What with my left eye having 20/200 at best, while my right eye is pretty much a useless, frequently painful marble, I don’t go to movies much anymore. But I still kind of miss them. And as reruns of Buffy the vampire slayer have demonstrated to me, video entertainment with sufficiently snappy dialogue can still entertain me. (See also: “The West Wing.”) So I ask you people who still go to the theater: what recent (as in released since 2012) movies are still worth “viewing” even when the images on screen are mostly brightly-colored mud?
Have you heard about Descriptive Video Service? It’s available on an ever-larger percentage of DVDs these days. There’s also a version that can be used in movie theaters. Of course, the challenges are to find a local cinema with the technology, and to find them using it on the film(s) you’re interested in seeing.
You’re in Memphis, IIRC, right? I’ll check who in your region might be a good source for finding out about that sort of thing.
Meanwhile, check out this link Audio Described Movies
Bad news (if you ARE in Memphis). The captionfish website currently states that there are no theaters with the tech for descriptive services within 60 miles. If you’ll confirm your location, I’ll find an ACB chapter to hook you up with. While they don’t have the reputation for single-mindedness that NFB enjoys, they can be an effective advocacy group.
I suggest the TV series Archer.
Not a movie, but it has 9 seasons and might hold you for a while. It is definitely a dialogue-driven comedy.
The Blind Film Critic’s website may be helpful.
As an aside, this thread is a real eye-opener (er, ear-opener?) to me. I’ve never once walked out of a movie and thought “Wow, that would be a really great movie to listen to”. Because it’s something that I’ve never even thought about at all. But of course it’s something that would be highly relevant to a blind person. And there are probably a thousand other things like that, that I take for granted, and am able to take for granted, that many can’t.
I accidentally turned it on while watching either Netflix or Amazon Prime. It took me a minute to realize something wasn’t right.
I’m hearing impaired, so I have captions on by default. DVS seems like the visual form of closed captions.
Yes, I have heard about descriptive video service. I find it kind of pointless for most action movies. When it is something like spider-man fighting electro, things like “spidey leaves through the air” or “electro fires lightning” do good.
I was looking for recommendations of movies with especially snappy dialogue. As I mentioned in the OP, both “the west wing” and “Buffy” work even without much in the way of useful visual input. “Gilmore girls” and “the good wife” too. So movie equivalents.
I know Archer quite well. I’ve listened to every season up till about the point that archer “died” in Hollywood.
Monty Python!
I would think that Kevin Smith movies are good for this, if you’re wanting snappy dialogue. Clerks, Mallrats, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Clerks 2, Chasing Amy.
I find that any movie or TV series where I know the characters works for me. I’m down to one near-sighted eye that gets fatigued, so I listen to a ton of audiobooks and podcasts, but I also listen to movies and TV shows. You might be pleasantly surprised to find that anything you saw even a glimpse of in the past, enough to know the characters, will work. Do you really need to see Jerry & Elaine trying not to crack up? No, because you have a feel for what they’d be doing as you listen.
My (college) students spent the first five minutes of class debating the old “If you had to choose between going deaf and going blind, which would you choose?” My first thought was, “Well, I’m not getting a choice, but as long as I can listen to books, I’m okay.”
My second thought, which I voiced loudly as I tried to get the class to pay attention was “Are you crazy? You are NEVER going to have to make this choice! Spend your time worrying about choices you might have to make in the real world! Single or married, kids or disposable income, mortgage or sports car … But not now, let’s play school.”
The definitive example of this genre has to be My Dinner With Andre.
But he’d miss the Cornish Game Hens!
i was looking for new, not familiar. I already know that some old friends are still worth my time, while things like THE WALKING DEAD are not.
This isn’t a movie suggestion, but have you ever tried listening to BBC Radio 4? They have lots of dramas and comedies on there as well as current affairs, funny quizzes, etc. They even have the longest running soap opera in the world, though I suspect that’s not really your bag. If you fancy the audio version of an action movie, they have a radio version of Moonraker up right now, which is a radio adaptation of the original Ian Fleming novel rather than a movie in audio.
Looking at the best screenplay nominations from the last few years, it seems like there are some good recommendations, including Her, American Hustle, Moonrise Kingdom, Birdman, Grand Budapest Hotel, Spotlight, Inside Out, Bridesmaids, Hell or High Water, 20th Century Women, The Big Sick, Lady Bird, Three Billboards, Silver Linings Playbook, Wolf of Wall Street, Whiplash, The Martian, and Call Me By Your Name. They won’t be the same without the visuals but I think most of these would still be good. There are probably some other ones recently nominated that would be good but I haven’t seen them all.
I’d say anything from Wes Anderson, Martin McDonagh, Aaron Sorkin, or Quentin Tarantino would be good picks, though Tarantino’s also have lots of action.
If you’re into film noir, Double Indemnity has very snappy dialogue.
I’ll second The Martian.
The King’s Speech might work. It’s character-driven and should work without the visuals.
Shawshank Redemption, if you haven’t already enjoyed that one.
A Few Good Man, another older movie.
Molly’s Game, it’s an Aaron Sorkin film.
La La Land, it’s a musical. It might work.
I’d check out Academy Award winners for best screenplay, which usually implies good dialogue. The Wiki site is here.