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  • Hi again, I'm Adam. Welcome back to www.engvid.com. Today's lesson is about movies.

  • Now, as far as I know, everybody loves movies; I love movies, I'm sure you love movies.

  • And there're lots of words that have to do with movies that you might not be familiar with, but they're

  • very good to know if you want to talk about movies with your friends or whoever. So that's

  • what we're going to look at today, talking about movies. I'm going to give you a whole

  • bunch of vocabulary, I'm sure some of them are not so new, some of them will be very new.

  • We have some slang and some idioms that come from movies. A lot of good stuff.

  • Let's get started.

  • We're going to start with this word: "genre". Can you say that? "Genre". A lot of people

  • have a problem with this "g". So the way I explain it always is to say this word: "measure",

  • like measure a weight or measure volume of something. Everybody knows this word,

  • everybody knows this letter. "Measure", "je", it's between a "g" and a "j" and an "s"; it's a bit of a mixture.

  • This sound: "measure", is the same as this "g", "genre". If you're French: "je".

  • "Je t'adore" or: "Je t'amore". Good stuff. Right? So "genre", what is a "genre"?

  • "Genre" is the type of movie we're talking about. Now, you know drama, you know comedy,

  • you know action, you know sci-fi, science-fiction, documentary, etcetera.

  • Have you ever heard of a "chick flick"? You're thinking: "Chick flick, never heard of that

  • before. What is a 'chick flick'?" Well, first, what is a "chick"? A "chick" is a woman or a girl,

  • but don't say this to a woman or a girl. And if you are a woman or a girl, I apologize.

  • I don't call women "chicks", but it happens. "Chicks", women. "Flick" is slang for movie.

  • A "chick flick" is a girl movie or woman movie. Right? What it means is a

  • love story or a romance, something that makes you cry. It makes you cry because you're so

  • sad at the end, it makes you cry because you're so happy at the end; it's a very emotional movie.

  • Usually, women go to see these movies. Men, not so much, they don't like them so much.

  • Men go to see the "bromance". What is a "bromance"? A "bromance" is a romance involving bros,

  • brothers, two guys who might be a little bit too close to each other. They're not gay,

  • they're just two good friends. Right? Two dudes hanging out and spending too much time

  • together, we call that a "bromance". That's what the guys go to see.

  • Chick flick, that's what the girls go to see.

  • Another one is a "romcom", a romantic comedy shortened; squeezed together: "romcom".

  • So there you have three new genres to think about.

  • Now, here are a couple idioms that come straight from the movies. "Cut to the chase."

  • Now, first: what is "the chase"? Many action movies, most action movies at some point in the movie

  • have a car chase or somebody chasing somebody like cops and robbers. Catch Me If You Can,

  • everybody's chasing Leonardo DiCaprio. So "the chase" is usually the most exciting part

  • of the movie. So when someone says: "Cut to the chase", means: get to the point, get to

  • the exciting part, get to what you need to say. Don't waste time. "Cut" means in the

  • movie you cut to the chase. Right? To the point.

  • Another expression is: "That's a wrap." In the old days, when they actually used to have

  • film in like the big rolls of film, when they finished a scene or when they finished the movie,

  • they would wrap the entire reel (r-e-e-l), they would wrap it, package it, and ship it to...

  • Do whatever they do with movies. So "That's a wrap", means finished, we're finished,

  • we're done, let's move on to the next thing. So there you have two new idioms to worry about.

  • This is just an abbreviation for "miscellaneous", means just generally words that I thought

  • about for movies. "A-lister". An "A-lister" is a very top level celebrity; actor, actress,

  • musician, etcetera. "A-lister", they're on the best list; they get into all the bars,

  • all the clubs, they make the most movies... Sorry. They make the most money. Everybody

  • wants to be around them. A "B-lister", a "C-lister", a "D-lister", they're like down there.

  • Maybe they'll get invited to like a puppy show or something like that.

  • "Cameo", so then you have all these A-listers doing "cameo" appearances in different movies.

  • Right? A "cameo" is a very short appearance in a movie. So, for example: if you have...

  • If I'm making a movie and I want just a little bit of excitement, I ask Brad Pitt to come

  • in and just be in my movie for five minutes. Those five minutes are called a "cameo".

  • And he will help me, I will have a very famous movie. I can say: "Brad Pitt is in it." Everybody's happy.

  • A "blockbuster". A "blockbuster" is a very successful movie, a very high budget... Or

  • actually not always successful, but high budget for sure. They usually come in the summer

  • and in the Christmas season. Superman or any of the action movies, any movie with big name actors;

  • all the A-listers, lots of budget, lots of effects, lots of chases, lots of everything.

  • The idea is that they're supposed to make a lot of money. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't.

  • The "box office" is where you buy your tickets to go into the movie. It's a box, it's an office,

  • you give money, you get a ticket, you go into the theatre. But when we talk

  • about how much money a movie makes, we talk about the success it has or had at the "box office".

  • If a movie "smashed" the "box office", means it was a smash, it was a hit;

  • it made a lot of money. Okay.

  • The "cast". The "cast" is all the actors and actresses in a movie. Very straightforward.

  • A "premiere". A "premiere" is the first night when a movie is starting to show. Usually,

  • before it opens to the public in many theatres, it will have only a few theatres where people

  • can go see it first; very limited showing of the movie, this is called a "premiere".

  • The next night, it opens everywhere for everyone.

  • A "debut" is also a first. A "debut" is when an actor or an actress makes his or her first appearance.

  • This is the first time you will see them acting in a big movie. It is the actor or actress' debut.

  • "Debut". Okay? When we're talking about the cast, you'll have all these famous actors

  • and this movie will debut this new actor or actress.

  • Quite often, students ask me: "What is the difference between a director and a producer?"

  • A lot of people don't know what a director does, what a producer does. A "director" directs.

  • He tells the actors and actresses: "Stand here. Stand there. Do like this. Do like that.

  • Look sad like this. Look sad like that. Look happy." Whatever. He tells everybody what

  • to do on the set, he controls the movie making. The "producer" produces. He or she will say:

  • "What do you need? You need a car? Here's a car." I'm going to have a really cool chase in my movie,

  • okay? I want a Lamborghini chasing a Ferrari. What do I do? I'm the director,

  • I say: "I want a Lamborghini chasing a Ferrari." The producer, he goes and brings me a Lamborghini

  • and a Ferrari. But he brings me a red Ferrari and I say: "No, no, no, no." Red is like angry

  • and violent. I want a happy Ferrari, it's a happy chase. "Give me a purple Ferrari."

  • So the producer goes and brings me a purple Ferrari. Another way to think of the producer

  • is the money. He or she will bring the money, get you... The director everything he or she

  • needs, make the movie.

  • "Sequel" and "prequel". So, for example: there's a movie that's very popular, the movie The Hangover -

  • I'm not sure if any of you have seen it - it did so well that the producers decided:

  • "Hey, let's do another one. Make more money." So the second story, the second

  • chapter in the story is called the "sequel". Okay? Now, everybody knows Star Wars I think.

  • Star Wars had the three original movies, then they went to the "prequel". What they did,

  • they went backwards. So the three stories are original stories, and then they gave you

  • three stories that happened before these stories. And I think next year or the year after that,

  • they will make the "sequels", the next three stories. So "sequel" comes after; "prequel"

  • comes before. I probably should have written them like that, but I think you get it.

  • Last one: "epic". When a movie is very long, and very big, and very broad story, we call

  • it an "epic". That's usually what it means when we're talking about movies. But people

  • use this word in everyday life, and then like something happened like a big story, a new

  • story and somebody says: "Man, that was epic." That was huge, that was so big that

  • it takes a lot to take in. But it comes from movies. You have "epic" novels like War and Peace,

  • you have "epic" movies like Lord of the Rings, for example.

  • Okay, hopefully you can start talking about all your favourite movies with all your friends in English.

  • And, of course, you can practice all these... All this new vocabulary at www.engvid.com,

  • there's a quiz there. And, of course, leave comments and questions,

  • and I'll get back to you. See you soon.

Hi again, I'm Adam. Welcome back to www.engvid.com. Today's lesson is about movies.

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