An Effective Movie Review

Ex. 6 Many people prefer to read a film review before they choose a film to see. Read the movie review from Zeal magazine. Then read the following review about the same movie from Today's Movies magazine. As you read, think of the different points of view expressed in the two reviews.

ZEAL’S MOVIE REVIEW by Rich Hirsch City life is a movie that we have waited a long time for. A film that is com­pletely lacking in violence and cruelty is a welcome change. For once, people who want to laugh at a movie will not be disappointed. It is funny but profound; realistic and stimulating. The plot is unsophisticated and uncomplicated and packed with human interest. It deals with the problems, intrigues, and prejudices that a young man from the country faces in his new life as a clerk in a big industrialized city. Movie fans will also enjoy the finest filmmaking techniques that we have seen in years. The acting is superb with Lee Young and Barbara Martin at their best. City Life is easily the most amusing and the most professional movie in town - the best in a long time.

CITY LIFE: ОNЕ OF THIS YEAR'S WORST MOVIES Lee Young is now appearing at the Star Cinema in City Life, one of the year's most uninteresting, unrealistic movies. Young is usually a terrific actor who makes ex­cellent movies, but in City life his acting is extremely poor. The plot is so uncompli­cated that it is stupid and unbelievable. It deals specifically with problems of a big industrialized city. Barbara Martin, of course, is beautiful, but not very profound or even amusing in her role as Young's girlfriend. The movie is called a comedy, but it is rarely truly funny. Other reviewers have said that this movie is good because it is nonviolent; at the same time it shows realism in a stimulating way. We agree that very few movies nowadays have plots that are lacking in violent, hateful, cruel, and fearful plots. But, unfortunately, this movie also lacks realism and good acting. The cinematography is quite good, however. Jeffrey Langley, the cinematographer, used his cameras well. The movie may have a weak plot and poor acting, but artistically it is good to see. But a beautiful movie is not enough. It must also be well acted and have a strong plot.

Make two columns on a separate piece of paper. Write Zeal on one column and To­day's Movies on the other. Then choose the appropriate words from the following list and write them in the correct column to show what the reviews thought of City Life. Some words may go in both lists. Try not to look at the two reviews. Choose from:

unsophisticated profound amusing unbelievable weak plot

uncomplicated good cinematography professional realistic unrealistic

rarely funny superb acting poor acting beautiful

Ex. 8 Write a movie review for a magazine. Don't forget to give this information. Remember that you must not use the pronoun I when you write a review.

1. What is the name of the movie? 8. How good were the filmmaking techniques

2. Where is it on? for producing special effects?

3. How long does it last? 9. What didn't you like?

4. Who are the principal actors? 10. Should people go to see this movie or not?

5. What is the plot?

6. Who were the best actors?

7. Why?

The following words and word combinations may be useful for you:

to perform stunts (to perform dangerous and spectacular actions in a film) Rocky Hardman, the actor, performs all his stunts.

the credits (титры) Come on, we haven’t missed any of the film except the credits.

to be dubbed (into a language)

a flop (a film or a play that is not successful) Although the film cost a lot to make, it was a box-office flop.

a rave/mixed review

a remake (a new version of an older film)

a trailer (рекламный ролик-анонс) Have you seen the trailer for “Lethal Hammer 8”?

subtitles Was it dubbed or did it have subtitles?

a twist (a surprise in the plot of a film or a play) Far from being predictable, the film has a surprising twist at the end.

appalling (very bad)

dreary (boring, without life)

electrifying (very exciting)

first-rate/ third-rate

flawless (perfect, without mistakes or imperfections) Jade Swinger gave a flawless performance.

gratuitous (неуместный, неоправданный) It was a good film spoiled by gratuitous violence.

incoherent (impossible to understand)

lackluster (тусклый, без блеска, не блещет, не очень успешный, безжизненный)

mediocre (посредственный, заурядный)

shallow (несерьезный, неглубокий, поверхностный)

slick (легкий, развлекательный, искусный, но неглубокий) a slick Hollywood production

tedious (нудный, скучный)

wooden (безжизненный, топорный) wooden characters

sparkling (блестящий)

convincing/ unconvincing He gave an unconvincing performance as Hamlet.

colouful dynamic enigmatic subtle

fancy-dress/in costume joyous gripping magical

refined hilarious expressive enjoyable

depressing thought-provoking grandiose relaxing

inspiring witty perceptive admirable

magnificent touching/moving passionate heartwarming

intriguing effective praiseworthy brisk

Ex. 9 Translate into English.

1. Что тебе помешало заказать билеты на спектакль заранее. Ты же знаешь, что я терпеть не могу стоять в очереди.

2. Извините, что я так говорю, но я не жалею, что пропустил этот спектакль. Это был пол­ный провал.

3. Говорят, что она великолепная актриса, способная вызвать слезы у зрителей.

4. Эту новую постановку стоит посмотреть. Состав действующих лиц и исполнителей про­сто великолепен.

5. Кажется, спектакль ему не понравился.. Хотя декорации были хорошими, игра актеров ос­тавляла желать лучшего.

6. Я не могу не восхищаться игрой этой блистательной актрисы.

7. Есть ли возможность, купи билеты на бельэтаж, т.к. оттуда лучше видна сцена..

8. Кассир сказал, что все места в партере распроданы. Нам ничего не оставалось делать, как заказать билеты на балкон.

9. Я была очарована музыкой и декорациями, которые были великолепны.

10. Посмотрев спектакль дважды, я могу сказать, что это лучшая постановка комедии Шекспи­ра, которую я когда-либо видел.

11. Действие фильма разворачивается в конце 90-х.

12. Не упусти шанс посмотреть фильм "Красот­ка" с Джулией Роберте в главной роли.

13. Я не люблю смотреть фильмы ужасов, а предпочитаю боевики.

14. Говорят, что этот фильм снимался не в сту­дии, а на натуре в какой-то экзотической стране.

15. Я никогда не сижу слишком близко к экрану, а покупаю билеты на места в последнем ряду.

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