I only listen to the commentaries of the films I truly fall in love with to learn more about the filmmakers’/actors’ processes and motivations. For the most part I agree…most of the time commentaries are bland and boring, with the filmmakers patting themselves on the back in each scene. But, in some instances, the commentaries point out things (artistically or thematically) that I hadn’t seen or noticed before that enhance the film. And, in rare instances, the commentary is actually amusing. A good example of both of these is the commentary on the “Sideways” DVD with Paul Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church…the two of them crack jokes through the whole commentary while simultaneously giving notes on how every last detail of the movie, even the color of their shirts, were symbols of the themes director Alexander Payne was trying to emulate. It was interesting and funny, but it is the only commentary I can honestly say that I have sat through and enjoyed. For the most part I usually skip it.
I rarely do… but I did go all out with my Extended Lord of the Rings DVDs. (my advice: don’t listen to the director’s commentary. listen to the actor’s commentary.) And Ron B beat me to it but Sideways has excellent commentary! Miles wears blue shirts for the entire film expect when their getting gas near the end. (before jack “trashes” the Saab)
I mostly listen to TV on DVD commentaries like The Office or South Park. Aqua Teen Hunger Force has some hilarious commentaries where (some professors I think) compare the main trio to philosophers.
Roger Ebert’s commentary for Citizen Kane is fantastic. Usually I just listen to commentaries for comedies and TV shows.
save yourself all the money for college and learn on your own time. Plus you dont’ have to turn in any homework. I personally love commmentary an extremely helpful tool for fellow filmmakers!
I agree with Adam Suraf about the Del Toro’s great commentary on Hellboy 2. Actually anything with Del Toro talking is amazing. I love commentaries and if a film that I love doesnt have commentary that really hurts the chances of me buying it. David Gordon Green’s commentaries are always very interesting and wierdly funny.
critics commentary tracks are absolutely great for me. and if its a director i really love, i’d like to listen to him too. tarantino’s track on “true romance” was fun for me.
I almost always listen to Criterion commentaries. Among others, Robert Rodriguez’s are the closest I’ll ever get to film school, and some – like This Is Spinal Tap and the “Lemony Snicket” commentary on A Series of Unfortunate Events – are just too playful to miss.
Roger Ebert does a great commentary on Dark City. And Bruce Campbell’s commentary on Bubba Ho Tep is quite amusing. He does it in character(Elvis).
Robert Lacheney’s commentary on The 400 Blows is particularly revealing. Certainly it takes a lot of effort to sit through a film with it turned on, but you get some fascinating tidbits every now and then. It’s especially good when you get filmmakers, not critics, discussing their own work. I also like hearing the cohorts from “Freaks and Geeks” talk about the series that would make none of them famous as adults. The point is, just like the films you are watching, commentary is hit or miss. Now as for blu-ray live chat sessions…..
The worst commentary track i’ve heard was by Nicholson on The Passenger. He didn’t really talk about the film, antonioni, or anything else in particular. Most of the time you could just hear the film because he’d have nothing to say.
I remember one instance, when him and Maria Schneider are walking into a hotel, he says something along the lines of “Sleep ain’t the only thing we’re going to do.”
Ebert’s commentary on Beyond the Valley of the Dolls is extremely enlightening and surprisingly hilarious. John Waters’ commentaries are always totally amusing, even if, like your pervy old uncle, you get to hear the same stories over and over.
I listen to every commentary I can, often times right after my first viewing of a movie. I love them. My favorite is the commentary on Blood Simple.
i avoid watching these commentaries, cuz i feel itll spoil the effect that the film has just had on me….maybe ill watch em later.
to Jonathan Poritsky, I also love the Freaks and Geeks commentary, along with the commentary for Undeclared. Some of it is funnier than the actual show. If anyone wants to hear an extremely strange commentary, that this entirely counts but check out the commentary for the Ricky Gervais’ stand up comedy DVD Politics. The commentary for it is so strange and way funnier than the actual stand up material.
I’m probably alone in this, but I find commentaries to be really distracting. Hence, I never listen to them, although I can see how they are useful.
I’m a total film geek and always listen to the commentaries after I’ve seen the film w/out them. I just really love listening to the filmmakers talk about their experiences, but I’ve also heard some really boring ones. I usually stop the commentary if it’s putting me to sleep…….
Bookwibble I dont understand how you find it distracting? I mean if you listening to commentary then whats distracting about that…your not suppose to be listening to the audio from the film.
I agree with Missy, one learns more about filmmaking from DVD commentaries than any film school. That said, there’s nothing like actually making a film. The best commentaries are from directors who realise that it’s largely film students listening, and speak to that audience. When they don’t realise this you get those dreadful commentaries where the director just muddles awkwardly through, saying stuff like “oh yeah, I remember shooting this, the, uh, sound designer Steve Steveson is really great, he’s a prince, really… yeah… hmmm, and here’s Joe Smithson… such a great actor… and here the main character is going through a door, to this room here… uhmm…”
I listen to most commentaries. If the movie is an important classic, then the commentary can help provide historic footnotes or a few interesting facts. If it’s a small indie film then the commentary usually explains the process behind the scenes and how they managed to pull off this production with such a small cash flow.
Then there are the craptastic ones. The commentaries of either the film makers attempting to defend their terrible film or gloating about it.
I will always listen to a Terry Gilliam commentary, because he’s such an entertaining presence, and it never gets old hearing about how the film you’re watching nearly didn’t get finished/produced/etc.
As for the others, it depends. If i can find time, i will, but there’s so many more films to get to.
A friend of mine instructed me to NEVER listen to Nicolas Roeg’s commentary on ‘Walkabout.’ He described it as de-mystifying, which is the ultimate kiss-of-death when it comes to commentaries for me.
This morning I watched Hiroshi Teshigahara’s “Pitfall” and listened to a “video essay” on the disc. It was only 15 or 20 minutes and it wasn’t too bad. The critic had some interesting background on the film and the wide variety of styles involved. Unfortunately, this was definitely one of those film theorists who think you can never read too much into anything. He had this elaborate theory that the use of white always meant something; being as this is a black and white film, of course, just about every single bloody shot fell prey to his theory. I kept wanting to say, “You know, sometimes a white shirt is just a white shirt. Sometimes the sun is just the sun. Sometimes sand is just sand.”
no, never, can’t see the point. i’d rather watch a documentary
i usually give all tracks a chance, but if im not interested in the first few minutes, then i really dont bother. one of the better tracks out there that i loved listening to, was annet insdorf for the 3 colours trilogy. i really dug that, because she was so close to kieslowski, i felt confident in a lot of the things she was saying.
Listen to Sodergergh on Schizopolis, he interviews himself and asks the most inane questions you can think of, it’s quite brilliant. The commentary on Straw Dogs I find very fascinating. Any commentary on a Werner Herzog film is engrossing, not only because of his brutal honesty equally matched with his mysterious ways, but I personally can’t get enought of hearing his German accent. To say “I’d never listen to a commentary” is ignorant. Some really do suck while some are insightful, humorous, etc… I agree about giving them a few minutes and you’ll usually know if it’s worth listening all the way through. Give it a try you might learn something.
I enjoy some director commentaries, especially Cameron Crowe.
Crowe on the director’s cut of Almost Famous is great, as is his commentary on Say Anything.
I also enjoyed John Milius on Big Wednesday.
I do NOT like Coppola’s commentaries on the Godfathers.
I do wish that the directors would talk more about the process sometimes and less about meaning, I could care less about the meaning.
But at the same time, I love all the behind the scenes stories, the jokes, that’s what makes Crowe’s so much fun.
I think one of the best directors who give really good commentaries is Martin Scorsese. Very knowledgeable about the craft of filmmaking concerning how he makes his films and how a certain shot in his films could reference other films. Someone mentioned Roger Ebert’s commentary for Citizen Kane. I believe it’s very good showing how the technical aspects of the film were put together such as the use of special effects.
Rodney Welch
Do you ever listen to film commentaries? To me, they’re a little like footnotes in books: helpful if you need them. With certain films by Ozu, for example, it helps to have Donald Ritchie on hand to explain what may not be perfectly clear to a Western viewer. Otherwise, I tend to reject them for aesthetic reasons. I’m no longer interested in how that brilliant shot was achieved, because all such stories tend to be the same. Besides, how doesn’t matter as much as why. I’m interested in the finished film and what that means as a work of art or a work of entertainment. I don’t want to sit through it again and see it through any other eyes than my own — or, at least, not for awhile. It’s good to bring in other voices when it comes to dealing with a film or a book, but it’s more important to know your own thoughts and your own reaction first.