Film reviews

Film reviews

Listen to the film reviews to practise and improve your listening skills.

Do the preparation task first. Then listen to the audio and do the exercises.

Preparation

Transcript

Obviously, this is the sequel to Fun in the City, which is a film I didn't like so it's fair to say my expectations were low. So, you could say I wasn't disappointed, as it met my expectations. It was awful! It was so awful, I'd rather not spend any more time on it by talking about it. But, that wouldn't be a film review and I think I owe you all a review to save you wasting your money going to see it.

So, it starts off with this big wedding scene. And, I won't go into why, but the whole scene is just there so they can make this one joke. It's not even a funny joke ... it's just, ah, it's just terrible. It's got nothing to do with the rest of the film. Anyway, it starts there. Then, instead of the characters and the plot staying in New York where the original film was set, one of them wins a ticket to India and decides to take all her friends. It's what directors do when they've run out of ideas … let's take our characters on tour!

Anyway, they gossip, cry and shop, and they repeat this until the end. No real people would ever act like this. I didn't have any sympathy for their problems or even care what happened to them. Don't go and see it, you'll only encourage them to make another sequel. The world doesn't need three of these films. Please save your money and go and see the other big film this week: Twilight Mirror.

So, if you're a fan of the book it's based on, you're probably as excited as I was about this. For everyone else, this is a film fans have been waiting ten years to see. I have to confess, I was a bit nervous. I'd seen the posters and they didn't look right. I didn't love them at all. And I wasn't sure about the actors they cast either. So I went in not sure what to expect. But … I loved it.

One thing I really liked about it was the pace. They went backwards and forwards between the real world and the computer world and it worked really well. The special effects brought the computer world to life and I totally believed in it. But, more than that, I felt emotionally connected to the story and the characters. The whole film worked on so many levels. It reminded me of going to the cinema as a child – how much fun that was. I can't recommend it enough.

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Discussion

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Average: 4 (45 votes)

Submitted by Rehanh on Wed, 01/09/2021 - 14:12

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the last film that i have watched was about the war in the desert, The name of the movie is (expresstion) It was about a handsome man who had a mission in an Indian country, in the middle of the movie he has met a young man and got problems with him, to sum up, I really recommended this movie guys.

Submitted by GiulianaAndy on Wed, 04/08/2021 - 14:58

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Hello, excuse me, I have an jssu with the audio I can't hear anything when I click on play

Hello GiulianaAndy,

Are you still not able to hear the audio? I've just checked it and it works for me.

If you still can't hear it, I'd suggest trying a different browser or different device.

All the best,

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by lucianocastle on Sat, 12/06/2021 - 21:39

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The last film I saw was "The woman in the window". It's a psychological thriller. The story centers around a woman who lives in a suburban home, which is agoraphobic taking medication, and suffers from anxiety due to an unexplained trauma. She is unable to go outside her home because of her phobia. Ironically enough she used to be a child psychologist. When a new family moves into her neighborhood in front of her house, she receives a visit from the family's teen son, which shows unusual behavior. After that, she receives another visit from a strange woman! Due to her mental state, she can't help but start spying on the new strange neighbors. This causes her to observe an awful event! The movie keeps you guessing all the time if what she's seeing is real or if she is hallucinating it all. Great acting by the lead role and a superb supporting cast makes this a must for psychological thriller lovers. I loved it, and I highly recommend it!

Submitted by Antoni Luna on Mon, 17/05/2021 - 21:08

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The last film I watched was Oxygene, a drama thriller about a woman who wake up inside a capsule and doesn't have a way to get out. At a general point it doesn't look like an interesting trama, but when the story begins it encourage you to keep on there. The plot is sorprising interesting and with so much suspense on what's happening. I really recommend it.

Submitted by German on Tue, 04/05/2021 - 03:19

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The last movie that I watched was Soul (A disney movie). I had expectactative about this film because I had references that it was a good movie, but, I have to say that actually I don´t seem it so good. I think that its message is a message that is in another movies and hence for me, this movie wasn´t diferent than others.

Submitted by cesar_alex on Fri, 09/04/2021 - 05:45

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In the last sentence of the transcript, it should go "can" instead of "can't", this makes sense of the paragraph.

Hi cesar_alex,

Actually, this is a fixed phrase: I can't recommend it (highly) enough. The meaning is that the film was so good that no matter how much I recommend it, it's not sufficient to show how good the film was (i.e. the film was better than I am able to describe). It doesn't mean 'I can't recommend it' :) 

Does that make sense?

Jonathan

The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by Mari Dyrko on Sun, 07/03/2021 - 16:31

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Hello friends. The last thing I have watched is not a film but a series. I want to share with you the feelings, experiences and life of this series, which has been going on for over 15 years. I will even say more, few people are able to keep such a bar and not fall during this time ... A story about two brothers who fought against evil. Their acting struck to the depths of the soul. At first I watched him through my favorite actor - Jenson Ackles. This series was a certain mainstream. each series was filled with an interesting idea, and the realization of all the props and scenes was impressive. Its name is “Supernatural”. «Supernatural ”is a cult American TV series from 2005 to 2020, which combines elements of mysticism, drama, detective and horror. I highly recommend watching it.

Submitted by Olenka Hruba on Thu, 04/03/2021 - 19:12

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The last film I saw "The Holiday". This film is a romantic comedy. Besides this film is about two women who do not know each other, living 10,000 kilometres apart, find themselves in a similar situation. But they find each other: on the Internet, on a vacation housing exchange site. Before Christmas, Iris and Amanda decide to take a break from their problems and agree to swap continents and live in each other's house for two weeks. Iris moves to Amanda's house in a sunny California, and Amanda arrives in the snow-covered English countryside... And each of them meets her Christmas in her new place. If you are sad on Christmas evenings I recommend you to watch this movie, it will cheer you up and the evening will not be so boring.