📕 Part 1: Cinema

Rory, do you like going to the cinema?

I used to like it a lot, though, these days it's just more convenient for me to stream things online. You have to wait a bit for the latest blockbusters to come out though. So it's a bit of a wait. But it's not exactly the worst thing in the world, although you miss out on the popcorn, but at the same time, you don't have to wait in line for the tickets, for example.

How often do you go to the cinema?

Well, like I implied before, hardly ever these days. There's just too much to be getting on with. So spending time sitting in front of a giant screen isn't the best use of time, or at least I think so. If I had more time than I would.

When was the last time you went to the cinema?

I can remember it vividly, actually. I took my other half to see Godzilla vs. Kong at this huge mall where we used to live. The whole plot was ridiculous and the characters were inconsequential. But I did like the experience of eating popcorn and laughing at how silly everything was. And thankfully, the rows of seats were mostly empty. So it was okay to laugh out loud. Usually in the cinema, there's this sort of convention or unspoken rule that you don't make too much noise but we could, which was good.

Did you usually go to the cinema when you were a child?

Oh, I definitely used to go far more often when I was younger. There wasn't much of a choice, frankly, since my parents did all of the decision making in that regard. Based on what I can remember, though, I did enjoy myself. We used to watch the Disney classics, for example. So yeah, we went and we went fairly often.

Do you like to watch films alone or with your friends?

Oh, I think it depends on the movie, really. Well, I like watching my favorite movie, which is Contact, by myself. Because it's a film that's designed to provoke deep thinking, which I think is best done alone. On the other hand, there are some films which are just mindless fun like Starship Troopers, which you should definitely watch with friends just to enjoy the insanity of the storyline and the setting. However, if we think about the cinema, then that's something, that's almost always a collective experience, isn't it? You don't really go to the cinema by yourself.

What kinds of films do you prefer?

I think that depends entirely on how I'm feeling as it is for other people. If I feel nostalgic, then I'll watch an older film, even if I've seen it millions of times before, like what we talked about Disney classics, for example. Or if I'm feeling like something new, then I'll see what my friends are recommending. Most recently, I developed a taste for found footage films and mockumentaries, which are either quite mysterious or humorous. And that's quite good because they're, well, you get engrossed in the plot, and you can lose yourself that way.

Thank you, Rory! You are like a film star! You're the star of our podcast!

The star of vocabulary and grammar. Unless it's conditionals. My New Year's resolution was not to learn more about conditionals.

No? Did you switch to articles?

I know exactly what I'm talking about with articles. It's just conditionals that I hate. -

So cinema. I can say go to the cinema or go to the movies.

Yes.

Do British people use the word "movies"? Because it tends to be American.

Well, it used to be, or it was that American said movies and British people said films. But now it's mixed. You can hear one or the other. And who cares?

No, no one cares. You know British, American poof. Yeah. So go to the cinema, go to the movies, watch a film, watch a movie. And then the question is, do you like go into the cinema and you say I used to like it. So our favorite used to. Yeah? And then you can go with the latest blockbusters. So first of all, what's a blockbuster?

A blockbuster is just another way of saying like a major film or a new release. And there are different kinds of blockbusters. There are blockbusters in general, or there are summer blockbusters, which are very expensive films that come out in the summer.

Hmm.

I don't know what the summer blockbuster was last year. I think really surviving 2021 was the blockbuster. Hold on. 2021.

And we use the word the latest. Can you say the last blockbuster? No.

Yes. Yes, you can. You can say the last blockbluster.

You can?

The last blockbuster film I saw, but if we're talking about in general, then it's the latest.

Yeah, okay. The freshest.

And on the subject of the latest blockbuster films, apparently, that was the Eternals. Like Marvel Eternals, which I didn't watch because it looked absolutely horrendous. Did you watch it?

I think so. Yeah, I did.

The last Marvel movie I watched was Black Widow which was funny because it was just so stupid.

Oh, I watched the Venom. I watched the new one.

Yes. How was it? Did you like it?

Oh yeah, I like venom. He's funny. Yeah, hilarious. Yeah, so the latest film or it's like the newest film, so the latest blockbusters and films come out, they are released or they come out.

Yes.

Rory because you don't go to the cinema these days, you said I miss out on popcorn.

Well, I miss out on standing in line for popcorn. You can probably make your own popcorn at home, but I don't because it's not very healthy.

Yeah, it's not fun. Like you go to the cinema, you just take some popcorn. And there are all kinds of popcorns: sweet popcorn; purple; green; salty; sweet and salty. It's crazy. Then how often do you go to the cinema? You said hardly ever these days. So hardly ever is like rarely. Yeah, you don't say seldom. Don't say seldom.

Please don't say seldom.

Oh, how often do you go to the cinema? Quite seldom. How do you do? How do you do?

Well, okay, we're making fun of it. I mean, like, you could say that, but it's not exactly something that you hear very often. And the idea behind studying for English exams is that they prepare you for real life.

Yeah. So hardly ever. Rarely, like once a week, once a month. Yeah, something like that. At the cinema, you sit in front of a giant screen.

Yes. So a screen is like, well, there's different ways of talking about screens. It's like a giant television.

Yeah. So you can say like, oh, I really enjoy sitting in front of a giant screen with my popcorn, munching on some crisps, making loud noises and making all people annoyed. Oh, you know, like, the trend is now that you take McDonald's to the cinema and then everything smells of your McDonald's.

Who takes McDonald's to the cinema? Russian people, that's who.

Yeah, especially if there's a McDonald's next to the cinema or inside the same building. You just have to take McDonald's inside, so everything like reeks of McDonald's. Mm-hmm. Yum, yum, yum. Yeah.

This is you?

Oh, yeah.

Wow.

No, because if I don't take McDonald's. No, listen, listen. If I don't take McDonald's, other people will, and I'm gonna end up smelling their McDonald's. Instead of doing that, I take my McDonald's, and I smell my McDonald's, instead of other people's McDonald's. Does it make sense?

Watch the movie.

So, we need topic specific vocabulary. And when we talk about films, it's the plot. The plot and characters.

So the characters are the people in the story. The plot is the story.

Yeah, you can say the plot was ridiculous. It's like stupid. Or the plot was interesting, exciting.

Engrossing.

Engrossing. Oh, yeah. It's like really exciting.

That's another way of saying it's very interesting. It's so interesting that I cannot think about other things.

You said that the characters in the Godzilla vs Kong movie were inconsequential.

Well, yeah, they didn't make... Well, okay, they did make a difference. But really, the whole film is about two monsters trying to kill each other. It's not about human drama.

Godzilla vs. Kong. Wow. How long ago was it? Were you like 10?

It was 2021 was when I saw it. I don't know when it came out.

Ah, okay, so you went to the cinema to see an old movie? Oh...

No. Godzilla vs. Kong was like, was something in 2021? Wasn't it?

Really?

Really. The new one.

Okay. The new one. Oh, wow. Okay.

Maybe it had a different name. Anyway, who cares? You don't have to be factually correct in IELTS. You could just make something up.

And then the Rory watches films, which are designed to provoke deep thinking.

Yes. Provoke is just saying it pokes you in the direction of something.

And he watches such films alone.

Yes. Or you watch something alone, watch something by myself.

And then mindless films or mindless fun films, which are just mindless fun.

So if something is mindless, it's like they haven't put a lot of thought into it. Starship Troopers is a really bad example, though, because a lot of thought was put into that. But, you know, you compare a film like Contact, which is about the human experience to Starship Troopers, which is about murdering monsters and vice versa.

Hmm.

It's not as deep in my opinion.

Is Spider Man films mindless fun?

Well, compared to Contact, yeah. But it doesn't mean it's a bad movie, it just means they have different purposes.

Yeah, so you can say like, I usually watch films, which I designed to provoke deep thinking alone, but something like films, which are just mindless fun, I prefer to watch them with my friends. And then going the cinema is a collective experience. Collective.

Yes. So it's something that you do with other people, and you have with other people. So even if you go to the cinema alone, there's almost always another person there.

Yeah, true, true.

At least one I hope.

Oh, have you ever had such situations when, okay, you go to the cinema alone or with somebody, and then there is silence and then somebody goes like... They start laughing at something, which is not funny, or something ridiculously stupid. And then everybody starts laughing because of this person.

No, it's always, it's even more annoying than that. Because that is at least fun. But in Russia, it's people on their phones distracting others.

Yeah, yeah.

If you're a Russian person, please complain to your government and get them to ban this. Because why do you have your phone on in a movie? In a movie theater? Why?

Yeah. Because you're commenting on the film, to your phone, talking to your friends.

It should be banned.

Life. Yeah, yeah, it could be really annoying.

This is a clash of cultures that we're having here where I am right.

Yeah, and you can say that it drives me up the wall, when people start talking and using their smartphones at the cinema, it drives me up the wall.

Maybe just in general, it drives me up the wall when people speak.

Could you comment on footage films? What are they?

Found footage films. It's a collocation, found footage. Yeah, now, that's the genre of the film, so the kind of film. But specifically, if you think about movies, like The Blair Witch Project, it's people, the actors are pretending they're normal people with normal cameras filming something normal. And then all of a sudden, something crazy happens. So it's usually their horror films. So the Blair Witch Project is a found footage film, and it's a horror film.

Yeah.

There's another, there are two films. One is American and one's Spanish. I think the original one is called Wreck. And the that's the Spanish version. And the American one is called Quarantine. And they are movie crews filming normal experiences. And then all of a sudden, there's a zombie outbreak.

Oh, wow, zombies.

But there's lots of different kinds. And really, most of them are really well done. I really like them. But some people think that oh, it's all, they all look the same. And they have the same plot. Like there's always, they're doing something normal. And then something interesting happens. But what they have described there is the structure of a film, like in every movie, they're doing something normal. And then something interesting happens. Like that's the idea. So I don't see why people have a problem with it.

Mm-hmm. I've seen The Blair Witch Project.

Did you like it?

Well, it's interesting. Interesting.

That's another way of saying no.

No, it's not a film that I'm gonna rewatch. But it's interesting, it's different. So, yeah, why not? You can say that I feel nostalgic when I watch an older film.

Yes. A Disney classic. Nostalgia is difficult to explain. But basically, it's like when you miss things from the past. And so you watch things to relive this experience of the past. So some people are nostalgic for Disney films, because it reminds them of their childhood.

True. Yeah. Make sure you use the present perfect talking about films that you have seen. So I've seen it a million times. Or I've seen it twice. And then you can use this structure, if I'm feeling like something new. So if I'm feeling like something new, I go to the cinema and watch the latest blockbuster with my friends.

In addition to found footage films, which are like made up real life experiences, then you can have mockumentaries. Now, a mockumentary is like a documentary but it's usually funny, or it's about something fake. So for example, there's lots of different documentaries. There's some about the Loch Ness Monster. The ones that don't treat it as if it's like, they treat it like it's a real thing, and the actors are pretending to be real people. So a documentary has real doctors, real scientists, a mockumentary has actors pretending to be scientists investigating some kind of experience. So...

Oh, wow.

One example of found footage and a mockumentary crossed together is a film called The Bay. Have you seen this film?

No, I don't think so.

It's quite... It's a horror film. It's quite, well, I think it's fun because it's got science and found footage features mixed together in a mockumentary about this disaster. This fictional disaster.

Oh, wow. Borat. Borat.

Yeah. Borat is a mockumentary. So if you're, if you want to find out more about these kinds of films, I definitely recommend them. But if not, at least make sure that you know about the different kinds, your favorite kinds.

Yeah, we have an episode about films, and we discuss different kinds. So we're not going to repeat all the stuff. So after listening to this episode, go find our episodes on films and have a listen to this. Okay? Please do. And I think last year, like 2021, it's already last year, we had Friends reunion, and we had Harry Potter reunion. So two reunions. Have you watched them?

No.

Dear listener, did you watch them?

I don't really, I'm not... Okay. I'm gonna sound like a monster. I'm not a fan of Harry Potter or Friends. That doesn't mean I hate them. I just don't see what's so great about them.

Okay. It's okay. It's okay. Well, yeah. But it's interesting that like Harry Potter reunion. Also friends reunion. So everything is reunion.

Watch Savage Land. Sorry, I just realized that's another one of my favorite documentaries. Anyway. Now we're done.

Savage Land.

Yeah.

Also a horror film?

I love films like that. Anyway, let's comment briefly on or summarize everything that's been in here. So if we want to talk about the kinds of films we can talk about blockbusters, found footage, or mockumentaries. If we want to talk about parts of films, the plot, the characters. We can describe the plot as ridiculous and the characters as inconsequential. And then if we want to talk about things you have in a cinema, you have popcorn, a giant screen, and a collective experience. And if we talk about grammar, then we could say if I feel nostalgic, or if I'm feeling like something new. And we need to remember perfect tenses, if I've seen it before, or I've seen it a million times.

Yeah. And if you want a list of great movies, go to my Instagram account and I have a perfect list of nice movies for you. Ha-ha.

Really?

Did you check it out, Rory?

No.

Do you ever visit my Instagram?

Do you ever visit mine?

Yes, I sometimes, I sometimes even watch videos where you tell people about stuff.

You do not. Nobody watches those videos. They're like an hour long. Right.

Anyway.

Anyway.

Now, dear listener, let's listen to Rory's answers one more time. Why? It's useful to listen to it again after we have discussed the words. So you just listen to it. And you notice the words, you remember the words better, you notice the grammar structures. Also you can repeat right after Rory. Okay?

And do it with your transcript too. Don't forget the transcripts. They're on our website.

Have lovely films in your life. Bye!

Bye! - Make sure to subscribe to our social media to see some of the “behind the scenes” stuff: Our Instagram: bit.ly/instagramswi Our Telegram: bit.ly/telegramswi