Hi...

As a new parent of twins, it is sometimes hard to get two hours to yourself to sit down and watch a movie.

And it occurred to me yesterday, while watching "I'm Not There" (the six-actors-playing-Dylan film) that films with a non-linear structure servicing multiple storylines seem to be the best format for a sit down/watch a few minutes/stop/do other things/sit down/watch a few more minutes...

That's because each scene seems to tell a story in itself, even in five minutes, while detailing a broader story arc that is epic.

Some examples of this form of storytelling:

• Tampopo (perhaps the earliest example of this type of film)
• 21 Grams
• I'm Not There

Some exceptions:
_Pulp Fiction_ and _Amores Perros_ are non-linear and multi-storied films, but each full story is told that doesn't integrate one into another like the three films I listed above.
Spielberg's _1941_ has multiple storylines and integrates the stories together, but the film is told linear fashion.

Any other examples I've missed? Thanks!

Memento is reverse linear - like reading a book backwards chapter by chapter.

Lone Star has a present time story that moves along linearly, but the past story is more non-linear

This topic has been moved to the better-suited "Film Awards, Festivals, and Lists" forum...

Syriana is linear but multi-storied. They do intersect, somewhat spectacularly at the end.

Oh yeah, what about Soderbergh's Out of Sight? That's a great little film which is definitely not linear--multistoried might be a bit of a stretch.

Magnolia?

I can't quite figure out the distinction you're making that eliminates PULP FICTION. Further clarification?

But these may fit your parameters;

13 STORIES ABOUT ONE THING

ITALIAN FOR BEGINNERS

SHORT CUTS

(and several other Altmans?)

BABEL

Doug Liman's Go.

The stories told in Pulp Fiction are told in their entirity, beginning to end, taking up approximately twenty-to-thirty minutes at a stretch. It's non-linear, and multi-story, but not integrated.

By contrast, the stories told in I'm Not There are told in two-to-five minute increments, a scene at a time, before it switches to another story, and then back again. They're non-linear, multi-stories, and fully jumbled, even tho the stories in themselves are linear, and speak of a broader epic tale that is Bob Dylan.

Some good films, and some of which I had not seen before (Babel...). Thanks for the suggestion.

Any others?

There is Soderbergh's Full Frontal, but I don't recommend it. Hated it.

Would Paris j'etaime qualify?

It was a mess of a film, but I do give Mike Nichols props for trying to be faithful to the disjointedness of Joseph Heller's Catch-22.

A little more successful, although it could have played up the "unstuck in time" aspect a little more imaginatively, was Slaughterhouse Five.

It probably won't escape the Pulp Fiction clause, but Run Lola Run is... multi-linear(?). IIRC, it tells variations of the same story.

Does crash qualify?

Gus van Sant's Elephant