Tag: Neón

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Hokum

John Stark

I have not seen all of Damian McCarthy’s filmography. My experience with him is still fairly limited, but after being so pleasantly surprised by Oddity, I was excited to see what he would do next. Oddity impressed me not simply because it featured a blind lead character, but because of the way McCarthy created genuine fear and sustained tension without relying on an endless barrage of cheap jump scares. I appreciate horror directors who aren’t dependent on excessive gore or loud stingers, but instead want to build a story, develop memorable characters, and slowly tighten the screws. That approach is … Continue reading Hokum

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Nirvana The Band The Show The Movie

John Stark

Nirvana the Band the Show the Movie is definitely the most fun title to say in 2026. Nirvana the Band the Show the Movie. It feels like I’ve somehow successfully defeated a tongue twister, even though it’s not really a tongue twister. It’s just remembering to list everything in the right order. First they’re the band, then there was the show, and now there’s the movie. And if you’re thinking to yourself, “Wait, is this a Kurt Cobain thing?” No. It’s not that Nirvana. This is a completely different Nirvana the Band, and they are not famous at all. Well, … Continue reading Nirvana The Band The Show The Movie

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No Other Choice

John Stark

Some films arrive at exactly the right moment, and No Other Choice benefits enormously from the period in which it was released. People are struggling to find meaningful employment. They’re struggling to keep up with rising costs. They’re struggling to maintain the basic financial stability that previous generations often took for granted. I recently read a BuzzFeed article collecting comments from shoppers, and one person joked that they knew someone was rich if they could afford to buy cherries at the grocery store. It’s a small observation, but it captures something real about the current moment. Everywhere you look, people … Continue reading No Other Choice

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The Life of Chuck

John Stark

Cast: Tom Hiddleston, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Karen Gillen, Mark Hamill, Mia Sara, Jacob Tremblay, Matthew Lillard, Benjamin Pajak, Cody Flanagan, Carl Lumbly, David Dastmalchian, Harvey Guillen, Michael Trucco, Q’Oorianka Kilcher, Violet McGraw, Kate Segal, Heather Langenkamp, Nick Offerman Written and Directed By: Mike Flanagan (based on the story by Stephen King) Original Score By: The Newton Brothers Release Year: 2025 Studio: Neon Runtime: 111 minutes Audio Description Produced By: Point 360 Written By: Narrated By: Tansy Alexander What Is it?: Told in reverse chronological order, the film tackles a seemingly average human, and breaks their life up into three parts. We … Continue reading The Life of Chuck

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The Actor

John Stark

Cast: Andre Holland, Gemma Chan, Toby Jones, Tracey Ulla an, Written By:Stephen Cooney and Duke Johnson based on the novel memory by Donald E. West lake Directed By: Duke Johnson Original Score By: Richard Reed Perry Studio: Neon Release Year: 2025 98 minutes Audio description Provided By: Written By: Narrated By: What Is It?: A 1950’s actor is beaten and left for dead. When he wakes up, he has no idea where he is, and he’s trying to piece together the broken remains of his memory. What Works: Definitely a divisive film, Duke Johnson takes this opportunity to try and … Continue reading The Actor

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Cuckoo

John Stark

Cuckoo (2024)- A Spooky Season review I’m not really sure I actually followed Cuckoo. I’m fascinated by it, but I’m not actually sure I know what the heck was happening all the time. That might actually be the point. A24 and Neon have been increasingly challenging their audiences by releasing artistically divine films that people are often confused by and love at the same time. Yes, some people write off these as artsy messes, and that’s to be expected. But what we’re cultivating here is original artistic expression in a way that doesn’t feel like a streaming movie of the … Continue reading Cuckoo

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Long Legs

John Stark

Long Legs- A Spooky Season Review An unnecessarily divisive movie. I watched so many critics join in on the artistic backlash of Long Legs, which originally had the vibe of being the scariest movie of the year, only to see the late stage critics writing it off as self indulgent and boring. Is it perfect? No. this is not in my Top 10 of the year either, but I can put each of the little problems in their own bubble and enjoy the totality of what was intended. And when you do that, Long Legs is just shy of brilliant. … Continue reading Long Legs

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Babes

John Stark

When I think about what the funniest comedy of the year is, if I set apart Deadpool and wolverine for not technically being just a comedy, then Babes has the shot at being the best comedy of the year. There’s really no doubt in the how r why. Director Pamela Adlon had so much to say in her FX series Better Things that the idea that she would step behind the camera and have even more to say, seems like a no-brainer. Still, she has to rely on Ilana Glazer and Michelle Bhutto to do the heavy lifting. Luckily these … Continue reading Babes

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The Royal Hotel- A Second Look

John Stark

Rather than update my old review, I wanted to make a point that I came back around to The Royal Hotel after Hulu addded audio description. Originally, they dropped this film a few months back, and it did not have audio description. since then, Neon has become a little more aware of their content heading to Hulu, and rectified the lack of accessibility. So, it is no longer “unwatchable”. It very much is a wild experience watching a film I’ve never visually seen without audio description, and now doing it again. there were so many things I was unable to … Continue reading The Royal Hotel- A Second Look

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Ferrari

John Stark

Michael Mann deserves more love than he’s gotten in his career. I think people forget he directed Heat, and somehow assume based on the casting it was Martin Scorsese, but it isn’t. He also did excellent work with The insider, and I even enjoyed his little seen Black Hat. Ferrari isn’t Heat, it isn’t perfect, but it also walked away with zero Oscar nominations. Did it deserve that fate? For my blind fans, you can watch this film on demand right now. It’s from Neon,which had been sending their films to Hulu. The existence of audio description isn’t super consistent … Continue reading Ferrari

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The Small Screen Diaries- 01/04/24

John Stark

Well, I reached the season finale of Upload (Amazon) finally, and wouldn’t that be insane if this show didn’t get a 4th season? Just. Wow. Also, made it through part three of Far Away Downs (Hulu), which I love the fact it has an Australian narrator. I didn’t see Australia before watching this version, so I’ll be doing this in reverse, but this seems like a really toned down Baz Luhrmann. Usually his movies are big loud and fast, and this doesn’t feel like him at all. I wonder if he stripped his soul away ffor this version, or if … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries- 01/04/24

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The Too Much TV Roundup- 12/28/23

John Stark

The exciting TV news for the day? Night Court has axed Neil. of course, with my limited time, I was planning on axing Night Court anyway. Also, expect even less day and date releases in 2023, since the strikes pushed back a lot of films on the 2023 calendar. Now they are worried that 2023 could be a really slow year at the movies. Well, maybe you should have stopped trying to replace everyone with AI. 1) Neon (Netflix) English Audio Description?: Yes Status: Not Yet Renewed Santi pushes his crew further away as he chooses his fake alliance with … Continue reading The Too Much TV Roundup- 12/28/23

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The Too Much TV Roundup- 12/23/23

John Stark

Good news for fans of Las Vegas. Not the town, but the early 2000’s series that ran for five seasons with James Caan and Josh Duhmael. It is making its Peacock debut on Friday. No idea if it has audio description. Unlikely, but we might be pleasantly surprised. 1) Neon (Netflix) English Audio Description Provided By: XTrax Status: not Yet Renewed Our fledgling reggaeton artist is too star struck to see he’s being used. It’s weird to say that the drug dealing crime lord has a point, but he’s not a gimmick, or a boy toy. And the fact that … Continue reading The Too Much TV Roundup- 12/23/23

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The Too Much TV Roundup- 12/15/23

John Stark

Honestly, in television news? I read that Ray Romano has wholeheartedly declined to ever bring back Everybody Loves Raymond. In a world where they keep doing this, most of the time it doesn’t work out. Sure, The Connors is a lone exception, but even that doesn’t have the ratings of the original show, and will fall short of Roseanne’s original run. It’s highly unlikely Paramount Plus is keeping the new Frasier revival around for 11 years. Although, some shows and characters I wouldn’t mind seeing again. Something like Law and Order: Organized Crime allowed for Chris Meloni to return, without … Continue reading The Too Much TV Roundup- 12/15/23

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The Too Much TV Roundup- 11/30/23

John Stark

I saw a mention of a virgin River Season 6, so I’m guessing it’s happening. And, Michelle Williams found an DX series worth her talent. Other than that, I think two Governors made out on live TV or something last night. Not really sure. 1) Neon (Netflix) English Audio Description?: Yes Status: Unknown The gang look for someone to finance them. They meet a strong female boss lady and it seems like everything is going their way, until they realize she’s also a drug dealer. Oops. Episode Grade: A- 2) Found (Peacock) English Audio Description?: Yes Status: Renewed I know … Continue reading The Too Much TV Roundup- 11/30/23