Welcome to English as a second language podcast, number seventeen.
Hello again and welcome to English as a second language podcast, number seventeen.
If this is the first time you have listened to this podcast, we ask you to go to our website at “www.eslpod.com” to learn more about how to listen to this podcast or listen to our first podcast -our introductory podcast- which will also give you important information.
The topic of today’s podcast is going to the movies.
We’re going to talk about types of movie and as always after our discussion, we’re going to discuss the vocabulary and expressions.
Today we’re going to listen to Lucy, talk about her favorite types of movies.
Let’s get started.
I love watching movies. I like a lot of different genres. No matter what my mood is, I can always find something that fits the bill. When I’m feeling down, I sometimes like a good comedy. My favorite are romantic comedies. The plot is pretty simple. A boy meets a girl and there are road blocks to them getting together. The lead actors are usually likable people, the supporting cast give comic relief and villains are people we love to hate. In the end though, there is usually a happy ending. Romantic comedies or comedies in general can be predictable, but they’re also pretty entertaining. I don’t go out of my way to see slapstick or physical comedies that much, but once in a while, I catch a good one on TV.
I like dramas, mysteries and action and adventure stories, not to mention documentaries. My favorite are movies that have surprise endings that throw you for a loop. Just when you thought you had the whole thing figured out, there’s a plot twist. Good screenwriters or directors can pull it off.
One type of movie I don’t like that much are horror movies. Scary movies just don’t do it for me, but there is one exception. I like movies by the director Alfred Hitchcock. Hitchcock was born in England, but made most of his films in the U.S. Before he died in 1980, he made a lot of movies that are now considered classics. Most of them are nail-biters; some are mysteries and some are horror stories.
The scariest movie I think he made and that I’ve ever seen was a movie called Psycho. The movie is set in a seedy motel called Bates Motel. The main character owns the motel and lives there with his mother. Strange things happened at this motel. People check in, but sometimes they don’t check out. One day, a very pretty woman checks in to the motel. We know something bad is going to happen to her. Sure enough, we see her get murdered. At the very end, we find out who the murderer is. It’s one of those surprise endings. Just when you thought you have it figured out; it turns out to be a shocker. I won’t spoil the ending for you if you haven’t seen it. I recommend it though and give it a big thumbs up, but be warned. It’s not for the faint-hearted.

Lucy used several expressions and terms that are commonly associated with talking about movies, as well as some more general vocabulary.
She said that, “No matter her mood was, she could always find something that fits the bill.” When we say something fits the bill, we mean that it meets the requirements. It is a good answer to a problem. So, for example, I need to buy a new car and I need something that has four doors and room for lots of extra luggage and packages. So, I go and find a big truck and I say, “Well! that fits the bill. Meaning, that gives me what I’m looking for.”
Lucy mentioned that the plots of her favorite types of movies, -romantic comedies- are pretty simple. The plot of course, is the story what happens in the movie. We talk about plots in movies, we talk about plots in novels, any sort of fiction typically, we use the term plot to describe the story. Lucy said that, “The typical plot in a romantic comedy is that boy meets a girl and there are road-blocks to them getting together.”
A road-block is something that means here an obstacle, a problem. Literally, a road-block is what the police may put up on a highway or freeway when they’re trying to catch a criminal who will be driving by, but here it means more generally an obstacle.
She said that, “The lead actors in the movies are usually likable people.” The lead actors are the stars in the movie. So, in the movie “The War of the Worlds” the lead actor is tom cruise.
That’s an example of the lead actor.
The other people are called the supporting actors or she used the term “supporting cast.”
The cast means everyone in the movie, all of the actors.
There are the supporting casts. Those are the actors who have less important or the minor roles in the movies.
The supporting casts sometimes includes comic relief meaning, those are actors that provide certain comedy, as well as villains. A villain is an evil person, a bad person, someone who as Lucy said, “We love to hate.”, meaning, it’s very easy for us to dislike it and we like the fact that we can hate the character in the movie.
Romantic comedy movies usually have a happy ending and that’s the expression we use for movie that has a successful conclusion where the girl and the boy get together and they live happily ever after. Meaning, they live together for the rest of their life. These plots in romantic comedies Lucy says are very predictable. Meaning, you can predict them what will happen. She says that she doesn’t go out of her way to see slapstick movies.
To go out of your way means to put in an extra effort, to do something additional. I am going to go out of my way to see my friend, John next week. Meaning, I’m going to do something that requires a lot of work, but it’s worth it for me. So, to go out of your way means to put in extra effort.
Sometimes we’ll say, “Don’t go out of your way to get me that book.” Meaning, “don’t do something especial in terms of your effort.”
Slapstick comedy is comedy where people fall down. It’s physical comedy. Charlie Chaplin is an example of someone who use slapstick comedy. Lucy mentioned that sometimes movies have surprise endings that throw you for a loop.
To throw you for a loop means to confuse you, to surprise you. You thought that it was going to end this way and suddenly at the end of the movie something very different happens. This is what we would call throwing you for a loop.
We can use this expression not just for a movies, but for anything. Sometimes People say, “Life through me a loop.” Meaning, something happened in my life that made me change or that wasn’t expected. Lucy says that, “She figured out the plot.” To figure out means to solve a problem, to understand it. We use this expression in a lots of different ways in English. I figured out who The person standing next to me was yesterday. Means, I discovered, I found out. To figure out means to find out. Lucy said that, “Some movies have a plot twist.” To twist, literally means to turn your body, but here, a plot twist means a change something you didn’t expect in the plot. So, you’re watching the movie and there is a likable handsome man and suddenly, he turns and kills another person. That would be a plot twist. We thought he was a nice guy; we find out he is a bad guy.
Lucy also mentioned the term screenwriters and directors.
The screenwriter in a movie is the person that writes the movie script -usually types it on a computer.-
A screen writer is the person who writes the plot who writes what we call the screen play or the guide to the movie with all the dialogs and the actions. a director is someone who actually tells the actors and tells the other people working on the movie what they should do. Anyone who is not the actor in a movie is called the crew.We use the term crew to mean anyone working with the movie that isn’t actually in front of the camera. Meaning, they’re not an actor. So, the sound person and the lighting person these are part of the crew. The term crew can be refered to any group of people who are working, usually in some physical capacity.
A few other expressions that Lucy used, She said that, “Good directors can pull it off.”
To pull something off means to be successful with it, Usually something that otherwise would be difficult. For example, I ran a marathon last week. I was very tired in mile number 21, but I managed to pull it off. In other words, i finished, i completed it, i was successful.
Lucy said that, “Scary movies just don’t do it for me.”
When we use the expression “It doesn’t do it for me.” means I don’t like it. It doesn’t get me excited. it doesn’t get me interested.
She said -in discussing Alfred Hitchcock movies the famous director- that, “His movies are considered classics.”
When we say something is a classic, we mean it is considered one of the best.
A classic play for example by Shakespeare would be Macbeth or Othello.
A nail-biter, -another term Lucy used for scary movies- A nail-biter means a movie that makes us afraid. So afraid that we bite our finger nails. It is usually a movie that is very suspenseful.
You don’t know what’s going to happen until very end of the movie.
Movie actors we said before are called the cast and there are lead actors in a movie.
another term that we use is main character.
The main character is the most important person in a story.
It could be a movie, It could be a novel, any sort of fiction.
Lucy said that, “Sure enough, we see someone getting murdered in one of the movies.”
The expression sure enough is very common. We use that to mean just as we expected.
I went to the store yesterday and sure enough, the vegetables were on sale.
Meaning, just as I expected.
A shocker -another term Lucy used in describing Alfred Hitchcock movies- A shocker is something that surprises us.
A shocking movie is a surprising movie.
Lucy said she will not tell you the end of the movie because she doesn’t want to spoil the ending.
To spoil something means to ruin it, To destroy it.
Here, the expression spoil the ending means to give away to tell you what the ending is, so that you won’t be able to enjoy it.
So often, when we want to read a new book that someone recommends to us, they’ll start telling us about the plot and we’ll say, “Don’t spoil the ending.”
Meaning, don’t tell me what happens at the end of the movie or the end of a novel, so I can enjoy it.
Two more terms that Lucy used in talking about movies. She said that she could recommend this movie and give it big thumbs up.
To give thumbs up to something, to approve of it, To say that it was good just like the roman emperors would give thumbs up or thumbs down. Thumbs up is approval. Thumbs down is disapproval.
The expression to thumbs up is often one you will hear in the united states, particularly in movie advertisements.
The expression comes from two famous movie critics sisco and ebert who since the nineteen seventies have been giving movies thumbs up or thumbs down.
To thumbs up means a very good movie.
Finally, Lucy said that, “The Alfred Hitchcock movie was not for the faint-hearted.”
To be faint-hearted means to be easily scared, Someone who get scared or get frightened very easily is faint-hearted.
That’s going to do it for today’s Esl podcast. We ran a little long. We went a little longer than we expected. We hope you enjoyed it. We’ll see you again next time on Esl podcast.
Thanks for listening.
Esl podcast is produced by center for educational development in Los Angeles, California. This podcast is copy right 2005.