I was going to mention that site if no one else did.

As far as a magic formula for commentaries, there truly is none. But as one poster wondered, there are some guidelines, but I suppose those guidelines will vary for everyone. What works for you may not work for others. Some will want technical info, while others will want idle chatter. I find idle chatter acceptable when there's enough informative stuff snuck in to make it tolerable.

Above all, I need to feel like I learned something to feel that the commentary was truly good. Whether I've learned something about film-making or something about the story, it matters not. Just that I learned something.

I've always found Kevin Smith and company on his various films to be among my favorites.

I think more commentaries should be done interview-style, where the director or commentator will bring a friend (perhaps another director) to ask them questions about the film.

All of Kevin Smith's tracks are very good. Regardless of whether or not you like his work the man certainly has the gift of gab. His best tracks are the ones with Ben Affleck, who is very self-deprecating and witty. Terry Gilliam is also quite engaging, John Carpenter great when he teams with Kurt Russell, and the creators of Futurama are a blast.

I wish Paul Thomas Anderson, Jim Jarmusch and David Lynch would record commentaries. I think there are preconceived notions as to the limitations of what you can do with a commentary that don't actually exist. Lynch, especially, does not have to explain the film at all, the commentary can be just as much a way to goose the viewer as anything.

Hard Eight and Boogie Nights both have commentary tracks. He's just not doing them in future.

Yeah I loved the Magnolia commentary. Oh wait

I don't need a magnolia commentary, but I would really like a Punch-Drunk Love commentary.

i'd say roger ebert and eli roth are my two favorite commentators. john carpenter is cool too.

something tells me roger won't be doing too many more though.

Nowadays, this scene would be done with CGI. But they didn't have computers back when we shot this.

That's my wife's cousin playing that guy in the background. His name is Paul . . . really great guy . . .

So true. The Sideways commentary I found to be extremely annoying. All Giamatti and Church did was crack jokes about their flabby bodies. At times I would laugh, once or twice it was informative, but all in all it was annoying. My friend loved the track however.

I actually do love little tidbits like, "This is my friend Roy. We made our first movie together at the age of 15. Now he is the manager for 7/11 but he took the day off to make this cameo."

Then of course there are the commentaries that nobody should defend such as William Friedkin's Bug commentary which is actually more of a book on tape. "He then walks to her and thinks, "How nice?" She looks at him with the same sort of affection but begins to realize there is something brooding behind his eyes."

I guess for our blind movie viewers it may be beneficial.

He did the same thing for most of the CRUISING commentary. Gets annoying really fast.

Oh god, Paul Verhoeven has this propensity. The commentary he and Arnold did for Total Recall was like "Rekall for Dummies". How many times does he need to mention "you see, this could all be for real or just a fantasy". Though it was funny to hear Arnold during the violent sequences: "Jha-hah, I used his body as a human shield then threw him down the escalator!"

Thanks! Hmm, I may register for that site, it might redeem the collective hours of my life spent listening to commentaries.

I seemed to remember he did a decent one for the Exorcist but then I put that on and couldn't get through it. I don't know if he did a different one for the Version You Haven't Seen and the Version You Have Seen or maybe I could be thinking of the novel's author commentary.

So film historian Ronald Haver recorded the first audio commentary. Can anyone name the first Director's Commentary? (Hint: it's also from the laserdisc days, but has been re-released on DVD)

Scorsese?

Don't know which came first though between Bull and Taxi.

People should take lessons from David Cronenberg on how to do a commentary.
The man never disappoints.

Even though I also have the DVD, I remember buying the King Kong laserdisc a few years ago for the sole purpose of being able to own history's first audio commentary.

He could still do text commentary, I suppose.

You are close...Scorsese participated on the track but it was not a film he directed.

True Dat. I like, no LOVE 50% of Cronenberg's movies. The other 50% I dont like but respect...but will always buy them if not because I'm a completest, then because the commentaries are worth it alone.

Ah, that one tickled the hell out of me.
It probably won't happen (or at least not anytime soon) but I'd love to hear more Ah-nuld commentaries.
I will unhesitatingly double-dip to hear the man giggle proudly at the carnage he hath wrought over the last three decades.

He also does commentary for Conan the Barbarian and Collateral Damage.

I worked at a video store when Collateral Damage came out on DVD. When I first looked at the case, I yelled disbelievingly "What?! Collateral Damage does not warrant an audio commentary!" Coworkers looked at me like I was nuts in a "who gives a shit?" way.

I have the Conan DVD with his commentary with Milius, but I did not know Collateral Damage also had a commentary track, thanks for the heads-up, I'll be keeping an eye out for that one.

He's funny in the Conan one. I remember him laughing and saying how he (Conan) got laid a lot in the movie.

And I'd like to hear the Collateral Damage commentary just to hear Arnold try to pronounce the movie's title.

I listen to commentaries all the time, especially when going for long mileage walks or hikes. Recent ones that I enjoyed were

House of Sand and Fog
Safe
Maria Full of Grace
History of Violence

Older favorites are

Red Beard
Any one of the Anchor Bay Herzog box set commentaries.

On the que

Red Shoes
Maldicion de la Llorona
Bad Day at Black Rock
Magnificent Amberson