When I can’t hear what an actor is saying onscreen, I know something’s up. Whether the protagonist mumbles to develop his character, or the director mixes complicated sounds for effect, I’d rather understand the movie. Maybe that makes me a terrible, uncultured moviegoer, but I’m not too troubled by this realization—nor am I particularly shocked. (I took a film class this past semester, and hated every ‘classic’ French film we watched. I respect film as an art form, but I also think that too many out-of-the-box decisions can detract from the basic entertainment value inherent in films.)

Some of the worst cases of this are as follows:

1. “Interstellar”—This is actually out of control. I couldn’t understand half of the film.
2. “Batman: The Dark Knight Rises”—Bane, bane, bane.
3. “Apocalypse Now”—I don’t know how to describe Marlon Brando’s mumbling. I legitimately turned on my subtitles so I could read his speech. Just see for yourself:

4. “Gone Girl”—Surprisingly, I really struggled to hear the initial dialogue between Amy and Nick.
5. “Brokeback Mountain”—It pains me deeply to say this, because I love Heath, but… it’s hard to love what you can’t hear.