ESL Podcast 350 – A Movie Review

Sally: Did you see the new movie, The McQuillan Story? I’m writing a movie review for the school paper.

Marcus: I went to the premiere last week. What did you think of it?

Sally: I liked it. I thought it was entertaining, although it wasn’t groundbreaking, by any means.

Marcus: You thought it was entertaining? I thought it was awful. I almost walked out. The acting¹ was wooden and uninspired, and the direction was amateur.

Sally: Aren’t you being too critical? It was the director’s first movie and I thought his directorial debut² wasn’t bad. If there was a problem, it was with the screenplay.

Marcus: Don’t get me started on the screenplay! The story was so predictable and the dialogue was pretentious³. This movie is going to bomb for sure.

Sally: Oh, I don’t know. I think some people may enjoy it.

Marcus: If you want to do your readers a favor, you’d tell them to skip this movie and save their money!


Script by Dr. Lucy Tse

1 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

2 debut   

n.首次演出，初次露面

参考例句：

• That same year he made his Broadway debut, playing a suave radio journalist.在那同一年里，他初次在百老汇登台，扮演一个温文而雅的电台记者。
• The actress made her debut in the new comedy.这位演员在那出新喜剧中首次登台演出。

3 pretentious   

adj.自命不凡的，自负的，炫耀的

参考例句：

• He is a talented but pretentious writer.他是一个有才华但自命不凡的作家。
• Speaking well of yourself would only make you appear conceited and pretentious.自夸只会使你显得自负和虚伪。