Mission impenetrable: are Hollywood blockbusters losing the plot?

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

16. I have the same problem - but then I'm an old guy used to old movies

Most films I see nowadays have such convoluted storylines, with various threads some that never resolve that it takes a lot of the enjoyment out of watching for me. I much prefer to see zero special effects or CGI but to have a great dramatic story. For me, it's all in the story and the characters who carry it out. I'm used to a straight ahead clear narrative that builds. In the 1980s I was accepted in the highly competitive screenwriter's track program at UCLA film school and that's how they taught screenwriting. One of the bibles in the program was Lajos Egri's old book The Art Of Dramatic Writing. Thankfully for me, there are lots and lots of old films (some of which I can watch again and again) that for me are on average much, much better than the blockbuster of today. That's not to say that every new movie is bad, but for me it's the vast majority that I find almost unwatchable.