Closed loop time travel. Where the results of someone travelling back in time are already there for us to see, even before we get to the point where they jump back.

I love it when a movie about hackers shows that the good guys get around town on rollerblades whereas the bad guy rides a skateboard. That way the audience clearly understands that he’s evil.

Unfortunately it’s only been done once, in the 1995 classic film “Hackers.”

I love it when movies show deep friendships between men/women that don't inevitably become a romance. Not every situation is Harry met Sally and it's okay to have fulfilling, close relationships with people in your romantic orientation.

When characters actually say “bye” before hanging up the phone. I don’t even remember the last movie I saw where a character did this.

I love it when sequels DON'T include that the couple that fell in love towards the end of the first movie has now broken up again, just for the sake of some kind of forced tension between two character that'll just end up together all over again anyway.

On a side note, that's also one of the things I loved about Brooklyn 99: once Jake and Amy got together, it stayed that way. There wasn't this boring "they're together again, oops, now they're not" so many other otherwise good sitcoms used to death for their main cast (looking at you, Scrubs)

This applies to movies, games, comics etc

I really like when there's some kind of super form the main character has that's difficult to control/can only be used temporarily, and by the end of their character arc they are just permanently in that state/can be effortlessly

For example, banner and hulk merging into professor hulk and just being able to chill in that state

Or Goku and gohan getting to the point where they can just chill and go about their daily lives in super Saiyan

:::

I especially enjoyed the subversion of the tired, old “compromising position” trope in the film State and Main (a very funny movie that I highly recommend, BTW)

An actress was trying to seduce a writer (who was in a relationship) while the two of them were in a room alone. The writer’s girlfriend suddenly walked in. I sighed. I was ready for the tiresome argument, tears, the “it wasn’t what it looked like” explanation, and eventual reconciliation that we’ve all seen a million times. A boring, overused plot device.

Instead, the writer’s girlfriend recognized the situation immediately. She knew what her boyfriend was like (shy and naive) and knew the actress had a reputation for aggressively pursuing casual flings. Instead of reacting like sitcoms would have you believe, she behaved like an adult with a brain. The writer was even surprised that she wasn’t more upset. The whole thing was pretty funny, and the story went on.

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OP, you remind me of something I noticed watching the Dahmer miniseries on Netflix. It’s not mentioned directly, but you do see his apartment get messier over time. It’s like he just gives up all but the most basic cleaning, and lets the mess get worse. At one point, he gets some fish, but eventually the tank is just filled with a gross sludge. What happened to the fish is never explained.

It’s not a rare thing, but having a character that has been gone or away surprisingly turn up and finish another characters sentence.

When done right it’s just such a powerful move, which often spark a strong reaction from the viewers.

Basically the part of movies where the characters come to realise their whole life or perception of the world was a deception.

Example Spoilers:

• Truman show at the end when the boat hits the studio wall
• The Island when EM and SJ run out of their compound and they realise it was a hologram
• The Matrix when Neo wakes up in the power plant

I love all sorts of gearing up/building/getting ready scenes.

For example in the movie "Shooter" the scene where they go thru walmart buying supplies. In the movie "A bugs life" the scene where they're building the fake bird. In "Chicken Run" the scene where they build the airplane to escape with. In "Dawn of the Dead" where they're prepairing the two busses to escape the mall.

I like the subtle call.

The things that presume that the audience has a little bit of intelligence and can put things together with appropriate context.

Examples are the guitar scene in Yes Man, and the wolf whistle in hotel Transylvania.

People like me that were paying attention notice that 15 minutes before Jim Carrey gets a call to action to prevent Luis's suicide that the very song that he was learning in guitar class was jumper.

I was watching that movie in the theater and the instant he ran by the guitar on his way up the stairs it clicked in my head I knew exactly what song he would be singing.

I was laughing my ass off, and I was the only one in the movie theater laughing, because no one else had got the joke yet.

Cue 15 seconds later when he actually goes into the song and everyone else gets the joke and they join in on the laughter I've had the whole time.

The same thing happened with the wolf whistle in hotel Transylvania.

The exact same thing.

As soon as the werewolf went into the whistle pose and it was dead silent to us I started laughing my ass off.

Then the wolf pups showed up on screen, the rest of the audience got it and they started laughing too.

I love that shit.

It makes me feel so clever and it becomes such a memorable experience and all it did was leave just enough clues for the quick people to pick up on so that they could get the joke 5 seconds before everyone else but by the end everyone has gotten the joke and is enjoying the spectacle.

This is very stupid but I have to admit I enjoy when the MC in an action/thriller movie just blows shit up and kills the bad guys etc AND… All cops are cool with that. Nobody arrests them, no questions asked, they just walk away at the end like it happens in Die Hard for example. I find it strangely ridiculous and satisfactory somehow.

QPR's, but I've only ever seen one happen in a movie.

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I love those silly scenes where someone has to take a dozen weapons out of various parts of their outfit before entering a room for a high stakes conversation.

Also kind of love when villains get adopted into the protagonist’s group.

And whenever there’s any kind of mini-universe/layered reality.

Seconding the comment about closed loop time travel.

Edit: also NONLINEAR STORYTELLING. I love that shit. Arranging plot points for symmetry and emotion or thematic resonance rather than just focusing on “what” happened.