Today’s question comes from reader Bill, who wants to know: What movies would you recommend to the visually impaired?
I suppose answers to that query could include movies that are dialogue heavy and so rely on less on following visual action, as well as DVDs that include good audio descriptions of the action.
I have no trouble with my vision, and neither does anyone I know, so things like DVD audio descriptions are not on my radar, and I can’t remember ever noticing whether a DVD includes such a feature. One notable exception is on some of newer British editions of the old Doctor Who stories, which include not only audio descriptions but audio navigation as well — it’s impossible to avoid discovering these bonuses, because the first thing you hear when the DVDs start playing is an audio reminder to hit a certain button on your remote to begin audio navigation. That’s a pretty cool feature that I suspect lots more people would appreciate and could take advantage of.
(If you have a suggestion for a QOTD, feel free to email me. Responses to this QOTD sent by email will be ignored; please post your responses here.)
Any classic silent movie or a film shown in full surround smell-o-vision.
First thing that came to mind was Hard Day’s Night: great script and amazing songs.
Philadelphia Story– very distinctive voices, & character is revealed chiefly through dialogue rather than through the visuals.
Wit would be a nice choice too.
A lot of John Cusack movies, especially “High Fidelity.” Shakespeare plays/movies, often, too. Both kinds of movies are very talky, and the words are often the point.
When I was a kid mowing lawns, I used to tape record the audio of movies from the VCR and play them on my walkman — a few movies made the transition really well from being a visual medium to an audio-only experience.
The Princess Bride, for example. And Braveheart if you can believe it.
Of course, for dialogue heavy films you can’t beat Tarantino. Aaron Sorkin too. I bet The American President works really well as an audio recording. ANy political thriller or drama.
Oh, and Clerks!
My Dinner with Andre.
Ahh Bluejay you beat me to it!
Adaptation
South Park? Musicals in general would tend to fare better than average I think
Dogville was a winner.