#1 IELTS PODCAST IN THE WORLD
Every week, Maria and Rory get together to discuss the latest IELTS Speaking topics, providing model answers and vocabulary to help you improve your general spoken English and achieve a higher band in your IELTS exam.
Is a blockbuster with a big-name star guaranteed to succeed? Rory discusses why casting "non-entities" can still lead to a box office hit and shares powerful vocabulary for writing movie reviews.
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Rory shares why a recent trip to the cinema was a 'real letdown.' Listen to find out which blockbuster film he thought took 'absolutely ages' and learn how to describe your own disappointing experiences.
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Rory explains why he avoids high-rises but would visit a royal residence. Listen as he and Maria share stunning vocabulary for architecture and Rory cracks a dad joke about the world's tallest building!
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Should parents reward their kids for everything? Rory weighs in on when praise becomes a problem and shares some C2-level grammar that Maria says is essential for a Band 9. Listen for tips on avoiding selfish kids!
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Listen as Rory shares a personal story about his high-flying cousin! He reveals the idioms and transitions you need to talk about achievements and navigate tricky interview-style questions with confidence.
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Has Rory ever locked himself out of the house? Listen as he and Maria share tales of misplaced keys, momentary panic, and the one accessory everyone should have on their keychain. Don't get left in the cold!
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Are electric cars really the future? Rory shares a surprisingly pessimistic view on saving the planet, revealing a powerful idiom and a clever trick for when you need a moment to think in your exam.
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Rory plans a wild road trip to the rugged north of his country! Discover the advanced idioms, phrasal verbs, and transition phrases he uses to describe his dream journey and impress the examiner.
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Rory admits he's not a handy person! Learn high-level vocabulary for home repairs, from leaky taps to clogged sinks, and discover the phrasal verbs and idioms you need to ace your speaking test.
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Is a blockbuster with a big-name star guaranteed to succeed? Rory discusses why casting "non-entities" can still lead to a box office hit and shares powerful vocabulary for writing movie reviews.
Social commentaries (n) – films that criticize social institutions or comment on social issues. → Example: Our country produces a lot of social commentaries on poverty and inequality.
Scathing (adj) – severely critical and scornful. → Example: The critic wrote a scathing review of the director's latest movie.
Mediocre (adj) – of only average quality; not very good. → Example: Despite the hype, the film's plot was predictable and the acting was mediocre.
Uncritical (adj) – not expressing criticism or using critical judgment. → Example: He has a very uncritical acceptance of everything the reviewers say.
Comprehensive (adj) – including or dealing with all or nearly all elements or aspects of something. → Example: I read a comprehensive review that covered the plot, acting, and cinematography.
Draw people in (phrasal verb) – to attract someone to something and make them want to get involved. → Example: A big-name actor can draw people in to watch a film they might otherwise ignore.
Boost sales (collocation) – to increase the amount of something that is sold. → Example: Hiring a famous star for the lead role is a sure way to boost sales at the box office.
Household name (n) – a person or thing that is very well known by the public. → Example: After starring in that blockbuster, she became a household name overnight.
Visually appealing (collocation) – attractive or pleasant to look at. → Example: Anime is popular partly because its art style is so visually appealing.
Non-entities (n) – people of no importance or influence. → Example: The film cast complete non-entities, but it still became a huge success.
Do well at the box office (idiom) – to be financially successful by selling a lot of tickets. → Example: Everyone was surprised when the low-budget movie did so well at the box office.
Harrowing (adj) – acutely distressing or disturbing. → Example: Schindler's List is a harrowing film that is difficult to watch more than once.
Bigger budget film (n) – a film with a large amount of money available for its production. → Example: Avatar is a classic example of a bigger budget film with massive special effects.
Maria: What are the different types of films which are popular in your country?
Rory: Maybe the same as everywhere else, really. We show dramas and comedies and science fiction at the cinema, to name just a few, but I don't think we have anything wildly different to elsewhere. Maybe we have more social commentaries, as we're seemed to be a very socially aware country. But I don't think that's very unique to Scotland. Other countries will also be aware of social issues.
Maria: Are historical films popular in your country?
Rory: Definitely. I think everybody loves Braveheart, which is a very inaccurate film about medieval Scotland. But there are others like that and period dramas which people really love, even though everyone knows what will happen because the history is so well known. So it must be the drama around the whole thing.
Maria: Do people believe movie reviews?
Rory: Sometimes, although that probably depends on the source rather than what it is. Some reviewers and critics like to make names for themselves by being particularly scathing, even about things that aren't that bad. So they're just mediocre. And of course, some people are completely uncritical about everything. So you need to be able to recognize these things and find balanced points of view.
Maria: And is it better to read the reviews before watching a movie?
Rory: I think it could be helpful if you're trying to work out if the film is good in certain respects, but it's probably not the end of the world if you don't see a very comprehensive review before you go and watch it.
Maria: Should the director pay a lot of money to famous actors?
Rory: I don't know, really. It probably depends on the budget and what gets negotiated by the different people involved. I can see why it would be a good idea, though. Big names often draw people in to watch things they might not otherwise. So it could boost sales. At the same time, just because someone is a household name, doesn't mean they're entitled to a lot of money. They could be given other things instead if the budget isn't very high.
Maria: Why are Japanese animated films so popular?
Rory: You'd have to ask someone who watches them, really. I can't remember the last time I watched any anime. Off the top of my head though, I think the art style is quite visually appealing and often the narratives they have can keep people's attention for long periods, so it might be that.
Maria: Do you think films with famous actors or actresses are more likely to become successful?
Rory: It certainly seems that way, doesn't it? I think it's true for a lot of the bigger budget films, yes, but that's not universally so. There have been films that have cast complete non-entities that have done very well at the box office as well. They might need a bit more effort or luck to do well, though.
Maria: My dear listener. So if it's a difficult topic for you to talk about films, cinema, watching films, Japanese animated films, please do some reading online, and you can Google the most popular films all over the world or the most popular genres, like Japanese animated films, why they're popular, okay? To be in the know. This knowledge could be useful for your essays as well. So you kill two birds with one stone.
Rory: Or you could just guess and say maybe, or might be, or possibly.
Maria: No, but sorry, this is also education, right? Because dear listener, we give you English and also we educate you. We tell you what's popular, what's not, the trends, the recent innovations in the world of cinema. Yeah, we can tell you everything about the third Avatar movie. All the truth. So, we call them types of films or genres. And the examiner is interested what genres are popular in your country. And you may not know. So you just say comedies, action films, horror films, dramas. These are the usual types of films, genres. But yeah, in each country, it might be different. We have documentaries as well. Sci-fi, science fiction.
Rory: And a whole lot of other ones. Maybe if you're from a specific country, you might have a specific kind of cinema. For example, I think the Indian film industry is called Bollywood, I think. And I'm pretty sure there's a specific and special word for the Korean film industry as well.
Maria: Yeah, for example, Japanese animated films, what do you call them?
Rory: I think they're called anime. That's what I would call them.
Maria: Anime. Yep.
Rory: Lots of angry people will send me messages now saying, "It's not that, it's something else."
Maria: Yeah, but according to the Cambridge online dictionary, anime, Japanese films made using characters and images that are drawn rather than real. Can you say anime is popular?
Rory: I think so. You could just say anime films.
Maria: Anime series, also? It's not one film, but series?
Rory: Yeah.
Maria: Yeah, we don't watch it, dear listener, if you are a fan, sorry, we are not in the trend here. We're too busy making the podcasts, teaching, working. Sleeping. So.
Rory: Well. And we have other hobbies. But I think I did a good job of guessing.
Maria: But yeah, science fiction films, action films, westerners, comedies, dramas, what else? But usually, the most popular genres are action films, sci-fi, anime. Historical films. So not historic, but historical films. Well, films about history, right? Could be documentaries, for example. Oh, for example, Braveheart, a famous Scottish movie with Mel Gibson, could be called a historical film because it's about the history of Scotland. Braveheart. If you haven't watched it, please watch it. Schindler's List.
Rory: Oh god, that's a depressing film.
Maria: Yeah, it is depressing. Yeah, Schindler's List. But if you Google the best historical films, that's number one.
Rory: And Schindler's List will be there. Yes.
Maria: Schindler's list. Yeah, it's about the war and yeah, so dreadful. You watch it once and then you may never want to watch it again because it's, it's, it's heavy.
Rory: It's harrowing.
Maria: Yeah. Historical films. And you can say, oh, well, yeah, some historical films are pretty popular in my country. For example, and then you give some names or you don't, because you say I don't remember the names, but people in my country usually enjoy films about war, about certain historical events. And we love the drama of certain historical events.
Rory: That's not a kind of film. That's just the passion and emotions around different events and films.
Maria: Yeah, because Mel Gibson is really good there. He just goes like that. Yeah, and then his son dies and then oh, la la. Very emotional. After you watch the film, you might want to write a review. So, this is what people write, or they record reviews. Their opinions about films. And some people believe the reviews, some don't. Some reviewers, so people who write reviews are called reviewers and critics. So some reviews are mediocre. Mediocre means that usual, nothing special, boring. But some reviews are really good, are really comprehensive. So really useful. Mediocre is C2, not very good. Oh yeah. For example, while talking about a film you were disappointed about, you can say, the film's plot is predictable and mediocre. The acting is mediocre, not very good. A mediocre school, mediocre acting, the film is mediocre. Yeah, the acting is mediocre. Some people are very critical about everything, so they criticize everything. Some people are completely uncritical about something. So they say that everything is good.
Maria: Oh, that's me. It's all fine. Everything is fine.
Maria: Yeah. But actually uncritical is disapproving. So it's negative. It's about accepting something to easy because a person is unwilling or unable to criticize. Uncritical audience, accepts everything, doesn't want to criticize. So yeah, that's me. Very often I'm uncritical about everything because I just want to criticize things because I believe that even in the worst film, there is something good because somebody has created it. Yeah, and I as a creator, I know that how difficult it is to create something to be the author of something.
Rory: People seem to enjoy it when you tear down something, but it's not really a good way to live your life and evaluate things.
Maria: Yeah, that's why if people read reviews with a balanced opinion with balanced points of view, with a balance, so it could be useful. The film has a director and some actors or actresses. So the cast of the film. The cast means actors and actresses who star in this movie, who are in this movie. It depends on the budget of the film, budget. So the money that the director has to make the film. Big names draw people in. So if we see, for example, Brad Pitt, Michael Douglas, I don't know, who else? Angelina Jolie, we recognize these people, "Yay, okay, so I want to see a movie with Brad Pitt or DiCaprio." Yeah, and we don't care what the movie's about, but we see the name, a big name, which draws us in. So big names draw people in to watch things, to watch films.
Rory: They get attention.
Maria: Maybe. Yeah, they attract us. And big names could boost sales. Big names could improve sales. So use Rory's answer if you don't watch Japanese animated films. So, off the top of my head, just I'm thinking now, on my feet, I don't know the answer, but I guess it's this. So, a very good idiom to use in this situation, off the top of my head. "Ooh, that's a difficult question. Off the top of my head."
Rory: Just saying I don't really know, but maybe it's this.
Maria: Maybe the art style is appealing, is pleasant, is attractive. The narratives, the dialogues, right, are good. And according to, ooh, have you asked Google why anime is popular? Yeah, Google says that Japanese animated films, anime, are globally popular due to their high quality, distinct visual style. Yeah, so they do have a distinct style, visual style. Complex storytelling. Okay, they have complex plots. So storytelling is very complex. And it's for all ages, teenagers, adults, everyone is involved and attracted. And they evoke deep emotions from you. So you see, you watch it and you feel a lot of emotions. And that's why they are popular.
Rory: That was such a random question, though. Why are these films popular? I have no idea.
Maria: No, but I think IELTS people keep up with the recent trends.
Rory: Oh, good for them. I'm glad they have this time on their hands to do that.
Maria: You can say that that's true for bigger budget films. We have bigger budget films.
Rory: Titanic. That's a big budget film.
Maria: Yeah, but originally, did they plan it to be a big budget film?
Rory: I think they had to invest a lot of money in that. Yeah, it must have been expensive.
Maria: Avatar is a big budget film.
Rory: Let's not dwell on that.
Maria: Whoa, yeah. Yeah, but Avatar doesn't have any big names, right?
Rory: Oh, yes, it does. Sigourney Weaver stars in Avatar. She's very popular.
Maria: Oh, okay, okay.
Maria: What are non-entities?
Rory: It's a bit like a nice way of saying people who don't have a big reputation.
Maria: Yeah, so some films have famous actors or actresses, some films have big names, but other films have non-entities. So, people who are not famous. Some films with non-entities have done very well at the box office. So this means that films without any popular actors or actresses were bought by millions of people and were very famous.
Rory: This is where you ask me to give you an example of a non-entity and I can't give you one because no one knows who they are.
Maria: And you can say that this film did very well at the box office or this film didn't do well at the box office. So people just didn't go to watch it at the cinema.
Maria: And on that positive note, thank you very much for listening.
Maria: Thank you very much for listening. We'll get back to you in our next episode. All right? Bye.
Rory: Bye.