How to Talk about a Movie
2022-07-15
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1Think about a time that you wanted to talk about a movie.
2How did you describe it?
3In today's Everyday Grammar, we will use a reader's message to explore how to talk about a movie.
4We will consider three questions:
5What is the movie about? What did the main character think or do?
6How did the film affect you?
7In a recent report, we asked our listeners and readers to send us a message describing a movie.
8Esra, in Turkey, wrote about the movie In Time.
9Here is part of what Esra wrote about the film's subject matter.
10It's topic was unequal income distribution,
11they were using time to buy things,
12for example if you want to get on the bus then you had to give a certain amount of your lifetime for it.
13Our first suggestion is to consider another structure to describe the subject of the movie. Esra wrote,
14It's topic was unequal income distribution...*
15While the structure 'its topic was...' is fine, there is another structure that English speakers often use: is about + noun or noun phrase.
16For example:
17What is that movie about?
18The movie is about ....
19The past tense is fine too, as in "The movie was about..."
20So, Esra could have written about In Time:
21The movie was about inequality.
22Note that we used "inequality" instead of "unequal income distribution."
23Although inequality's meaning is a bit broader, English speakers often use it in the sense of economic or financial inequality.
24We might change the remainder of Esra's description to something like this:
25People used time to buy things.
26 For example, if a person wanted to get on the bus, then they had to pay with a certain amount of their life.
27In this case, we use the pronouns "they/their" because it is a very general description that refers to a person whose gender is not known.
28Esra went on to explore another important issue: the thinking of the people in the film.
29Its main star was thinking everyone should be equal and rich should distribute time between everybody.
30We suggest changing "star" to "character."
31A character is a person who appears in a movie, book, or play.
32The most important character is known as the main character.
33We also suggest changing "was thinking," a verb form known as the past continuous, to "thought," the simple past.
34This is because we often use the past continuous to set up another action, as in "The main character was thinking about how to escape when his phone rang."
35We could change Esra's sentence to something like this:
36The main character thought everyone should be equal.
37A few more details could be added in, as in:
38The main character thought everyone should be equal in terms of how time was distributed.
39Esra did not describe the movie in terms of special effects or cinematography.
40Rather, Esra described the film in terms of the film's ideas that explored human life, economy, and society:
41What attracts me to the movie was it looked very similar to our world... Aren't we give our time to earn money.
42We suggest using a consistent verb form, either present or past.
43The past tense form could be:
44What attracted me to the movie was that it looked very similar to our world.
45The question that Esra asked could involve the helping verb "do" instead of "be," as in:
46Don't we give our time to earn money?
47This question suggests that the film's effect was that it forced Esra to think about time, money, and how people spend their lives.
48Please note that there are different ways to describe the effects of a movie.
49You can tell about how a movie made you think by using "The movie made me...." or "It struck me that...," as in:
50The movie made me think about our world.
51The movie made me reconsider my life and how I spend my time.
52Or:
53It struck me that the movie was similar to our world.
54The next time you describe a movie, try to do so by answering the following questions:
55What is the movie about?
56What did the main character think or do?
57How did the film affect you?
58This is not the only way to describe a film, but it is a useful way to begin a discussion or to make other people interested in the movie.
59Let's end this report with homework.
60Take a film and answer the three questions about it by using some of the structures and words that you learned today.
61Write us in the comments section of our website, learningenglish.voanews.com, or send us an email at learningenglish@voanews.com.
62I'm John Russell.
1Think about a time that you wanted to talk about a movie. How did you describe it? 2In today's Everyday Grammar, we will use a reader's message to explore how to talk about a movie. We will consider three questions: What is the movie about? What did the main character think or do? How did the film affect you? 3What is the movie about? 4In a recent report, we asked our listeners and readers to send us a message describing a movie. 5Esra, in Turkey, wrote about the movie In Time. Here is part of what Esra wrote about the film's subject matter. 6It's topic was unequal income distribution, they were using time to buy things, for example if you want to get on the bus then you had to give a certain amount of your lifetime for it. 7Our first suggestion is to consider another structure to describe the subject of the movie. Esra wrote, 8It's topic was unequal income distribution...* 9While the structure 'its topic was...' is fine, there is another structure that English speakers often use: is about + noun or noun phrase. 10For example: 11What is that movie about? 12The movie is about .... 13The past tense is fine too, as in "The movie was about..." 14So, Esra could have written about In Time: 15The movie was about inequality. 16Note that we used "inequality" instead of "unequal income distribution." Although inequality's meaning is a bit broader, English speakers often use it in the sense of economic or financial inequality. 17We might change the remainder of Esra's description to something like this: 18People used time to buy things. For example, if a person wanted to get on the bus, then they had to pay with a certain amount of their life. 19In this case, we use the pronouns "they/their" because it is a very general description that refers to a person whose gender is not known. 20What did the main character think or do? 21Esra went on to explore another important issue: the thinking of the people in the film. 22Its main star was thinking everyone should be equal and rich should distribute time between everybody. 23We suggest changing "star" to "character." A character is a person who appears in a movie, book, or play. The most important character is known as the main character. 24We also suggest changing "was thinking," a verb form known as the past continuous, to "thought," the simple past. 25This is because we often use the past continuous to set up another action, as in "The main character was thinking about how to escape when his phone rang." 26We could change Esra's sentence to something like this: 27The main character thought everyone should be equal. 28A few more details could be added in, as in: 29The main character thought everyone should be equal in terms of how time was distributed. 30How did the film affect you? 31Esra did not describe the movie in terms of special effects or cinematography. 32Rather, Esra described the film in terms of the film's ideas that explored human life, economy, and society: 33What attracts me to the movie was it looked very similar to our world... Aren't we give our time to earn money. 34We suggest using a consistent verb form, either present or past. The past tense form could be: 35What attracted me to the movie was that it looked very similar to our world. 36The question that Esra asked could involve the helping verb "do" instead of "be," as in: 37Don't we give our time to earn money? 38This question suggests that the film's effect was that it forced Esra to think about time, money, and how people spend their lives. 39Please note that there are different ways to describe the effects of a movie. You can tell about how a movie made you think by using "The movie made me...." or "It struck me that...," as in: 40The movie made me think about our world. 41The movie made me reconsider my life and how I spend my time. 42Or: 43It struck me that the movie was similar to our world. 44Closing thoughts 45The next time you describe a movie, try to do so by answering the following questions: 46What is the movie about? 47What did the main character think or do? 48How did the film affect you? 49This is not the only way to describe a film, but it is a useful way to begin a discussion or to make other people interested in the movie. 50Let's end this report with homework. Take a film and answer the three questions about it by using some of the structures and words that you learned today. Write us in the comments section of our website, learningenglish.voanews.com, or send us an email at learningenglish@voanews.com. 51I'm John Russell. 52John Russell wrote this lesson for VOA Learning English. 53*In this case, the apostrophe is not needed. "It's" is short for "It is." What is called for here is the possessive form, its, which does not have an apostrophe. We know the possessive form is needed because it is followed by a noun - topic. 54_______________________________________________________________ 55Words in This Story 56character - n. a person who appears in a story, book, play, movie, or television show 57income - n. money that is earned from work, investments, business, etc. 58distribute - v. to divide (something) among the members of a group - usually + between or among - often used as (be/get) distributed 59cinematography - n. the art, process, or job of filming movies : motion-picture photography 60consistent - adj. always acting or behaving in the same way 61strike - v. to cause (someone) to think about someone or something in a particular way; to be thought of by (someone) suddenly