Let's Discuss Movies! 🎥 How to talk about the cast, the plot and more!

7,813 views ・ 2019-06-27

English with Jennifer


Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.

00:06
Think quick. Name popular movie genres based on my hints. It's the kind of movie that makes you laugh.
0
6080
8000
00:16
Comedy. It's full of chases, fights, and big explosions.
1
16480
6920
00:26
Action.
2
26730
2000
00:29
This kind of movie might be really serious and it's full of dialogue and character development.
3
29300
6320
00:38
Drama.
4
38720
2000
00:42
These kinds of movies are set in the future. They usually have aliens and really cool technology.
5
42600
5960
00:52
Sci-Fi, which is short for science fiction.
6
52080
2780
00:58
This genre has scary movies that are full of blood and death.
7
58050
4369
01:05
Horror.
8
65760
2000
01:09
It's all about love and laughs.
9
69090
2119
01:14
Romantic comedy. Sometimes you'll hear the short form rom-com.
10
74490
4370
01:21
These films dramatize events in history.
11
81120
3620
01:27
Historical films.
12
87880
2000
01:31
These are old movies, especially in black and white, but people still watch them because they're considered really good.
13
91640
6700
01:42
Classic movies. Some people say, "It's a classic!"
14
102420
3950
01:48
In this genre, there's a lot of singing, and the music moves the story along.
15
108660
6140
01:56
Musicals.
16
116900
2000
02:00
This is the kind of movie that takes place in another world, and often there's magic.
17
120300
6620
02:10
Fantasy.
18
130400
2000
02:13
How often do you watch movies in English? Do you have the chance to discuss the movies that you watch?
19
133500
6080
02:21
I've highlighted some American movies in past videos here, but there's a new place to get my movie recommendations.
20
141580
7400
02:28
It's called Kiki.
21
148980
2040
02:31
I'm inviting you to join Jennifer's Movie Club. It's free.
22
151020
3780
02:34
You can download the Kiki Time app, or if you're on a computer, use the URL
23
154800
6120
02:40
kiki time.com and find my page,
24
160920
3400
02:44
Jennifer's Movie Club.
25
164320
1880
02:47
There are two tabs in my movie club.
26
167760
2460
02:50
The first tab has my posts. You can read my reviews and reactions to movies that I've watched.
27
170220
7440
02:57
The other tab is the community tab. That's where you can post movie reviews for others to enjoy.
28
177660
6220
03:06
Stick around to the end of this video, and I'll tell you about an exciting offer
29
186280
4459
03:11
for those who want to post on the community tab of my Movie Club.
30
191040
4760
03:18
In this lesson, I'd like to go over words and expressions you can use when you discuss movies with other people.
31
198060
6680
03:26
Let's start with questions you can ask about seeing a movie. Have you seen The Upside?
32
206620
6740
03:35
Did you ever see Scent of a Woman?
33
215040
2060
03:39
Do you know the movie Gran Torino?
34
219549
2000
03:44
Those last two questions are especially useful when you ask about older movies.
35
224920
5120
03:53
When someone mentions a movie, you may have heard of it,
36
233049
3830
03:56
but you need more information to recall it. You can ask about the actors in the movie.
37
236880
5970
04:04
Who's in it? Who stars in it? Who stars in that movie?
38
244540
5239
04:12
If you just want to remember the actor in a movie you can ask, "Who played Freddie in Bohemian Rhapsody?"
39
252280
8680
04:21
"Who's the actor that played Freddie in Bohemian Rhapsody?"
40
261760
3420
04:29
Note we say "actor" for a man, and for a woman, what do we say?
41
269080
5420
04:36
It's kind of a trick question. We can say "actress." If we're talking about a mixed group,
42
276100
6199
04:42
it's a group of actors.
43
282300
2220
04:44
But some women today prefer the word "actor" as a gender-neutral word,
44
284520
5680
04:50
so don't be surprised if you hear people talking about
45
290200
3600
04:53
Julia Roberts or Kate Winslet as actors.
46
293800
3800
04:59
To ask people's familiarity with a certain actor you can ask, "Do you know Kate Hudson?"
47
299980
6360
05:07
"Do you know the actor Alexander Skarsgard?"
48
307090
2720
05:13
Some people are really good with the dates. Are you? I'm not.
49
313360
5059
05:19
I often have to remember where I was in life and what I was doing in order to recall when a movie was released.
50
319800
7740
05:27
If you want to know the release date of a movie, you can ask:
51
327540
5200
05:33
When did the original Star Wars movie come out?
52
333420
3400
05:39
When was the first Star Wars movie released?
53
339340
2840
05:45
When did they make the first Star Wars movie?
54
345000
2000
05:48
Of course, movies aren't just about the actors. You can also ask about the people off-camera.
55
348880
7820
05:58
Who directed Gran Torino?
56
358000
2000
06:02
Who wrote the screenplay for Good Will Hunting?
57
362380
3240
06:07
Who were the producers? Who produced that movie?
58
367960
3580
06:15
Who wrote the music for Jurassic Park?
59
375120
2700
06:19
Some movies are known for having great music.
60
379980
2980
06:22
If you want to comment on a musical film score, you can say, "I love the soundtrack."
61
382960
7700
06:31
That movie has a great soundtrack.
62
391800
2460
06:37
I love the music in Indiana Jones.
63
397380
2700
06:42
I downloaded the soundtrack. I have the whole soundtrack on my playlist.
64
402700
6200
06:52
Often a good movie has the whole package: a good cast, a good screenplay, a good director, and a good soundtrack.
65
412220
7700
07:00
If you want to comment on a movie in general and praise it, you can use words like: good, great,
66
420020
7780
07:07
amazing, awesome,
67
427800
1780
07:09
unbelievable.
68
429580
1980
07:12
But sometimes the opposite happens. A movie is so bad that you wish you had never spent them money on the movie ticket.
69
432920
7660
07:22
That was so stupid. That was awful.
70
442040
3780
07:27
That was such a waste of money.
71
447510
2000
07:30
The movie was a flop. Was a total flop.
72
450630
3200
07:36
I was completely disappointed.
73
456570
2000
07:41
Have you ever heard about a box-office bomb?
74
461250
3320
07:45
If a movie bombs at the box-office,
75
465150
2420
07:47
it means it's so unsuccessful. People don't like it, and it doesn't earn a lot of money.
76
467640
6340
07:56
When you read a good movie review, they often give credit to the actors with descriptions like this:
77
476700
6500
08:05
a strong cast, a strong supporting cast,
78
485260
4340
08:11
a talented cast, and all-star cast.
79
491620
5740
08:19
By the way, do you know the difference between A-list and B-list actors?
80
499420
4700
08:24
It's probably what you think. A-list actors are at the top. They're the most popular.
81
504120
5140
08:29
These are big names, and these actors earn the most money. They get the lead roles in movies.
82
509260
6820
08:36
B-list actors are also popular, also talented.
83
516080
3660
08:39
But their names aren't as big, and they can't headline a movie all by themselves.
84
519740
5920
08:45
There needs to be...other actors or a really good director to draw an audience.
85
525660
6420
08:54
Some movies are here today and gone tomorrow.
86
534500
3340
08:57
Other movies are remembered for a long time, and they earn descriptions like these:
87
537840
5620
09:04
a hit movie,
88
544940
2200
09:07
a blockbuster movie,
89
547140
2600
09:10
the top grossing movie of 2018.
90
550540
4600
09:15
If someone mentions a movie and you want to know more, what can you ask?
91
555820
5200
09:21
Keep it simple. You can say, "What's it about?"
92
561740
3380
09:26
"What's the basic plot?"
93
566630
2000
09:30
Do you know the movie Jurassic Park, the first one? What's it about? What's the basic plot?
94
570980
7260
09:39
Here's what I'd say:
95
579380
1650
09:41
It's an adventure movie.
96
581030
1920
09:42
It's about this wildlife theme park on an island where they've reproduced real dinosaurs using
97
582950
7450
09:50
fossilized DNA.
98
590400
1800
09:52
And everything goes wrong when park security fails and the dinosaurs take over.
99
592200
6440
10:00
This is a good speaking activity. Think about a movie that you've watched and try to summarize it in just a few sentences.
100
600860
7200
10:08
Even if you're studying by yourself,
101
608960
2000
10:11
speak out loud.
102
611140
2000
10:14
If you're interested in writing practice, I have a good place for you to go to share movie reviews.
103
614440
6400
10:21
Jennifer's Movie Club. It's one of my pages on the new app Kiki.
104
621220
4460
10:25
You can download the Kiki time app, or if you're on a computer, use the URL KikiTime.com and find my page,
105
625720
7820
10:33
Jennifer's Movie Club. It's free.
106
633540
3320
10:38
And did you know that Kiki is a very special app?
107
638560
3200
10:41
It's a place where you can actually earn a little bit of money.
108
641760
3060
10:44
If you post a good quality review, your post will earn a little bit of revenue.
109
644820
6420
10:51
As more and more people like it and fire it up, your post will grow in revenue.
110
651240
5580
10:58
Let me give you another reason to join Jennifer's Movie Club on Kiki. The first two people to post
111
658940
7100
11:06
quality movie reviews of at least 100 words will receive a free 15-minute Skype call with me.
112
666040
7880
11:13
Let's see who those two people will be!
113
673920
2920
11:18
Well, that's all for now. Please remember to like this video and subscribe to my channel here on YouTube.
114
678440
6360
11:24
I also hope to see more of you on Kiki, so join my Movie Club there.
115
684820
5280
11:30
As always, thanks for watching and happy studies!
116
690660
3480
11:36
Become a member of my learning community. Click the JOIN button to become a member of my YouTube channel English with Jennifer.
117
696980
7440
11:44
You'll get a special badge,
118
704420
1600
11:46
bonus posts, on-screen credit, and a monthly live stream.
119
706020
4180
11:50
Note that YouTube channel memberships are not available in every country at this time.
120
710200
4400
11:57
I'd like to say a very special thank you to the current members of my channel.
121
717709
3890
12:01
Hopefully, more of you will join us for the next live stream.
122
721699
3200
12:07
Follow me and gain more practice on Facebook and Twitter. I also have new videos on Instagram.
123
727539
6710
12:14
If you haven't already,
124
734799
1560
12:16
subscribe to my channel so you get
125
736360
2640
12:19
notification of every new video I upload to YouTube.
126
739000
3180
About this website

This site will introduce you to YouTube videos that are useful for learning English. You will see English lessons taught by top-notch teachers from around the world. Double-click on the English subtitles displayed on each video page to play the video from there. The subtitles scroll in sync with the video playback. If you have any comments or requests, please contact us using this contact form.

https://forms.gle/WvT1wiN1qDtmnspy7