Tag: Stephen King

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The Small Screen Diaries: 10/23/26

John Stark

Kicking off the Small Screen Diaries today is the sad news that Syfy has canceled Revival after just one season. Honestly, I forgot this series hadn’t already been canceled, and just assumed it was. Apparently, the network gave the series a chance to find a larger audience through Netflix, but that streaming run didn’t do enough to save it. So, what was once on the fence is no longer on the fence. Personally, the audio description just wasn’t good enough, and Peacock didn’t do a particularly good job of making sure it was consistently available across every episode. So, I … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries: 10/23/26

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The Small Screen diaries: 10/09/26

John Stark

Kicking off the Small Screen Diaries for the day, Paramount had some big news, announcing that its new Avatar series has already been renewed through a third season. This certainly suggests that Paramount is committed to continuing to tell stories within the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender, even after shifting the upcoming animated film, The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender, away from a traditional theatrical release and over to streaming. For fans of the new series, which premiered yesterday, congratulations! Apparently, Paramount has enough confidence in the show that it doesn’t even need to wait for the audience … Continue reading The Small Screen diaries: 10/09/26

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The Small Screen Diaries: 10/08/26

John Stark

Kicking off the Small Screen Diaries today is a little bit of catch-up, because I realized I’ve been doing a lot of renewal news lately, and I’ve skipped over a few shows simply because I hadn’t started watching them yet. That’s not really fair to the people who have been watching. So, if you’ve already become an instant fan of Crew Girl or A Different World on Netflix, both series have already been picked up for second seasons. This seems to be part of Netflix’s determination to move content along at a quicker pace, rather than leaving audiences wondering whether … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries: 10/08/26

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The Small Screen Diaries: 10/07/26

John Stark

Netflix has been on a bit of a roll with series renewals and cancellations lately, and today is no exception, thanks to the early renewal of The Hunting Wives for a third season. When a streaming service is comfortable with a show’s budget, and social media reactions consistently suggest that investing in its future is worthwhile, making an early renewal decision is smart. As I’ve noted before, and as many others have pointed out, the longer audiences have to wait between seasons, the more likely they are to lose interest. Honestly, I think Netflix has to be terrified about the … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries: 10/07/26

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The Institute: Season 1

John Stark

Cast: Joe Freeman, Ben Barnes, Mary Louise Parker, Hannah Galway, Julian Richings, Fionn Laird, Simone Miller, Viggo Hanvelt, Arlen So, Robert Joy, Jason Diaz, Jane Luk Based On the Book by Stephen King Length: 8 episodes Streamer: MGM Plus Audio description produced By: Written By: Narrated By: Roy Samuelson What Is it? A convergence of two stories. one follows a teen (freeman) who is kidnapped and wakes up in a facility that is testing kids who are telekinetic or telepathic. it is obviously a shady organization with a dark secret. We also follow a former police officer (Barnes), who moves … Continue reading The Institute: Season 1

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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 Small Screen Diaries: 08/26/25

John Stark

TV Shows Watched: The institute: S1E7 (MGM Plus) with audio description, Twisted Metal: S1E5 (Peacock) with audio description, Dexter: Resurrection: S1E7 (Paramount Plus) with audio description, The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox: S1E2 (Hulu) with audio description, Long Story Short: S1E2 (Netflix) with audio description The institute- You think you know what I’m about to say, but you’re like the guy who has the elephant by the tail. Or whatever that analogy was. The institute did just get a second season renewal at MGM Plus, so expect more mystery. The audio description is… well… fine? I mean, two people got … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries: 08/26/25

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The Small Screen Diaries: 08/19/25

John Stark

TV Shows Watched: Smoke: S1E9 (Apple Plus) with audio description, The Institute: S1E6 (MGM Plus) with audio description, and The Rainmaker: S1E1 (Peacock) with audio description Smoke- Still very busy, but I did manage to wrap up Smoke. I’m planning on reviewing the series, as I did like it, and the little twist in the final moments of Episode 9 is just stunning. It puts the entire series in a new perspective, as you could go back and rewatch the series, and view it from that context. Yes, Smoke has some predictability woven in, but that creative little spin at … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries: 08/19/25

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The Small Screen Diaries: 08/12/25

John Stark

TV Shows Watched: The Sandman: S2E9 (Netflix) with audio description, The institute: S1E5 (MGM Plus) with audio description, Countdown: S1E8 (Amazon) with audio description, Hitmakers: S1E2 (Netflix) with audio description, Mindhunter: S1E7 (Netflix) with audio description, Breaking Bad: S2E8 (Netflix) with audio description The Sandman- Still consistently great audio description from DVW. Some of the best moments of description are what happens to Fiddler’s Green, and the description of that, but also Loki continuing his mischief. The episode was petty centric on Joanna Constantine and The Corinthian, but definitely ended on a dour note for Dream. The Institute- What a … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries: 08/12/25

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The Small Screen Diaries: 07/29/25

John Stark

TV Shows Watched: Too Much: S1E10 (Netflix) with audio description, Smoke: S1E6 (Apple Plus) with audio description, The institute: S1E2 (MGM Plus) with audio description, Euphoria: S2E1 (HBo MAX) with audio description, Adaptive: S1E3 (Peacock) no audio description, Silicon Valley: S3E2 (HBO MAX) with audio description, The Daily Show: Monday (Paramount Plus) no audio description, and Ballard: S1E3 (Amazon) with audio description Too Much- full review coming shortly… Smoke- Now that the series has pulled at a thread, the show is unraveling a little bit before the finale. It might have been a little too early to push at Taron … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries: 07/29/25

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The Small Screen Diaries- 07/14/25

John Stark

TV ShowsWatched: The Institute: S1E1 (MGM Plus) with audio description, The Waterfront: S1E6 (Netflix) with audio description, Euphoria: S1E6 (MAX) with audio description, Building The Band: S1E3 (Netflix) with audio description, Kings Of Johburg: S1E5 (Netflix) with audio description, Dexter: S5E5 (Paramount Plus) with audio description, nautilus: S1E2 (AMC Plus) no audio description, and The Guilded Age: S3E4 (HBO MAX) with audio description Best Episode: The Institute, Runner Up: Euphoria Best Audio Description: The Institute, Runner Up: The Waterfront Best performance: Julia Stiles (Dexter), Runner Up: Nathan Lane (The Guilded Age) Best Moment Of Audio Description: Cooking Up some Self … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries- 07/14/25

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Salem’s Lot

John Stark

Salem’s Lot (2024)- A Spooky Season Review A seemingly impossible to adapt Stephen King novel hit MAX quietly. That has to be a good sign. This movie has been in the can for a while, and had a theatrical release briefly scheduled, before drawing the ire of Stephen King by winding up heading straight to streaming. is it really that bad? Well, it certainly is better than last year’s Pet Sematary prequel. It is also a far cry from many of King’s best film adaptations, including Brian DePalma’s Carrie, Frank Darabont’s The Shawshank Redemption, and the most recent two-parter adaptation … Continue reading Salem’s Lot

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Gerald’s Game

John Stark

Where I Watched it: Netflix English Audio description Provided By Descriptive Video Works Narrated by Diane Newman After watching Mike Flanagan’s multiple series for Netflix, I have come to appreciate his brand of horror. he always manages to include gore, but he really is interested in character development. That’s why it is so weird that Gerald’s game is directed by him. The movie starts rather quickly and doesn’t waste time. A couple (Carla Gugino, Bruce greenwood) are on an excursion to a cabin in the middle of nowhere for some romantic sexy time. While this may seem like a spoiler, … Continue reading Gerald’s Game

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Cuajó

John Stark

Where I Watched It: MAX English Audio Description?: Yes This film is as old as I am. I hear I don’t look my age. I’m pretty sure this does. Cujo even sounded like a film no one had bothered to preserve on any level, and the newer audio description track stands in stark contrast. Other things that distract me about this film is that, well, it’s not scary, and it’s pretty awful. There is so much character development in this film you’ll forget you are watching a movie about a killer dog. So many unnecessary plot points, because a rabid … Continue reading Cuajó

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Pet Sematary: Bloodline

John Stark

Where I Watched it: Paramount Plus English Audio Description?: Yes All of this Pet Sematary build up has led to this moment. The moment when Paramount wisely chose not to send this prequel to theatres, and instead dump it on their streaming service. I have poked fun at previous iterations, but Bloodline is truthfully the worst in the series. It does have some talented cast members pop up, sadly not in the leading roles, and is somewhat based on the lore created by the stories Judd tells in both Pet Sematary films. It is just really dull. That’s not to … Continue reading Pet Sematary: Bloodline

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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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Pet Sematary 2 (1992)

John Stark

Where I Watched It: MAX English Audio Description?: Yes Guess who’s back? Back again. Mary Lambert is back. Kill your pets. Granted, in 1989, Rotten Tomatoes, Letterboxed, and IMDB didn’t exist. There was no real way for you to find out what your critics thought about a movie except what film studios used in their ads, or to read a newspaper or magazine. Aggregating would be next to impossible to do, but still, the studio kept Lambert on for the sequel. They did jettison Stephen King, because he never wrote a book called Pet Sematary 2. So, the same people … Continue reading Pet Sematary 2 (1992)

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Pet Sematary (1989)

John Stark

Where I Watched It: MAX English Audio Description?: Yes As we all know, every Stephen king book-to-film adaptation has been truly flawless. All are classics. Ride The bullet is probably the best of them all. This was my first time watching Pet Sematary in its totality, though I feel like I definitely did the thing we do as kids when the cable edit of a film like this shows up, and we watch a few minutes of something so we can say we saw it. Fake bravery. Honestly? It’s not really that scary, unless you are afraid of poor directorial … Continue reading Pet Sematary (1989)

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Mr Harrigan’s Phone

John Stark

Where I Watched It: Netflix English Audio Description Provided By: International Digital Center Written By: Liz Gutman Narrated By: CJ Hardy Stephen King adaptations can be all over the place. I haven’t seen enough of them to be able to do some kind of comprehensive list, but in a world of Carrie’s (the original), The Shawshank Redemption, and The Green Mile, this one is a bit more Riding The bullet. Ryan Murphy, who apparently spent a great deal of time stockpiling material to release on Netflix this Halloween season, produces an adaptation of a short story that sees a young … Continue reading Mr Harrigan’s Phone

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The Mist

John Stark

Where I Watched It: Netflix Audio Description By: Zoo Digital Narrated By: Tanzi Alexander Yes, this is my first time viewing The mist. i was working in movie theatres at the time, and I could have easily seen this for free, but somehow or for some reason, I skipped over it. I believe it had a lot to do with the massive amount of product released around the holiday season, as I don’t remember this sticking around very long. Nonetheless, after sitting through some rather disturbing sounding sequences, I think if I had seen this creature feature, my mind would … Continue reading The Mist

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Firestarter (2022)

John Stark

Starring: Zac Efron, Ryan Keira Armstrong, Sydney Lemmon, Gloria Reuben, John Beasley, Michael Greyeyes, and Kurtwood Smith. Directed By: Keith Thomas Where I Watched It: Peacock English Audio Description Available?: Yes Do i Know Who Did It?: no, Peacock refuses to let me watch credits. The Plot: A reimagining, not a reboot, requel, or whatever. No idea how close to the book this is, but several major things are diffferent from the original, though the core concept is the same. Two parents (Efron and Lemmon), who were subjected to trials that gave them special powers, have been on the run … Continue reading Firestarter (2022)

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Firestarter (1984)

John Stark

Starring: Drew Barrymore, Keith David, George C Scott, Martin Sheen, Art Carney, Louise Fletcher, and Heather Locklear. Directed By: Mark L. Lester Where I Watched It: ? English Audio Description Available: Yes Description Provided By: IFTC The Plot: Two cash strapped individuals (Keith David/Heather locklear) sign up to be part of a group doing a drug trial for the government, Orr as this film likes to call them “The Shop”. This experiment leads to them having special abilities, which they then come to the conclusion that they should hook up and become a couple. Flash forward, and they’ve produced a … Continue reading Firestarter (1984)