[jwi]

Just wish they had a 'dialogue only' option for the subtitles.  It pisses me off when you constantly get [tense music plays] .. [a door creeks] etc etc. 

Foreign subs! They usually just translate the dialogue.

[sherlock]

 

The whole mumbling actors thing is interesting. If it means that good subtitles become ubiquitous, then I'm all for it since I need subtitles anyway because of my hearing 
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/jan/28/mumbling-actors-bad-speakers-or-lazy-listeners-why-everyone-is-watching-tv-with-subtitles-on

Glad to hear (ha!) I'm not alone then.. finding it increasingly difficult to understand the dialogue on the telly.  Assume its my hearing (but then not sure I'm that hard of hearing), or maybe the shit sound system of my telly, but then it seems I'm not alone.  Maybe like with iphones, so much extra stuff is packed in with tellys or even the process of film making, that some of the basics are being forgotten about. Like clear dialogue.  The phone app on my mobile is by far and away the shittist app on my phone. 

Just wish they had a 'dialogue only' option for the subtitles.  It pisses me off when you constantly get [tense music plays] .. [a door creeks] etc etc. 

Not so much films, but I get this with a LOT of modern TV. Recently while watching Kin on BBC and the new True Detective on Now I've had whole scenes where I've not followed a word of it!

This is a genuine relief for me! I just thought it was another part of me breaking down.
I mention it to Mrs.S and she doesn't know what I'm on about but then she's got ears like a bat - I mean pin sharp hearing, not pointed and furry of course.

[cowboyhat]

With Nolan I've come think his method of audio mixing is to hide the fact that the dialogue is nonsensical.

Bain certainly, though it didn't bother me. With interstellar I got money back from the cinema, convinced I'd missed some crucial explanation of the whole plot a couple of times when the dialogue was overwhelmed. (i was sat off to the side and later read it had been mixed with some central bias which seems particularly dumb).

On re-watching at home it was revealed that; actually what Michael Caine or McCounghay say doesn't really explain anything after all. Because if it did maybe it would mean Nolan himself had solved the quantum/Relativity problem. Dealing with these big ideas, I just have to believe the actors know what they're talking about in the moment.

Subsequently I've enjoyed his movies much more, or least not been frustrated.

Tenet is the best example: its a time travel movie. All of the dialogue is nonsense so doesn't matter that you can't hear it. Simply an enjoyable romp, if a bit long.


On a general note we do watch a lot of stuff at home with subs, wag is foreign and can find it tiring.

[andy moles]

With interstellar I got money back from the cinema, convinced I'd missed some crucial explanation of the whole plot a couple of times when the dialogue was overwhelmed. (i was sat off to the side and later read it had been mixed with some central bias which seems particularly dumb).

On re-watching at home it was revealed that; actually what Michael Caine or McCounghay say doesn't really explain anything after all.

It's tempting to say this ruined Interstellar for me, you know, the fact that the entire plot hinges on a completely ludicrous metaphysical device without exposition (which even more ludicrously also acts as the film's emotional climax), but I already thought it was a bit shit by that point. Possibly the most overhyped film I've ever watched.

Meanwhile I too am glad to hear it's not just me or my speakers that can't follow dialogue!

[Paul B]

So you're saying watching Oppenheimer on an in-flight entertainment system that for some ridiculous reason forces you to use the supplied headphones (rather than the vastly superior versions almost everyone has to hand) wasn't the best choice?

[Falling Down]

Sam T - I think you might have a particular type of subtitles (closed captions or something?) on as we managed to find the settings to switch those bits off.

Me and W watch virtually everything on Tele or films with subs on. She’s French so we started a while ago whilst she was still getting used to English films, but the speech is now so muffled and the dialogue much less theatrical than in old films we just leave them on.

[Oldmanmatt]

With interstellar I got money back from the cinema, convinced I'd missed some crucial explanation of the whole plot a couple of times when the dialogue was overwhelmed. (i was sat off to the side and later read it had been mixed with some central bias which seems particularly dumb).

On re-watching at home it was revealed that; actually what Michael Caine or McCounghay say doesn't really explain anything after all.

It's tempting to say this ruined Interstellar for me, you know, the fact that the entire plot hinges on a completely ludicrous metaphysical device without exposition (which even more ludicrously also acts as the film's emotional climax), but I already thought it was a bit shit by that point. Possibly the most overhyped film I've ever watched.

Meanwhile I too am glad to hear it's not just me or my speakers that can't follow dialogue!

It worked for 2001, commercially and critically, and really isn’t so different or more metaphysically ludicrous than Dune (at least there’s some action in the latter).

If mankind ever “reaches the stars”, I think it’s going to prove vaguely disappointing and mundane, given our apparent expectations of spiritual enlightenment.

[Duma]

Spaceman - on Netflix. Adam Sandler and Carey Mulligan. Not what I expected but enjoyed a little indie sci fi. Doesn't matter to the story, but I enjoyed that they left the Czech/Korea from the book rather than the obvious switch to America/Russia/China etc

[SA Chris]

So you're saying watching Oppenheimer on an in-flight entertainment system that for some ridiculous reason forces you to use the supplied headphones (rather than the vastly superior versions almost everyone has to hand) wasn't the best choice?

Bluetooth is coming to planes (slowly). I still have an old set of plug in phone headphones which are much better sound than the crap ones they hand out. And if you put them in under a pair of over ear noise cancelling headphones the sound is almost reasonable. Not 100% comfortable though.

[andy moles]

It worked for 2001, commercially and critically, and really isn’t so different or more metaphysically ludicrous than Dune (at least there’s some action in the latter).

Come on, in Dune no protagonist enters a five dimensional tesseract (or whatever) and communicates with their past self through an impossibly convenient portal in a bookshelf.

2001 carries it off by owning its weirdness and giving no explanation at all, and by not trying to bundle theoretical physics together with mushy catharsis.

Arrival did the latter thing better.

I'll stop bashing Interstellar now 

[jwi]

So you're saying watching Oppenheimer on an in-flight entertainment system that for some ridiculous reason forces you to use the supplied headphones (rather than the vastly superior versions almost everyone has to hand) wasn't the best choice?

Bluetooth is coming to planes (slowly). I still have an old set of plug in phone headphones which are much better sound than the crap ones they hand out. And if you put them in under a pair of over ear noise cancelling headphones the sound is almost reasonable. Not 100% comfortable though.

Surely your headphones also comes with an audio-jack? (Mine do at least)

[SA Chris]

My present ones do, my wife's older ones I used last time don't.

[Wellsy]

2001 and Arrival are vastly better than Interstellar imo

Dune is also but then also a very different kind of movie

[Oldmanmatt]

It worked for 2001, commercially and critically, and really isn’t so different or more metaphysically ludicrous than Dune (at least there’s some action in the latter).

Come on, in Dune no protagonist enters a five dimensional tesseract (or whatever) and communicates with their past self through an impossibly convenient portal in a bookshelf.

2001 carries it off by owning its weirdness and giving no explanation at all, and by not trying to bundle theoretical physics together with mushy catharsis.

Arrival did the latter thing better.

I'll stop bashing Interstellar now 

Not convinced the Kwisatz Haderach is any less the ludicrous metaphysical concept 😂. I suppose I still watch the films through the lens of the books, so filling in the spiritual stuff they gloss over in the movie (not seen 2 yet, to be fair).

Also, I really enjoyed all the mentioned films and quite liked Rebel moon too.

I’m currently bingeing the entirety of Star Trek Voyager, so I’m probably not a reliable Sci-fi critic…

[Wellsy]

Voyager?!??! Jesus Christ...

[TobyD]

Also, I really enjoyed all the mentioned films and quite liked Rebel moon too.

The Netflix film that got appalling reviews? Not that I think that makes it bad though, it's funny how often Netflix stuff that's actually quite good gets critically panned.

[Duma]

It's fucking terrible

[stone]

We've just seen "Cold Comfort Farm".

It seemed mystifyingly shit to both of us. I've just read the wikipedia page. Apparently it gets "universal acclaim" on rotten tomatoes 

Evidently the famous actors in it also thought it worth their time. I'm baffled.

[Herbert]

The one with Rufus Sewell in? I remember enjoying it, but then I liked the book so perhaps that swayed me.

[stone]

Yes, with Rufus Sewell.

We've presumably just got a blind spot and were missing it's charms.

I'm always interested in how some things work for some people and not for others. I sort of wondered whether people who like BBC Radio4 comedies might also be the people who like Cold Comfort Farm. I'm not sure why I thought there might be a connection other than both being blind spots for me.

[Bradders]

The Outfit

Another vote for this. Brilliant. Very much not what I was expecting, more of a play than a film but that's something I actually quite liked.

NSFW  :

Whilst the shears were always likely to be important the tailor's transformation at the end was particularly unexpected, and quite unsettling. I thought it was very well done.

A Most Violent Year

On ITVX. A slow burner, very light on action but heavy on tension, story and intrigue. Blackly comic in places. Well worth a watch although not something I'd stick on in the background.

American Fiction

Deservedly Oscar nominated. I'm still not entirely sure whether, as a fully paid up member of the white middle class, I'm actually the butt of the central joke but it had me fully engaged throughout and laughing out loud a lot. Jeffrey Wright is absolutely brilliant, loads of wonderful little moments of pure exasperation which he often communicates without saying a word.

[TobyD]

The Outfit
Another vote for this. Brilliant. Very much not what I was expecting, more of a play than a film but that's something I actually quite liked.

Another strong vote for The Outfit from me. I see what you mean about a play but this wasn't really how I thought about it; it's a great piece of old school, classic film making which relies on beautiful, simple shots, character and dialogue.
In some ways it reminded me of reservoir dogs, or (in the relentless claustrophobic setting only) of apocalypse now.
Thanks to all for recommending it; if you haven't watched it, it's an absolute pleasure, quietly tense yet witty and surprising.

[kelvin]

Also, I really enjoyed all the mentioned films and quite liked Rebel moon too.

The Netflix film that got appalling reviews? Not that I think that makes it bad though, it's funny how often Netflix stuff that's actually quite good gets critically panned.

I really enjoyed Rebel Moon - didn't expect a lot and it was as good as most Star Wars films.

[Moo]

Another vote for American fiction, really enjoyed it. I thought it was very clever and had me in stitches a few times.

[duncan]

Perfect Days

Wim Wenders’ latest, Japanese with subtitles.

Kōji Yakusho is a toilet cleaner in a posh part of Tokyo. The film examines the repetition of his simple life and the joy he gets from his potentially mundane job in forensic detail. Yes it’s one of those arty films where nothing much happens very beautifully.

Yakusho is in his 60s but still handsome, his clothes are supposed to be poor and basic but he looks like he’s modelling for Margaret Howell. He has rather intellectual literary tastes. His flat is a fantasy of old Japan, elegantly austere. Poverty or minimalism? All this seems unlikely for a toilet cleaner; later in the film there are hints as to why it might be somewhat plausible.

He leads a solitary, monk-like existence, with minimal interaction with the rest of the world. Snippets of music punctuate the silence: 60s and 70s rock and soul, mostly predictable (Lou Reed of course) with a couple of wild cards. There is some humour made with his choice of medium, currently achingly trendy cassette tapes. It slightly feels like wish-fulfilment for financially secure middle-aged blokes: abandon all ties, run away from home, live a simple life (in a cave at Siurana?). Perhaps this is what he has done.

A number of women interact with him obliquely. At one point I thought there might be an icky old-guy-cute-young-woman thing about to happen but fortunately Wenders has better taste. The only romantic interest hinted, more realistically, is a not much younger bar owner.

There is no resolution and you might think the whole thing is a two hour shaggy dog story. I really enjoyed it but I'm the kind of person who enjoys a Japanese-German art-house movie.