📘 Part 3: Going to the cinema

This episode's vocabulary

Venue (noun) - the place where a public event or meeting happens.

To get up someone's nose (idiom) - to annoy or irritate someone.

Essential (adj.) - necessary or needed.

To engage (verb) - to interest someone in something and keep them thinking about it.

Inflation (noun) - a general, continuous increase in prices.

Force of habit (idiom) - If you do something out of force of habit, you do it without thinking because you have done it so many times before.

To commute (verb) - to make the same journey regularly between work and home.

Convenient (adj.) - suitable for your purposes and needs and causing the least difficulty.

Portability (noun) - the quality of being light and small enough to be easily carried or moved.

Portray (verb) - to represent or describe someone or something in a painting, film, book, or other artistic work.

To propel (verb) - to push or move something somewhere, often with a lot of force.

Viable (adj.) - able to work as intended or able to succeed.

Simulated (adj.) - made to look like or have the features of something else.

Engrossing (adj.) - very interesting and needing all your attention.

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Questions and Answers

M: What are the differences between watching movies at home and at the cinema?

R: Well, on the one hand, you have all the comforts of home, but in a smaller venue that lacks the magic of the cinema. And on the other hand, being in cinema gives you that sort of classic experience, though, I suppose you have to put up with other people and their noise from time to time, and that would really get up most people's nose, I guess.

M: Are actors and actresses important to movies?

R: Well, they're pretty much essential, aren't they? I'm not sure how else one's supposed to get people engaged emotionally with a film, like even in animated films where there aren't sort of there people, it's not live action, the characters still need voice actors. So I don't really understand how else you're supposed to involve people.

M: Why are there fewer people going to the cinema to watch films?

R: Are you kidding? There's inflation and the cost of living and energy crises and, oh, and the quality of movies is usually much lower these days than it used to be. I think it would be harder to argue why people want to go to the cinema, despite all of that.

M: Do people in your country still like to go to the cinema?

R: Well, it's a classic option, if you go on a date, I suppose. Or if you are, well, out of any more original ideas, then it sort of makes sense. And it's also force of habit. They do it because they don't know any better.

M: Where do people usually watch films?

R: It seems like more of them watch them at home these days or on their phones when they're commuting. It's more convenient. And for the reasons we already talked about, although in the case of phones, it's also the added case of portability as well.

M: Do you think actors should be paid more?

R: Well, we should all be paid more. I mean, if we were paid enough, it's unlikely anyone would strive to do better with what we're given. That's how the system works. But if we talk about actors specifically, then I guess there are more deserving people. It's not like they don't work hard. But there are people who work hard that are not actors that don't have nearly as much money.

M: What makes an actor a famous star?

R: Well, the market does. Like specifically supply and demand. If they star in a role that people like and they do a good job portraying the character, then they're kind of automatically propelled to fame.

M: Do you think that in the future, more people will go to the cinema?

R: I doubt that. I think it's like a trend where fewer and fewer people are going to the cinema as things like home entertainment systems become more accessible. Plus, it's not really economically viable anymore.

M: How do you think movie theaters will change in the future?

R: Well, more of them will be closed for starters. If they're going to compete, then possibly they should involve simulated experiences. You already have this in some theaters, where you've got the surround sound. And there's... I can't remember what it's called. But it's like it adds depth to it. So if there's missed in the movie, then there'll be missed in the cinema as well. So things that are more engrossing than just simply sitting and watching it happen on a screen.

M: Thank you, Rory, for your answers!

R: No problem. Hopefully, they were suitably theatrical! Yay, it's a pun!

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