
About this episode
Get every episode summarized
Each time IELTS Speaking for Success publishes, we email you a written briefing from the transcript — the topics, who appeared, and any specific claims, with the ad reads skipped.
Email me new episodesFree for 3 shows. No card needed.
Hosts & guests
Transcript ready
317 searchable segments. Every word is indexed and playable.
Full transcript
IELTS Speaking for Success — 📺 Films and the movie industry (Part 3). Machine-transcribed; use the interactive transcript above to jump the player to any line.
So good, so good, so good. Spring styles are at Nordstrom Rack stores now, and they're up to 60% off. Stock up and save on Ragnbonne made well. Vince, all scenes and more of your favorites. How did I let no rack as a deedus? Why do we rack for the hottest still? There's so many good brands. Join the Nordie Club to unlock exclusive discounts, shop new arrivals first and more. Plus, buy online and pick up at your favorite rack store for free. Great brands? Great prices. That's why you rack. Hello, hello, dear listener, and welcome into IELTS. Speaking about three, we're talking about films, movies, reviews. And Rory here is a super expert on different films, especially Avatar, part three. If you haven't listened to our part two, where Rory told us all the truth about this latest Avatar film, please go back and listen to it again.
What are the different types of films which are popular in your country? Maybe the same as everywhere else, really. We show dramas and comedies and science fiction at the cinema to name just a few, but I don't think we have anything wildly different to elsewhere. Maybe we have more social commentaries like we seem to be a very socially aware country. So I don't think that's very unique to Scotland. Other countries will also be aware of social issues. Are historical films popular in your country? Definitely. I think everybody loves Braveheart, which is a very inaccurate film about medieval Scotland. But there are others like that and period dramas, which people really love. Even though everyone knows what will happen because the history is so well known. So it must be the drama around the whole thing. Do people believe movie reviews? Sometimes, although that probably depends on the source rather than what it is, some reviewers and critics like to make names for themselves by being particularly scathing,
even about things that aren't that bad, they're just mediocre. And of course, some people are completely uncritical about everything. So you need to be able to recognize these things and find balanced points of view. And is it better to read the reviews before watching a movie? I think it could be helpful if you're trying to work out of the film as good in certain respects, but it's probably not the end of the world if you don't see a very comprehensive review before you go and watch it. Should the director pay a lot of money to famous actors? I don't know, really. It probably depends on the budget and what gets negotiated by the different people involved. I can see why it would be a good idea though, but big names often draw people in to watch things they might not otherwise. So it could boost sales at the same time just because someone is a household name. It doesn't mean they're entitled to a lot of money. They could be given other things instead if the budget isn't very high.
Why are Japanese animated films so popular? I have to ask someone who watches the movie. I can't remember the last time I watched any anime. Off the top of my head though, I think the art style is quite visually appealing. And often the narratives they have can keep people's attention for long periods, so it might be that. Do you think films with famous actors or actresses are more likely to become successful? It certainly seems that way, doesn't it? I think it's true for a lot of the bigger budget films, yes, but that's not universally so. There have been films that have cast its complete non-entities that have done very well at the box office as well. They might need a bit more effort or luck to do well though. America leads the world in medicine development. It matters. We get new medicines first, nearly three years faster.
Five million Americans go to work because we make medicines here at home, and not relying on other countries keeps us safe, but China is racing to overtake us. Will we let them or will we choose to stay ahead? When America leads, America cures. Let's tell Washington to keep us in the lead. Learn how at AmericaCures.com, paid for by Pharma. As you know, we never release all of our premium content for free, and it's available for one month. After one month, it goes into our super secret archive. To sign up for the archive, click the link in the description below. See you soon. I'll tell you this now. So if it's a difficult topic for you to talk about films, cinema, watching films, Japanese animated films, please do some reading online, and you can google the most popular films all over the world, or the most popular genres like Japanese animated films,
why they are popular, so to be in the know, this knowledge could be useful for your essays as well. So you kill two birds with one stone. Or you could just guess and say maybe, or maybe, or might be, or possibly. But this is also education, right? Because, listen, we give you English, and also, we educate you. Like, we tell you what's popular, what's not. Like, the trends, the recent, you know, innovations in the world of cinema. Yeah, we can tell you everything about the third avatar movie, all the truth. So, we call them types of films or genres. An examiner is interested what genres are popular in your country. And you may not know. So you just say comedies, action films, horror films,
dramas, these are, you know, like, the usual types of films, genres. But yeah, in each country, it might be different. We have documentaries as well. Sci-fi, science fiction. And a whole lot of other ones. Maybe if you're from a specific country, you might have a specific kind of cinema. For example, I think the Indian film industry is called Bollywood, I think. And I'm pretty sure there's a specific and special word for the Korean film industry as well. Yeah, like, for example, Japanese animated films, what do you call them? I think they're called anime. That's what I would call them. Anime, yeah. Lots of angry people will send me messages, no, saying it's not that. It's something else. Yeah, that's like, according to the Cambridge Online Dictionary, anime, Japanese films, made using characters and images that are drawn rather than real.
Can you say anime is popular? I think so. You could just say anime films. Anime series, also. It's not one film, but like series. Yeah, we don't watch it. If you are a fan, sorry, we kind of, we're not in the trend here. We're too busy making the podcast, you know, teaching, working, sleeping. So, well, and we have other hobbies. But I think I did a good job of guessing. But yeah, science fiction films, action films, westerners, comedies, dramas, what else. But usually, like, the most popular genres are action films, sci-fi, anime. Historical films, so not historic, but historical films. Well, films about history, right? Could be like documentaries, for example. Oh, for example, Braveheart, a famous Scottish movie with Mel Gibson, could be called a historical film. Because it's about the history of Scotland, Braveheart.
If you haven't watched it, please watch it. Schindler's List. Oh, God, that's such a pressing film. Yeah, it is depressing. Yeah, Schindler's List. But if you Google, like, best, the best historical films, that's number one. And Schindler's List will be there, yes. Schindler's List, yeah, it's about some, the war, and yeah, so dreadful. You watch it once, and then you may never want to watch it again. Because, yes, it's heavy. It's harrowing. Yeah, historical films. And you can say, like, oh, well, yes, some historical films are pretty popular in my country. For example, and then you give some names, or you don't, because you say, I don't remember the names, but people in my country usually enjoy films about war, about certain historical events. And we love the drama of certain historical events. That's not a kind of film. That's just the passion and emotions around different events and films.
Yeah, because Mel Gibson is like, he's a really good there. He just goes, ah, ah, ah, ah, I don't like that. Yeah, and then, like, his son dies and then all, ah, very emotional. After you watch the film, you might want to write a review. So, this is what people write, or they record reviews, like their opinions about films, and some people believe the reviews. Some don't. Some review was, so people who write reviews are called review was, and critics. So, some reviews are mediocre. Mediocre means that, like, usual, nothing special, boring. But some reviews are really good, are really comprehensive, so really useful. Mediocre is C2, not very good. Oh, yeah, for example, while talking about a film you were disappointed about, you can say, the film's plot is predictable and mediocre.
The acting is mediocre, not very good. A mediocre school, mediocre acting, the film is mediocre. Yeah, the acting is mediocre. It's crunch time at work, and you need to bring wings to your workday. Visit redbull.com slash getting it done, and answer a couple questions about your work style, to get a Spotify customized playlist tuned to your productivity. Plus, score a can of redbull on us, while you go from to do to done. And remember, redbull gives you wings. Supplies are limited, terms apply, visit the website for more information. This episode is brought to you by Indeed. Stop waiting around for the perfect candidate. Instead, use Indeed Sponsored Jobs to find the right people with the right skills fast. It's a simple way to make sure your listing is the first candidate to see. According to Indeed data, Sponsored Jobs have four times more applicants than non-sponsored jobs. So go build your dream team today with Indeed.
Get a $75 Sponsored Job Credit at Indeed.com slash podcast, terms and conditions apply. Some people are very critical about everything, so they criticize everything. Some people are completely uncritical about something, so they say that everything's good. No, that's me. It's all fine. Everything is fine. Yeah, but actually uncritical is disapproving, so it's like negative. It's about accepting something too easy, because a person is unwilling or unable to criticize. Uncritical audience accepts everything, doesn't want to criticize. So yeah, that's me. Very often, I'm uncritical about everything, because I just want to criticize things. Because I believe that even in the worst film, there is something good, because somebody has created it. Yeah, and I'm as a creator, I know that, you know, how difficult it is to create something,
to be the author of something. Like, people seem to enjoy it when you tear down something, but it's not really a good way to live your life and evaluate things. Yeah, that's why if people read reviews with a balanced opinion, with balanced points of view, with a balance, so it could be useful. The film has a direct term and some actors or actresses, so the cost of the film. The cost means actors and actresses who star in this movie, who are in this movie. It depends on the budget of the film. Budget, so the money that the director has to make the film. Big names draw people in. So if we see, for example, Brad Pitt, Michael Douglas, I don't know, who else? Angelina Jolie, we recognize these people, like, yeah, okay, so I want to see a movie with
Brad Pitt or DiCaprio, and we don't care what the movie is about, but we see the name, a big name, which draws us in. So big names draw people in to watch things, to watch films. They get attention, maybe. Yeah, they attract us. And big names could boost sales. Big names could improve sales. So use Rory's answer if you don't watch Japanese animated films. So off the top of my head, just like I'm thinking now on my feet, I don't know the answer, but I guess it's this. So a very good idiom to use in this situation, off the top of my head, like, oh, that's a difficult question, off the top of my head. Just saying, I don't really know, but maybe it's this. Maybe the art style is appealing, is pleasant, is attractive.
The narratives, like the dialogues, right, are good. And according to Google, yeah, Google says that Japanese animated films, anime are globally popular due to their high quality. Distinct visual style, yeah, so they do have a distinct style, visual style, complex storytelling, okay, they have complex plots. So storytelling is very complex. And it's for all ages, teenagers, adults, like everyone is involved and attracted. And they evoke deep emotions from you. So you see, like, you watch it and you feel a lot of emotions. And that's why they are popular. That was such a random question, though. Why are these films popular? I have no idea. No, but kind of like, I think, I think, I also people keep up with recent trends.
Oh, good for them. And glad they have this time on their hands to do that. You can say that that's true for bigger budget films. We have bigger budget films, like Titanic. That's a big budget film. Yeah, but originally, did they plan it to be a big budget film? I think they, I do invest a lot of money in that. Yeah, it's like, it must have been expensive. Avatar is a big budget film. Well, it's not dwell on that. Well, yeah, yeah, but Avatar doesn't have any big names, right? Yes, it does. Sigourney Weaver stars in Avatar. She's very popular. Okay, okay. What are non entities? It's a bit like a nice way of saying people who don't have a big reputation. Yeah, so some films have famous actors or actresses. Some films have big names, but other films have non entities. So kind of like people who are not famous.
Some films with non entities have done very well at the box office. So this means that films without any popular actors or actresses were bought by millions of people and were very famous. This is where you ask me to give you an example of a non entity. And I can't give you one because no one knows who they are. And you can say that this film did very well at the box office or this film didn't do well at the box office. So people just didn't go to watch it at this cinema. I don't know that positive note. Thank you very much for listening. Thank you very much for listening. We'll get back to you in our next episode. All right, bye.
Such dash terms max $100 cashback per month. What are the different types of films which are popular in your country? Maybe the same as everywhere else really. We show dramas and comedies and science fiction at the cinema to name just a few. But I don't think we have anything wildly different to elsewhere. Maybe we have more social commentaries like we're seem to be a very socially aware country. So I don't think that's very unique to Scotland. Other countries will also be aware of social issues. Are historical films popular in your country? Definitely. I think everybody loves Braveheart which is a very inaccurate film about medieval Scotland. But there are others like that and period dramas which people really love. Even though everyone knows what will happen because the history is so well known. So it must be the drama around the whole thing. Do people believe movie reviews? Sometimes, although that probably depends on the source rather than what it is,
some reviewers and critics like to make names for themselves by being particularly scathing, even about things that they aren't that bad, they're just mediocre. And of course some people are completely uncritical about everything. So you need to be able to recognize these things and find balanced points of view. And is it better to read the reviews before watching a movie? I think it could be helpful if you're trying to work out if the film is good in certain respects, but it's probably not the end of the world if you don't see like a very comprehensive review before you go and watch it. Should the director pay a lot of money to famous actors? I don't know really. It probably depends on the budget and what gets negotiated by the different people involved. I can see why it would be a good idea though, but big names often draw people in to watch things they might not otherwise. So it could boost sales at the same time just because someone is a household name,
it doesn't mean they're entitled to a lot of money. They could be given other things instead if the budget isn't very high. Why are Japanese animated films so popular? I have to ask someone who watches the really. I can't remember the last time I watched any anime. Of the job of my head though, I think the art style is quite visually appealing and often the narratives they have can keep people's attention for long periods, so it might be that. Do you think films with famous actors or actresses are more likely to become successful? It certainly seems that way, doesn't it? I think it's true for a lot of the bigger budget films, yes, but that's not universally so. There have been films that have casted complete non-entities that have done very well at the box office as well. They might need a bit more effort or luck to do well though.
Spring just slid into your DMs. Grab that boho look for that rooftop dinner, those sandals that can keep up with you, and hang some string lights to give your patio a glow up. Spring's calling. Ross, work your magic.
More episodes
More from IELTS Speaking for Success

🧠 Describe a person who solved a problem in a smart way (Part 2) + Transcript
IELTS Speaking for Success

⌨️ Typing (Part 1) + Transcript
IELTS Speaking for Success

🛌 Describe a place in your house where you can relax (Part 2) + Transcript
IELTS Speaking for Success

🍕 Food (Part 1) + Transcript
IELTS Speaking for Success