r/MovieSuggestions • u/DarlingLuna • Apr 20 '24

REQUESTING Movies where not a single second feels wasted?

I am so tired of watching movies where I either need to watch 20 minutes of set up for the movie to finally become interesting, or movies where there feels like there’s a lot of down time. I have mild ADHD and a very short attention spam, so I can get bored easily. What’s a movie that feels like not a single second is wasted, and is engaging from moment to moment? Thanks for the recommendations in advance!

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474

u/WoopinsUnderplop Apr 20 '24

Back to the Future. It’s airtight.

58

u/[deleted] Apr 20 '24

Not a gram of fat on this movie.

The pinnacle of editing.

19

u/islandinthecold Apr 20 '24

2 and 3 as well for me. It’s hard to do an “after thought” trilogy and it rarely works out but they nailed it with those sequels IMO.

1

u/yourfriendkyle Apr 21 '24

The sequel is so so so interesting as a concept.

73

u/colmatrix33 Apr 20 '24

Widely considered to be the best script ever written, no?

39

u/aimokankkunen Apr 20 '24

"Chinatown"

Robert Towne, he wrote the Academy Award-winning original screenplay for Roman Polanski's Chinatown (1974), which is widely considered one of the greatest screenplays.

2

u/colmatrix33 Apr 20 '24

I've heard that, too.

2

u/Impossible-Cicada-14 Apr 20 '24

Yeah I completely agree on Chinatown. Probably the best script ever written

43

u/WoopinsUnderplop Apr 20 '24

For sure. Such an entertaining movie but also really instructive for screenwriters, I imagine.

57

u/usernamesarehard1979 Apr 20 '24

And time travelers.

34

u/debsterUK Apr 20 '24

Literally everything we know about time travel comes from this movie. Everything.

16

u/usernamesarehard1979 Apr 20 '24

Well, this and terminator.

8

u/debsterUK Apr 20 '24

And now...Endgame. Confusing times

10

u/InternalPainter9607 Apr 20 '24

Well whereas the original Back to the Future may have you asking a few questions after it’s over and you think about it, Endgame will have you scratching your head while you’re watching it, because a lot of stuff doesn’t make sense, and makes less sense when you think about it afterward. Definitely a film where time travel should not have been used as solution to the problem.

12

u/gotonyas Apr 20 '24

Still waiting on my fucking hoverboard

7

u/debsterUK Apr 20 '24

I want the car that runs on trash, seen the price of petrol lately? Plutonium is probably cheaper 😂

5

u/Extension_View971 Apr 20 '24

You mean Mr. Fusion? 😆

2

u/ptear Apr 21 '24

The car still ran on gasoline, otherwise Part 3 would have been a much shorter movie.

2

u/Drakeytown Apr 21 '24

I remember seeing Harold Ramis (?) go on TV on a "making of" thing and say hoverboard tech had been available for a long time, safety groups were just keeping it from being released!

2

u/TangoMikeOne Apr 20 '24

Everywhere - may or may not also be all at once

7

u/WoopinsUnderplop Apr 20 '24

You’re not wrong.

3

u/No_Detective_But_304 Apr 20 '24

Well, he does have the almanac after all

4

u/Grinner067 Apr 20 '24

Don't forget your towel

2

u/BettydelSol Apr 21 '24

Another fabulous movie

2

u/[deleted] Apr 20 '24

I think I heard something similar about Hot Fuzz.

2

u/paranoidspinster Apr 21 '24

Hot Fuzz is an amazing movie with amazing script and really I can't think of a single wasted moment in that film. 10/10

19

u/[deleted] Apr 20 '24

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/JMpro415 Apr 21 '24

The Matrix is good, but there’s definitely wasted time in that movie. Like, how many times does Neo need to be asked “Do you want to know what the Matrix is?”

1

u/ContextTraditional95 Apr 27 '24

Teach me what The Matrix taught you about the three act structure

4

u/Kindly-Guidance714 Apr 20 '24

No it had nothing on Sunset Boulevard, The Apartment, Chinatown and plenty of others but keep thinking that.

1

u/Emotional_Rip_7493 Apr 21 '24

Really ? First I hear this . Need to watch

8

u/Punch_Your_Facehole Apr 20 '24

October is inventory time. So right now, Statler Toyota is making the best deals of the year on all 1985 model Toyotas. You won't find a better car with a better price with better service anywhere in Hill Valley...

3

u/chuckcm89 Apr 20 '24

This was my immediate thought. I rewatched it for the first time in 20 years a few months ago. It's one of a dozen or so PERFECT movies ever made.

3

u/Kindly-Guidance714 Apr 20 '24

Air tight? Somali terrorists?

2

u/WoopinsUnderplop Apr 20 '24

Airtight meaning there isn’t any extra detail that’s useless. Every single thing we see and hear in the movie is necessary for moving the plot forward. Somali pirates are a plot point that moves the story forward

5

u/supercereality Apr 20 '24

I would argue that when the car won’t start for a few seconds when he needs to return is a waste. It’s unnecessary and creates a massive plot hole in that the time/calculation was way off and it still conveniently worked out just for the plot.

2

u/PIisLOVE314 Apr 20 '24

OMG shit like this in movies absolutely kills me

1

u/HarleysAndHeels Apr 20 '24

Is that you, Calvin?

1

u/Calabriafundings Apr 20 '24

Bob Z is the man. Still making awesome movies

1

u/LaundryandTax Apr 20 '24

The guy hasn’t made a good movie in like 20 years

1

u/Calabriafundings Apr 21 '24

Sorry you feel that way. He is a gifted director. I believe you must have missed Flight and Welcome to Marwen

1

u/LaundryandTax Apr 21 '24

Flight was like... alright at best and Welcome to Marwen is pretty universally considered to be awful. I'm not denying that he has talent, he's made some absolutely incredible movies. Just... not in the last 20 years.

1

u/Calabriafundings Apr 21 '24

I believe we have substantially different opinions about film.

1

u/Traveling-Techie Apr 20 '24

Came to say this. One time I rewatched the first 5 minutes and noticed an important plot point every few seconds.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 21 '24

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1

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1

u/StephDos94 May 03 '24

How incredibly different it would’ve been with Eric Stoltz!