How y’all feel about it? The movies that use about the first hour to do world building and character work. They don’t just jump right into the plot right away.

Jackie brown is like this. The first half is a hangout and the 2nd half is more of the plot stuff with the FBI operation. QT talked about how he purposely was going for this structure.

Sinners is like this. First half is world building and character building while the gang is prepping their party. 2nd half is the vampire s***.

I love boosters ran with this structure too. First half is more loose and the ladies running around boosting different stores. The 2nd half locks into the plot little more when they introduce the Asian character.

Goodfellas I would say kinda runs with this too based around the rise and fall structure. The rise is more loose/episodic showcasing the lifestyle of being in the mafia. Then the fall half of the movie is a little more plot with Ray Liottas character getting paranoid and ultimately snitching.

Nightcrawler runs with this in a less obvious way because the plot does kick in from the start with Lou wanting to become a nightcrawler but the first half is more episodic of him shooting multiple crime scenes. Whereas the second half locks into1 crime that he witnesses and then we follow that crime to the very end with the feds getting involved etc.

Anora this could apply to. Even though the first half does service the plot, it’s very loose and episodic and more the two characters “dating” hanging out. Then the 2nd half we lock in to more of a plot when the Armenians arrive.

Love a good slow burn

Movies like this I tend to really get invested in the world of it all and it makes the second half that much stronger.

Wouldn’t that just be the “fun and games” section of plot structure?

Act 1 set up, first half of act 2 is the fun and games where you make use and have fun with the premise, mid point is the turning point or twist, then second half of act 2 is the “bad guys closing in” until you get to the climax in act 3 and resolution

Usually the fun and games comes in earlier with those plot structures. Around 30 min mark when we get into act 2.
The best way that I look at it is from the set up. So example, Sinners doesn't set up any vampire stuff in the first act. It's pure world building. The fun and games is based upon the plot that was set up in the first act. Like Uncut Gems we know from the 1st act Howie owes money to these bad guys and he has this mystical opal he wants to make money from. Then the fun and games is about him trying to sell this opal/gambling to make money to pay off his debt.

With Sinners It's not until 45 min into the film we get introduced to the antagonist. Whereas other movies with a more typical structure would introduce the bad guy way sooner and set up the plot of the film from the 1st act.

If you just watch the first portion of Sinners you have no idea its a vampire movie.

Anora and Nightcrawler does service the plot from act 1, but the first half of both those films are episodic. With Anora we are watching these 2 characters hang out, its very loose which is Sean Bakers typical style. Its a lot of montages and just watching these 2 characters hang out in the pool, having sex, getting drunk, more pool, more parties. And then after around 50 min the film isn't episodic anymore.

Thats really the biggest gauge for me where the first half of some of these films feel more episodic than the 2nd half (Anora, Nightcrawler, Goodfellas) OR the main plot of the story doesn't happen til later on (Like Sinners)

Also another gauge for me is with some of these films (not sure if it applies to all) but if you erase the first half, and the movie was just the 2nd half, you wouldn't be confused at all because it could be its own movie.

Anora - newly married couple chilling at home, find out parents want them to get divorced.

Nightcrawler - A sociopath nightcrawler gets to a murder crime scene before the cops and takes matters in his own hands to sell the craziest story.

Sinners - A bunch of people having an opening night at a jukebox gets approached by vampires.

Now IMO if these films went that approach it wouldn't be good, it would be more cliche, but that would be a more typical approach to the story. You know what it is right from the first act. For the case of Nightcrawler it would make it less of a character study film and more into a plot heavy film.

Whereas with something like No Country for old men, if you go near the halfway point you would be confused on why is Josh hiding this briefcase in the ac vent? Who is this guy with the funny hair. After a while you can piece it together that "oh hes after this briefcase" but you miss out on all the important plot information from act 1 which showcases how Josh got the briefcase to begin with and who it belongs too, and the tracking device and everything else

When done right, absolutely

The Counselor was kinda like this too and while watching that part I was getting annoyed and thinking it was trying way too hard to do the tarentino endless dialogue thing but then when s*** hit the fan later on in the movie practically all the dialogue from earlier on came full circle and had a purpose for being there to set up something or someone