. Directed By: Matt Reeves Where I Watched it: HBO MAX English Audio Description Available?: Yes Narrated By: Jedidiah Barton The Plot: In his second year as a masked vigilante, Bruce Wayne (Pattinson) is struggling to clean up your rather run of the mill gang members, street thugs, and drug dealers. But, when a new serial killer presents himself, leaving riddles behind at his crime scene, Bruce finds himself struggling with the kind of vengeance he always imagined for himself, with the truths … Continue reading The Batman

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The French Dispatch

John Stark

Starring: Benecio Del Toro, Bill Murray, Adrien Brody, Tulsa Swinton, Frances McDormand, Timothee Chalamet, Edward Norton, Bob Balaban, Henry Winkler, Jeffrey Wright, Saorise Ronan, Owen Wilson, Lois Smith, Tony Revolutions, Anjelica Bette Fellini, Willem Dafoe, Christopher Waltz, Anjelica Huston, Liev Schrieber, Lea Seymour, Alex Lawther, Rupert Friend, Griffin Dunne, Fisher Stevens, and Jason Schwartzman. Directed By Wes Anderson Where I Watched It: Apple (VOD) English Audio Description Available?: Yes The Plot:Follows three different journalistic accounts told by reporters of the fictitious French Dispatch of the Kansas Evening Sun, an American outpost set in a fictional city in France. Truly, this … Continue reading The French Dispatch

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The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Pt 2

John Stark

Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Donald Sutherland, Julianne Moore, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Sam Claflin, Elizabeth Banks, Jena Malone, Mahershala Ali, Willow Shields, Jeffrey Wright, Stanley Tucci, Paula Malcomson, Natalie Dormer, Evan Ross, Elden Henson, Wes Chatham, Patina Miller, Michelle Forbes, Gwendoline Christie
Directed By: Francis Lawrence

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