But why is that so bad? Movies retell the same story with the same beats over and over again. I think we should be more concerned about people who can focus on something repetitive for extended periods. What's wrong with them?
When I had an addiction to social media, I could not enjoy 'slow' things. I also felt anxiety and depression. After detoxing I am again able to enjoy the 'slow' things, like taking time to learn and resisting instant gratification hits.
Watching a movie sometimes requires 'getting into it' before you can really appreciate it.
Most of our jobs are repetitive tasks. Even something like being a race car driver is repetitive and 'boring'. In order to be fast you have to practice the same track layout hundreds of times to find the optimal racing line and braking points. Without boring there is no glory.
I'd suggest most of our progress was actually made by grinding through boring tasks. Many (most?) lazy people do not drive much progress.
But I wouldn't dismiss an entire form of complex expression because of an inability or unwillingness to engage with it at its level.
A movie is the visuals, the acting, the sound, the camera movements/editing, etc and how it all comes together to essentially give you a 2d slice of a person's realized thoughts.
I'm saying this genuinely, not to make a snide point or anything. There are some really good movies out there that aren't just "the same beats over and over again." If, say, you're only watching big studio blockbusters, try branching out into smaller dramas, that kind of thing.
"Beat for beat" might be a bit unfair but even then there are traditional structures such as "The Hero's Journey" that are commonly used by writer's both in and out of Hollywood.
That said, even if structure and a finite number of plots is true, there is still a wide variety of artistic potential from characterization to setting to art style.
I will say, however, that the older I get the more "familiar" things feel. Even when I'm watching non-blockbuster stuff. I'm pretty sure this is just the result of having watched more movies throughout my life. My standards are getting higher and my pattern recognition toolset is widening. And since I have dabbled in writing myself, I tend to recognize formulas when they are being applied ... even if the movie is not a cookie-cutter Hollywood factory-produced summer blockbuster.
Hardcore Henry
Frenetic, insane, indulgent, madness. Loved it. Can stand most blockbusters, can't stand most dramas.
A lot of rough edges can be forgiven for just a little bit of mad creativity.