📙 Part 2: Describe a movie you’ve watched recently and would like to watch again

This episode's vocabulary

Abduction (noun) - the act of making a person go somewhere with you, especially using threats or violence.

Initially (adverb) - at the beginning.

Creepy (adj.) - strange or unnatural and making you feel frightened.

Mockumentary (noun) - a film or television show made in the style of a documentary to make invented events seem real.

Unnerving (adj.) - making someone feel less confident and slightly frightened.

To heighten (verb) - to increase or make something increase, especially an emotion or effect.

Spine-tingling (adj.) - very special and exciting.

Tension (noun) - a feeling of nervousness before an important or difficult event.

Goosebumps (plural noun) - small raised areas that appear on the skin because of cold, fear, or excitement.

Terrifying (adj.) - very frightening.

To rewatch (verb) - to watch something again.

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Questions and Answers

M: Rory, could you start speaking now, please?

R: I feel bad now, because I really don't like the more recent movies that have come out. I suppose the most recent example would be an older film called "The fourth kind". It's a, I guess a science fiction horror movie about a town that suffers from a series of alien abductions. Oh, okay, in greater detail, it's a place in Alaska that... And it isn't immediately obvious that this film is about aliens. It's just initially about strange happenings and dreams. But things get genuinely creepy when the film introduces this sort of mockumentary-style series of video and audio recordings with people screaming and crying and making weird noises. It's a genuinely unnerving experience. Oh, to be more clear about the time when I first watched it, it was with friends at the cinema when we were teenagers. But the last time I watched it was by myself. And it was late at night, which only heightened the sort of spine-tingling feeling, I guess. It only got worse as the tension built and the film reached its, well, its conclusion. I still get goosebumps thinking about it, actually. Oh, and when it comes to describing how I felt, well, I like horror films anyways. But this one felt so real and terrifying. And I, actually, to be honest, had trouble sleeping afterwards. I think because of that realism. And the reaction that I had, it definitely invites a rewatch. So I think I'll be doing that quite soon.

M: And what about your friends? Did they watch this film? And would they like to watch it again?

R: I got a message on Instagram after I posted about it. And one of my friends was asking where I found the movie so he could watch it too. So at least one of them is watching this.

M: Thank you, Rory, for your answer!

R: Thank you for your prompting!

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Discussion

M: So the topic is describe a film, a movie you have already watched. All right? So you've watched this film, and would like to watch it again. Right? So would like to rewatch it. So to be honest with you, dear listener, you can choose any film, but something yeah, you've watched already. If you even don't want to watch it again, just for this prompt, for this question, right? And please make sure you choose a film that you are ready to describe, and you know the plot, maybe your favourite characters, your favourite actors are there. So something easy, okay? So choose something easy that you can explain. And you know the words about, okay? Rory, you've chosen a fiction horror, a science fiction horror film.

R: Yeah, I don't really know what genre this falls into.

M: So usually it's like, okay, a science fiction, or its horror, but it's together. All right. Yeah. To describe a film, you do need to know the genre, right? So it's, it's a horror film, it's a science fiction film or sci-fi. It's a comedy. What other genres do we have? It's a romantic comedy.

R: Well, I also added in it's a mockumentary style as well. So a mockumentary is like a made-up documentary. But you can have a documentary as well.

M: A documentary. If it's this not real documentary, a mockumentary. Yeah, like mock like a comedy kind of thing. Mockumentary. Then we have fantasy. For example, Harry Potter, right? Fantasy. So make sure you know the genre of the film that you're describing. And then you talked about what's it about. Like in general. So it's a science fiction horror movie or film about and then something. And Rory gave us a very kind of general idea what the film is about. So about a town that suffers from a series of alien abductions, aliens, you know these like woohoo, aliens from the other planets. Abductions is when they take people.

R: Yeah, and you always suffer from something bad happening. So I started out with a very general overview, just saying like, it's about a town, and they have alien abductions. But then I kind of stopped because I ran out of things to say, or sometimes you just don't realize that you still have time, which is when the examiner prompts you, not by coughing like Maria, but by looking at you like you are, in fact, a crazy person.

M: And then we can say that it's set in Alaska, or it's in Alaska, right? So the setting of a film, right? So where it takes place? It's set in Russia, it's set in Thailand, for example. So where the action takes place. Oh, action film, for example.

R: It's set on the moon.

M: Yeah, if the film is on the moon. And yes, the plot. So you can also say that, okay, the plot is genuinely creepy, creepy, like scary, right? The plot of the film, right? Or the characters you can mention. And then you said that it's a genuinely unnerving experience.

R: Yeah, so that just means that it creeps you out. It makes you a bit scared. Well, more than a bit scared.

M: Yeah. So if you also enjoy horror films, you can say, oh, it was an unnerving experience. I was scared. Yeah. So it's just, be very brief. Okay, so what the film is about, just, you know, a couple of sentences, that's all. So don't go into full detail about the plot and what happened.

R: Yeah, you don't want to spoil it for your examiner.

M: Yeah. And the examiner, oh, no, no, I haven't watched it. No spoilers, no spoilers. And when you watched it, Rory said, when I first watched it, it was with my friends at the cinema. So I watched it at the cinema or at home, or where else? In a hotel while travelling to the airport, on my phone on the metro, for example.

R: And that's important to point out because when people get questions about films, they immediately think, oh, my God, cinema, but you can watch a film anywhere.

M: Yeah, many people actually use their phones and watch movies there, while on their commute. Yeah? Or, I don't know, they drive and they watch films, for some reason.

R: Yeah. Because they're insane.

M: Oh, yeah. When did you watch it? Well, I watched it, while I was just driving. I was driving. Driving and watching. Dear listener, do you do this? Watch films and drive your car?

R: If you do, please don't, because I am learning how to drive and I could do without more stress on the road than I already have.

M: I was by myself when I watched it. I watched it on my own. And then Rory kept describing the movie. The spine-tingling feeling. It gave me the spine-tingling. Tingle, tingle.

R: Well, that's the reaction I had. And in the same way the film creates tension.

M: So can you imagine? This Rory, all by himself, alone at home at night, and he watched this horror film and poor Rory was scared out of his wits.

R: Yeah, it wasn't really... It was a stupid idea. I still don't understand why I did it.

M: Ooh, wow. Yeah, I was scared to death. Or it gave me the spine the tingly feeling. It was creepy. And it only got worse as the tension built. Yeah? So the tension was building up. Right? So you watch this film, and it's like... Yep. And Rory got goosebumps. Rory, what does it mean, goosebumps?

R: It just means that you, well, people will know this, when you get cold, you have these little bumps on your skin. But you don't just get them from the cold. You get them from being afraid as well.

M: Yeah. And we call it goosebumps. Oh, I had goosebumps, like whoo... Yeah. And then to wrap it up when it comes to describing how I felt, ah, I was terrified. Right? It was terrifying.

R: When it comes to describing how I felt, I felt like crying.

M: Because of that realism. So you can say like it was realistic.

R: Shall we talk about what to do when you run out of things to say?

M: Yeah, what do you do? So you will have noticed that Maria was coughing and humming and hawing a lot and staring at me like I was a crazy person. You can't see that but she was. So when she coughed the first time and then that was when I was just describing the plot in general. So I thought, okay, maybe I can talk about the plot in more detail. And I said, in greater detail. And then I moved into talking about the plot a little bit more. And then, when we talked about where I watched it, now, this was a bit of a risky one, because Maria coughed, and I went, oh, to be more clear about the time, but the time is when. So I had to say, when I first watched it, I was with friends at the cinema when we were teenagers. So we covered the aspect of time. But we also covered the aspect of where, which is more important, because that's directly related to the task. And then I talked about the other time, and I said, oh, it was late at night, and I was by myself. So that describes a little bit more about the place or at least the situation that I was in. And then I have to talk about my feelings about it, which I realized I hadn't spoken about when Maria was coughing and humming and hawing. So I said when it comes to describing how I felt to introduce this point, and then I kept going, you could do that for anything, though, in greater detail could be in greater detail about and then whatever the task is. And then the same way to be more clear about and whatever you're about to talk about. And then, when it comes to describing, and then what you need to describe. So it could be in greater detail about the thing I bought or the person that I'm talking about. To be more clear about where we were or what we were doing. When it comes to describing my feelings, or the people there at the time, or the surroundings, then you can use these things to talk about things in more detail. If you run out of things to say, and the examiner is looking at you like you are insane.

M: Sweet. And make sure you use some vocabulary about genres. Right? So westerns, action film, or thriller, right? Also some adjectives. So it's, what, exciting, is educational, thrilling, but also you can use something about like actors. So Leonardo DiCaprio starred in this film, right? Or the main character, I like the main actor, the director of the film, The plot of the film, or the story of the film. I liked the special effects, for example. So this is like topic-specific vocabulary, right? On the film has good reviews, for example, right? Or about the place of the film. Yeah? It's set in New York or it's set in Alaska, as Rory said. The main characters, again. And adjectives, fast-moving, frightening, colourful.

R: Spine-tingling.

M: Spine-tingling. Yes. True to life, or it was far from realistic. Or what do you call the film that is not... Far fetched? Yeah?

R: Yeah. That's what I was gonna say, the plot seems rather far-fetched.

M: Far-fetched, yeah. It's like not realistic. Okay? So this is something like very specific, when you describe a film, right? Now you can go and choose a film. I personally enjoy the film... It's called "Turning red", about a panda, especially, actually, it's a cartoon. But you can also talk about a cartoon. So "Turning red" about a little girl and her inner panda. Also, there was a film about Elvis, for example. But again, dear listener, it's up to you. So it's your film that you're gonna be describing. Thank you very much for listening! And we'll come back to you in speaking part three when we talk about films!

R: But hopefully it won't be too spine-tingling for you this time. Bye!

M: Bye!

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