But I know there have been more than one action movie that I’ve been confused watching and where I usually feel like they are just covering up plot holes with more action. As if the director is saying, “The audience won’t know what’s going on, but they won’t notice (or care) because we have some killer special effects, chase scenes, and explosions.”

A popular example is on William Goldman’s “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” when we see this exchange before a gun fight:
Butch (Paul Newman): “Kid there’s something I ought to tell you. I never shot anybody.”
Sundance (Redford): “One hell of a time to tell me.”

Maximum timing.

On the other hand, in the opening scene of “Touch of Evil” we see a bomb planted in a car at the start which creates suspense since we know something the characters walking around are unaware about.

Every film and every scene is different, but the key thing is to be deliberate in your choices aiming for maximum impact on the audience.

One of the things I find challenging is knowing how much info. to give and how much to withhold so it can creep out slowly. There’s the opinion which recommends to withhold most things unless an audience HAS to be told to understand. How does this advice connect with what Hitchcock is saying? How does he “manipulate information” so he doesn’t have to withhold, but still have reveals? It’s a fine line that I have been struggling with a bit. Any resources you know of that might be helpful? Or…perhaps…a new post of your thoughts about this issue?