Predictable surprise

De Zengotita again, commenting on how lame action/sci fi movies have become: “There’s this very specific phase in so many of these films, a phase that’s so marked I bet there’s some insider lingo for it. It’s when the suspenseful set-up phase – which is often pretty good, very atmospheric, intriguing character foibles – ends and the resolution phase begins. At that point, everything seems to go on automatic, and the rest of the movie spins out flat and formulaic, but really loud and fast, as if hoping to distract you from the vacuity. It’s like the writer and director just give up. They somehow manage to make their endings old hat and over the top at the same time. A weird combination.”

In short, mediation has “achieved predictable surprise.”