Tag: John Lithgow

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2025: The Best Of The Year So far: August Edition

John Stark

I haven’t seen everything, but as of my last count, I’m at 217 films. It’s slowing a bit as I try to back catalog my reviews onto Rotten Tomatoes, but here’s how I see the year so far. Top 25 Films So Far: #1- deaf President Now #2- Tornado #3- The Parenting #4- Lavender Men #5- My Dead Friend Zoey #6- Sinners #7- The Assessment #8- She Rides Shotgun #9- The Amateur #10- the Ruse #11- Thunderbolts #12- Ballerina #13- Materialists #14- Magazine dreams #15- K-Pop Demon Hunters #16- Bonus Track #17- The Luckiest Man In America #18- Bridget Jones … Continue reading 2025: The Best Of The Year So far: August Edition

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The Rule Of Jennypen

John Stark

Originally making a splash at last year’s Fantastic Fest, The Rule Of jennypen stood out among the crowd for featuring two lead actors with Oscar nominations. So, Fantastic Fest took notice, and the movie won the acting prize for stars Geoffrey Rush and John Lithgow. Then, it became a Shudder title, which led to any possible audio description appearances might be spotty. I’m unaware of any existing audio description for this, as not every Shudder title receives it, and having watched it without, I would say to blind and low-vision users, that it is unwatchable without it. The film centers … Continue reading The Rule Of Jennypen

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Spellbound

John Stark

Spellbound (Netflix)- Can We Stop Asking Javier Bardem To Sing? Quick Take: I had a lot to say. For a movie with Alan Menken working on the music, I had high expectations. Rachel Ziegler is voicing the main princess in this fantastical land, where she has to babysit her parents who have literally turned into monsters. She’s been trying to hide them, but on her birthday, things go awry, and she has to set off with her parents to try and break the curse. There is one great song at the end, What About Me, but the rest feels like … Continue reading Spellbound

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Conclave

John Stark

Conclave- Is This One Of The Best Of The Year? Just two years ago, a director I was unfamiliar with made my best film of 2022. I see tons of films, every year, but in 2022, nothing quite stuck with me like the harrowing All Quiet On The Western Front remake. Oscar voters agreed, as the movie received a Best Picture nomination, and won is several categories. It stands as one of Netflix’s best audio description tracks, and certainly as an example of why they should continue to embrace more audio description for international content. Cut two years ahead, and … Continue reading Conclave

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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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Killers Of The Flower Moon

John Stark

No matter what words I have for this film, it already has won a barrage of trophies, and is a Best Picture nominee this year, among its many other nominations. Of course, it is directed by Martin Scorsese, who earned his 10th Best Director nomination, becoming the most lauded living director.It’s part of the reason streaming services like Apple and Netflix give him massive budgets for films that likely will never make that back. The profile his films hit, and the status he gives to them during awards season is almost this intangible quality you can’t put a price on. … Continue reading Killers Of The Flower Moon

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Terms Of endearment

John Stark

Continuing on my journey of watching Oscar films for the first time, a period I’ve come to call my shame period, I found Terms of Endearment. I found it without audio description, which is problematic, since this is a Best Picture winner. I’m of the belief that any Best Picture winner or film added to the National Film Registry should be required to have audio description. These are all cornerstones of cinema, even if in some cases we like films that didn’t win, or aren’t in the registry yet more. My thoughts on this include the fact that I didn’t … Continue reading Terms Of endearment

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Pet Sematary (2019)

John Stark

Where I Watched It: Paramount Plus English Audio Description?: Yes It’s not that 80’s horror is bad, but more like some directors actually learn from what came before. Case in point would be the Pet Sematary remake, which avoids a lot of the mistakes Mary lambert made when she directed the original film. It’s clear that even though this movie makes a few very different changes, it still is tied down to the same tired King bullshit that still never belonged in this franchise. Yes, we have a doctor moving to town (Jason Clarke), and he lives too close to … Continue reading Pet Sematary (2019)

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Interstellar

John Stark

Where I Watched it: Amazon English Audio Description Provided By Deluxe Narrated By Tanzi Alexander I actually started rewatching all of Nolan’s films this year when I was asked to be a guest on a podcast, so I could discuss how Nolan’s films are great, and how they translate in terms of audio description. Since I’ve only been blind for the past six years, it means most of his catalog was available to me in their initial runs visually. So, I’ve seen interstellar, and I’m fairly certain a deep dive on my site will reveal my initial thoughts. I remember … Continue reading Interstellar

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Sharper

John Stark

Where I Watched it: Apple plus English Audio Description?: Yes Yes, i did watch this A24 Apple release. it does make me wonder how an A24 became an Apple exclusive, but i went in with the best foot forward on this one. I recently read a scathing column about critics, and how insignificant we are, and what it is that we do. I suppose, we give our thoughts about a film from our perspective, to help people decide how to spend their limited time? For me, I usually focus on the audio description, and how that applies to my experience. … Continue reading Sharper

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The Too Much TV Roundup- October 15th

John Stark

Seven shows to count down today. No heavy hitters to block the top spot. So who will it go to? 7) The Rookie: Feds (ABC/Hulu) English Audio Description?: Yes I’m a big fan of the original flagship show, so it will take a lot for me to stop watching this, but it just doesn’t have the same flavor. Sometimes, there really is magic in casting a perfect ensemble that balances itself out, and telling the stories with the whole group. Niecy Nash is hilarious, but sometimes she takes up the whole room, which is something Nathan Fillion doesn’t do on … Continue reading The Too Much TV Roundup- October 15th

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The Too Much TV Roundup- October 7th

John Stark

Just another day sliding through episodes of TV shows. 1) The Rings Of power (Amazon) English Audio Description?: Yes in the 6th episode, we focused primarily on one topic, which meant we didn’t even visit certain storylines. The refugees were about to go into battle with the orcs, who are being led by an Elf that has felt the dark side. It’s a pretty action packed hour of television, that eventually results in the merging of two groups, meaning less hopping around in the future. Hopefully. Episode Grade: A 2) Five Days At Memorial (Apple Plus) English Audio Description?: Yes … Continue reading The Too Much TV Roundup- October 7th

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The Too Much TV Roundup- October 1st

John Stark

Today I say goodbye to a show I’m certain would make my 100 list of my favorite shows of all time. We had quite a run. only three seasons, but those three were magnificent. So, of course, right on top… 1) Locke and key (Netflix) English Audio Description Available?: Yes I’m sad now. Not just because the show emotionally manipulated me with that time shift key one more time, but because this is it. The final episode. The Lockes defeated Gideon, and the only losses were a character we knew next to nothing about (RIP Gordy) and one who needed … Continue reading The Too Much TV Roundup- October 1st

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The Too Much TV Roundup- July 11th

John Stark

Once again, my totally random assortment of television shows thrown against each other for a rather random rankings list. 1) Outer Range (Amazon) English Audio Description?: Yes There’s a reason this show managed some mentions in my best of the past year in TV on my YouTube, and it has a lot to do with the complete level of unpredictability Outer Range possesses. And it does so with an exceptional cast. in one episode, we had a son trying to kill his father, we had a very unlikely pairing of two characters that led to the kidnapping and almost death … Continue reading The Too Much TV Roundup- July 11th