Tag: Netflix

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72 Hours

John Stark

Tim Story certainly has a diverse slate of films on his resume. He’s already crossed paths with 72 Hours star Kevin Hart in the Ride Along franchise, but Story has bounced around from Barbershop to Fantastic Four to Ride Along to Tom and Jerry to The Blackening and now this, along with sequels to several of those films. He certainly doesn’t have a niche, although I’m not really sure he has a strength either. He does seem to do his best work in films with predominantly Black casts, or at least Black leads, as most people would probably put Fantastic … Continue reading 72 Hours

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I Will Find You: Series Review

John Stark

I’m not a Harlan Coben fan. I think he’s highly overrated, or at least his television adaptations are. I’ve enjoyed very few of them. Previously, I would have said Shelter was the best adaptation of one of his books. However, this Sam Worthington-led limited series, running eight episodes, features a stacked cast, delivers a fairly thrilling ride, and even though I saw certain twists coming, it’s far better than I expected it to be. Sometimes Coben’s stories reach a little too far. They swing too wide, becoming increasingly nonsensical as they go. The adaptations I’ve liked the most are the … Continue reading I Will Find You: Series Review

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Man On Fire: Season 1

John Stark

Perhaps I should give the Tony Scott-directed Denzel Washington film Man on Fire another look, because after watching Netflix’s adaptation starring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, a recent Emmy nominee for Wonder Man, I’m reconsidering the entire concept. It’s possible there was something I missed more than 20 years ago when I watched the original film, which at the time didn’t resonate with me. I wasn’t much of a fan despite strong performances from both Denzel Washington and a very young Dakota Fanning. The Netflix series changes a number of things, mostly so that if they decide to continue Man on Fire … Continue reading Man On Fire: Season 1

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The Lincoln Lawyer: Season 4

John Stark

I’m more than happy to finally jump in and add my thoughts on The Lincoln Lawyer now that I’m on the Tomatometer. It’s a show I’ve enjoyed watching for four seasons now, and even though it’s heading into its fifth and final season, it’s remained one of Netflix’s most consistently entertaining dramas. Season 4 picks up immediately after the cliffhanger ending of Season 3, with Mickey Haller becoming the prime suspect in a murder after a body is found in the trunk of his Lincoln. That storyline dominates the entire season, forcing Mickey to defend himself against all odds, first … Continue reading The Lincoln Lawyer: Season 4

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Little Brother

John Stark

Dysfunctional family comedies have always had an anchor in cinema. They’re practically comfort food because almost everyone has some kind of dysfunction somewhere in the family tree. Maybe it’s an eccentric uncle, an odd cousin, or a grandparent who makes every holiday unforgettable for all the wrong reasons. Those little pockets of chaos make these movies relatable because, at the end of the day, we’re all at least a little kooky. This is why we love revisiting the Griswolds and Fockers, why the road trip in Little Miss Sunshine works, or why we’d even entertain the possibility that it is … Continue reading Little Brother

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In The Hand of Dante

John Stark

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

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Voicemails For Isabelle

John Stark

I’ve always had a soft spot for a good melodrama. Not necessarily a feel-good movie, but the kind that mixes romance, grief, humor, and heartbreak into a story that asks audiences to spend a couple of hours with characters navigating extraordinary circumstances. Netflix’s Voicemails for Isabel absolutely fits that mold, and more importantly, it understands something that a lot of modern romance dramas seem to have forgotten. In recent years, we’ve seen a wave of adaptations from authors like Colleen Hoover. Films like It Ends With Us, Regretting You, and Reminders of Him often begin with tragedy and then build … Continue reading Voicemails For Isabelle

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Office Romance

John Stark

Little known fact. Lady Gaga was this close to titling her song Office Romance instead of Bad Romance. Don’t fact check me. But, the fairly generic title found its way into Jennifer Lopez’s pantheon of equally vague titles like The Back Up Plan, Marry Me, and Unstoppable (a title so generic Denzel also has a film called Unstoppable). Regardless of the premise, Jennifer Lopez remains a queen of romantic comedies, and her sex appeal at 56 has allowed her to be able to pull off being desirable enough to carry films like this. Jennifer Lopez is not the problem here. … Continue reading Office Romance

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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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Frankenstein (2025)

John Stark

Sometimes the interesting thing about film is watching the growth of an auteur. Depending on when you were born, you might have gotten to see the rise of certain artists honing their craft, but the exciting part is that first film, and feeling like you just witnessed the birth of something. I’d consider myself a big fan of Del toro, who even when he doesn’t top himself as a director, certainly is never boring. he has such a love for film, and for the celebration of monsters, that it really does carry through all the themes. Even his stop-motion animated … Continue reading Frankenstein (2025)

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In Your Dreams

John Stark

2025 has not really been a banner year for animation, which perhaps has worked in favor for Netflix, who went to the bank with a certain group of singing demon hunters earlier this year. The largest opening weekend for an animated feature went to CrunchyRoll, for their continuation of Demon Slayer. I’ve been waiting for a film to really pull some emotion from me. I like my animation to have a bit of heart with it. Not that it can’t make me laugh myself silly, but my favorite animated movies have a punch to them. An emotional gut punch. We … Continue reading In Your Dreams

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Ballad Of A Small Player

John Stark

Cast: Colin Farrell, Tilda Swinton, Fala Chen Written By: Rowan Joffy directed By: Edward Berger Original Score By: Volker Bertamin Release Year: 2025 Studio/Streamer: Netflix Runtime: 101 minutes Audio Description Produced By: VSI London Written by: Narrated By: What Is it?: based on a book, Ballad of A Small Player follows a seemingly upstanding British citizen in Macao who is struggling with debt, and keeping up the appearance that they are not in quite as deep, and if they can just get a line of credit now, everything will be cleared up after the weekend. dodging those he owes, and … Continue reading Ballad Of A Small Player

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The Small Screen Diaries: 09/27/25

John Stark

TV Shows watched: outlander: Blood of My Blood: S1E9 (Starz) no audio description, House Of Guinness: S1E2 (Netflix) with audio description, English teacher: S2E1 (Hulu) with audio description, Rick and Morty: S8E3 (HBO MAX) with audio description, Dexter: S6E4 (Paramount Plus) with audio description, Pop culture Jeopardy: Last Quarterfinal (Amazon) with audio description, The Rainmaker: S1E4 (Peacock) with audio description, and South Park: Season 27E4 (Paramount Plus) no audio description yet Outlander: Blood Of My Blood- The main four characters are once again in the same location, and there are a bunch of other Scottish people around doing things I’m … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries: 09/27/25

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The Small Screen Diaries: 09/26/25

John Stark

TV Shows Watched: Peacemaker: S2E6 (HBO MAX) with audio description, Marvel Zombies: S1E3 (Disney plus) with audio description,Wayward: S1E1 (Netflix) with audio description, the Summer I Turned Pretty: S3E10 (Amazon) with audio description, My Life With the Walter boys: S2E6 (Netflix) with audio description, celebrity Weakest Link: S1E1 (Hulu) no audio description, The Daily Show: Monday (Paramount Plus) no audio description, and Who wants to Be A Millionaire: S4E8 (Hulu) with audio description Peacemaker- I’ve heard this is game changing. Considering I’ve recently seen Superman, I’m not sure something can be that game changing when the thing that came before … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries: 09/26/25

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The Small Screen Diaries: 09/25/25

John Stark

TV Shows Watched: Gen V: S2E4 (Amazon) with audio description, Marvel’s Zombies: S1E2 (Disney Plus) with audio description, The Twisted Tale Of Amanda Knox: S1E6 (Hulu) with audio description, House Of Guinness: S1E1 (Netflix) with audio description, The Girlfriend: S1E4 (Amazon) with audio description, Black rabbit: S1E3 (Netflix) with audio description, and Name That Tune: S?E2 (Hulu) no audio description Gen V- Hamish Linklater has been a great cast addition as Cypher, this new head of the school who is really hard to decipher. What are his powers? Does he even have any? You’ll know by the end of this … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries: 09/25/25