Views #630 | Intermediate 5

Favorite Movies

Tom and Martin discuss their favorite movies.

Tom: Do you go to the cinema a lot Martin?

Martin: I used to quite often, Tom, but lately I just haven't found the time or the cinemas around here aren't quite as big here.

Tom: So, I guess you've had time to contemplate on it. What's your favorite movie of all time? Well, my favorite movie, and the best movie I've ever seen would have to be Seven Samurai, the story about a small peasant village in Japan, hired in Seven Samurai to protect it and the ensuing struggles that the villagers had with the samurai, and the Samurai did with themselves and then the final fight that they has with the bandits that were trying to take the peasants grain. It's a magnificent story.

Martin: It's a classic. It's black and white, right?

Tom: Yes, it is. It was made by the Japanese director Akira Kurasawa. I think it was 1956 or 57, but it's affected so many other movies, Tom.

Martin: I mean if you look at the Magnificent Seven, the Western, it's modeled directly after that, as well as some other modern movies that you might not think as much about. Roger Corman's, Battle Beyond the Stars with George Peppard (Are you serious?) was modeled straight off of Seven Samurai, and even Bug's Life.

Tom: Wow. Now that I think of that I can see that.

Martin: Yeah, it's a really important movie.

Martin: How about you Tom? What's your favorite movie of all time?

Tom: I don't know about of old time, but recently, and don't laugh when I say this, Pirates of the Caribbean was an absolute masterpiece. I saw the trailer so many times in the cinema and just thought it was going to be rubbish, but when I eventually got around to seeing it, it was full of good jokes and it was Jonny Depp as a pirate going around the Caribbean. There was a ghost story. There was a love story in it. There was a young man who'd run away to join the Pirate's. The whole thing was just action packed, funny and colorful. It was a really entertaining movie.

Martin: Yeah, I would agree with you Tom. It was very fun and Johnny Depp was great, modelling Keith Richards as a pirate. I think that...

Tom: Well, I heard that he was modelling the original ride at Disneyland.

Martin: Oh, really.

Tom: The mechanical models jerking around on the pirate ship, the mannequins, I heard that was what he modeled his character on.

Martin: I heard he modeled after Keith Richards.

Tom: He's the kind of actor who comes up with a different story at every interview.

Martin: Well, I guess that's why he's acting.


Learn Vocabulary from the lesson

contemplate

Now that I've had time to contemplate on it, let me tell you what my favorite movie of all time is.

When you 'contemplate' about something, you think about it and consider your options. Notice the following:

  1. He always looks like he's contemplating the mysteries of the universe.
  2. It looks like you need some time to contemplate your decision.

peasant

The Seven Samurai is a story about a small peasant village in Japan.

The word 'peasant' is rarely used nowadays, except in a negative way. It refers to a simple person who is from a farming community and is usually poor. Notice the following:

  1. The peasants who do most of the farming live in this area.
  2. Most peasants who went to the city to find work never returned back home.

bandits

The final fight that the Samurais had was with the bandits.

A 'bandit' is a 'robber' or a 'thief.' Bandits usually work in groups. Notice the following:

  1. They got home and discovered that bandits had stolen almost everything in the house.
  2. Their village is protected by the mountains, so bandits aren't much of a problem.

trailer

I saw the trailer of the Pirates of the Caribbean several times in the cinema.

Used like this, a 'trailer' is a short film that is used to promote a full-length film by showing exciting scenes. Trailers should make people want to see the full-length film. Notice the following:

  1. I saw a trailer that looked good yesterday, but I can't remember the name of the movie.
  2. They always show a few movie trailers before the main film starts.

jerk around

Johnny Depp modeled his character on the mannequins jerking around on the pirate ship.

Here, 'jerk around' refers to moving in a ungraceful way, in this case, because of the movement of a boat. Notice the following:

  1. One thing I don't like about amusement parks is that you are always jerking around on the rides.
  2. Skiing was fun, but I got kind of jerked around, and I hurt my back.
Answer the following questions about the interview.

Vocabulary Quiz

contemplated • peasant • bandits
trailer • jerked
  1. I've your question for a few days, and I think I've made my decision.
  2. This is one of the scenes that was on the .
  3. All of the people in the car were really around in the accident.
  4. People assumed that just because he came from a farming community that he wasn't very intelligent.
  5. Most of the in this area just steal farm animals.

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