Where I Watched It: Tubi
English Audio Description: hell To The Yes!
This is barely a review of Minari, which I should probably review, but I really wanted to talk a lot about how great it is that Tubi has audio description, even if it’s just on a handful of titles right now. Tubi has started offering audio description as of June, and if you follow the Audio Description Project (adp.acb.org) you can find their current list. They are a fast service, so their offerings are changing a lot. The way i use it is that audio description, like on Max and Netflix, shows up as a genre. So, if you go to search by that, you will see a list of audio described titles. I won’t lie and tell you that every movie on here is a winner, but some are.
Obviously, Minari is an Oscar nominee for Best Picture, and due to the Korean nature of the film, set in Arkansas, I really wanted to understand it, so i didn’t watch it initially. I’m glad Tubi afforded me this opportunity, as it oddly hosts a ton of movies that I previously struggled to find AD back in the day, including The humans and Zola, as well as Jurassic Park, which I reviewed as part of my 40 For 40, and lambasted Peacock (a universal company) for being unable to host audio description for the cornerstone of their company. Then, July turns around, and Tubi has Jurassic Park AND Jurassic World. Go Figure.
So, please take some time to watch something from Tubi. Honestly, some of those titles sound terrible, but there are some gems there. You just have to scroll past things that sound like they were made by The Asylum.
Quick take on Minari. I think it benefitted a lot from releasing out of the pandemic, which lessened the competition. I’m not sure this is truly a Best Picture nominee, but I also wouldn’t call it bad by any measure. i just remember the films from that year, and I think in a world where Nomadland won Best Picture, it says a lot about how voting landed that season. Though, as a life long fan, I’m happy Steven Yuen is now an Oscar nominee (and recent Emmy nominee).
I grew up in Southwest Missouri, so I’m familiar with this area of Arkansas, and I never knew it had a Korean population. I’ve been to Roger’s, which is name dropped in the movie, and it’s a beautiful area. I think Minari took full advantage of this beauty, and mixed it with a cultural family drama in a fish out of water scenario, and all the themes just worked. it’s about a man dreaming to provide for his family, and chasing that American dream, and those films always seem to catch on when they are good.
The audio description was human, and I wouldn’t have understood the film without all the translation, so I’m grateful to the narration team behind this.
Go support Tubi. It’s free (ad supported), and let them know we blind folk appreciate audio description and want even more of it.
Final Grade: A-
