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

R: Oh, yes, we used to go once or twice a year, especially in the summer when the blockbusters would come out.

M: Do you often go to the cinema with your friends?

R: What, these days? Not very often. I mean, you can livestream things from the comfort of your own home for a fraction of the price without having to tolerate people's phones or them making inappropriate noises.

M: Do you still like the same kind of movie you liked as a child?

R: Of what? Ones with big explosions and heroes? Oh, absolutely, yeah. It's a great sense of escapism and nostalgia. Although, I would like to point out that I have since broadened my palate with movies like... Well, like my favourite movie. "Contact", which is a lot calmer in tone.

M: What genres of films do you like?

R: Well, in my case, I don't think it's about the genre of the film. And it's more about the quality of the scriptwriting and cinematography. I mean, I really like science fiction, for example, but I'm not about to sit through... I don't know, a mockbuster from a company like the Asylum, because their script writing and special effects are awful. However, if you are going to twist my arm, I'll still say something like science fiction, because, well, it's my go-to.

M: Do you think going to the cinema is a good way to spend time with friends?

R: Well, these days? Not really. Um, you would probably get more out of something like going for a walk or watching television with friends. That kind of thing has fewer issues. I think the only exception would be if it were some kind of shared experience like Barbenheimer. But that doesn't happen very often.

M: So first of all, what is a blockbuster?

R: Oh, what is a blockbuster? It's like a... It's like a big movie. Help me out, Maria.

M: Yeah, it's like a successful film, a hit. It's huge. It's successful. So yeah, it's a blockbuster or it's a hit. The antonym would be it's a flop. No, this film is not successful, no one is watching it, and everybody hates it. So it's a flop. So it's either a hit or a flop, a blockbuster or like... A flop. Blockbusters or films come out. So when a new blockbuster comes out, I go to the cinema to watch it. And we go to the cinema. Okay? Or go to the movies, right? You see a film, you watch a film. Or you can also say like, see or watch a movie, right? Or we can say like, oh, I go to the movies. Or I go to the cinema.

R: Yeah. So come out is like, well, the film is released.

M: Yeah, the film is released or like what's on at the cinema? So I usually go to the cinema and see what's on. So what films do they have on? We can livestream things at home. What did you mean? To live stream something.

R: Do you know? It's so funny, you've asked me that question. And I've used this phrase a lot. But I don't actually know what it means in detail. I think it means that you have an internet connection and you just pull the data from the internet. So it's like the film is playing. It's not recording. It's like a live experience of getting the data of the film.

M: So you watch a film online. You live stream things at home. So, but the film is not live at the cinema. Cause, for example, we can watch performances at the theatre and they are live. So you just go there. You switch it on and it's going on live at the theatre. And you watch it at home. So this is like live streaming. Something which is going on live now, you watch it at home. So, it's not the same with movies, right?

R: It could be. I think some events are live-streamed. I think there are concerts that get streamed at cinemas. So they're filmed and broadcast over the internet and people watch in the cinema. That used to be quite a popular thing. I don't know if it is now. I don't know how popular it ultimately became because I don't watch this kind of thing.

M: Okay, so if you say like I livestream things, it means that something is going on live somewhere else and you watch it at home?

R: Well, no, live streaming is to do with the internet being involved. A live event is just... It's happening now, in the moment.

M: Okay. So can I say just I watch things online at home? Netflix is online at home?

R: You could but why say that when you can say I livestream things?

M: Ah, okay, okay. All right. Okay, dear listener? It doesn't mean that it's going on live. You just watch it online at home. Do we say like watch it on $? Or do I use $ to watch films?

R: I don't think we can talk about specific companies because they're not paying us money yet.

M: Yes, $, do get in touch. Okay?

R: We need to bleep that too.

M: The N-word, a fraction of the price. So it's just like little money? It's cheap?

R: Yeah, it's, well, a fraction of the price is like a small amount of the price that it would be to do it somewhere else. So, for example, for me to watch a movie at the cinema is something like 20 pounds, I don't know how much that would be in dollars. It's like $30 or something. And in Russian rubles, it's about 4000 rubles. So that's what it's like for me. Whereas I could sit in the comfort of my own home and watch it for next to nothing, like just the price of the electricity bill and the internet bill, which is nothing.

M: Yeah, I pay for online streaming services next to nothing. So they are very cheap. Right? Like $.

R: Are you... Are they paying you? Because they're not paying me.

M: I can watch films online for a fraction of the price. Or paying next to nothing. Or it's very cheap to watch films online. Yeah? Using different streaming services, dear listener. Yeah. Which streaming services do you use? Could you write things down? Tolerate. At the cinema, you might have to tolerate certain people or tolerate certain noises. Yeah. It's just when someone... So we kind of, we have to put up with, we have to tolerate, we have to, I don't know, what else can you say?

R: Oh, put up with tolerate? Hmm... That's it. That's all. That's all we've got. Although one is, one is a what? A C... No, it would be a B2-level word, I guess. And can you check that? Am I right? Is "tolerate" a B2-level word? That would be awesome if I was right.

M: B2 word. Tolerate.

R: Oh, yeah, that's right. I am better than the Cambridge vocabulary profile.

M: Tolerate. Accept behaviour or beliefs that are different from your own. And you don't like it, you disagree, but you have to kind of tolerate this. Tolerate doing something. And here Rory said, tolerate people using their phones or, for example, tolerate inappropriate noises at the cinema. What are inappropriate noises?

R: Oh, any noise that's not coming from the speakers. I mean, why do people have to talk or use their phones at the cinema? I will never understand this concept. And I would love it if the people that do this could explain it to me. Because there's no reason... You don't need to be loud at the cinema. No one wants to hear what you have to say. So why would you do this?

M: So I prefer watching a film from the comfort of my own home. What do you call the first showing of a film?

R: I think the word you're looking for is the premiere. Am I right?

M: Yeah.

R: Yes. But it could also be the opening. However, that is two words if we include the... The article.

M: The world premiere of the Barbie movie, for example. Can you use it in a sentence? How do I say premiere in a sentence? Like I usually...

R: I'd... Well, I usually don't go to the premieres of movies, because I'm not famous or rich. But the night it's shown is called opening night. So don't get those things confused. The event is the premiere, the time is the opening night.

M: As a child Rory watched films about heroes and explosions. So action films, right? And it's a great mix of nostalgia. Nostalgia is a feeling when you think about the past and you kind of like, oh, when I was a child, and you feel nostalgic. And also escapism.

R: Yes. Well, escapism is just a distraction from reality. Usually, if you think the reality is quite unpleasant, if you're a child and you're forced to go to school every day, reality can be a bit unpleasant for you.

M: I've broadened my palate.

R: So that just means I've expanded the range of my tastes to include slow burn films like, like "Contact", that film really was quite slow.

M: And palate. We usually use this word about tasting. So tasting food or wine, for example. Right? And Rory, could you give us the whole sentence about this palate thing?

R: So I said though I would like to point out, that I have broadened my palate with films like "Contact". That just means that I've expanded the range of things I'm interested in.

M: I've broadened my palate to include action films or adventure movies. So if you don't usually watch action films, so kind of you broadened your palate, you've broadened your tastes. Then we talk about genres, right? So genres? Kinds of films. And here Rory told us about science fiction, right? You told us about action films. And what's a mockbuster?

R: A mockbuster is like a blockbuster. It's a very cheap form of a blockbuster. And it's released at the same time as a film that is probably going to be very popular in order to gain money from the success of that film, because people will confuse the titles, or they'll be really into the genre of the blockbuster. And they'll think that this is just as good. There are companies that have a reputation for releasing these cheap knockoff products. A knockoff is like a copy that's lower quality and it isn't very good. So I think when a movie like "The Avengers" comes out, they'll release... These companies that make mockbusters will release another film called, "Avenging Force" or something like that. And it'll have some pictures of superheroes on the front, which they've made up. And that kind of thing is designed to get them money from people who don't recognize that this sort of thing is going to be cheap, and the script will be awful. I can think of more examples, but I'm not going to give these people the attention they want because this is how they make money. Piggybacking off of the hard work of other people.

M: That was a lecture! Thank you, Rory! So different genres of films, thrillers, comedies, westerns, musicals, horror films, fantasy, like the Lord of the Rings, fiction, animation, drama, romantic comedies. Okay? Dark comedies, action films, drama. Make sure that you name two or three genres of films that you enjoy. Rory also talked about cinematography. So it's not just about the genre of a film, but it's about cinematography and script writing and the writing. So every film has a script. The script is like, what are* the words... Yeah? That every character says. Every actor says, right?

R: It also describes some of the actions that they have to do, and key parts of the story or the plot.

M: Yeah. So it's not about the genre. It's about the plot, the story of the film, script writing, and also cinematography, and cinematography, do you mean like how the film is made?

R: Yeah. So it's... Oh, it's just the effects that are used or the technology that's used to create the impression of the story that you're enjoying. So for example, the cinematography of Lord of the Rings is amazing. Whereas, I'm trying to think of like a really bad movie. I think there's a movie called "Bird Flu". And it's, it's, it's just awful. It's like they've copied and pasted things from Microsoft Paint onto the scenes. And it looks dreadful. It's one of the worst-made films of all time.

M: You can say the cinematography is dreadful or it's horrendous. Like special effects in this film are horrendous, unpleasant, extremely bad, like terrible, horrible, horrendous. What else could be horrendous?

R: Ooh, the acting could be horrendous. Trying to think of another film where the acting was horrendous. Well, that's quite subjective, isn't it? Although the acting in the mockbuster is always horrendous. Honestly. They're just the worst kinds of movies ever.

M: And if you don't like a film, you can say like, oh, I had to sit through this film at the cinema. So the last time I went to the cinema, I had to sit through this horrible action film. So you just sit through it, you watch it to the end, but you don't like it. If you're going to twist my arm is an idiom. So twist my arm, just like twist, twist my arm. Like, take and kind of break my arm.

R: If you're going to force me.

M: Yeah, if you are going to force me if you want to make me do things I don't want to do. So if you're going to twist my arm, I'd say that... Like this. Yeah? If you twist my arm, I will go to the movies, for example, but I don't want to go to the movies. So yeah. To get more out of something or to get more out of doing something, rather than going to the cinema, you can get more out of going for a walk. Or you can get more out of watching TV at home, for example. And what's Barbenheimer?

R: It is the portmanteau. Barbie and Oppenheimer were released at the same time, these two films are about completely different things. But people combined them together. And it made this cultural meme of Barbenheimer, where people would go and see one film and then go and see the other one. It was just a really weird social phenomenon to watch unfold from a distance. I have seen neither of these films, so I can't really comment on the experience of Barbenheimer. But it was something that happened.

M: Dear listener, if you want to be in the trend, you have to watch the Barbie movie, you have to sit through it, if you don't like the Barbie thing, and you have to watch Oppenheimer and tell us in the comment section, did you enjoy the movies? What do you think of them, if you have watched them? So yeah. You can also say that I prefer going to the cinema to watch the latest movies like the newest films. And also I enjoy big screens, for example, I enjoy going to the cinema with like 12 screens, so I can watch five films at the same time. Yeah? You can also say that I enjoy the activities that cinema theatre provides. It's about the whole experience, you go to watch a movie, then after that, you stay you eat more popcorn, you do this bowling thing, you go to a bar and everything is in one place. And then you go to see another film. Yeah, it's kind of this activity, the experience. And now movie theatres want to provide this experience, like a range of activities, so a film, food, some more activities like bowling, I don't know, some... What else do we have at the movie theatres?

R: Axe throwing?

M: Nah.

R: Yes, you can, you can... There's axe throwing. I mean, I have only done this once in my life, but I'm sure there was a cinema nearby.

M: Axe? Do you throw an axe?

R: Yes. Have you never seen this?

M: Oh, I saw this in some... But not at the cinema halls.

R: Oh, wow. I'm gonna have to take pictures next time I do it.

M: Thank you very much for watching! Please, like our videos, and write in the comments. Okay? We also have our premium episodes for you, speaking parts 2, and 3, with more gorgeous grammar, more super vocabulary, and we're using fresh IELTS speaking topics. The links are in the description. Bye!

R: Bye!

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