[MeinBlutIstBlau]

I think this is why I've been struggling with finding good films to watch nowadays. Shows are doing great but movies have been suffering. Take the movie "Nobody" for instance. How the hell that movie got the ratings it did I will never know. Not only is it not good, but it was nothing what it was marketed as.

My solution to this is to watch actual films that are made with artistic intent or to see certain things that are submitted into festivals instead of just the main films shown to everyone. It's helped tremendously but it becomes a chore quick when there are a lot of "artsy" movies that tell the exact same story you've seen a million times.

[rmah]

Isn't it said that there are only seven actual stories? That every story is a variation of those seven plots with different names, places, times, etc?

[xarope]

I guess you are referring to this? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Seven_Basic_Plots

This, for example, is a perennial favourite: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hero%27s_journey

However, I'd like to think it's not just the plot, but the acting and the interpersonal relationships, that makes things interesting.

[skinnymuch]

There are only seven if you insist on being very general and vague. Skimming I didnt see any thing about things getting worse or not changing. Tragedy story is about something being the protagonist’s undoing. However in films like Man Push Cart or Big Fan. The protagonist didn’t do anything to make their lives worse. It either just sucked more or always sucked from the beginning.

There are other examples too, but this is one immediate one.

[MeinBlutIstBlau]

At their root core, sure we could generalize that. But I would say like any art, the expression of the story is what matters. I have a hard time connecting films like The Lives of Others, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Les Innocentes, Star Wars, and Austin Powers as "just the same story." In essence all films are either a comedy or tragedy if you really want to get down to it.