English Listenign Lesson Lab Online
Views #17 | Mid Intermediate 5

Good Movie

Jamie talks about a film that he really liked and why it is such a good film.
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Todd: OK. Jamie, we're going to talk about movies.

Jamie: OK. Great!

Todd: What is your favorite movie?

Jamie: My favorite movie is kind of a heavy movie. It's a called Sophie's Choice with Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline.

Todd: OK.

Jamie: It's a movie, it's set in World War II. Meryl Streep plays a Polish woman who has come to America and she's met a man, Kevin Kline. Who has a series of problems of his own, mostly psychological which she is not 100 percent aware of and she does a bunch of scenes where she thinks of the past and the very difficult decision she had while during the war living in Poland. She had to decide between two children which one would be murdered by the Nazis and which one wouldn't. It's an ethical delimma that she faced at that time. She made and immediate decision on and it affected her the rest of her life.

Todd: OK.

Jamie: It's a fantastic movie. Not the story in itself, of course the story was brilliant but the acting, the fact that she speaks Polish, she speaks German, she speaks English with a Polish accent which is amazing. A writer who is actually a narrator to the movie as well, his character is great. Kevin Kline's basically a psycho character. He is a little bit deranged in itself is pretty neat. All in all, the characters, the plot line, the movie it's fanatasic.

Todd: OK. Great. Sophie's Choice.

Jamie: Sophie's Choice. I think it actually won an academy award in 1985 or '84.

Todd: OK. Great. Thanks a lot.

Jamie: My pleasure

Learn vocabulary from the lesson!

heavy movie

My favorite movie is a heavy movie.

A 'heavy movie' has an intense plot that makes you think or is very suspenseful.  Notice the following:

  1. She only likes to watch heavy movies.
  2. The movie was good, but a little heavy for my mood.

aware of

She was not aware of his psychological problems.

If you are 'aware of' something you see or recognize it.  Notice the following:

  1. Were you aware of all the changes that happened when you were there?
  2. I wasn't even aware of the fact that you were there.

ethical dilemma

It's an ethical dilemma, having to decide which child would be murdered.

An 'ethical dilemma' is a difficult decision that tests what is the right thing to do.  Notice the following:

  1. It is a real ethical dilemma about what I should do.
  2. There are many ethical dilemmas in life.

psycho character

Kevin Kline is a psycho character in the movie.

A 'psycho character' is crazy and unpredictable because of mental problems.  Notice the following:

  1. He was kind of a psycho character when he was younger.
  2. She is a psycho character when she gets mad.

all in all

All in all, the movie is fantastic.

We can use the phrase 'all in all' when we want to make a summary of everything that has been said in a writing or conversation. Notice the following:

  1. All in all it was a really good trip
  2. I am satisfied with my experience there all in all.

Vocabulary Quiz

heavy • aware of • ethical
psycho • all in all
  1. Telling the truth can sometimes be an dilemma.
  2. are you happy you went?
  3. I was very the problems within the company.
  4. She became a character when she heard the news.
  5. I like reading books that make me think about life.
Answer the following questions about the interview.

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