Episode 0099

Hello English learners, welcome back to English Pod. My name is Marco.

And I'm Erica.

And today we're going to go back to the movies, but this time we're going to do it a little bit different.

That's right. Uh, we're going to be listening as two movie critics offer their opinion on the latest release.

All right, so we're going to be learning how to criticize or give your opinions about something.

That's right. And uh here we're talking movies, but a lot of this language can be used to offer your your criticism or ideas on literature, um, or art or other artistic pursuits.

Okay, so before we listen to this dialogue for the first time, let's take a look at vocabulary preview.

Vocabulary preview.

Well, we're going to look at one word here that we will hear in the dialogue and it is erudite.

Erudite. Erudite.

Okay, so this word erudite. Some people pronounce it erudite.

That's true, and basically it's an adjective describing someone who has a lot of knowledge about a subject.

Okay, so an erudite in engineering.

Yes, or an erudite professor.

Okay, very good.

So that's the word that we're going to preview today and now let's listen to our dialogue and find out what movie they are criticizing.

Thank you, Dick. Today we're going to talk about the movie Lion King.

Tell me, what is your impression of this film?

Well, I think this film is simply a fable depicting man's eternal greed for power, and in my opinion, it's a very fine film.

I think otherwise. Even though the animation was technically strong, and as you say, the score and songs performed by Elton John were great, the film lacks certain originality.

It lacked heart, and I would dare to say, it was too predictable.

Predictable? How?

Come on, Dave, it's a G-rated movie.

It's for the kids.

It's not a thriller.

Well, that's just it. It did have some very dramatic and intense scenes.

For example, when Mufasa dies or the dark grim portrayal of Scar.

Even so, the film is linear.

Mufasa dies, Simba runs away thinking it's his fault, falls in love and returns to retake what's rightfully his, it's just too cliché.

How can it be cliché? It's a fable.

You have always been so soft, Dick.

A very good movie and, well, mixed feelings about it, right? Some people think it's good, other people's other people think it's not that good.

Um, I'm in the good camp, as you know, um, but anyway, there's tons of really useful, um, and quite difficult language here.

So why don't we look at that now in language takeaway?

Language takeaway.

All right, on language takeaway today, we have five words, and we can start with the first one.

So the critic, the first critic said that this was a movie depicting man's eternal greed for power.

Depicting.

To depict.

All right, so this word depict, it sounds a little bit strange, so before we explain it, let's take a look at some examples.

Example one.

Example two.

The film depicts the realities of war very accurately.

Example three.

So this image here is depicting some of the most well-known scenes from Australian history.

All right, so depicting, um, I can basically understand that this means to show something.

Now if now we can notice um that the word depict has this this short little word picked in there.

That that sounds like picture.

And when we think about um depicting, we're often thinking about in a picture or in a book, um or in a painting.

So in this case, the story is depicted in a movie, right?

That's right.

So you can see it. It's a picture, basically.

Exactly.

All right, very good. So to depict.

Well, moving on, the critic also talked about the grim portrayal of the villain of the movie, Scar.

That's right. So grim portrayal.

A grim portrayal.

Okay, let's look at the word grim first.

When something is grim, it's really unpleasant or uncomfortable or even shocking to think about.

Okay, so something that is grim. Now, what about portrayal?

Really close to depict, a portrayal is something that shows or describes something, especially like in a book or in a picture or in a play.

Okay, so a portrayal. I guess we can relate it again to a portrait.

That's right.

All right, so portrayal.

Now, we can also use this as a verb, to portray. So this movie portrays man's eternal greed.

Okay, so we can use this as a noun or as a verb.

That's right.

So moving on with our third word today, we have an enchanting movie.

That's right, the story was simply enchanting.

Okay, so if something is enchanting.

Okay, it holds your attention.

So it's something very nice. Something that is enchanting has to be nice.

Okay, very good. So an enchanting moment.

Or an enchanting woman.

Okay.

And now what about our next word? It's a very and what about our next word? It's French actually, but we use it in English.

That's right. So the the critic said that this story was cliché.

Cliché.

Cliché.

Okay, so we hear this all the time. What is a cliché?

Well, basically a cliché is a phrase or an idea that is used so often um that it loses its meaning or importance or interest.

Okay, so, can you give us some examples of a cliché moment or maybe a a phrase that's cliché?

Okay, well how about this one, when you're breaking up with your boyfriend and you say, Honey, it's not you, it's it's me.

Okay, that's cliché. It's typical.

Yeah, or maybe um a cliché portrayal of a French man would be a guy riding a bike with a baguette, smoking a cigarette, and with a beret on his head.

Okay, that's a cliché portrayal, very good.

So it's common, it's even to a certain point a little bit stereotypical.

That's right.

And what about our last word?

Well, they described this story as a fable.

Fable.

A fable.

Okay, so when we were small, we all read fables.

That's right. Uh they are stories um about animals that are used to teach people lessons.

Okay, so a fable teaches you a lesson. I think the most famous one is the one of the tortoise and the hare, right?

Yeah, and another good one would be the three little pigs.

Okay, that's also a fable.

Okay, so we've looked at these five great words and now it's time for us to move on to putting it together.

Putting it together.

Okay, here we're going to look at some phrases that you can use in a bunch of different ways to help you criticize or give your opinion about a piece of art, like a movie or a book or whatever.

Okay, so let's start right away with our first word.

So the film critic asked, what is your impression of this film?

What's your impression of?

What's your impression of something, right?

That's right.

All right, so before we get into explaining impression, let's listen to some more examples.

Example one.

I don't know where, but I have the impression that we have met before.

Example two.

I get the impression that he's a very organized person.

Example three.

Somehow, Jim got the impression that I was gay. Did you tell him that?

Okay, so I can see that this means basically, what's your opinion or how do you feel about something?

Okay, so you can have an impression of something or of someone.

Yep.

All right.

And what about the next word?

Well, the critic Richard Clark said that it was a really enjoyable film even despite the accusations of plagiarism.

Okay.

So now we have an interesting phrase here, the accusations of plagiarism.

Accusations of plagiarism.

Okay, so accusations is a noun, right?

Right, it's the action of accusing.

Okay, of blaming somebody.

Yeah.

All right, and what about plagiarism?

This is an academic term. If you plagiarize, you copy someone's work and take credit for it.

Okay, so if I copy somebody's book and I say I wrote it, then that's plagiarism.

Yeah, that's pretty bad.

So accusations of plagiarism. Now, we can use this phrase accusations of something in a bunch of different ways.

So Marco, what let's have an example.

All right, so for example, we can say he was cleared of all accusations of tax evasion.

Okay.

He denied the accusations of cheating on his wife.

All right, very good. So accusations.

And now moving on to the final part of putting it together, we have this word lacks.

The film lacks a certain originality.

Okay, so the film lacks a certain originality. What does he mean by that?

It doesn't have enough of.

Okay, so if you are lacking something, you don't have enough of it.

Or you don't have it at all.

All right, so can you give us some more examples of how we can use lack?

Okay, the same way it's used in the dialogue. Our team lacks the appropriate talent to complete this project.

Okay, or I can say, our school lacks infrastructure for so many students.

Or we can also say, infrastructure is lacking at our school.

Okay, so you can use it in those two ways, right? You can use it as a gerund or as a verb.

That's right.

Okay, lots of great language here, and why don't we hear it one more time in context with the dialogue.

Thank you, Dick. Today we're going to talk about the movie Lion King.

Tell me, what is your impression of this film?

Well, I think this film is simply a fable depicting man's eternal greed for power, and in my opinion, it's a very fine film.

I think otherwise. Even though the animation was technically strong, and as you say, the score and songs performed by Elton John were great, the film lacks certain originality.

It lacked heart, and I would dare to say, it was too predictable.

Predictable? How?

Come on, Dave, it's a G-rated movie.

It's for the kids.

It's not a thriller.

Well, that's just it. It did have some very dramatic and intense scenes.

For example, when Mufasa dies or the dark grim portrayal of Scar.

Even so, the film is linear.

Mufasa dies, Simba runs away thinking it's his fault, falls in love and returns to retake what's rightfully his, it's just too cliché.

How can it be cliché? It's a fable.

You have always been so soft, Dick.

All right, so a good movie. What do you think about the Lion King?

What do you think about his critique?

Really?

Yep. You really liked it.

But I'm not interested in my opinion. I want to hear criticisms and film criticisms from our users.

Right, so come to our website at Englishpod.com where you can leave your questions, your comments, and also any criticisms on this particular movie or maybe the other one that we mentioned, uh, how to lose a guy in 10 days.

Personally, not so fond of that one, but looking forward to hearing from our users.

All right, or maybe any other movies you might like.

So, uh, come to the website and until next time.

Goodbye.

Bye.

The English Pod audio review.

Listen to the meaning, then say the vocabulary word.

The written words from a film.

Screenplay.

The activity of an actor in a play.

Performance.

Have the confidence to say.

Dare to say.

The main person in a movie.

Central character.

Story in a movie or book.

Plot.

According to law.

Rightfully.

Used to describe the camera work in a movie.

Cinematography.

Having a lot of knowledge, especially gained from studying.

Erudite.

The feelings one has after a specific event.

Impression.

To describe, show, especially in art or pictures.

Depict.

Beautiful story about animals that has a moral or lesson.

Fable.

Lasting forever.

Eternal.

Action of claiming something is wrong.

Accusation.

Practice of copying other's ideas.

Plagiarism.

Attractive, holding one's attention.

Enchanting.

Written work showing notes of music.

Score.

Easy for others to foresee what is going to happen.

Predictable.

The act of showing or describing something, especially in art.

Portrayal.

Unpleasant.

Grim.

Moving in a logical way from start to end.

Linear.

Something that is too often used so that it loses meaning or importance.

Cliché.

Something that survives the testing of time.

Time-honored.

Not critical enough.

Soft.

Let's try that faster.

Used to describe the camera work in a movie.

Cinematography.

The feelings one has after a specific event.

Impression.

The main person in a movie.

Central character.

The written words from a film.

Screenplay.

According to law.

Rightfully.

Action of claiming something is wrong.

Accusation.

Lasting forever.

Eternal.

Something that is too often used so that it loses meaning or importance.

Cliché.

Attractive, holding one's attention.

Enchanting.

Written work showing notes of music.

Score.

Have the confidence to say.

Dare to say.

To describe, show, especially in art or pictures.

Depict.

The activity of an actor in a play.

Performance.

Easy for others to foresee what is going to happen.

Predictable.

Story in a movie or book.

Plot.

Not critical enough.

Soft.

Having a lot of knowledge, especially gained from studying.

Erudite.

Something that survives the testing of time.

Time-honored.

Unpleasant.

Grim.

Moving in a logical way from start to end.

Linear.

Beautiful story about animals that has a moral or lesson.

Fable.

The act of showing or describing something, especially in art.

Portrayal.

Practice of copying other's ideas.

Plagiarism.

Now say the word and hear it in a sentence.

Impression.

I don't know where, but I have the impression that we have met before.

Impression.

I get the impression that he is a very organized person.

Impression.

Somehow, Jim got the impression that I was gay. Did you tell him that?

Our company lacks the manpower for this new project.

The problem with our school is that it lacks the infrastructure for so many students.

I like these paintings, but I think they lack creativity and passion.

Dare to say.

I would dare to say that your report is completely erroneous.

Dare to say.

Dare to say.

I would dare to say that this is the most beautiful city in the world.

Rightfully.

The king is claiming that France should rightfully belong to England.

Rightfully.

Dan found a dog on the street but returned it to its rightful owner.

Rightfully.

I rightfully took back what belonged to me from the thief.