So I was rewatching 2001 Space Odyssey recently and it struck me, older films have more silence in them, 2001 is certainly a good example of this, just long stretches of silence where the images tell you everything you need to know without a character saying a word. But then I look at modern films, and they are FULL of character yabbering, having to explain to the dimwitted audience EXACTLY what is happening.

What do you think GOG?

I can think of many old movies full of yabbering. You're comparing a Kubrick movie with... what exactly?

Just made me think, if 2001 was made today the Obelisk apes scene would have a voiceover with Morgan Freeman or someone saying "And this is how humanity evolved, by being able to manipulate tools, from the bone to the sattelite".

That depends on what the director and the script author wanted to express with the movie and how they wanted to express it.

12 Angry Men is from 1957 and literally consists of 12 people talking non-stop for almost 100 minutes and is still considered one of the best movies ever made.

It's not that there's too much "talking", it's that there's too much exposition in mainstream films. Meanwhile the cardinal rule of story-telling: "show, don't tell". Maybe an acquired taste, but I'd recommend looking into independent and arthouse films, for places with less exposition.

Let me watch one of my favorite movies, Driver, and I'll get back to you. ;)

Might be an unpopular opinion, but I always felt like 2001: A Space Odyssey was a load of pretentious twattery.

Then there was that one guy who'd always say "You should watch it when you're high, man!", who I'd feel like punching in the balls.

Space Odyssey 2001 is a good example how to make very boring movie which make you fall asleep with 3 minutes.
So no , talk is not a problem ,lame talk is. I share your view , imho it is a very bad movie. Way too slow and I couldn't even watch past 30 mins I've tried like 3 times.
Does it even have a story or something?

How about this:

The movie itself is not pretentious twattery. If I remember the quote correctly, Kubrick said he wanted everyone to have their own interpretation of the film. That's it, no "deep, meaningful" bullshit about "my masterpiece".
Just something to watch & think, or not. Up to the viewer.

Now, the CRITICS - and all subsequent pretentious twattery that developed around the movie - were, are & is pretentious twattery.

By the way, you should watch it (the Shining as well) in the small hours, when everything is silent & you're alone.

I don't know if it's too much talking but you're absolutely right about the constant sensory barrage of modern film. Silence in them is almost unheard of - there's always a massive score in the background, or constant environmental noise. Or the yabbering you mention ;)

Moments of silence and just a far more subdued soundtrack were pretty common even 15 - 20 years ago. Now every film sounds like a summer action blockbuster. Even in dramatic films or character driven stuff there's always music as a backdrop to nearly every scene.

I think it's always depended on the movie really, there's lots of old films with tons of dialog.

What I think is MUCH more common and focused on today is snark, which I blame Joss Whedon for. Every character and their mother has to have a constant snarky quip ready, even in dire and serious situations, because Whedon made that so popular with Buffy and other things. Even on the internet it's snark city most of the time.

I agree, I think many new films fail to communicate with silence, not everything needs to be said. They drag out everything and insult the audience by writing them on the nose.

Anime is, more often than not, the worst offender of this cardinal sin though.

Yes, where is Arnie or sly, or chuck when you need them?

I thought older movies had more lines and acting. Now contemporary movies are all fight scenes, sex scenes, chase scenes and explosions right?