Glengarry Glen Ross is a lot of great dialogue and little action.
Isn’t the Martian mostly Matt Damon silently working out some science problem or just spreading shit around? I mean, he sometimes talks to himself but that’s hardly awesome dialogue. To me it is pretty much the opposite of what Skald is asking.
I saw that when it came out and have enjoyed it many times in the intervening years. But, not to seem ungracious, I was looking for more recent movies than that. I believe I specified since 2012 in the OP. I was specifically thinking of "The Avengers in "in making that specification, as it has considerably better dialogue van, four instance, Spiderman: Homecoming, which was the movie that convinced me to give up superhero movies now babe my eyes are shit.
Thanks for the offer. I am still in Memphiss. However, my experience with descriptive video service has led me to conclude that I am not going to enjoy it. And yes, I have already partaken.
John Goodman said he did Kevin Smiths Red State movie for a snickers bar and a coke just because he wanted to do the dialogue Kevin wrote for his character.
Not a movie, but the show “Psych” had great, rapid-fire banter as a near constant.
That it is, but he’ll miss Lara’s subtle… acting.
The Great Budapest Hotel
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Madame Pepperwinkle never just watches a movie. She sits and sews or sculpts and listens while I watch, so these are her suggestions.
I feel like Hidden Figures was pretty snappy, dialogue wise. And The Martian has the main character delivering monologues on the regular.
Darkest Hour had a lot of well-written (and well-spoken) dialogue. If World War II politics and history bore you, however, it may not be for you. But it’s a newer movie.
I recently watched the movie The Dinner with Richard Gere. Surprisingly good story.
Another excellent film that is nothing but great dialogue is, The Sunset Limited, with Samuel L. Jackson and Tommy Lee Jones, and nobody else because it all takes place in one room.
That film is by Wes Anderson, who was recommended previously. IMO, his movies do have fun dialogue, but they’re also very visual. I think you’d miss a lot if you just listened to his movies.
I think I am doomed to miss a lot in watching ANY movie if I remember correctly, four instance, Natalie Portman appears pretty much naked at one point in the auxiliary film But the question is whether there is enough going on dialogue wise (and maybe music wise) to make it worth the trouble.
WHY hasn’t anyone mentioned Cabin Pressure? It’s an incredibly witty radio series written by John Finnemore, and Benedict Cumberbatch is great in it, as is Roger Allem. It. Is. Brilliant! (see, the Britishisms have just soaked into me…)
Here are episodes on YouTube, and they go in alphabetical order. Abu Dhabi’s fun, but just wait til you get to St. Petersburg!
I’ve been converting YouTube videos to mp3s to listen to. I use an app on my laptop called “YouTube To MP3” (catchy name, wonder what it does…?)
John Finnemore also has a wonderful sketch comedy troupe that does his show “John Finnemore’s Souvenir Programme!”
I’ve been recommending all of the above to ALL my friends, though most just look at me like “Listen to radio comedies on my phone? What is this, the twentieth century?”
I used to listen to movies on the radio, and the best were movies based on books — like “Hidden Figures”.
Some of these movies aren’t major hits in the theatre, because … they depend too much on dialog, and not enough on showing.
And I wonder how “The Dinner” (a failure as a movie) would have worked just listening to it. In any case, I’d look out for minor movies based on books – Like “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel”
“The Great Budapest Hotel” is inspired by written work (good), but is a very popular movie (bad, because there are long stretches of visual stuff that just isn’t going to work, listening to it).
/off topic/ Our TV broadcast technology used an FM audio subcarrier, which you could pick up on FM band, before we got FM radio which drowned it out. I used to lie in bed listening to movies. I was so irritated by “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” that I stopped… The movie is episodic, with strong emotional arcs. The TV station had put an Ad break at every resolution, so at the point where you want to lean back and take a breath, a brutal loud advertisement came on instead. I cannot express in words how painful that was. Then we got FM radio and the opportunity was lost. /back to your normal program/
You have to just accept that most movies are going to end with a big fight or chase or dance scene. Up to that point, the ones that are based on books are sometimes carried by the dialog.
If you can find them, any album from Firesign Theater would be perfect–all dialogue and definitely hold up to multiple listenings because there’s so much weirdness going on constantly.
I think I have everything they’ve done on vinyl, and now as mp3s…
They run the gamut, from history (“Waiting for the Electrician” does the settling of America, and the interplay between the Europeans and the “Injuns” is as hilarious as it is poignant); to parodies of movies and TV (“Don’t Crush That Dwarff…” contains Porgie & Mudhead’s search for their lost high school); and they even deconstruct the future (“I Think We’re all Bozos on This Bus”).
But they’ve also done the best parody of old time radio dramas, “Nick Danger”, and, though not too many have heard it, one of the best Sherlock Holmes pastisches: “The Tale of the Giant Rat of Sumatra”.
I’ve resisted quoting from the above, because I’d be typing all night. Suffice to say that there’s no better source of brilliant one-liners (followed by The Princess Bride, The Big Lebowsky, and then The Bible).
That’s the first one that came to mind for me, as well. For an older film, “His Girl Friday” has got to have one of the sharpest, densest, and wittiest dialogues in film ever performed. I tend not to be an “classic film” aficionado at all, but that movie tickles me.
Umbrellas of Cherbourg. The whole thing is musical, and I often just put it on (Youtube) just for backgrouind music when Im at the computer. Featuring Michel LeGrande’s music, from the 1965 film, all sung in French. (This particular print is subtitled in Hungarian, but never mind that.)
Let’s choose La La Land, Sing, Her (best recommendation).