The Small Screen Diaries: 07/04/25

Hope you had a fun National Day To Watch The Film Independence Day. You know you did. We all did. TV Shows Watched: Duster: S1E8 (MAX) with audio description, Murderbot: S1E9 (Apple Plus) with audio description, tires: S2E5 (Netflix) with audio description, Adults: S1E5 (Hulu) with audio description, Lazarus: S1E13 (MAX) with audio description, Ginny and Georgia: S1E10 (Netflix) with audio description, Peaky Blinders: S1E6 (Netflix) All Of Us Are dead: S1E1 (Netflix) with audio description, King Of The Hill: S2E1 (Hulu) no audio description, Breaking Bad: S1E7 (Netflix) with audio description, Yellowstone: S5E13 (Peacock) with audio description Best Episode: … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries: 07/04/25

Despicable Me 4

Despicable Me 4- A Screenplay That Feels Like It Was Written By 10 Minions Quick Take: The fourth outing, and the sixth technically in the franchise at large, Despicable Me 4 has a lot happening. it feels like the script was written and then rewritten almost like a game of “Yes, and” where the next person added another subplot. this movie is so scattered, so disorganized,it makes the third film seem better. I wasn’t a fan of the third, because I didn’t think Steve Carell should have voiced both. It was a missed opportunity to go in a completely different … Continue reading Despicable Me 4

Didi

Didi- Kids Actually Feel Like Kids In This Winning Indie Featuring Joan Chen While it has been a minute since I’ve viewed Focus Features Sundance acquisition, I’m aware this is being campaigned as a possible Supporting Actress bid for Joan Chen.Knowing that, I expected to be moved by her work, but the film really is just mostly about kids doing shenanigans, with a hint of that specific culture thrown in. Chen plays the Grandmother to our lead, an aspiring artist. The film really does belong to the main kid, and the silly things kids do, but Joan does have some … Continue reading Didi

Spooky Season- 10 Peacock Titles To Rip Your Face off

As audiences everywhere were dismayed to find out that Peacock was dropping Winnie The Pooh: Blood and honey 2 without audio description, it is not eligible for this list. These are the 10 scariest titles that are on Peacock and have audio description. I still refuse to tell you what this movie is about. If by some chance this movie has not been spoiled for you, see it before it is. All I’ll confirm is that, yes it does belong here. yes, there is gore. And Yes, this is still one of my favorite titles this year. i gave it … Continue reading Spooky Season- 10 Peacock Titles To Rip Your Face off

The bike Riders

I always find the work of Jeff Nichols to be engaging in its cinematic form even if I’m not completely enamored with his offerings. the bike Riders is one of those films that seemed good on paper, and then I ended up with a film that matched the worthiness of a viewing, but not necessarily the praise that would elicit multiple viewings, or encourage others. the movie is also a bit of a tough sell, audio description wise, since the movie takes place in a certain time period, where the aesthetic takes over, and actors are likely finding subtle ways … Continue reading The bike Riders

Abigail

I firmly believe this is one film that should be watched with you knowing as little about it as possible. The more you know, the less fun it is. It was clearly crafted that way, and the people who make trailers do not give a crap. I’ll spoil all day every day if the spoiler isn’t really a spoiler, or if the movie is god awful, or some slog that exists simply to have a twist, but Abigail is none of those things. I caught this on peacock, and without being too revealing, i thought the audio description was really … Continue reading Abigail

Back To Black

The short life of Amy Winehouse is explored in this biopic by Sam Taylor Johnson, who starts with a clearly very talented Amy (Marisa Abela) before she signs to a major label, and her career explodes. Her tumultuous life is explored in a somewhat neutral tone, where no one really seems to be at fault, including Amy, for anything that happened. While she begins a rocky relationship with what many of her fans believe was an enabler, but much like everyone in Amy’s life, it seems to suggest that no one really tried to make her go to rehab, but … Continue reading Back To Black

State of Consciousness

This movie is on Peacock, it has audio description, the description is fine, and the movie is awful. Emile Hirsch is stuck in this, and we owe him an apology. I think he got sucked into movies this terrible because we did not give him his much deserved Oscar nomination for Into The Wild. Into The Wild, at last glance, was still in the IMDB Top 250, because most people have realized it is a terrific film that we missed the boat on and thought it only needed a Hal Holbrook nomination. Granted, that is a fantastic nomination, but now … Continue reading State of Consciousness

Monkey Man

Before watching this, I had already heard all the interesting tales of how this came to be. As Dev Patel was making his directorial debut, while starring, he managed to injure himself a few times, and still kept filming.It seems like the kind of press you leak to get fans of action films uniquely excited for the experience as the action scenes must be intense for Patel to have sustained multiple injuries. This isn’t just a tragic accident like Dylan O’Brien on the set of the Maze Runner sequel. Patel got knocked down, and chumbawumba’ed himself back up again multiple … Continue reading Monkey Man

Kung Fu Panda 4

Ska-doosh once again. I do believe the official word origin of “skadoosh” is Shakespearian. One of his lesser known works. Don’t bother fact checking that. Google only knows the popular ones. But, because someone needs money, Kung Fu Panda 4 is here, po is back, and the budget has been trimmed. Po’s teammates, the furious voice cast of Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen, and David Cross are nowhere to be found. Is that a good thing? First up, this has audio description on Peacock. Oddly, the only entry in the franchise that currently resides on the service with AD. … Continue reading Kung Fu Panda 4

Migration

Illumination has struck again, much like the flock of geese struck that airplane Sully was flying. Migration is one of those animated films that follows the formula set by other films like it, but it isn’t sure where to make good choices. The end result is like playing Duck Hunt and missing all your shots. I skipped the theatrical release and waited for Peacock. I’m proud of that choice. Kumamoto Nanjiani plays the patriarch of a little duck family, with a wife (Elizabeth Banks), an uncle (Danny Devito) and two ducklings. He’s always been afraid his whole life of leaving … Continue reading Migration

Drive Away Dolls

Now that we’ve officially seen what Joel Coen does by himself, and Ethan by himself, I think we can all agree that the Coen brothers are far better as a team than in their individual pursuits. Often, The Coen Brothers find films that offer that slice of Americana, with some small town personality, and quirky characters. So then what went wrong. Is it simply that Ethan Coen can’t do this by himself, or that he attempted to do a niche 90’s lesbian road trip comedy? The good news, is that this film does have audio description, and the description is … Continue reading Drive Away Dolls

Night Swim

Night Swim hurts like jumping off the high jump with a belly flop into a kiddie pool. If you thought I was going to buck the trend on night Swim, and tell you it is the most groundbreaking horror of the year, you haven’t seen Night Swim, or you just woke from a coma since birth, and this was the only movie you’ve ever seen and have no point of reference. Night Swim ultimately fails to deliver any chills or thrills, and instead devolves into a frustrating mess. Whether it is underveloped characters, a half baked plot, or its reliance … Continue reading Night Swim

Lisa Frankenstein

Sometimes it’s fun to watch the reactions to a film, and then to watch it for myself, and still enjoy a film that seemingly not many people enjoyed. I think that is very much the case with Lisa Frankenstein, which is currently streaming on peacock with audio description. The directorial debut of Zelda Williams, the daughter of the late Robin Williams, off a script from Juno scribe Diablo Cody. Clearly, Williams has a quirky sense of humor, no doubt influenced by her father, and all the gaming they did together. Robin was a big fan of World Of Warcraft, and … Continue reading Lisa Frankenstein

Stormy

When I heard this dropped at SXSW I really thought something would come of it. I didn’t realize it would just quickly shift to Peacock. The funny thing, is that I subscribe to the “ad supported” version. It normally doesn’t bother me, because with a movie, you get a bunch of commercials up front, and then the movie is uninterrupted. Stormy had commercials throughout. Peacock really didn’t care about this doc. Should you? Why am i even asking this question. If you don’t already have an opinion on this going into it, I’d be shocked. yes, it’s a Stormy Daniel’s … Continue reading Stormy