Oligopsony
Explorer
Since reading Save the Cat - a book on screenwriting that prescribes a very particular plot structure - I’ve noticed myself enjoying mediocre movies less, because you can tell that the writers’ room was just taking the initial broad concept of the film and filling in the “expected” plot beats. (I don’t know how accurate STC’s claims to describe a universal plot structure are, but for unremarkable but baseline-competent movies made in my lifetime, it’s certainly a large proportion.)
(Excellent movies I like just as much, because there’s so much going on other than plot to appreciate. I can still watch Jackie Brown or The Princess Bride over and over again because neither’s being mechanically filled in even though they’re playing self-consciously with a particular genre form, and because for whatever reason knowing about acting or cinematography doesn’t make me appreciate it less in the same way that knowing about common plot structures does.)
