The “Saturday Night Live” star laments the lack of “short-ash movies” in Netflix’s digital short of the same name introduced a new category For movies that fit Davidson’s definition, a movie that doesn’t last more than an hour and 40 minutes.
Yep, Dreamer mixed up some “short-ass movies” that won’t make your feet sleepy. Among them: the fourth and fifth entries in the “Scary Movie” series, the comedy “Zoolander” and the acclaimed “Stand by Me”, among a few other random choices.
In his music petition, Davidson lamented the runtime of films such as “The Batman”, which was nearly three hours, as did the recent Best Picture nominee “Drive My Car”. “Spider-Man: No Way Home” was about two and a half hours, and the 2021 remake of “West Side Story” ran a few minutes longer. When long run times affect both prestige movies and superheroes, what gives?
Film experts told CNN in February that movies with recognizable IP (like Marvel movies or big-budget sci-fi pictures like “Dune”) tend to dominate the box office. These become “event movies” and are often added to other film or TV projects or set future installments, hence a stretched-out runtime. And while movies like “Avengers: Endgame,” which clock in at more than three hours, set box-office records, there’s no incentive to keep these cinematic tales short.
Of course, it’s worth mentioning that the Judd Apatow film in which Davidson starred, the semi-autobiographical “The King of Staten Island” lasted over two hours—a fact acknowledged even by the “SNL” short. As far as we know, this did not establish the Davidson cinematic universe. just sayin’.
Netflix’s short-ish flicks are available to read at netflix.com/shortassmovies.
