Did you know that you needed 87 seconds of Tom Cruise, human actor, explaining motion smoothing? Well that is the gift this day has bestowed upon us. In a short video message, Cruise appears alongside Mission: Impossible — Fallout and Top Gun: Maverick director Christopher McQuarrie to implore — nay, demand! — that you turn off your TV’s motion smoothing. “It makes most movies look like they were shot on high-speed video rather than film. This is sometimes referred to as the ‘soap opera effect,’” Cruise explains. “Most HD TVs come with this feature already on, by default. Turning it off requires navigating a set of menus with interpolation often referred to by another brand name.” Egads!
This video is marvelous. It’s a masterpiece. Tom Cruise saying “interpolation”? Give him a Nobel Prize! When will it take its rightful spot at the tippity top of the Oscar conversation, or at least David Ehrlich’s annual movie ranking? “Drama. Comedy. That’s what I love,” Cruise once said. “I love the cinema experience. I prefer it with a packed audience.” What he does not prefer: your TV’s motion smoothing! Do yourself — and, remember, Tom Cruise! — a favor and turn it off immediately.
