A Different Man- Sebastian Stan won a Golden Globe for this A24 awards bait, which elevated him into the Oscar conversation for a second film. Of course, he would end up nominated for The Apprentice, but his work in A Different Man is still part of a foundational building of a better Stan, one who is able to tackle deeper characters and tougher subject material. I think Sebastian Stan started out as just a pretty face. I remember him back when he recurred on Gossip Girl, and while he was fun, I never would have guessed he’d be the Winter Soldier, or play Tommy Lee, and I never could have predicted that kid would get an Oscar nomination for portraying Donald Trump. So, in many ways, Stan is the perfect person to play an individual judged on physical appearance, or an individual who feels like he’s always seen first regardless of how true that is. He plays a man with visible growths on his face and head, and he presents almost like a recluse at times. When you assume the world is watching you, you tend to react to that one way or another, and he clearly doesn’t enjoy being watched. he does develop a friendship with his neighbor across the hall, though it is clear he wants more. he’s given the opportunity to do a radical new surgery, which is high risk, but could get rid of what he believes is holding him back. He comes out completely unrecognizable, as a handsome man, redefined now as the person on the outside he always wanted to be. Through this, he becomes a model and an actor, and also sadly breaks his neighbor’s heart by saying that her friend died. Unable to recognize the guy she liked, she writes a play in his honor, which Stan auditions for, essentially playing himself, and now wearing a mask to be the person he tried to get away from. And while doing this play, it does bring him a new opportunity at love, but everything changes when another actor who actually has the same condition he once had, shows up. Suddenly, they can have an actor who looks like what he used to. through this, we see that his new rival is an extrovert, uninhibited by his condition, and a genuine match for the affections of the same woman. Adam Pearson, who is an actor sharing the same condition as his character, and he’s effortless in his performance. he plays a strong opposite to Stan’s frustrated and incomplete lead. What I took away from this was the idea that you can either let your disability define you, or you can let it redefine you. Stan’s character believes it is a hinderance, so it is, whereas Pearson’s character does not, so it isn’t. It actually speaks a lot to people in the disability community, regardless of what your condition is, as to how you choose to react to it, and presents with interesting questions about “cures”. If blindness, hearing loss, or any other medical condition was solvable, would everyone take the solution, or do they take the approach that it is just a part of who they are? While A different Man poses questions, I do wonder if Hollywood intends on casting Adam Pearson more broadly outside of roles like this. Could he just simply play a lawyer on a TV show? Maybe he could be a dad in an indie drama? He’s proven he has the chops, but can casting agents actually look beyond what they see, and cast him beyond what they simply need him for. I did like the audio description, and how it described Stan before and after, and the complications of him wearing a mask or makeup for the play. It wasn’t my favorite of Stan’s performances, and as a film, I thought it was a little predictable in terms of the direction of the story. I’ve actually seen this twice now, and I liked it less the second time around.
Fresh: Final grade: B, Audio Description: A-
2073- For awards consideration, Neon send out a box set where DVD’s are in these slots, and there’s information on each one. I was able to use my device to scan the titles and figure out what every film was except this one. So, I had a hard time asking Neon directly if I could have any of the audio description for the titles I hadn’t already seen, including this film. it took me popping the disc in, to figure out what this is. And, even though it doesn’t have audio description, I didn’t like it. It’s a hybrid, meaning that they shot these dystopian looks into the future with actresses like Samantha Morton, and cut back to present day academics talk about the reasons why we are on track for that nightmare fuel future. It felt like a bad History channel project gone awry, since they constantly make non-fiction talent with bargain bin actors doing reenactments. I saw almost 100 documentaries in 2024, and while most of them I would feel confident in giving a positive review for, even without audio description, there are some that I just fundamentally don’t like how they tell their story. this is one of them. Even if it ends up on Hulu with audio description, I have no intention of watching this a second time.
Rotten: No Grade Given Due To Lack Of Audio Description
First Shift- Uwe Bolle is still making films. this did not have audio description on Paramount Plus, nor did it have a flashy cast, or any specific reason for me to watch other than wondering if Boll had gotten better or worse. Well, he’s leveled out. I would have previously cited his war drama Tunnel Rats as his most technically proficient work, but First Shift has drifted into that territory of bland mediocrity where his direction is indistinguishable from the choices any number of directors have made when producing decidedly average action comedies. If I had you watch this, or John Travolta’s Cash Out, I’m not sure you could tell which one was made by boll. While he is not an exceptional director, he has managed to do what Aaron seltzer and Jason Friedberg never did, and that was achieve a level of competency that they aren’t directing a pervasive stream of travesties, and instead actually can function at the same level as just working directors. I mean, I actually liked first Shift more than Matthew vughn’s Argylle, and Vaughn is supposed to be the better director. It is close enough to the middle of the road that I would entertain the ide that audio description could potentially sway me in the direction where I might give it a fresh score. It is unlikely, but Uwe Boll has become decidedly average. And that, coming from someone who has sat through Alone In The Dark, Bloodrayne, and Postal, is meant as a compliment.
No Grade Given Due To Lack Of Audio Description
