ESL Podcast 350 - A Movie Review
movie review - an article in a newspaper, magazine, or website where the writer gives his or her opinion about whether a movie was good or bad
According to the movie review, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles was a bad movie, but we thought it was really funny!
premiere - the first time that a movie or play is shown to the public
The actors were nervous during the premiere, waiting to see how the audience would react.
entertaining - amusing and interesting; a good way to spend one's time
The professor tells a lot of jokes, so his classes are always interesting.
groundbreaking - new and modern; revolutionary; doing something differently than how things have been done in the past
His groundbreaking research helped doctors develop a vaccine for polio.
by any means - at all; in any way
The restaurant's food isn't gourmet by any means, but it is tasty and inexpensive.
awful - horrible; terrible; very bad
They painted the store an awful orange color. It's so ugly!
to walk out - to leave a movie, play, speech, or other performance before it has ended because it was very bad
The play was terrible, so we walked out after the first scene.
acting - the way in which actors move their bodies and say their lines while performing
The students' acting was good, but their costumes were disappointing.
wooden - stiff; without emotion; not showing enough expression
The criminal made wooden replies to the judge's questions, not showing any emotion.
uninspired - dull; uninteresting; not exciting or interesting; not unique; not original
Kaitlin eats an uninspired lunch of a ham sandwich and potato chips every day.
direction - leadership, especially in creating a movie or play; the instructions received from a movie or play director
Steven Spielberg has received many awards for his exceptional direction in making movies.
amateur - not professional; not skilled
She was an amateur ice skater for six years before she decided to go professional.
critical - negative and harsh; always saying something negative about something or someone
My wife is so critical! No matter what I do, it's never good enough for her.
debut - the first time that one does something for the public; the first time that one does something in front of other people
His acting debut was in a soap commercial, but now he is a famous actor who has been in many movies and popular TV shows.
screenplay - script; the written words and instructions for making a movie
Terrence wrote a screenplay about two men who rob a bank and then try to escape to Canada.
predictable - obvious; easy to know what is going to happen; without any surprises
A good mystery novel should not be predictable. The reader should be surprised by the ending.
pretentious - trying to appear more important, better, or bigger than something really is
Renaldo is so pretentious, always acting like he has more money and a better job than he really does.
to bomb - to fail; to be a disaster; to be a total failure
Jackie bombed on the exam, getting only 14 out of 100 points.
to skip - to decide not to do, have, or see something
Because they are both trying to lose weight, they decided to skip the ice cream after dinner and eat fruit salad instead.