It is not you, the sound really is getting worse

Isn't "Tenet" supposed to be plumbing new depths in the hard-to-hear sweepstakes?

/mixed metaphor alert/

I can't remember it's been over 9months since coronavirus, and movies were closed in NYC.

The first movie I remember really having a problem with dialogue was LoTR and a small section of Frodo’s dialogue and the Elf Queen. Had to really dial in the EQ on the center channel before it popped out.

Later I learned final mixing was done by a studio that bragged about all B&W speakers. Since I don’t use B&W speakers I had to wonder just how specific the mixing was. Will be interesting to learn more about the final mix of Tenet.

OT:  The sound effects for fire in LoTR were garbage.

@twoleftears,

Yes, Nolan seems to be the current master of undecipherable dialogue.

Going by this article it seems to be a deliberate policy on his part.

Only box office receipts count, I guess.

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Hard to pardon: why Tenet’s muffled dialogue is a very modern problem

"In Nolan’s case, Price and Bochar are confident that the director does it intentionally. In a 2019 Reddit AMA, sound designer Richard King – who has worked with Nolan on seven films, including Tenet – said:

“He wants to grab the audience by the lapels and pull them toward the screen, and not allow the watching of his films to be a passive experience.”

It’s hard to imagine that Nolan is unaware of the criticism. Price suspects the director wants to make the audience work harder to understand the dialogue; he thinks Nolan believes this will make the film a more immersive, engaging experience.

But, Price says, “I think he is the only one in the world who believes that.”

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/film/2020/sep/03/tenet-dialogue-christopher-nolan-s...

Saw Does/Ferrari in the theatre. Understood every word and I can't watch HBO without rewind and/or headphones, for "what dey say?"
Of course, it got the Oscars for sound.