Repetitive Stories In Films

As a child I loved movies. I grew up within walking distance of two video rental stores. My family and I rented movies almost everyday. In addition, we went to the theater once or twice a week. HBO was also something we watched continuously.

Over time I became bored with films. I didn’t understand why but it started to become a chore just to sit through one. I began tearing them apart in my head. I am constantly nitpicking every little detail to the point where I just can not enjoy them.

I just got through watching Wonder Woman. I was excited they finally made a film about her ;however, at the same time I was reluctant to watch for fear I would just pick it apart. After watching it I can honestly say that nitpicking at it was exactly what I did. Throughout the entire movie I kept predicting what would happen next. It felt like I had seen this film a thousand times. Needless to say, I became bored.

Does anyone here ever get bored with the same old stories being redone over and over again? Do you ever wish they would shake things up?

My real question is, am I alone in the fact that I feel that movies have become boring and predictable?

 

You're not alone. Superhero movies and other tentpole franchises (Fast & Furious, James Bond, Star Wars, etc) are all by-the-numbers type affairs that match your criteria for disillusionment. I rarely watch these type of films, preferring smaller, more considered, character driven films. But to be honest, films aren't even a big part of my entertainment consumption. I much, much prefer watching quality tv series, which have never been more plentiful than now..

 

You are not alone.
Most movies are made to a fairly low common denominator in terms of comprehension and attention holding ability.
Shower them with spectacular flashy things that move and change often while keeping the plot and story simple so everyone can follow.
You may find yourself being able to predict that which you have experienced so many times before.
The experience is what gets most who become bored with many movies. The story has already been told and you have heard it many times from many different angles. There is not much new about the story which leaves the acting ability and visuals as the "new" portion.
If the acting and visuals are not enough to carry you through, you can get bored and start wandering mentally.

There is a limit to the story themes. After hundreds of years of writing and acting those limited themes they are exhausted in terms of "new". The advent of motion pictures added a new dimension to the story telling game but it too is basically 100 years old and out of new ways to present the limited story lines.
This leaves the story telling, acting ability, and visuals as the draw and not the new story that has never been told.
Being able to tell the same story in an entertaining, compelling way is key and most fail.

 

Maybe you need a break? How do you choose your films? By actor, director, era, cinematographer? It helps.
I don't have this problem. I hate manipulative, calculated, predictable films/stories/characters like Precious (2009), Crash (2004) or Dallas Buyers Club (2013).

 

I don't think movies have just become boring and predictable. I remember when I was younger watching some movies and thinking that was boring and predictable. Maybe over the years the weight of it all just go to be too much, but it's not a recent phenomenon IMO.

Was Seven a predictable movie? Probably not but I remember the exact moment I figured out that his wife was killed. I didn't guess the head in a box ending but I knew she was dead.

 

Superhero movies are made with a certain formula and even when they vary it the ingredients are the same. I stopped watching them around Spiderman 2....cookie cutter twinkies for the masses. watch an old altman film or something

 

Google "five basic plots in fiction".

 

No, I get that.

We just finished (re)watching one of my all-time favorite films, Searching For Bobby Fischer, 1993. A 'small' yet magnificent movie, with some of the best lighting ever seen in a color film, subtlety, foreshadowing, and dramatic tension, and some of the most naturalistic kid actors as well. No explosions, gunfights, or notable special effects.

Yet...I still enjoyed the first Disneyfied SW film (especially after suffering through the 'prequels'), though it's the opposite of Fischer, and just what you spoke about, quite predictable. It was popcorn. A break, quite a bit of fun, a nice afternoon snack.

 

I agree it is repetitive, although I did enjoy Wonder Woman and I was not expecting to. I have just been wading my way through `THE FLASH` TV series and have given up after 9 episodes due to the repetitive story line in every episode......10 min of `Relationships`......20 seconds of action........20 min of "You can do it Flash".....20 seconds of `Mom` dying........15 min of MORE `Relationships`.....20 seconds of `Action`.....End with long `Relationship` outro.....
Repeat endlessly for every episode........
Have all the great thought provoking films been made now that studios are reluctant to make films that require any intelligence, or can be watched more than once.

 

Usually I choose them on the previews but not always. I also choose them by the filmmakers as well. For instance, if Ridley Scott is the filmmaker, then I will usually give it a chance ;however, if it’s Michael Bay then I don’t even bother. Sometimes I will also choose by actor.

I’m not saying that good films don’t exist, but rather they are harder for me to find.

 

I noticed similarities in Buster Keaton's movie College and Adam Sandler's The Wedding Singer. These two films are decades apart, with College being a film from 1925 and it is a silent film.

In both films the main characters (Buster Keaton and Adam Sandler) have a crush on a girl. Both guys are shy and unsure of themselves around girls. The girl in both films is already seeing a guy but the guy is a over-confident jerk. The girl kind of likes the shy guy in each film. Throughout the film there are a series of funny scenes and in the end the girl realizes that the shy guy is better. Both films end with the shy guy getting the girl!

It isn't only recent films that use standard plots and recycle ideas.

Scott

 

I'd just say lighten up and don't take it all so seriously. It is, after all, only a movie.

There's always something interesting to focus on: if the story is too predictable, consider the sound mix, or the cinematography, or the color, or the visual effects, or the actors' individual performances. There's a lot that goes into film these days, and sometimes if one level isn't working too well, I can enjoy it on another level.

Wonder Woman didn't bother me at all -- I thought it was an OK film. I wouldn't say it was brilliant or a classic, but I enjoyed what was there and thought it was a lot more fun film than the last few Superman or Batman films, which I think were very heavy-handed and downbeat for me. The characters were appealing and the story sorta/kinda made sense and wasn't too stupid, and that's a huge plus for me.

There are standard literary tropes that go back hundreds -- even thousands -- of years. Just in the action genre, take a look at Joseph Campbell's The Hero with a Thousand Faces. It makes a good case that many adventure stories and films are all retellings of classic mythology that goes back to ancient times.

The Hero with a Thousand Faces - Wikipedia

I think we can all agree the number of truly original stories out there is very small. What we wind up seeing are variations on these tropes where they disguise the story's origins through a lot of detail. What I like in a film or TV show is when the plot leads us all the way up to one point, and then they suddenly turn the tables on us and come up with a big surprise we never saw coming. Among my favorite things in a film is to say two things: 1) 20 minutes before the end, I say, "I have no idea where this thing is headed," and 2) when the film ends, I say "wow, I never expected that." It doesn't happen often enough, but when it does, it's great to experience.

 

Here's a recent comment by David Fincher which I think pretty much nails the problem with most 'big' movies:

“There’s no time for character in movies. Not, now. Look at All The President’s Men — everything is character. Now, movies are about saving the world from destruction. There aren’t a lot of scenes in movies, even the ones I get to make, where anyone gets to muse about the why. It’s mostly the ticking clock. And in this show [Mindhunter] it’s hard to find the ticking clock. But the thing is: I don’t care if the whole scene is five pages of two people in a car sipping coffee from paper cups as long as there’s a fascinating power dynamic and I learn something about them. And I do not care if the car is doing somewhere between 25 and 35 miles per hour.”

David Fincher Talks the Current Limitations of Studio Movies and Marvel

 

Consider this. The more movies and TV shows you watch, the less likely it will be that you are surprised. Like a drug addict, you need bigger and better thrills. I've nearly given up on discovering new shows and movies. I'm middle aged now, and I have watched or read most of what the current filmmakers have too. I know their influences and who they are borrowing from.
I was a big fan of Cameron Crowe. When I sat in a theater to watch Vanilla Sky, there was a scene from The Twilight Zone during the credits in the background. I recognized it and what the story was about. I couldn't enjoy the film because I made the connection and the twist ending didn't come for me. I now look for older films or TV shows from overseas to get a different perspective.

 

I get where you're coming from, but I don't totally agree. Yes, familiarity breeds contempt, but if all one is looking for is a bigger and bigger thrill, then of course one will be disappointed. But if you're looking for an interesting story that is character driven rather than stunt/explosion driven, then you can find some worthy content (eg, Get Out).

As was pointed out earlier, at the core, there are only a handful or two of different types of stories, but what matters is how the stories are told and how engaging are the characters in those stories. That's what keeps the boredom away.

However, it's a lot easier to find that kind of content in the tv universe than the silver screen.

Don't give up because there are a lot of fine tv shows out there right now.

 

I think what you just said is a big part of the problem that modern day movies are having. The quality of many TV shows, along with the quality of people's home viewing equipment (large, flat screen TVs, home theater systems, etc.) are giving people very attractive alternatives to going out to the movies.

Sure, many of the complaints about contemporary movies are valid (too many remakes, too many sequels, etc.) but taken together with the high quality of television these days, movies are taking a beating.

Scott

 

I must say the new IT movie was very good.

TV is on a great run now.

 

Anyone goes to see Wonder Woman should already know what they're getting.

 

I don't want to make this about one film, but I will say that there is so much that goes into the story of Wonder Woman that it was disappointing to see it over simplified the way it was. You are right. I should have known better.

 

I wished I could lighten up about it but it's hard. I realize that it's just a movie, but at the same time it's time wasted for me. 30 years ago, it wouldn't have mattered. There was action and explosions. Now all I see is the same old thing.

Looking back, the films I adore the most are the ones where the FX were only there to add effect to the story rather then becoming the story itself. Films like Blade Runner, where the visuals and the acting only added more impact to the story overall. When I think back on Blade Runner my first thoughts are not about the FX, but rather the story as a whole. Other films such as The Graduate had no effects yet was able to achieve perfection with nothing more then good acting and story telling.

I know great films are still being made, but it's becoming more difficult for me to find them. Perhaps I have just seen too many or perhaps I am just expecting more then what I'm getting. I really don't know.

Of course this is all just my opinion.

 

Those types of films don't get made anymore by the major studios because they don't have the potential to become high pay-day blockbusters.

But, there is hope. Those types of movies are now being made by streaming services, like Netflix. Netflix has attracted big name directors, producers and actors to appear in their original productions where the filmmakers are given almost complete freedom to realize their vision. A very attractive proposition, creatively.

Next year, Netflix has announced that they'll be making up to 80 original films with around $8 billion to spend (including documentaries and tv shows). Their films don't have huge budgets (by Hollywood standards) and so tend to focus more on story and character, covering diverse subjects. I'd be looking there for interesting new films.

 

I agree it's getting harder to find films with guts and depth, plus real characters and a solid story. Two movies like that that I really enjoyed were Logan (a relatively cheap R-rated Fox superhero movie) and Baby Driver (an original story that I found really captivating and well-done). For a big sprawling film, I really enjoyed Guardians of the Galaxy 2 because it's a movie that didn't take itself seriously, but still had some effective dramatic moments mixed in with the comedy. It was extremely good as a faithful adaptation of a classic horror story. So that's four 2017 films that have stood out to me, each with a lot of effects that weren't too intrusive but advanced the story. I just got a screening of Blade Runner 2049 and we'll see how that holds up.

You can make a good case that we're going through a Second Golden Age of TV, with really powerful show ideas and interesting characters that haven't ever been done before, particularly with edgy plots and uncommercial content that would be impossible to get on network TV. I'm absolutely glued to the set for Mr. Robot each week (as one example), and I'm thoroughly entertained, surprised, and amazed they get a show this complicated on the air every week. It's a very, very involved, complicated series that requires a lot of thought and attention from the viewer to really get what's happening.

 

It's funny, but my wife and I are not big on going to the theater anymore, mostly because of those blaring loud sound effects in the 20 minutes of previews, before they finally show the movie. Yeah I know what you're thinking ... Chris why don't you just show up late for the start of the movie? I have a major pet peeve when watching ANY movie and that is that I have to see all the credits from the beginning of a movie until the last credit rolls off the screen at the end. I guess that this is thanks to years of my best friend and I going to the movies and always waiting to find out who the "key grip" was of a movie. Mind you, we had absolutely NO idea even what the hell a "key grip" was or what they did, but we still invested our free youthful time, just to see that guy or gals name!

All of that thinking has brought me to today, with very rare visits to the theater anymore, (mostly for those TCM special screenings, or something as "visually" interesting as "La La Land", to be honest), so this is how I handle new movies now. I don't know why they do it this way, but I have found that on every Friday afternoon, my local library always lists most of that weeks new major movie releases, that are just hitting the theater, as a future pre-hold, on DVD and Blu-ray. So, if you're crafty enough to log into your library account on any given Friday, right after they post them on the site, you can be one of the first to borrow one of the new movies, the week that they finally get released for home viewing. With a Panasonic Plasma, Oppo player and a nice old school surround sound system at home, who needs the theater? As a "voiceover guy" myself, I can sit on my own sectional at home, with a bowl of Orville Riddenbacher's popcorn and yell out in a super deep voice, "IN A WORLD" and all is well!

I forgot to add, which is the whole reason for my posting the above, but I can't believe when reading the plot topics of most of these new movies on the library site, just HOW these crazy films get the green light anymore, as these topics and plots have all been done a thousand times before! Has anybody ever actually counted just how many times Tom Cruise has saved the world, LOL?

 

it's the hollywood ending syndrome....have them walk out the theater felling happy: the couple gets back together....the kids get home safe....the bad guy dies.....the criminal goes to jail....the down and out guy finds a million bucks in the end etc etc etc

the movie "life"....now that was an ending!

 

"Here we go again - again." --- Tugg Speedman