The shawshank redemption has one of the most soothing narrations. Morgan Freeman is genius

I always loved the narrated opening of Lord of the Rings: the Fellowship of the Ring. Kate Blanchett as Galadriel telling the history of the ring setting the backstory of the world and allowing us to easily follow what happens throughout the trilogy. It is simple, effective and epic all at the same time.

I’m a huge fan of Kevin Spacey’s narration in The Usual Suspects. Listening to him weave this whole world only to pull the rug out on it is amazing and something many actors couldn’t pull off through voice alone.

"It's Such a Beautiful Day" is a great mix of many of these categories. Definitely deserved at least a mention imo.

I absolutely adore Don Hertzfeldt's narration in It's Such a Beautiful Day. An incredible trip through the mind of a man dying of a brain tumour that I have never seen replicated.

The narations in Wong Kar Wai’s works are great also and deserve at least an honorable mention. My favorite one is from Fallen Angels, which perfectly takes up a poetic quality that is unique only to his movies.

The original "Conan the Barbarian" deserves a mention. The film relied heavily on narration combined with music and minimal, but memorable dialog which really makes it stand out from other action/adventure/fantasy films including it's own sequel. Also, Gonzo/Charles Dickens in "The Muppet Christmas Carol" is a good example of an omniscient narrator who's also a character.

I've been waiting literal years for the big lebowski to get a spot on one of your lists. This did a lot for me, cheers

Martin Sheen's narration in Apocalypse Now is the backbone of the movie, with quotable material. It's one of my favorites along with Shawshank.

There's something to be said for the narration in the Perks of Being a Wallflower capturing the whole feeling of the film whilst intentionally being addressed to someone who is only observing it. On a separate and more hilarious note, and almost in its own category, the choir singing "holy sh*tb*lls it's the juggernaut" in the Deadpool 2 juggernaut fight scene was just fantastic

This is why I come to cinefix. Good list as always. You can’t please everybody who want to see their favorites, but this was good.

Gotta give a shoutout to The Emperor's New Groove. It has without a doubt my favorite comedic narration in a movie

I was hoping for a "Greek Chorus" catagory: Hercules, Little Shop of Horrors, There's Something About Mary, and especially Cat Ballou.

I know its briefly mentioned here, but Ray Liotta's specific narration of Goodfellas......specifically where he stands up on the witness stand at the end and breaks the fourth wall talking about how "how it didn't matter, it didn't mean anything. When i was broke I would go out and rob some more"..........such a brilliant moment

I'm glad Stranger Than Fiction is referenced here. That is one of my favorites, and the narration is a big part of it. Critiquing the authorial voice is worth mentioning specifically.

I love how the bride narrates Lucy Liu´s backstory in Kill Bill

I've always loved the narration in Juno, it brings you a tiny bit closer to a character who is often afraid to be emotionally vulnerable

I begin to tear up, even with mentions of movies I've not seen, by the way you convey with just narration, ones love for art and cinema. Thank you for this list

Although it did nothing new or special, Danny Devitos Narration in the original Matilda movie has always been so memorable to me, the juxtaposition between the kind soft narrator and the awful father, as a child I never realised they were played by the same person 😅

Thanks for focusing on Blue... an important part of history for some of us...

I'm so happy Top 10's came back. Thank you guys!

Ah another good old Cinefix list out. Can't say how happy I am seeing this

I cannot imagine opening youtube and not watching another amazing top10 from Cinefix. Since years, this videos became a celebration of cinema.

The parts of narration in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is one of my absolute favorites.

One of my fav lines in a movie ever is narrated by Leonard in Memento: "How am i supposed to heal if i can't feel time?"

I'm so happy to get another Top 10 list from y'all I almost don't care what you put on it. But, as usual, interesting and engaging. So...I'm going to say relieved to have you back.

I am sad to learn Forest Gump didn’t get a mention, that said I absolutely adore the thought effort and soul put into these lists

I appreciate starting with that clip from Adaptation. Actually this is a great list. Back in the day, someone jokingly, but truthfully called Morgan Freeman ‘The Narrator’ because during the Shawshank era he narrated MANY😊 And yes, The Dude abides.

Thanks a lot, another cinefix video that introduces me to 15 more movies I need to see

such a great list as always but as others have commented was really hoping It’s Such A Beautiful Day was given a spot or at leas mentioned. one of the best uses of narration ever imo

Yaaass!!! I love this style of countdown! Perfection ❤️

Wow! That is a very interesting look! Love this channel for bringing film-lovers like me a new experience!

Wish you had mentioned it's such a beautiful day. One of the most powerful uses of narration I've ever seen on film

Double Indemnity should have been the noir pick solely for the line "Who knew that murder could sometimes smell like honeysuckle?"

Another wonderful video, Cinefix

Here's a mini-category - the disconnected narrator. You've got arty films where somewhat related poetry is read over events, like some of the Tarkovsky films, but you've also got the inner musings of Matt Damon's character in Informant!. It's just sort of stream-of-consciousness--the character is so dishonest and disassociated from his own life experience he just fills his mind with thoughts on penguins and the like. It's one of my favorite uses of voice over because he reveals nothing by it, which is the whole point.

Love this channel and love the list. You have so many movies labeled with the wrong year. Noticed it with American Psycho first, then Taxi Driver and a few others.

Yaaaaaaaaaassssss. I love the podcasts but I've missed these lists

Clint is one of my favorite Narrators on KZfaq Love Cinefix

I was just about to comment you didn't mention stranger than fiction and you got it in at the very end. While not an all time comedy, narration is the entire premise and I do remember finding it funny back when it came out.

I hoped a shoutout for the amazing lightning speed narration of "It's such a beautiful day", with Hertzfeldt himself going from hilariously detached to, in-extremis, empathic and emotional. It was a stroke of genius in a movie full of strokes of genius.

I would love to see Cinefix best trilogy list.

The brief moments of narration in Spinal Tap. Chef's kiss

The book, ‘Film Theory: An Introduction Through the Senses’, notes ‘When it comes to sound, we try to identify a point of origin, a source. In addition, we tend to regard sound as a force or special carrier of authority, a fact on which Michel Chion bases his theory of the ‘acousmetres’, i.e. of the bodiless voice in cinema that apparently has no origin, yet is powerful and ubiquitous. Chion coined this word by combining ‘acousmatic’, an archaic term describing something that one hears but whose origin is invisible, 16 and etre, the French verb ‘to be’. With this compound word, Chion underlines the active force of sound which possesses the power to attack, invade or manipulate, rather than just being a transitory aural whiff carried by the wind. The place and origin of these ‘vocal characters’ lie neither within film nor outside it: ‘The acousmetre is this acousmatic character whose relationship to the screen involves a special kind of ambiguity and oscillation [ ... J. We may define it as neither inside nor outside the image. The acousmetre can see everything, know everything and have an impact on everything, and it is also ubiquitous. Examples of acousmetre are the wizard in THE WIZARD OF Oz (US, 1 939, Victor Fleming), the voice of the mother in PSYCHO (US, 1 960, Alfred Hitchcock), Hal, the computer in 200 1 : A SPACE ODYSSEY (GB/US, 1 968, Stanley Kubrick), or Mabuse in DAS TESTAMENT DES DR. MABUSE (G E, 1 933, Fritz Lang) . In all four films, the power of these uncanny voices must be exposed and broken within the diegetic worlds, ‘de-acousmatized’ as Chion calls it, in order to neutralize the threat they pose to the (symbolic) order (of classical narration)’. On those principles I’d like to draw some emphasis to ways that you can deploy voiceover as a convention in your work. Colloquially, voiceover in a story can be divisive due to being quite common but it’s wonderful if used well. Perhaps the most common use of voiceover in modern film is by a narrator, often the main character, to add additional context to a film. ‘Stand by Me’ is one example of this usage. Unless you can specifically justify a character directing voiceover at the audience, I’d recommend having them address their voiceover to a specific character in the story lest you be accused of lazy exposition. ‘Stand by Me’ justifies voiceover directed at the audience because the main character is revealed to be writing a novel. One way to deploy voice-over directed at a specific character is through an exchange of letters. The anime/manga franchise, ‘Dear Brother’, and various adaptations of ‘Daddy Long Legs’ both take this approach. The ‘Berserk’ episode, ‘Confession’ simply lets the audience into Casca’s mind to hear her voiceover directed at Guts as the two make love. The ending of the ‘Puella Magi Madoka Magica’ episode, ‘I Won’t Rely on Anyone Anymore’ does something similar in letting the audience into Homura’s voiceover directed at Madoka. ‘Sans Soleil’ is a documentary that frames itself through an imaginary exchange of letters via voiceover. ‘Fata Morgana’ constructs an imaginary narrative via voiceover atop B-roll of the Sahara and Sahel deserts. The ‘Neon Genesis Evangelion’ episode, ‘Weaving a Story’, begins with voiceover from the main characters’ classmates voicing their feelings about them atop footage of things that have happened thus far in the story. ‘Princess Tutu’ sometimes uses voiceover from Drosselmeyer to convey his ability to watch any area of the story world. ‘Her’ plays with voiceover in a similar way to ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ in how it explores the qualities of sentient sound.

Finally a Cinefix top ten list!!

I am totally with you on Sunset Boulevard. What a great film. And the noire narration is the chef's kiss. 👌

Why are these videos not getting more views this is what Cinefix is for me and many of us. We love this series.

Was really expecting It’s Such a Beautiful Day for the #1 spot. Also, if I had to pick an all time favorite narration it would have to be Apocalypse Now. Great list as usual.

These picks are so spot on

Always enjoyed the minstrel narration of Nat King Cole and Stubby Kaye in Cat Balou. Of course, anything Nat sang was great. What a voice. Not sure how many movies have musical narration.

The adult Scout reflecting on her childhood throughout To Kill A Mockingbird is my favorite.

Kate Blanchett as Galadriel telling the history of the ring setting the backstory of the world and allowing us to easily follow what happens throughout the trilogy. It is simple, effective and epic all at the same time.

To me a great example of the narration as the substance of the film is the mexican film La Fórmula Secreta, it's such a joy to ser the conjuction of images and the poems of Juan Rulfo giving meaning to the things on screen

Another CineFix Video!? Yessss!

The "I'm ready for my close-up" line from Sunset Boulevard has been misquoted for years. I suggest a video about misquoted movie lines and why people get them wrong. If you've done that already, let me know and I'll give it a watch.

I am so surprised that To Kill a Mockingbird did not make the list. It is a stunning example of excellent narration as well as the quintessential classic in film and literature.

Not a movie, but my favorite TV show of all time "Burn Notice" uses narration incredibly effectively. Whether it's Michael Westen describing the challenges of being a spy or actually describing spycraft, it's genius.

One movie I think fits the “narration is everything” category would be hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy. It provides insight, perspective, context, and a whoooole lot of dry humor.

Leaving Spike Lee out completely is crazy to me. That’s what makes Spike Lee great in my opinion, the use of narration as a way to pull out of the movie to tell the audience that he’s never making fictional worlds, everything he does exists within reality ad that racism doesn’t go away once the credits roll and you stand up to go home, even if it’s not a real person that he’s working with.

Last Year At Marienbad is sublime!

"Valerie's letter" from v for vendetta is quite crushing and it's awesome 😊

Where are Shawshank Redemption, Joy Luck Club, and Smoke Signals? The only narrations to make me cry.

Hedwig in one of the best musical movies ever made and it makes me happy any time, as criminally rare as it is, that is is discussed. Thank you for giving it some time, if not the number on the list❤❤❤

A NEW CINEFIX TOP 10 LIST! Thank my lucky stars!

The Prestige needed to be on this list

Please appear in my main page more! Thanks for continuing the great content

Awesome top 10

David Hyde Pierce narrating a nature documentary about humans dating from the point of view of an alien (and getting things wrong) in Mating Habits of the Earthbound Human has to be one of the funniest uses of narration.

I don't think anything will top the narration in the Hunter x Hunter anime during the Chimera Ant arc. I know it isn't a movie, but my god, the narration was unbelievably good.

Shawshank for me. That final narration is so good

I am so glad he mentioned stranger than fiction, as the premise it uses narration within the story.

Morgan Freeman's final narrated words in The Shawshank Redemption are sheer perfection: 'I hope...'

When it comes to movie rankings it doesn’t get better than this

Can’t wait to watch this haha 😅 RETURN OF THE KING

A new top ten list! You do care

Fight club is a great novel, which I never thought could be adapted to the screen. However, Fincher did a wonderful job, in no small part to Pitt, Bonham-carter and Norton who all delivered great performances. I watch it repeatedly and have even used it to show my kids what a good movie is (along with Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, The Godfather and Apocalypse Now).

So happy to see Blue on this list, though I would have loved a shout-out for 24 Hour Party People.

My personal favorite narrations are from Lars Von Trier’s “Nymphomaniac” and “House that Jack Built” (I lump these two together because I’ve always felt they’re the same film with near-opposite intentions). I just really enjoy that style of two characters going through the story together and analyzing the the events piece by piece in sort of pretentious yet interesting ways. It feels like Von Trier making fun of both himself and his audience. And in both films the stories always circle back around to the moment the conversation begins in a really fun and beautiful way.

'Ten Canoes' a low budget Australian production. Absolutely witty, and a great introduction to Aboriginal storytelling. A narrator telling a story about an ancestor telling a story. Well worth watching!

Totally left out Danny Boyle’s magnum opus, TRAINSPOTTING!!!

Truman Capote’s favorite short story “The Grass Harp” - coming of age yet retrospective narration

Not having Adaptation on this list is a travesty. The single most creative use of voiceover. The voiceover virtually molds the movie as it goes along.

Top ten movie speeches please. Theodens battle speech from Return of the King is one of my favorites.

I'm glad you guys didn't include the poorly narrated documentary about the Bluth family where the narration was confused and chaotic.

My list of best narrated movies is way different than this, but that is the greatness of film, we can all have our favorites. I love the beginning of Raising Arizona narrated by H.I. Mcdunnough. I Love Red's from Shawshank Redemption. I think Forrest Gump is a great use of Narration too. I love the three I listed because the narrations add to the story but they are not needed to understand the story. Like Stand By Me, great use of narration (like the Wonder Years). I don't like narration that is needed to actually understand the story, which encompasses most art films. The exception to this might be La Jette, which inspired the 10 Monkeys film. La Jette is amazing and a perfect use of narration.

Wow 😅 thank you guys 🙏🏼. Please keep dis up maybe a What's the difference 🔜

I feel like the "original" cinematic narration could have been a lovely focus: The Silent Era! Narration intertitles cutting between shots has been done so well in films of the era. It would be nice to see what might have made your list!

David Cronenberg’s movie Stereo has some cool narration. There are no sounds at all besides the voices of doctors discussing patients. It’s a cool dynamic.

Some of my personal fav narrated films r ones like Shawshank Redemption, Snatch, Trainspotting, Forrest Gump, Goodfellas, Zombieland, Juno, Million Dollar Baby, The Color Purple and I am Dina. Also I'm glad to have seen Watchmen and Stranger Than Fiction be mentioned.

yes Blue. Hell yes go go go. I'm so happy with this no.1 choice!!

A great example of diary narration not mentioned in the video is Heavenly Creatures. The narration is taken word-for-word from the real Pauline Parker’s diary which makes it really chilling when she so callously plans her mother’s murder.

the dreamy narration of the russian ark stands out to create a surreal journey through the st Petersburg museum is done really well.

Kind Hearts and Coronets is a crown jewel of cynical narration.

I’m not sure of the type of narration, but I liked Sam Waterston’s narration in The Great Gatsby 1974 version. The movie was widely panned at the time, but for me, it captured the feeling of the book. The costumes, the camera work, the musical score, and performances brought the essence of the story to film. A kind of restrained foreboding throughout.

Inherent Vice did brilliantly just by subverting the casting of it's narrator. To hear that story in the candy sweet crackle of Joanna Newsom, that's something else all together.

Wow, what a great list. I don't think #1 is a _narratin_ per say, to be honest, but putting something that can easily be classified as just a spoken word does have a point as it IS the extreme. However, I do find the combination of visuals and narration more appealing - like the #5 spot "Last year in Marienbad" or "I'm thinking of ending things" which was not mentioned, unfortunately. Both movies combine inner and outer thoughts, honesty and mind games, eery music and shifting visual details, so I can see why talking about both of them may seem excessive. However I do believe that the latter is different enough - it adds this very interesting meta element including other mediums - and thus represent how in modern day and age the relationship humans have with memories and self-image has become even more complicated. Both films are interesting on paper (no. there's no book for "The last year...', but other novels by Robbe-Grillet do exist and they generally do the same thing) - but adding shifting locations and purposefully inconsistent acting to the meandering voices makes the experience so much more haunting.

Goodfellas is unique not only because it has a married couple narrating it, but because of the way Karen joins the narration as soon as she joins the story. Their first two dates go horribly but the fact that she's narrating by that point tells us they're meant to be. It's used to a lesser effect with Pesci and DeNiro in Casino but still great. Not the biggest fan of the one interruption from Ralph Finne's character in The Wolf of Wall Street, but I like that picture. And of course Taxi Driver, the voice I hear in my head when I read Punisher comics.

always love your complex categories within a simple list, but @CinemaSins this list is your hell

Blue’s narration is flawless. Thank goodness the text was recently republished.

From where is the music Cinefix uses in the intro to these vids?