Girls Will Be Girls- Yet another indie submitted for my consideration, albeit without audio description. While this movie is, I believe, fully in English, it does lack audio description, and I like to persistently stand by the idea that we do better as a people when exposed to stories about people who are not us,with representations of lives we have not lived, and have an idea of cultural differences. So a movie about Indian girls (No, not Native American girls) at an all girl school learning about life, and pushing back against the adult administration because boys are just so cute, is a story that likely will resonate, especially as things don’t always work out for the girls. The truth is, boys will also be boys. I’d love to watch this sometime with audio description.
Unwatchable Due To Lack Of Audio Description
We Live In Time- I’ve actually had the pleasure of watching this twice. The first time, I wasn’t connected to the film as much because A24 submitted for my consideration without the existing audio description. Now, it is on Max, and all the pieces have come together. this is one of the best tracks of the year, as it navigates random time jumps forward and backward, telling the story of a couple (Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh) who fall in love, but then have to deal with some truly heartbreaking medical news. both actors made my lists, but Pugh really left an impact on me. She has the single most devastating gut punch on film. There’s this moment where she has to defend to Garfield something she’s been doing, and her reasoning for it is a gut punch, further amplified by the way the film chooses to leave us. I highly recommend this film.
Fresh: Final Grade: A, Audio Description: A
Wyatt Earp- for its 30th Aniversary I found this epic western with audio description and finally knocked it off my list. it was my first time through the film, which had a bit of a mixed critical reception. Earlier in the year, Netflix had a docuseries about Wyatt Earp, and that made me even more interested in this. It has a very broad cast, with some actors featured who really don’t get much work anymore. However, one actor featured i didn’t quite reflect enough on at the time is the legendary Gene Hackman. While not the lead by any means, he offers a stable presence as the patriarch of the Earp family. He really does work well in a western, and his rough exterior, and naturally wise demeanor compliment a younger Kevin Costner who seems desperate to get into one of Earp’s famous gunfights. Hackman provides caution to an epic film that certainly runs too long, and reminisces too much with rose colored glasses on a flawed protagonist. there’s such an interesting story about the race between Wyatt Earp and Tombstone, and how the two productions released within months of each other were both troubled, due in large part to them sucking up each others resources.
Fresh: Final Grade: B+, Audio description: A-
Black Dog- Another international entry i tried to watch. Man, this was a weird watch. i can’t read the subtitles, and this Chinese release has no English. it did have scenes where it sounded like dogs were suffering, which out of context made it a hard listen. but, there was a fair amount of attention being tossed its way, from the critics groups I was in, and from the Spirit Awards. I did my due diligence, but as you might expect,a China production with no audio description can only end with one grade.
unwatchable Due To Lack Of Audio Description
the Exorcism- Russell Crowe is once again in an exorcism film, this one without audio description. I’m not even sure this had audio description in theatrical release. it is loosely based on the production of The Exorcist, and the weird things that supposedly happened that were associated with the film’s cursed production. I couldn’t get much out of it without audio description, and i wouldn’t recommend trying.
unwatchable due To Lack Of Audio Description