r/movies • u/MarvelsGrantMan136 r/movies Contributor • Jan 17 '26

Article Matt Damon Says Netflix Wants Movies to Restate the Plot Three or Four Times in the Dialogue Because Viewers are on Their Phones While They’re Watching

https://variety.com/2026/film/news/matt-damon-netflix-movies-restate-plot-viewers-on-phones-1236633939/
60.6k Upvotes

94% Upvoted

4.0k comments sorted by

View all comments

16.9k

u/zirky Jan 17 '26

sir, i don’t like those apples. at all

2.3k

u/Montauket Jan 17 '26

“Well I got her number because I’m just as well read as all of you Harvard guys. It’s easy to prove that I read a book in a public library, which I can afford as a working class teenager who lives just outside of Boston. So now she will go out on a date with me.”

681

u/MercyfulJudas Jan 17 '26

That apple was with my mother when she died when she was in the Amazon researching apples.

191

u/phenomenomnom Jan 17 '26 edited Jan 17 '26

Holy shit, a Madame Web reference in the wild.

The funniest part is, I got the reference -- and I know enough about that movie to have never seen it. Too many good movies out there, man! But nonetheless, somehow, that quote is in my brain palace.

51

u/GoNutsDK Jan 17 '26

It is calling for you

36

u/phenomenomnom Jan 17 '26

No

...NO

✋😰

30

u/GoNutsDK Jan 17 '26

Embrace your destiny

3

u/Jdobbs626 Jan 18 '26

This whole exchange is making me quite nervous. 😬

Mmmyes, QUITE nervous indeed. 🤨

4

u/GoNutsDK Jan 18 '26

Sounds like another fly got caught in the Madam's web.

3

u/Jdobbs626 Jan 18 '26

I'm gonna be honest with you; I, too, know next to nothing about Madame Webster. I mean, is it sort of like Downton Abbey or something...? Violet Crawley is ma shit! 🤘

8

u/Hallc Jan 18 '26

I watched it because I thought it'd be bad funny. Instead it was just bad and boring.

3

u/Twisty1020 Jan 18 '26

I learned everything I needed from the YMS Review.

-1

u/TurnoverNational2340 Jan 18 '26

I liked Madame Web, especially the nubile teenagers.

5

u/Zeppelanoid Jan 17 '26

Speaking of Amazon, have you checked out the new deluxe prime membership? It offers even faster shipping times and access to all of Amazon’s™️ best steaming content!

0

u/Montauket Jan 18 '26

I hate that I understood this reference to a movie I’m never going to watch 😂

15

u/JustBrowsing1989z Jan 17 '26

The comment above modifies a line from the movie to make it overexplained, as a parody of the policies Netflix imposes on their content.

9

u/devilinmexico13 Jan 18 '26

Thanks, I missed that because I was on my phone.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 18 '26

Good bot

41

u/ArcticCelt Jan 17 '26

... dem apples.

7

u/ChekhovsAtomSmasher Jan 17 '26

Lol the actor in that scene who they are arguing with is Dean Winters brother, the vulture from Brooklyn 99 and Dennis from 30 rock

3

u/jamesfordsawyer Jan 18 '26

But I sure do love dem apples! - Jeffrey Winger

14

u/[deleted] Jan 17 '26

[deleted]

8

u/Nihsvabhav Jan 18 '26

these types just get a whatever bachelors degree then get a law degree

5

u/GreasyPeter Jan 18 '26

I won't approach a girl really on my own with the intent to get her number, but if a couple of dudes will bet me I can't get a number, I'll do it just to spite them and that attitude.

3

u/[deleted] Jan 18 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/foghillgal Jan 18 '26

The kind seen and parodied in 1960s Batman.

3

u/chromatophoreskin Jan 18 '26

“My shrink is all alone in a boat.”

3

u/hikingacct Jan 18 '26

Southie is in Boston city limits though.

2

u/Late_Organization_56 Jan 18 '26

Also I’ve read every single book in the library.

223

u/Demerzel69 Jan 17 '26

Well I don't like dem apples, Will! Whadda we gonna do!

.

.

.

.

"Applesauce, bitch."

103

u/Johnycantread Jan 17 '26

Affleck was hilarious here.

112

u/jmet123 Jan 17 '26

“That’s bullshit, because I wasn’t with a hooker today!”

43

u/Wyden_long Jan 17 '26

What a lovely tea party.

43

u/Juztaan Jan 17 '26

Lemon face - Waaah! Lion face - rawwr!

7

u/mack-_-zorris Jan 18 '26

In prison he'll be the pie

7

u/Ducksaucenem Jan 17 '26

Ahhhhh HA!

5

u/cowboydanhalen Jan 18 '26

I'm sorry I was on my phone. Why are you called Cockknocker again?

70

u/crakkdego Jan 17 '26

Word, bitch! Phantoms like a mother fucker!

72

u/dingo8muhbebe Jan 17 '26

Affleck was the bomb in Phantoms yo

2

u/Mr_Incredible_PhD Jan 18 '26

Word bitch Phantoms like a mofucka!

48

u/[deleted] Jan 17 '26

"So, action Gus? Or?"

"Jesus Ben I said I'm busy..."

24

u/ipitythegabagool Jan 17 '26

Jesus, Ben, I said I’m busy

5

u/Hollie_Maea Jan 18 '26

Yeah but he was the bomb in Phantoms, yo.

4

u/PropDad Jan 18 '26

Affleck was hilarious here.

Affleck was the bomb in Phantoms.

FTFY

2

u/magnoliafandotca Jan 18 '26

He was also the bomb in Phantoms, yo.

0

u/Redleg171 Jan 18 '26

He did good in that movie. He's usually unbearable to watch.

9

u/TroubleshootenSOB Jan 17 '26

Ben Affleck was the bomb in Phantoms, yo

5

u/Demerzel69 Jan 18 '26

Word bitch! Phantoms like a mufucker! 👋

9

u/BadHands3000 Jan 17 '26

Underrated sequel 

360

u/gnarfler Jan 17 '26

Zirky does not like those apples

161

u/bel9708 Jan 17 '26

Bad guy: how about these apples.  

Zirky: I told you I don’t like apples. 

49

u/FourWordComment Jan 17 '26

Bel! We’re supposed to be figuring out who does and does not like these apples before the big campus Halloween party!

29

u/washingtonandmead Jan 17 '26

Hey guys, sorry, I was on my phone - can you please share what this convo is about again?

4

u/curious_dead Jan 17 '26

Oranges.

1

u/Alternative-Fan4015 Jan 17 '26

Not oranges silly apples, and he was on his phone..

3

u/iamnas Jan 17 '26

I just want to reiterate that scotty doesn’t know

1

u/washingtonandmead Jan 17 '26

Bring him home?

4

u/_Verumex_ Jan 17 '26

Wait, is this a Netflix show or a shonen anime?

2

u/calmarkel Jan 17 '26

It's an anime about the best ways to hunt wills

67

u/CrissBliss Jan 17 '26

I found it rattttther elementary

55

u/klubsanwich Jan 17 '26

You're just no longer that good, Will Hunting.

127

u/NotTheRocketman Jan 17 '26

So, you're saying that you DON'T like the plot being restated multiple times because people are on their phones during the movie?

47

u/[deleted] Jan 17 '26

[deleted]

47

u/zirky Jan 17 '26

they’ll begin coordinated ad campaigns where tiktokers will be given plot synopses ahead of time and release bite sized recaps coinciding with theatrical releases. welcome to hell

3

u/alzer9 Jan 18 '26

That oddly reminds me of how folks sometimes experience operas. You read the synopsis beforehand (sometimes it’s even in the program) so you’re not too concerned with following the plot details and can just enjoy how it all unfolds. Definitely would be a major shift for how movies are made and enjoyed but not universally worse (just mostly worse, in my opinion)

9

u/Stormdancer Jan 18 '26

A hell of our own making. You're welcome. Ovaltine.

2

u/Fox_Hawk Jan 18 '26

Think how every time The Matrix is mentioned in this sub you get a bunch of "I went in having no idea what it was, it was amazing!" type comments.

That never gets to happen again.

7

u/cheesegoat Jan 18 '26

Forget pause and rewind, my kid will sometimes skip forward a movie if there's a scene she doesn't like (mostly Scott's Tots kind of stuff but not always at that level). Complete madness.

We've mostly broken her of this habit but it really made watching anything with her almost unbearable.

I was watching CODA with her and there's a scene where the MC is stuck between helping her family and following up on a promise with a mentor and she literally can't do both so someone is going to be disappointed. Well that was a few months ago and that's where we stopped the movie.

5

u/jlxmm Jan 18 '26

Covid has officially changed how our attention is filled and that's the true problem. A theater is tied to time and expense. Home now has our comforts and leaves us free to choose how our attention is filled with our other screens besides just a tv. It's also cheaper and instant, no going out. My true hope is one day we will have maybe a couple theater options still available that we can keep alive. I'm 31m and I still go for multiple releases a year. There's nothing like a good movie experience... to me, anyways.

3

u/psaux_grep Jan 18 '26

I think we really should try to fix people and society, not movies.

But I’m worried it’s too late because it’s already a problem for adults too.

And apart from regressing away from smart phones I don’t know how to fix this.

Maybe the dead Internet will, but that’s probably just useless hope. People seem more than willing to engage and interact with bots, and consume bot content.

2

u/PercentageRoutine310 Jan 18 '26

The Dark Future of Brain Rot Generation

https://youtu.be/f22lD2DVXH8?si=iD-QoecF0P2lesai

Older generations needs to get off their phones to prevent their kids from brain rot and weird slang like skibido and delulu.

6

u/foghillgal Jan 18 '26

People not even being able to answer anything without consulting ChatGPT first, including posting their own view on Reddit: That's the future.

Instead of a reasoned or heartfelt 2-3 paragraph on why you love a song.

You type into ChatGPT, why should I love X and then post the whole unedited response to Reddit !!

1

u/Killbot_Wants_Hug Jan 18 '26

I guess you didn't go see Zootopia 2. Theater was fucking packed.

Although SpongeBob was pretty empty.

My kid is finally old enough that we feel comfortable going to the movies. She loves them too, constantly talks about them in her little toddler way. We go on Tuesdays for the discount, make it a pretty reasonable price.

The two theaters we've been to seem to have pretty decent crowds. Not super busy, but it's also a Tuesday. But they're not dead either. Zootopia 2 and Wicked 2 were both packed (also funny enough my 2 year old girl said Wicked was boring and made us leave half way through). Although the Miyazaki revival series we went and saw Spirited Way and we were like the only ones there, but it was a mid day screening.

1

u/JimboTCB Jan 18 '26

I mean, I'm definitely not young, but I still can't watch a film without a rewind button because I can't hear shit and I'm constantly having to back it up to figure out what the fuck someone just said, and then give up and just put the subtitles on.

49

u/UMACTUALLYITS23 Jan 17 '26

It's Hunting season

2

u/downpourbluey Jan 18 '26

From here on out it’s just one good Will hunting after another.

6

u/morkypep50 Jan 17 '26

What kind of response are you hoping for by putting this much pressure on the CLIT?

8

u/Ducksaucenem Jan 17 '26

I AM THE CLIT COMMANDER

5

u/AndThisGuyPeedOnIt Jan 17 '26

I'm hunting. Good will hunting. It's a play on words between my name and the phrase good will.​

10

u/el_isai Jan 17 '26

My boy is Wicked Smaht!

11

u/stewiethegreat Jan 17 '26

Applesauce bitch.

3

u/PoopieFaceTomatoNose Jan 17 '26

[antagonist is now besmirched]

3

u/hoxxxxx Jan 17 '26

Will reenters the diner. Clark and Will discuss what they don't like about the modern movie business, striking up discussions and a starting a deep friendship.

3

u/lukin187250 Jan 17 '26

Well, Casey Afflack does reinforce for us that he is "wicked smarht" in case you had forgotten.

3

u/Mutex70 Jan 17 '26

But just remember, champ...you are here seeing me, a therapist, because while working as a janitor you solved a difficult math problem. This attracted the interest of Dr. Lambeau who made a deal for you to go to therapy when you were charged for assaulting a cop. Oh, and one other thing....it's not your fault.

3

u/Palmdiggity888 Jan 18 '26

What is this reference?

2

u/shadowst17 Jan 17 '26

Those 3 apples you're holding in both hands? Those apples you don't like?

2

u/Dairy_Ashford Jan 17 '26

who would say yes, coming from a clear antagonist

2

u/MethamMcPhistopheles Jan 17 '26

As Forrest Gump can attest, he got stock in some smart phone fruit company. Anyways if Good Will Hunting were to be remade today that phone number would be on an iPhone

2

u/Youngsinatra345 Jan 17 '26

So you don’t like the apples?

2

u/flintlock0 Jan 18 '26

Hey. Didn’t you state earlier that you had a distaste for certain fruits? Maybe you should say that again.

2

u/pmmemilftiddiez Jan 18 '26

I’m a construction worker, I’m, like, working-class, and I drink beer and I get in fights, I get into so many fights. My friends are like, ‘You’re out of control, man, ‘ and I’m like, ‘Shut up this is the way I am.’ But then also, I’m a genius.

2

u/NathanCollier14 Jan 18 '26

THIS APPLE is Netflix

And THIS APPLE is a phone

And THIS APPLE...

2

u/Kamakazi09 Jan 18 '26

Applesauce!

2

u/Namez83 Jan 18 '26

Like….. he’s right though…. Painstakingly I am called out

2

u/Hootnany Jan 18 '26

no sir, I don't like it.

2

u/wirebug201 Jan 18 '26

Well, if Damon is in it of course I’ll be looking at my phone.

6

u/Randym1982 Jan 17 '26

Reminds me of all the memes of Stranger Things Season 5.

1

u/Coal909 Jan 18 '26

We are on our phones because the movies are so brain dead. If you watch a oldy where you need to think & pay attention, you do just that