Comments on: Talking over the Talkies

Talking over the Talkies

ZachsMind — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 19:48:34 -0800

Ever wonder if that DVD commentary might put you to sleep? Well, wonder no more. Learn about the first, the worst, and find out what other people think are the best. Vote for your favorites, and add your own reviews. "The definitive commentary track database" is at your service. Link courtesy of Whedonesque.

By: carsonb

carsonb — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 19:54:36 -0800

Terry Gilliam does do a great commentary---he get 4 in the top 10 and a few more further down---though I'd rate HST's above the director's on Fear & Loathing. EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

By: troybob

troybob — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 20:14:51 -0800

john waters does the best dvd commentary ever

By: intermod

intermod — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 20:16:53 -0800

The commentary for Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is the best, and not even on that list bloated with nerdware. I no longer think Val Kilmer is a complete ass, and Robert Downey Jr. is elevated to god-like status. Note: see movie and listen to commentary before snarking about previous statements. Your Favorite Commentary Track Sucks.

By: absalom

absalom — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 20:26:20 -0800

The nerdocracy is out in force! Excellent to see the wonderful wonderful UHF commentary get some love. Hard to believe the commentary for John Carpenter's Mouth of Madness wasn't on the worst list. Listening to some guy ramble about lighting every scene while carpeter just encourages him is horrible. I guess he makes up for it with some others, but also no They Live! on the list. I also seem to be in the minority about Fight Club - I thought the screenwriter and novel writer duo was fantastic. I guess I'm just a fan of director/writer commentary, though - I found the entire Buffy ones great except, of course, of the one chatty one with Seth Green. I also thought the Goonies Full Cast Commentary got kind of obnoxious after about 20 minutes, so I probably have biases. I am also sad to see that the Carrot Top commentary for Rules of Attraction is missing. You'd think it's the worst idea ever, but it's really comically surreal.

By: fungible

fungible — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 20:31:07 -0800

Gotta give love to Commentary Tracks of the Damned.

By: liquorice

liquorice — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 20:48:49 -0800

Hee, I saw this on Whedonesque, too. Not surprised to see the Serenity commentary was at the top of the listas , considering Joss has the ability to be entertaining/witty/fun/insightful all in one!

By: liquorice

liquorice — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 20:51:58 -0800

(Totally not bias)

By: stinkycheese

stinkycheese — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 20:59:08 -0800

At least two Kevin Smith titles, and no Werner Herzog? In a top 100 list? Rediculous.

By: Joseph Gurl

Joseph Gurl — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 21:16:30 -0800

Herzog is the best.

By: quin

quin — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 21:16:54 -0800

I listen to a lot of commentary tracks. I dunno why, but I'm fascinated by them. I've always liked Robert Rodriguez tracks because he really goes into detail as to how he manages to do stuff on the cheap. But I think my favorite commentary (or at least my favorite that is first coming to mind) is the crew commentary from the first Resident Evil movie. Milla Jovovich and Michelle Rodriguez's banter is just damn funny. As I recall the commentary from The Rundown with the Rock was also quite entertaining. So yeah, that's the hook for me. Tell me how you did stuff or have the cast being funny.

By: wfc123

wfc123 — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 21:18:13 -0800

Your Favorite Commentary Track Sucks It apparently does. But I found Jerry Seinfeld laughing at his own show fun to listen to. Julia-Louis Dreyfus & Jason Alexander are bores, however. They seemed to act like they were above it all - or bemused by the task.

By: bobo123

bobo123 — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 21:18:18 -0800

At least two Kevin Smith titles, and no Werner Herzog? In a top 100 list? Rediculous. Any Werner Herzog commentary is tremendous... like people are always getting maimed and shot at during his shoots. Add to that he's always doing these intersting things during filming, like that film where he had all the actors under hypnosis. Fascinating stuff.

By: SPrintF

SPrintF — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 21:21:28 -0800

I like the commentary for Stir of Echoes. It provides what I really want in a director's commentary: an intelligent, in-depth discussion of how he put the film together, the kinds of problems he encountered and the solutions he came up with.

By: Iridic

Iridic — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 21:39:22 -0800

A dead-on addendum to the Commentaries of the Damned: The 15 People You Meet Listening To DVD Audio Commentaries.

By: muckster

muckster — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 21:52:50 -0800

The Almost Famous track is a unique train wreck: Cameron Crowe and his proud mother. She has a couple of worthwhile things to say during the early scenes with Frances McDormand, but for rest of the film, she just gushes about her son. Ugh.

By: Arch_Stanton

Arch_Stanton — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 21:54:31 -0800

Not much validity to these lists, really. All these rankings are based on a minimal amount of votes. Serenity, which I liked, took the top spot with only 10 votes. My favorite commentary is the fake one done by "Kenneth Loring" for the first Coen Brothers flick, Blood Simple.

By: thecjm

thecjm — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 22:02:41 -0800

That list is a fraud! Neither of the two greatest commentary tracks I have ever heard are anywhere to be found. 1) The Critereon of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas has a commentary track with Hunter S Thompson being insane, audibly snorting things, taking random phone calls and making weird squealing noises when his lizard brain takes over then resuming his sentence without missing a beat. 2) The Schwartzenegger commentary on Conan the Barbarian is one of the funniest things I have ever heard. I bought the DVD a few years ago and have never since seen that film without the commentary on. Ahnold doesn't remember half the shoot and loves to describe what is happening on screen instead of talking about it. "This is me riding a horse" Director John Milnius tries his best to hammer home any imagery he put in the film "He is strong. Like steel!" And the greatest open to a commentary ever: Ahnold: "This is John Milnius" Milnius: "And this is Arnold Schwartzenegger" Ahnold: "And if you are believing this, you are also believing that there are little Richard Simmons juniors running around. HA!" Classic.

By: AndrewStephens

AndrewStephens — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 22:16:49 -0800

Just in case anyone missed it, the Onion's AVClub Commentary Tracks of the Blessed covers the same ground. I can personally recomend the Starship Troopers commentary, its great! Both the director and writer appear to have black belts in shit-stirring, and aren't afraid to use them against each other or anyone else they feel didn't like their movie enough.

By: Astro Zombie

Astro Zombie — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 22:22:24 -0800

CHUD. Nuff said.

By: Sparx

Sparx — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 22:25:09 -0800

Zachsmind: you total Whedonesquer you!

By: KirkJobSluder

KirkJobSluder — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 22:30:55 -0800

Heh, they didn't have the commentary track for Blood Simple which seems to start off as the stuffy film critic Kenneth Loring patiently explaining how the film was made, and then gets more and more bizzare with lines like, "actually, getting this shot is difficult, they filmed this upside down and backwards..." and "due to budget cuts, that's an animatronic dog, the state of the art has progressed to the point where it is cheaper to use robot dogs than a real dog trainer..." The middle of the piece has Loring spin off this wild shaggy dog story about how the original script was a spy movie centered on a character's wrist-watch.

By: ZachsMind

ZachsMind — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 22:40:11 -0800

The wonderful thing about this website though is if you feel a commentary is missing, or have something to add, you can do it on the website, rather than, y'know, bitch about how it's not there. You can do something about it. That's cool. And you can vote your favorites or pan the ones you don't like. Admittedly it's still in its infancy, but when the ten or so votes become several hundred, then the results will have more weight to them. I'll be sad if Joss ever gets toppled from the number one spot though. I really dig his commentary.

By: ZachsMind

ZachsMind — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 22:42:45 -0800

Sparx: "you total Whedonesquer you!" I'm in good company. =) And with that cryptic comment, I'm going to bed.

By: liquorice

liquorice — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 22:54:40 -0800

Did Serenity just topple to 87?!

By: solid-one-love

solid-one-love — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 23:27:51 -0800

And jumped to 66. Two haters just gave it a rating of 0. Way to go, haters. Like that's not gonna backfire.

By: Silentgoldfish

Silentgoldfish — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 23:57:13 -0800

At least they've got Blade 2 rated relatively highly. Seriously entertaining commentary and it's such a fluffy movie that it never makes these lists!

By: jca

jca — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 01:05:24 -0800

The Worst: Any commentary by directors Peter Farrelly and Bobby Farrelly -- they just name every background extra, their relation to that person, and any details about said person having nothing to do with the film. They have done this on every single commentary for their films on DVD. They really have no interest in talking about anything related to making of the film, what's happening on screen at the time, etc.

By: TwoWordReview

TwoWordReview — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 01:38:36 -0800

I don't think I've ever seen Terry Gilliam rated so highly as I have on this list. Where though are the Sam Mendes films? American Beauty and Road to Perdition were two of the most informative commentaries on the craft of film-making I've ever watched.

By: slimepuppy

slimepuppy — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 02:06:48 -0800

Solaris remake at 89? I'd say it was probably the best commentary I've ever listened to. A brilliant balance of the technical&financial information along with the pure art of film making and the techniques involved. It works mainly thanks to the great back-and-forth between Cameron and Soderbergh. They have a lot more common ground than I would have initially thought and there is also a great deal of respect for each other that becomes obvious when listening to the commentary. Also, both guys have a really good sense of humour. One of those commentaries that really makes you understand and appreciate the amount of thought and work that can go into making a film. My second favorite commentary does not even make the list... Way of the Gun with writer/director Christopher McQuarrie and the composer Joe Kraemer. It's a really interesting commentary, with a nice balance of 'directorial' information and relatively rare conversations about the music (there's also a slightly inferior commentary track for the score). What I love most about is how candid McQuarrie is about his short-comings as a first time director and him recounting the difficulty of getting the film done. And yeah, I agree, most Fincher commentaries should be required 'listening' at film school. The man knows his stuff and is extremely focused. You don't have to like the man (or his films), but you have to give him respect for the amount of effort and thought he puts into every single frame of his films. So, yeah, thanks for the find! This is truly manna from heaven for a commentary nerd like myself.

By: well_balanced

well_balanced — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 03:50:56 -0800

I seem to recall thinking that quite a bit of the commentary on the first couple seasons of The Simpson's DVD set was hilarious....sort of like discovering lost episodes from the glory days.

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 03:53:23 -0800

On the Sopranos season 5 set, actress Drea de Matteo's commentary (over the episode where her character Adriana is killed) is entertaining. No chin-stroke-worthy deep insights into the mysteries of the Creative Process or anything, just a fun listen from a groovy gal.

By: muckster

muckster — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 04:28:41 -0800

Soderbergh's also hilarious on Schizopolis, doing some sort of fake-pompous shtick if I remember correctly. Or maybe he meant it.

By: john

john — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 04:54:49 -0800

Yeah Muckster, Steven Soderbergh interviews Steven Soderbergh the meglomaniac movie mogul.

By: inthe80s

inthe80s — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 06:11:26 -0800

I'm not sure about many of the ones in the best/worst I saw listed, but I'll certainly chip and agree the SpaceBalls commentary had to be the worst I ever heard. I picked it up and saw that Mel Brooks had done the commentary. I thought "Wow, the man himself, this should be good". The reality is that he didn't remember nearly anything about the film and didn't say much and just rambled. I wish someone had been taking the time to review these a long time ago, it certainly helps to know which might be useful to sit through and which to skip.

By: Banky_Edwards

Banky_Edwards — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 06:16:46 -0800

I always thought the best commentary track of all time is the reunion of the kids on the Willy Wonka (original) DVD. Freakin' hysterical. Veruca & Veronica discussing their scheme to "share" Charlie because they both had a crush on him is so adorable. And speaking of adorable, I'm a big fan of the Say Anything commentary.

By: dodgygeezer

dodgygeezer — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 06:56:33 -0800

My favorite commentary is Graham Linehan's track on the Father Ted Christmas Special. He clearly doesn't like the episode and audibly cringes throughout. About half way through he shouts "Jesus, is it still going?" After this he's so bored he starts telling jokes. Having said all this, Linehan does good commentaries and he's often funny and informative although he has a tendancy to be far too critical of himself.

By: NationalKato

NationalKato — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 07:02:30 -0800

The commentary track on This Is Spinal Tap is hands-down the best, since McKean and gang are in-character throughout. It's like a second movie.

By: ZachsMind

ZachsMind — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 07:54:34 -0800

* is sad *

By: dr. fresh

dr. fresh — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 08:17:35 -0800

My favorite is the one for "Bound", the Wachowski Brothers film befor they made the matrix. They (the W brothers, Gina Gershon, Joe Pantoliano, and someone else?) spend most of the commentary calmly describing the movie, with occasional comments like, "where's Jennifer Tilly? She's supposed to be here". Jennifer finally shows up about 15 minutes before the end and totally hijacks the commentary with non-stop talking.

By: asavage

asavage — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 08:31:15 -0800

Nobody's mentioned my favorite bad commentary, on The Matrix. You can listen to Carrie Ann Moss, John Gaeta (the fx director) and the editor (who apparently was a real tool). Listening to the editor try pick up lines on Carrie Ann Moss is priceless, as is his attempt to wrest meaningful commentary from an audibly (lots of heavy sighs) annoyed Gaeta.

By: notmydesk

notmydesk — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 08:33:59 -0800

Thanks for posting this! I'm a commentary junkie and I'm always on the lookout for a good track. Haven't seen them mentioned here: Bruce Campbell and Sam Raimi on the Evil Dead series commentary tracks. A lot of great info on low-budget filmmaking, they love pointing out their own mistakes, and they're both hilarious.

By: Iridic

Iridic — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 08:39:11 -0800

Oh, and don't forget Jayson Blair and Stephen Glass's commentary for The Goonies.

By: geoff.

geoff. — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 09:03:45 -0800

This Is Spinal Tap is really the best ("Were you using two-in-one conditioner at this point?"), but the 7th Seal had a really good, informative commentary track.

By: Secret Life of Gravy

Secret Life of Gravy — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 09:11:03 -0800

Wow, I wish I could add my thoughts to the greatest/worst list but the truth is I have never had time to listen to a single commentary track; it takes all my viewing time to watch all the movies, documentaries, and TV shows being released on DVD once. So my question is, "Are y'all just giving up on new stuff in order to rewatch old favorites? "

By: octothorpe

octothorpe — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 09:22:06 -0800

I really enjoy the commentary podcasts that Ronald Moore does for Battlestar Galactica (which I think are then recycled for the DVDs). He chain smokes and drinks scotch through them and is pretty honest about what he thinks works and what he doesn't like about the episode.

By: pmurray63

pmurray63 — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 09:27:31 -0800

I thought the Matchstick Men commentary was great. It alternates between director Ridley Scott and the two screenwriters. Scott provides thoughtful insights about characters and settings, and at one point gets into a discussion of what lens he used for a scene and why. The two screenwriters start by describing their awe that Scott wanted to film their script, and talk about how they adapted the novel. They happily point out what Scott contributed (for example, the parking structure sequence, based on a one-sentence description in the script). I think they all talk about how many clues they should dare provide the audience with about the ending.

By: MythMaker

MythMaker — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 09:36:15 -0800

Not everything is good, Gravy. In fact, I'd argue that most movies are crap. Why not get a more in-depth experience with the good stuff, as opposed to wasting your time with more junk?

By: drstein

drstein — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 10:55:54 -0800

Some of the most interesting commentary and "how we did it" stuff that I've seen in a long time was on the DVD for the movie "Ghost Ship." The movie may have been so-so, but the behind-the-scenes for the special effects & gore was pretty damn good.

By: grubi

grubi — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 11:05:28 -0800

I like a commentary where the people involved sound like they're having fun as well as telling great stories. Commentaries like the ones for UHF or The Goonies are great for that, but my favorite is still Mallrats. Although, I can't believe the pasted-together commentaries for Seven and Fight Club are considered *good*. I love both of those films, but if the people involved in the commentary aren't all in the same room watching at the same time, it's JARRING and ANNOYING.

By: PinkStainlessTail

PinkStainlessTail — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 11:10:17 -0800

Any Guy Maddin commentary is worth a listen, and the ones with screenwriter George Toles are amazing. I actually ripped them to listen on my MP3 player they're so interesting. The audio commentary for series 2 of the Mighty Boosh is almost funnier than the show in some places, especially when Rich Fulcher and Noel Fielding really get going ("Hey Christy! 50,000 dollars for a crown of thorns? What the hell?")

By: Sandor Clegane

Sandor Clegane — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 11:25:02 -0800

The Schwartzenegger commentary on Conan the Barbarian is one of the funniest things I have ever heard. I second that. Here is another fine excerpt (I'm paraphrasing, but it's pretty close) Schwarzenegger: What is the Wheel of Pain? Milius: It's for grinding grain. Schwarzenegger: Well where did they get the grain?? Milius: From out in the fields. As far as the top 100 goes, I have listened to many of those listed and I have to agree that they are all excellent. I really enjoy listening to Gilliam and Coppola esepcially.

By: ZachsMind

ZachsMind — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 11:46:07 -0800

"I actually ripped them to listen on my MP3 player they're so interesting." Woah, cool! ...how do ya do that?

By: PinkStainlessTail

PinkStainlessTail — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 12:06:20 -0800

I use DVD Decrypter in IFO mode to grab just the audio stream as an AC3 file. Then I use DB Poweramp to convert it to MP3. You probably would like more detail than that: I could've sworn I found the actual steps on doom9 but I can't seem to dig them up. There's a couple AskMe threads about doing it too, where people suggest a number of different methods.

By: bullitt 5

bullitt 5 — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 12:46:05 -0800

I recently enjoyed Jodie Foster's commentary track for Contact. One of the first tracks I've listened to from my dvd's, it was a great mix of memories from shooting, insight into the character, and her appreciation of other people's work in the film.

By: dobbs

dobbs — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 19:53:37 -0800

Howard Suber speaking on the Graduate Criterion laserdisc is the best ever. End of story. And Gilliam? Thanks for the laugh. His Fisher King commetary is pretension defined.

By: Sparx

Sparx — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 20:24:07 -0800

Wow - lots of great suggestions to commentaries to check out. Thanks all - a trip to the video store is in order. because I only own one DVD. Serenity. Not that I hang out at Whedonesque or anything. Swear.

By: ZachsMind

ZachsMind — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 22:06:19 -0800

You know what I wish had commentaries? Dead Like Me season two. I'd like to hear Patinkin ream Showtime a new one in that subtle but underhanded and passive aggressive way that only he can. [bad Mandy Patinkin impersonation] "We offer you great writing, you kick us onto the street. We offer you tremendous talent and a unique perspective on life and a guaranteed nonstop comedy drama suspense you name it we got it -- don't want it? You throw us out on the street. Fine. I'll just go whore myself at the temples of Procrit and Crestor and make a hell of a lot more money than you sorry ass shits ever paid me. It won't fuel my soul but at least I can look at myself in the mirror in the morning which is more than I could say for you sorry ass network executive turdballs with legs. Oh look! Here's another scene where Jasmine upstages me! The damn whore! See what I have to put up with? No really I love her to pieces but she needs to shave her feet - don't tell her I said that."

By: jkaczor

jkaczor — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 22:14:50 -0800

WTF! The 'Brother Bear' commentary by Bob & Doug (Dave Thomas & Rick Moranis) didn't make the top 100? Man, I hated that movie with a passion - until I spun up their commentary. One of the most hilarious, surreal experiences ever... We learn the truth as to how Disney really animates it's films, 'cartoon stunt doubles' and chipmunks as harbingers of danger.

By: jkaczor

jkaczor — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 22:36:00 -0800

Ooops, I guess 'Brother Bear' did exist - their search box is not too reliable. This has been around since 2004? And no one informed me - dammit MeFi, you are loosing your edge!

By: brundlefly

brundlefly — Sat, 02 Sep 2006 12:52:38 -0800

Glad to see the Escape From NY commentary on there, although I thought Carpenter and Russell were more entertaining on the Big Trouble In Little China commentary. absalom, I agree with you about the Mouth of Madness commentary. Even the hilariously frequent flicking of Carpenter's lighter couldn't save it. To the worst list I'd add Deep Blue Sea. Harlin is fine and informative, but Sam Jackson just makes horrible jokes and talks about golf. *SPOILER!!!* Luckily he leaves after his character is eaten.