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It seems to me that the incredibly useful thing that VO does is allow you to get to the most essential and dramatic parts of your story more quickly. Exposition through VO might seem lazy...but exposition through boring set up scenes is far, far worse.

Much more on voice-over narration tomorrow, but the same point as flashbacks: If VO is the way your story MUST go, it is THE BEST WAY to tell your story, and you do it in a compelling, entertaining, and unique way, then that's what you have to do. VO narration is only flaccid writing when the writing is flaccid. If the writing is great, it dissolves the argument against. As I say, more tomorrow...

Extremely well done on this rules topic. Thanks for the work put into it, especially on the history.

You might also want to read a book written by Linda Aronson who not only watched those non-linear films, but also analyzed them properly AND found ways to use them as templates. It's called "21st Century Screenplay". Far beyond what other screenwriting books touch upon!