Okay then yeah, I agree. I once had a discussion with someone who claimed Aliens could be analyzed in terms of the three act structure, and I didn't disagree - but it turned out we disagreed on where the three acts actually were, which in my opinion negated the claim that such analysis had any predictive power.
But the original article is talking about a formula that is apparently much more prescriptive than the three act structure.
For it to really be "3 acts", you should be able to stop watching at any of the act ends, and feel like the story had closure, for at least some notable elements.
But the original article is talking about a formula that is apparently much more prescriptive than the three act structure.