Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast, number 802, Talking About Movies.
This is English as a Second Language podcast, episode 802.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development at in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
Our website is eslpod.com.
Go there to download a learning guide.
Well, first, become a member, and then you can download the learning guide.
This episode is all about the movies.
Let's get started.
What did you think of that movie?
It was okay, but I'm not really into big budget movies with a lot of special effects and big name stars.
Oh, you're a film snob.
I bet you only watch indie films made on a shoestring budget with low production values.
No, that's not true.
I just don't like crowd pleasers that are predictable.
I like movies that stretch the imagination and have some artistic value.
You mean you like those weird movies with no plot and a lot of strange characters.
They're artsy but leave you totally confused.
I don't mind some ambiguity, if that's what you mean.
Well, I'm going to see the new Spider-Boy movie next week.
I don't suppose you want to come?
Spider-Boy?
I've been looking forward to seeing that movie.
But it's a big budget blockbuster.
I can't watch artsy films all the time.
Variety is the spice of life, don't you think?
Martin begins our dialogue by asking Joanna, what did you think of that movie?
What was your opinion of that movie?
Joanna says it was OK, but I'm not really into big budget movies.
Joanna says she's not really into big-budget movies.
A budget, B-U-D-G-E-T, is the amount of money that you spend on something.
Usually it's a plan of how much you're going to spend on something.
A big budget movie would be a movie that was very expensive to make.
It cost millions and millions of dollars.
Well, Joanna doesn't like big budget movies with a lot of special effects and big name stars.
Special effects in a movie or a television show are things that nowadays are created by computers and special computer graphics programs.
In the old days they just used to be very creative about doing things that real.
You're not actually seen something that israel you may think it's real.
You may think that the real car is blowing up.
Well actually, sometimes they do blow up cars, But you may see a building that is being blown up.
Or when they made Titanic the movie, they didn't actually take a real ship and put it into the ocean.
I don't think.
They used special effects.
They used special tricks of the camera and of technology to make it look like that's what you were seeing.
Big name stars are famous stars.
A star here means a well-known actor or actress.
Star has other meanings in English as well.
Find some of those in your learning guide and in the sky.
Martin says, oh, you're a film snob.
Yeah, Joanna, you're a film snob.
What's a snob?
A snob, S-N-O-B.
Don't you love the way that word sounds?
Snob, snob.
I love the sound of the word.
Joanne is a film snob.
A snob is a person who thinks that their opinion, their tastes are superior or better than other people, especially men, things that have to do with artistic style or money.
Someone who's a snob may say, oh, I never eat at McDonald's.
That's where poor people eat.
That's where people who don't have very good taste eat.
That might be something of a snobbish attitude.
We may call you a food snob.
Martin is calling Joanna a film snob, a movie snob.
Film is just another word for movie.
Martin says, Indie, I-N-D-I-E, stands for independent.
It usually refers to music or movie that is made by a small company or a group of individuals, not a big, large company corporation, not one of the what we would call major studios when it comes to movies.
It's not made by one of the large record companies when it comes to music.
Instead, it's made often with a lot less money by a much smaller company or group of people.
They're independent of the big film and movie companies.
A shoestring budget is a low budget, something that doesn't cost very much money.
Production values are the qualities of the movie itself.
It refers to the techniques that are used in the movie the lighting, the sound, the music, the special effects something that has a low production value, looks like it was made with not very much money.
Maybe it doesn't look as professional as the movies where they spend millions and millions of dollars on.
That's a low production value movie.
Martin is saying that Joanna only likes movies that are indie films made on a shoestring budget with low production values.
Joanna says that's not true.
I just don't like crowd pleasers that are predictable movies.
A crowd hyphen pleaser is something that many or most people like, but that is perhaps not very sophisticated or not very artistic, especially when it comes to movies.
Predictable is something that you... can anticipate.
You know what's going to happen.
There are no surprises.
If you are watching a romantic comedy, you know that the man and the woman are going to get together at the end of the movie.
That's predictable.
We know that's going to happen.
Joanna doesn't like movies that are predictable.
She says, To stretch the imagination means to make you think of things you might not have thought of before, and to do so in an exciting and artistic way.
By artistic, I mean something that...
You would consider quality something that is unique or interesting or beautiful, something that is not just normal or common or predictable.
Martin says you mean, you like those weird movies with no plot, no story and a lot of strange characters, a lot of strange people.
When we say a movie is artsy, A-R-T-S-Y, we mean that it tries to be artistic.
Sometimes this can be a criticism.
It sometimes is used to describe a movie that perhaps tries to be artistic, or maybe tries a little bit too hard, so that other parts of the movie the plot or the characters are not as important as making the movie seem like it is an artistic one.
Well, that's what Martin says Joanna likes.
She likes weird movies with no plot, no story, and have a lot of strange characters.
They're artsy but leave you totally or completely confused.
You're unclear, you're uncertain, you don't know what exactly happened in the movie.
That's how I felt about Forrest Gump.
I don't know.
Maybe I just wasn't paying attention.
Maybe I didn't have enough Coca-Cola that day that I saw the movie.
Kind of confused by the whole thing.
Don't really get it.
Didn't really understand why everyone liked that movie so much.
I don't know.
I mean I don't hate Tom Hanks.
You know what I'm saying?
I just didn't like the movie very much.
Anyway.
Martin thinks that the movies that Joanna likes would leave you totally confused.
Joanna says, I don't mind some ambiguity, if that's what you mean.
I don't mind means it doesn't bother me.
It's okay when I have some ambiguity in the movie.
Ambiguity means A-M-B-I-G-U-I-T-Y means that it isn't exactly certain.
You're not sure what exactly has happened.
Having ambiguity is having uncertainty.
Martin says, well, I'm going to see the new Spider-Boy movie next week.
I don't suppose you want to come.
That expression, I don't suppose, S-U-P-P-O-S-E, is very common.
It's a phrase used to ask someone something when you think the answer will be no or you expect the answer to be no.
You go up to a beautiful woman and you say, I don't suppose you want to dance with me?
And she says, here on the subway?
Probably not.
So the lesson is don't ask a beautiful woman to dance with you when you're riding on the subway.
A bar, a dance club might be a good place to ask that question.
Joanna says, Spider-Boy, I've been looking forward to seeing that movie.
I want to see that movie.
Martin says, but it's a big-budget blockbuster.
A blockbuster movie is a movie that's very popular and makes a lot of money.
The... Oh, that movie... the one where the kids kill each other.
What's that called?
It's a new one.
This is 2012 if you're listening to this in the future.
And if you're listening to this in the past, buy Apple and Google stock.
If you're listening to this in like 2005, 2006, something like that, trust me, you'll thank me.
Anyway, that movie Hunger Games, that's a blockbuster.
That's a movie that is going to make a billion dollars.
Well, Martin says that the new movie he wants to see Spider-Boy not a real movie is a blockbuster movie.
Joanna says, I can't watch artsy films all the time.
Martin is surprised Joanna wants to go and see the movie.
She says, variety is the spice of life, don't you think?
That expression.
Variety is the spice of life.
Works means trying new things, or doing new things.
Different things is good for you.
It's interesting.
It makes your life more interesting.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
What did you think of that movie?
It was okay, but I'm not really into big budget movies with a lot of special effects and big name stars.
Oh, you're a film snob.
I bet you only watch indie films made on a shoestring budget with low production values.
No, that's not true.
I just don't like crowd pleasers that are predictable.
I like movies that stretch the imagination and have some artistic value.
You mean you like those weird movies with no plot and a lot of strange characters.
They're artsy, but leave you totally confused.
I don't mind some ambiguity, if that's what you mean.
Well, I'm going to see the new Spider-Boy movie next week.
I don't suppose you want to come?
Spider-Boy?
I've been looking forward to seeing that movie.
But it's a big-budget blockbuster.
I can't watch artsy films all the time.
Variety is the spice of life, don't you think?
I'd like to thank our big-name scriptwriter, Dr. Lucy Say, for her wonderful work.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thank you for listening.
Come back and listen to us again here on ESL Podcasts.
English as a Second Language podcast is written and produced by Dr Lucy Say, hosted by Dr Jeff McQuillan.
Copyright 2012 by the Center for Educational Development.
