Movies Are Too Long

I have no qualms with a long movie. If the story is great I want to live in that world for as long as possible. A 95 min movie can feel like an eternity (good or bad) and a 3 hour movie can fly by and leave you wanting more.

The problem, as I see it, is unfocused storytelling.

It starts with a good screenplay that is focused, concise, and well paced. Shoot more than you need to tell the story, then edit out everything that's not 100% necessary. Be lean and purposeful in your story. A great screenplay will service everything in the story with great economy. Great scenes will serve two or more purposes, develop the story, and - when they're really great - make you lose all sense of time.

Many films are full of sprawling superfluous plots that don't amount to much. I feel this most during certain blockbuster films that are packed to the gills with spectacular set pieces, have three separate "emotional" climaxes, and somehow fail to stick the landing. When these elements are poorly balanced or overcooked they feel like a slog.

Last week we were in Vegas and saw The Wizard of Oz at The Sphere. I saw the movie many times as a child, but I was blown away at how short it was. Maybe that's a product of the shorter attention spans we have when we are younger, so it felt longer then, but it was apparent at how quick and clear the story telling was then.

> multiple grownup movies opening widely at the same time (“Demolition Man,”

I've never heard Demolition Man described as a grownup movie before.

If a movie is well made then it is as long or as short as it needs to be. If it isn't then it's not.

Easy disagree from me. I could watch a movie like Das Boot if it was twice the already lengthy 4+ hours. Not to mention the 4-part Count of Monte Cristo among other more obvious ones like LOTR.

Movies you watch in theatres are one thing. It’s uncomfortable, you can’t pause it, you can’t contemplate it, there’s people all around you. It’s not an immersive experience despite a big screen.

So not all movies are best seen in a theatre. And the ones that aren’t are probably not long enough.

As I push on 40, I no longer go to the cinema for anything over 2h. I hardly ever go anyway, but if it's over 2h, I'll wait for it on streaming. No point in missing some parts of it in the middle.