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Hana |
Ben |
Movie Take
Ben and Hana talk about their favorite movies!
Hana: Okay, so let's talk about movies.
Ben: Okay.
Hana: What kind of movie do you like?
Ben: Well, my favorite genres are actually, let's see, science fiction, sci-fi, and horror.
Hana: Horror?
Ben: Yeah.
Hana: What was the last movie you watched? Do you remember?
Ben: The last movie I watched was a science fiction. It was called The Shape of Water.
Hana: Okay. Never heard, never seen, yeah.
Ben: Well, I can you a little about it, if want to hear.
Hana: Yeah, yes. Please do.
Ben: Okay, so it's actually a love story about a janitor and a merman.
Hana: Okay. Yeah.
Ben: A merman, like, you know ...
Hana: Mermaid. Mermaid, yeah.
Ben: Mermaid, yeah, merman. It's actually ... I don't want to give away too much of the story, but this janitor is working at this underground government facility. She cleans the floors next to this giant fish tank. She never knows actually what's inside, but one day, this merman comes up to the glass and she sees him. She instantly falls in love. The beautiful part is, is that he can't speak. He can't speak English, right? But the beautiful part is she's actually deaf. She can't hear, so this beautiful, amazing relationship kind of blossoms from them. She teaches him sign language. Oh, it's unbelievable. I recommend it.
Hana: It's like a modern version of Romeo and Juliet, yeah? Kind of.
Ben: Maybe. I mean, that's not like they weren't ... They weren't star-crossed lovers, per se, but, no, it was definitely an interesting love story. Yeah, that's the last movie I saw, recently.
Hana: What about horror movies?
Ben: I actually like this movie called It. It's based on a book written by this horror author, Stephen King. Maybe you've heard of Stephen King.
Hana: Oh, yes, yes, yes. He's a famous writer, yeah?
Hana: Mm-hmm
Ben: Yeah, this is actually a story about a .... It's kind of a sci-fi horror mix, so it's like, of course it's one of my favorites. It's about this alien that comes to this town and takes a form as a clown, an evil clown, every 65 years. He wakes up from his deep sleep and he's hungry, because he needs to eat. He takes his form as a clown and terrorizes this town every 65 years. The movie takes place in the 19, let's see, I think it's the 1970's. That's the time when the monster wakes up. This group of kids starts figuring it out, "What's happening in our town?" It's kind of a coming of age tale in a horror movie. I don't know, it's really interesting. I hope I didn't ruin it. I'm not going to tell you the ending, of course.
Hana: Okay. I'm not a big fan of horror movies. It makes me kind of ... Not to go to toilets or not to go to bathroom.
Ben: Alright.
blossoms
A relationship kind of blossoms from them.
Here, the world blossoms means to develop or grow into something special. Notice the following:
- He has blossomed into a nice young man.
- She really blossomed when she got to college.
per se
They weren't star-crossed lovers, per se.
Here, per se means by itself or individually. Notice the following:
- It was not his actions, per se, that made me mad.
- They were not enemies, per se, but they fought a lot.
terrorize
He takes his form as a clown and terrorizes this town.
To terrorize means to cause fear or worry through intended actions. Notice the following:
- Bad students love to terrorize new teachers.
- A swarm of bees terrorized the town.
figure out
This group of kids starts figuring it out.
To figure out something means to learn and understand how something works or why it acts a certain way. Notice the following:
- He is a strange person. I still have not figured him out.
- She has me figured out. I can't fool her.
coming-of-age
It's kind of a coming-of-age tale
A coming-of-age tale would be a story about the experience of young people and how it affected them in life. Notice the following:
- The book was a coming-of-age tale of two boys in the countryside.
- Coming-of-age tales are great for young readers.
ruin
I hope I didn't ruin it.
When you ruin something, such as a movie, you give away the ending so it is not so exciting. You can also say 'spoil the ending.' Notice the following:
- Don't tell me the ending. I don't want you to ruin it for me.
- Sometimes movie trailers spoil the movie and ruin it for people.
Vocabulary Quiz
figure out • of-age • ruin
Related Video - One Minute English
About the Teacher / Creator
Hello, and welcome to elllo. My name is Todd Beuckens. I've been an ESL teacher for 25 years. I created elllo to provide teachers and students free audio lessons and learning materials not usually found in commercial textbooks.
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