I'm IN a MOVIE! - Talk about MOVIES in English!

- Hi, everyone.

I haven't posted much on this channel

for the last few months,

but finally I can tell you why that is.

Hollywood put me in a movie.

(celebratory music) I know! Finally!

It finally happened.

I'm an actor now.

It's called "Smells Like Justice."

It's an action/romance movie.

It's the best thing on Earth.

I'm so excited,

and exclusively for my channel,

for you guys,

I can show you the trailer.

So,

enjoy.

(dramatic music)

- Great job again, Justice.

You're the best detective I've ever seen.

Sure, that toxic spill left you blind,

but it also gave you super-smelling ability,

so you always find the guy who did it.

- Justice, you're the best detective we've ever had.

Do your thing.

- (sniffs) The killer is male.

(sniffs) 6'2".

(sniffs) He's been eating chocolate, no...

Chocolate-covered nuts.

(package crinkling) (nuts crunching)

(police sirens wailing)

- Oh, what?

- We got him.

You're under arrest.

- Aw, man.

- She always gets her guy. (bullpen cheering, applauding)

- From the taste of the blood,

I know that the killer was female.

Red hair.

And she drinks Coke, no...

Pepsi, no...

Raspberry Pepsi.

(suspenseful music)

(police sirens wailing)

- You're under arrest for murder.

- How did you know it was me? (belches)

- Again!

- You're my hero, Justice.

I want to be just like you when I grow up.

- Justice, you're the best cop I've ever seen.

You're so talented, I just...

I admire you so much.

- Oh, Jake.

You're so sweet to me.

(gunshot pops)

- God damn it, Justice.

You were in the bank at the same time as the robber?

Did you at least get a good sniff?

- He was right in front of me in the bank.

I could smell him.

But he dropped his scarf.

(sniffs) It smells like coffee.

But everyone drinks coffee.

How are we gonna find him?

This is impossible.

- Hey. Hey.

We'll find him.

Together.

- Together.

- So, it's really easy to talk about movies.

All you need are a few expressions

and a few pieces of vocabulary.

So today,

I'll give you those expressions and bits of vocabulary,

and tell you about some of my favorite movies along the way.

For example...

This is a book.

But there's a movie of this, too.

Basically, the guy pretends to be an airline pilot

and steals loads of money from the airline.

Then... What does he do?

He pretends to be a doctor.

He pretends to be a lawyer.

It's so fascinating,

and they made this story into a movie.

When that happens,

we can say the movie is based on a book,

or, in this case, it's based on a true story.

And I'm just realizing that, like, half the books I own...

I bought them because I saw the movie

and heard the book was good.

Like...

I like knowing what the actors look like and sound like,

because when I read the book, and...

Do you do this too?

I'm reading what the character says,

and in my head, it's the actor's voice,

and what I'm imagining is that actor playing that role.

Anyway, let's talk about the time and place

of a story in a movie.

For example, "Lord of the Rings."

The movie place is called Middle Earth, right?

But they made the movie in...

New Zealand?

So when we talk about the place or the time

of the story in the movie or the book,

we say,

"It was set in Middle Earth."

Now, I have a question for you Tolkien-heads,

because I know, the, like...

If you're a fan of "Lord of the Rings,"

then you get, like, super, super into the story, so...

A question for you.

Answer me in the comments.

We're gonna learn about prepositions with this,

because Middle Earth...

I don't know.

Is that a planet,

or is it a place,

like an area,

on a planet?

Like a country or something.

So there's a reason I'm asking.

For example,

if Middle Earth is a planet,

then it's set on Middle Earth.

But if Middle Earth is, like, a country

or a continent or whatever,

then it's set in Middle Earth.

I think it's in.

I don't know.

And it's the same verb when you talk

about the time of the story.

So "Lord of the Rings"...

When was "Lord of the Rings" set?

Is it set in the past,

but, like, a fantasy past?

I don't know.

Is it set today, but on another planet?

I don't know!

Please educate me.

And again, the preposition will change,

depending on the time.

So, is it set today?

No preposition.

Is it set in the future?

In the past?

On a Tuesday?

But the location where they made the movie,

we can just say

it was made, shot, or filmed

in New Zealand, in this case.

Again, that preposition will change.

New Zealand is a country, so "in."

In New Zealand.

It was shot in England.

Now, all three of these verbs are equally correct,

but "made" is the most common.

It's the most frequently used to talk about this.

So let's practice this.

Mm, you tell me.

Which famous movie was made in your country?

To talk about the story of a movie, you just say,

"Mm. It's about... Story."

For example, "Lord of the Rings" is about...

Uh, what?

Three dudes that want to throw a ring...

Something?

"Lord of the Rings" is about three guys

walking for nine hours,

and not much happens.

"Lord of the Rings" is about three short guys

who want to fight a mountain with an eye on it.

Again, I don't know "Lord of the Rings."

Please educate me.

You know one of my favorite movies?

Um...

I'll give you clues.

You guess my favorite movie.

One of my favorite movies.

Um, it's set in America.

I don't know where.

I think it's set, like, in the 90s.

It's about a group of toys who lose their new friend,

and they have to go and rescue him.

And it's got Tom Hanks in it.

He plays Woody, the main character.

Of course, everyone knows.

It's "Toy Story."

It's, like, one of the best movies ever.

But how do we talk about the actors in the movie

and the characters they play?

So a lot of my students ask,

"Can I say

it stars Tom Hanks?"

You can, but honestly, in conversation, you won't say this.

We would just say,

"Oh? 'Toy Story,' yeah.

It's got Tom Hanks."

As an option, you could say,

"It's got Tom Hanks in it."

The "in it" is an option.

You don't have to use it,

but it's common to put them in the sentence.

So just remember,

for conversation,

which is 90% of our communication,

use that one.

But if you are a movie critic,

if you're reviewing a movie, for example,

you're writing an article about this movie,

or... I don't know.

An announcement for a movie.

You know? Something official.

Then you would use "it stars."

So, in "Toy Story," Tom Hanks,

his character is Woody.

And the verb we use is

"play."

But, he/she/it.

Remember that "S."

He plays Woody.

Okay, I just thought of something.

I did a lesson on this the other day,

and one of my students asked this question.

"Can I say Tom Hanks appears

or that Tom Hanks appears in it?"

Grammatically, yes,

but in conversation, it doesn't sound natural.

Well,

I mean,

again, it just sort of has that feeling.

You know?

It feels too technical, too official, too formal

for conversation.

So if you're talking about the actor,

just say this.

"It's got Tom Hanks in it."

When we can't remember

which other movies or TV shows

that actor has been in,

or we're trying to remind someone,

"Oh, you know this actor.

You know, from this other movie?"

That kind of thing.

"Who's Tom Hanks?"

"You don't know Tom Hanks?

Tom Hanks,

he's the one from..."

Which other movie?

Ooh!

He's in this one.

So we'll usually say,

"He or she is the one

from blah, blah, blah."

The one... It doesn't matter.

Male, female, whatever.

One.

It's easy.

Or, really simply, you could just say,

"You know...

You know, the guy from..."

What's another Tom Hanks movie?

"Toy Story 2"!

(laughing) I don't know.

You can use that as well.

"The one from," "the guy from," "the girl from"...

Whatever you want.

And yeah, again, you could say,

"Oh, he appeared in this other movie."

But again, in conversation, it's less common.

Not wrong, just less common.

Hmm. Also.

When you are trying to remember

the name of a TV show or a movie,

or if you're trying to remind someone

about a certain movie or a TV show,

you can use these expressions.

If you want to explain the story in a very general way,

"It's the one where..."

In this case, "the one" is the movie.

So, "It's the movie where blah, blah, blah happened."

For example,

see if you can guess which movie I'm talking about.

So, you know this movie.

It's the one where

they go to space and something bad happens.

You don't know the movie?

Okay, so...

You know the one...

Again, the movie.

The one with the guy

who makes potatoes out of his own poo?

Do you know the movie yet?

I think it came out a few years ago.

The movie, not the poo.

So two things.

One, the movie was "The Martian."

Congratulations if you guessed correctly.

And number two,

when we talk about the release date of the movie,

we use the phrasal verb "come out."

So in the case of "The Martian,"

that came out in 2015.

Really that long ago?

Wow.

And if there's a new movie coming in the future,

you can say, "It's coming out in a few months."

"It's coming out next year."

"It's coming out in summer."

Whatever.

So I'm really excited about "Black Widow."

When's that coming out?

I think it's coming out in summer.

I'm not sure.

Some common questions that we might ask.

Um... Okay.

Think of your favorite movie.

I want you to write this question and then write the answer.

So, in your favorite movie, who are the actors?

Who has it got in it?

Who's in it?

So, who's in it?

Who's in your favorite movie?

Um...

The story!

What's it about?

Oh, it's the one where blah, blah, blah happened.

And finally,

when did it come out?

Or, maybe it's not out yet.

When is it coming out?

So,

write those questions so you don't forget,

then write the answers.

You'll need those in a moment.

The final bit of vocabulary I want to show you is,

you know in a movie when you think you know the story,

you think you know who is good and who is bad,

but then, at the end... Phew!

There's some shocking information,

or something happens to completely change the story?

Like, (gasps) "Oh, my God!

I thought this was the situation,

but actually, this was the situation the whole time."

That situation is called a twist.

Actually, you know that movie I was in?

"Smells Like Justice"?

Yeah, that had a huge twist at the end.

I think I can show it.

I... I can... I can show it to you, yeah.

You... You won't tell anyone.

It's fine.

(gentle music) - Morning, sleepyhead.

I got you some coffee.

- Thank you.

(sniffs) Oh.

You know what this smells like?

- What's that?

- (sighs) Justice.

(police sirens wailing) You're under arrest

for that bank robbery you did.

- How did you know?

- How did I know?

Because Justice

isn't blind.

- What?

- Phew!

That is a twist.

That is a twist!

Okay.

Now we're gonna play a game,

and I love this game.

I always play it in my classes,

and we can play it still here on YouTube.

Down there, in the comments.

I will describe a movie

using the vocabulary from today's lesson.

You guess that movie,

and then you describe a different movie,

and someone else will guess that movie,

and so on, and so on.

So, my idea is,

the comments is gonna be full

of descriptions of movies,

using the vocabulary from today's lesson.

Mm, okay.

I'm thinking of a movie.

Um...

You know the one where they go to sleep a lot?

It's also set on a plane, on a bus, in a van.

Um, it's got Tom Hardy in it.

It's also...

It's the movie with the guy from "Titanic."

And, at the end of the movie...

I'm still not sure if there was a twist or not.

Someone else who understood that movie better than me,

maybe you can explain.

Was that a twist, or no?

I don't know.

Anyway, if you know the movie I'm talking about,

please let me know in the comments,

and also,

please feel free to describe your own favorite movie

for other people to guess.

So have fun with that.

I'll see you in the comments,

and I'll see you in the next class.

(relaxed music)