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Home Cinema · Explainer · 3 min Why films are loud, then quiet: taming the volume at night Films are mixed with a 20 dB gap between speech and the loudest bang, which is why late-night viewing swings between can't hear and the… (3 props) 3′min read New Releases · Review · 3 min Animol Ashley Walters' debut is a tense, claustrophobic youth-prison drama carried by a standout Tut Nyuot, with striking cinematography and… 4out of 5 Soundtracks · Explainer · 3 min A score the Academy wouldn't count: how Jonny Greenwood scored There Will Be Blood Jonny Greenwood's score for There Will Be Blood is built from new writing, his own older pieces, Brahms and Pärt, which is why the Academy… (3 props) 3′min read Home Cinema · Picker · 4 min TV or projector? Answer four questions Light decides it. A TV is brighter and always ready; a projector wins on size but only in a room you can darken. Answer four questions… (3 props) Pickquiz Soundtracks · Explainer · 5 min One synthesizer, a rainy city: how Vangelis scored Blade Runner Vangelis built the Blade Runner score almost alone: a Yamaha CS-80, a few other synthesizers and a great deal of reverb, improvised against… (3 props) 5′min read Home Cinema · Explainer · 4 min Why you can't hear the dialogue on your TV Dialogue gets lost in three places: thin TV speakers that face a wall, a surround mix folded down to stereo, and the mix itself, built for… (3 props) 4′min read Soundtracks · Explainer · 4 min Strings only: how Bernard Herrmann scored Psycho Bernard Herrmann scored Psycho for strings alone, a "black and white" sound, and played them muted almost throughout. The exception is the… (3 props) 4′min read Animation · Review · 4 min Arrietty, restored Studio Ghibli's quietest film returns in a new 4K restoration: a hand-drawn world seen from the height of a household pest, with sound… 4out of 5 Home Cinema · Explainer · 3 min Where to put your soundbar and subwoofer: try four spots A soundbar and subwoofer sound very different depending on where you put them. Corners boost bass but tend to blur it, a cabinet can muffle… (3 props) 3′min read Streaming · Review · 4 min Hokum Damian McCarthy's Hokum sends Adam Scott's grieving writer to a remote Irish hotel with a witch story attached. Critics mostly praise the… 4out of 5 Soundtracks · Explainer · 4 min Three heroes, three voices: how Morricone scored The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Morricone and Leone worked out the main themes of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly before the cameras rolled, and the score reads like a… (3 props) 4′min read Home Cinema · Picker · 4 min Which soundbar do you need? Answer four questions Four quick questions about your room, your viewing and your budget, and this picker tells you which kind of soundbar to look for, from a… (3 props) Pickquiz