Are movie run times too long?

Of course, that’s debatable, but SNL’s Pete Davidson made a good point in the video he made for his return to the show Saturday night: sometimes you just want to watch a short movie.

Let’s face it, our collective attention spans aren’t getting any longer, and if you know you’re going to be drifting off to sleep if the film you pick lasts any longer than 90 minutes, you need to choose wisely.

Davidson and fellow Saturday Night Live player Chris Redd, along with musical guest Gunna and actor Simon Rex, rapped about brevity being the soul of a good movie, with flicks like The Lion King, Bad Moms or Driving Miss Daisy favorably compared to the excessive run times of movies like The Batman, Once Upon a Time in America or Sex and the City 2.

Of course, movies aren’t better by virtue of being short (the video features Rex in character as Ernest P. Worrell, whose entire oeuvre clocks in at under an hour thirty minutes apiece. And while you can enjoy such delights as the much-maligned Netflix original He’s All That, or the cheesy dinosaur weirdness of VelociPastor on Amazon Prime, why not open your short window of interest on some of our streaming platforms’ finer (and briefer) films? Here’s our top ten movie quickies and where to find them.

Stand By Me (1986) on Netflix
One of the best adaptations from author Stephen King’s extensive catalog of very long novels, this well-acted and Oscar-nominated coming of age story featuring River Phoenix, Wil Wheaton, Jerry O’Connell and Corey Feldman as a group of friends who find a dead body is a suprisingly brisk 1:28:00.

Run Lola Run (1998) on Tubi
This German tale stars Franka Potente as a woman who must raise 100,000 deutschmarks to save her boyfriend from a very bad guy, and it features three separate possible endings depending on what happens to Lola on her quest. This Teutonic multiverse of madness (which is free on Tubi) runs a mere 1:20:00.

Palm Springs (2020) on Hulu
It’s a millennial Groundhog Day, with Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti starring as two wedding guests who find themselves stuck in an infinite time loop with no hope of escaping, unless they can figure the way out together. This charming romantic sci-fi comedy is only 1:30:00.

My Octopus Teacher (2020) on Netflix
This documentary, which won an Academy Award for Best Documentary last year, definitely had a pop culture moment during the early months of the pandemic. In it, filmmaker Craig Foster forges an unusual friendship with an octopus in a South African kelp forest, and he does it in 1:25:00.

This is Spinal Tap (1984) rent it on Amazon Prime
One of the first big screen mocumentaries, Spinal Tap is an over-the-top look at a fictional English metal band on its ill-fated American comeback tour. Rob Reiner directed and stars as the documentarian covering the band, played by Michael McKean, Christopher Guest and Harry Shearer. Though this movie goes to 11, the run time is only 1:22:00.

Office Space (1999) on IMDbTV
It’s every cubicle-jockey’s dream: to get one over on the company that underpays them. Ron Livingston, Jennifer Aniston and Stephen Root star in a movie about being that worker that gets pushed too far – only they find a way to get revenge. At 1:29:00, you’ll have plenty of time to go buy a new stapler afterwards.

What We Do In the Shadows (2015) rent it on Amazon Prime
This is the movie that spawned the delightful TV series of the same name, as well as bringing director Taika Waititi’s work to American eyes for the first time. It’s another hilarious mockumentary, this time about a group of neurotic vampires living in a Real World house situation. Starring Jemain Clement, Waititi and Jonny Brugh, you should invite it in because it’s only 1:27:00.

The Evil Dead (1981) on AMC/Prime
One of the original “cabin in the woods” flicks, Bruce Campbell’s first outing as Ash Williams has the chainsaw-handed hero dispatching demons, which is fair, as he and his friends are the ones who unleashed them on society. The bitingly funny splatterfest spawned two movie sequels (Evil Dead II and Army of Darkness) that are all under an hour and a half, with the first being the longest at 1:25:00.

The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) on Disney+
Is it a Christmas movie? A Halloween movie? Does it matter? Director Tim Burton’s enduring, and strangely endearing and musical ode to all holidays will only take you 1:20:00 to watch…unless you watch it more than once.

Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle (2004) on Tubi
This raunchy stoner classic stars John Cho and Kal Penn as the title characters, who just want a sackful of greasy White Castle goodness following a marathon marijuana binge. It also stars Neil Patrick Harris as Neil Patrick Harris, who plays against type in many ways, as he accompanies the guys on their quest, when he isn’t thwarting it. This movie puts the pedal to the metal and clocks in at 1:28:00.