# Your favorite movie in which nothing happens **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 27, 2014, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movie-in-which-nothing-happens/682379 "2014-02-27T03:00:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movie-in-which-nothing-happens/682379/21 "2014-02-27T17:37:25Z")
> [@standingwave](#): > > Raiders of the Lost Ark? 😃 Not sure I completely buy this interpretation but when you look at from a certain point of view, it’s really just one long shaggy dog story where the Nazis still wind up obtaining and opening the Ark. > > On Big Bang Theory, Amy Farrah Fowler watches Raiders of the Lost Ark for the first time with Sheldon. > > Amy notes, **“Indiana Jones plays no role in the outcome of the story. If he weren’t in the film, it would turn out exactly the same. If he weren’t in the movie, the Nazis would have still found the Ark, taken it to island, opened it up, and all died, just like they did.”** > There’s still the problem of getting it off the island and into a government warehouse, but really all Jones really accomplishes is managing to keep his eyes closed when the Ark is opened. At a minimum, Indiana keeps Marian from being mutilated by the Nazis early on. ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movie-in-which-nothing-happens/682379/22 "2014-02-27T17:44:39Z")
> [@standingwave](#): > > Raiders of the Lost Ark? 😃 Not sure I completely buy this interpretation but when you look at from a certain point of view, it’s really just one long shaggy dog story where the Nazis still wind up obtaining and opening the Ark. > > On Big Bang Theory, Amy Farrah Fowler watches Raiders of the Lost Ark for the first time with Sheldon. > > Amy notes, **“Indiana Jones plays no role in the outcome of the story. If he weren’t in the film, it would turn out exactly the same. If he weren’t in the movie, the Nazis would have still found the Ark, taken it to island, opened it up, and all died, just like they did.”** > There’s still the problem of getting it off the island and into a government warehouse, but really all Jones really accomplishes is managing to keep his eyes closed when the Ark is opened. Au contraire! Indy knows that Marion’s father owned the brass medallion that when mounted on a pole the length of which is specified on the medallion and then inserted in the correct hole only then would the sunlight shine on the correct location of the tomb which holds the Ark. The Germans were digging in the wrong location. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movie-in-which-nothing-happens/682379/23 "2014-02-27T17:48:14Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > At a minimum, Indiana keeps Marian from being mutilated by the Nazis early on. That’s true, although the Nazis would have never found Marian had he not led them to her. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movie-in-which-nothing-happens/682379/24 "2014-02-27T17:52:24Z")
> [@nevadaexile](#): > > …My favorite is _ **Twelve Angry Men** _. > > While it seems like a lot is happening, it’s just twelve men sitting around a jury room deliberating a case. Nothing really “happens” throughout the film. Tell that to the defendant. Fonda got him acquitted. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movie-in-which-nothing-happens/682379/25 "2014-02-27T18:26:05Z")
> [@Lukeinva](#): > > Au contraire! Indy knows that Marion’s father owned the brass medallion that when mounted on a pole the length of which is specified on the medallion and then inserted in the correct hole only then would the sunlight shine on the correct location of the tomb which holds the Ark. The Germans were digging in the wrong location. Right. Fortunately Jones was there to show the Nazis where the Ark was actually buried. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movie-in-which-nothing-happens/682379/26 "2014-02-27T18:32:27Z")
> [@Lukeinva](#): > > Au contraire! Indy knows that Marion’s father owned the brass medallion that when mounted on a pole the length of which is specified on the medallion and then inserted in the correct hole only then would the sunlight shine on the correct location of the tomb which holds the Ark. The Germans were digging in the wrong location. Without Indiana Jones, the Germans would’ve gotten the real medallion and gotten the height of the staff right. ---
**Author:** ![nevadaexile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb8c5e/32.png) [@nevadaexile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nevadaexile)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movie-in-which-nothing-happens/682379/27 "2014-02-27T18:32:29Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Tell that to the defendant. Fonda got him acquitted. We presume. The film ends prior to this occurring. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movie-in-which-nothing-happens/682379/28 "2014-02-27T18:36:25Z")
> [@MovieMogul](#): > > Without Indiana Jones, the Germans would’ve gotten the real medallion and gotten the height of the staff right. It’s also possible that without Jones the Germans would have never located Ravenwood (and the medallion) given that they had to tail Jones to Nepal. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movie-in-which-nothing-happens/682379/29 "2014-02-27T18:45:28Z")
The Well of Souls was a massive vault located within visual distance of the Nazi’s main camp. They’d have found it eventually through random chance. Even without the medallion. ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movie-in-which-nothing-happens/682379/30 "2014-02-27T18:45:33Z")
> [@standingwave](#): > > Right. Fortunately Jones was there to show the Nazis where the Ark was actually buried. Which he then got back, after a dashboard beat down and throwing the German driver under the truck. ---
**Author:** ![nevadaexile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb8c5e/32.png) [@nevadaexile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nevadaexile)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movie-in-which-nothing-happens/682379/31 "2014-02-27T18:46:01Z")
> [@standingwave](#): > > It’s also possible that without Jones the Germans would have never located Ravenwood (and the medallion) given that they had to tail Jones to Nepal. True. Actually, the entire film makes one huge presumption: That the US was more than mildly interested in what the Germans were doing in 1938. The majority of the US public was strongly in favor of neutrality for the US until late in 1940 after the fall of France and the beginning of the Battle of the Atlantic. If Germans hadn’t foolishly declared war on the US in the wake of Pearl Harbor, we may have stayed out of the European portion of the conflict until the mid 1940s. The US government wouldn’t have cared less about Hitler getting his hands on any supernatural item as the mood at the time wasn’t that the US would be at war with Germany. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movie-in-which-nothing-happens/682379/32 "2014-02-27T18:52:59Z")
> [@Accidental\_Martyr](#): > > An often overlooked David Lynch film. Well worth watching. If you don’t like Lynch films, don’t worry. _The Straight Story_ is nothing like his other work. 😉 I remember when I first heard about it. I had the TV on as background noise, and heard “David Lynch” and “rated G” in the same sentence. :eek: Great movie, BTW. As for the thread, I second “My Dinner With Andre.” I loved it, too. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movie-in-which-nothing-happens/682379/33 "2014-02-27T19:12:24Z")
> [@Lukeinva](#): > > Which he then got back, after a dashboard beat down and throwing the German driver under the truck. Which the Nazis promptly get back by hijacking the steamer with a U-boat. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movie-in-which-nothing-happens/682379/34 "2014-02-27T19:17:48Z")
> [@nevadaexile](#): > > True. > > Actually, the entire film makes one huge presumption: That the US was more than mildly interested in what the Germans were doing in 1938. The majority of the US public was strongly in favor of neutrality for the US until late in 1940 after the fall of France and the beginning of the Battle of the Atlantic. If Germans hadn’t foolishly declared war on the US in the wake of Pearl Harbor, we may have stayed out of the European portion of the conflict until the mid 1940s. > > The US government wouldn’t have cared less about Hitler getting his hands on any supernatural item as the mood at the time wasn’t that the US would be at war with Germany. It’s a mistake to confuse the attitude of the voting public with the attitude of the government. While popular support for entering into a “European war” was weak with the voters, lots of people in government recognized the growing threat of European fascism, and the possibility of war with Germany. Not least among them, the president himself. Anyway, it’s not like the government was putting a vast amount of resources into getting the Ark. The sum total of their involvement appears to have been telling a college professor about it and hoping he’d solve the problem for them. Maybe they paid for his plane tickets to Nepal, too. It wasn’t exactly the Berlin Airlift, is what I’m saying. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movie-in-which-nothing-happens/682379/35 "2014-02-27T19:18:21Z")
> [@](#): > > My favorite is _ **Twelve Angry Men** _. > > While it seems like a lot is happening, it’s just twelve men sitting around a jury room deliberating a case. Nothing really “happens” throughout the film. It’s a very dramatic film however. They saved a bunch of money on sets. ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movie-in-which-nothing-happens/682379/36 "2014-02-27T19:26:09Z")
> [@nevadaexile](#): > > What’s also unexplained is how Indy and Marion avoided the Nazis who stayed on the submarine. After all, not everybody had to go ashore. Or how they contacted the War Department and then waited until a SHIP (as no airfield was shown) sailed to the island to retrieve the Ark. > > My favorite is _ **Twelve Angry Men** _. > > While it seems like a lot is happening, it’s just twelve men sitting around a jury room deliberating a case. Nothing really “happens” throughout the film. Beat me to it. Also [Conspiracy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conspiracy_(2001_film)), which is essentially a recreation of a bunch of high-level bureaucrats having a meeting. ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movie-in-which-nothing-happens/682379/37 "2014-02-27T19:33:01Z")
> [@standingwave](#): > > Which the Nazis promptly get back by hijacking the steamer with a U-boat. However! It is because Indy _knew_ to keep his eyes closed and to tell Marion to keep her eyes closed that they both survived being turned into sand and swallowed up by the Ark. ---
**Author:** ![Moonchild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@Moonchild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonchild)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movie-in-which-nothing-happens/682379/38 "2014-02-27T19:38:45Z")
Does **The Breakfast Club** count? Either that or **Dazed and Confused**. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movie-in-which-nothing-happens/682379/39 "2014-02-27T19:50:31Z")
> [@LibrarySpy](#): > > I guess too much actually happens in Lost in Translation, but that’s the first thing I thought of. I disagree, there is no transformative moment, no explosions, only a tiny bit of BB gun fire. The characters are better for having met each other, but beyond that, nothing really changes at the end of the [del]painting[/del] movie. My candidate would be a rather obscure thing called [_Box of Moonlight_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115738/). It is crazy, meaningless fun that goes nowhere. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movie-in-which-nothing-happens/682379/40 "2014-02-27T20:16:59Z")
**The Sixth Sense** , as seen from everybody’s perspective but a freaky kid’s. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movie-in-which-nothing-happens/682379.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movie-in-which-nothing-happens/682379.md?page=3)