curtain / act / rehearsal / audition / silent film / lighting / backstage / perform / lines / stage fright / subtitles / director / blockbuster / box-office hit / set designer / casting / applause / scenery / script

brilliant performance / believable / a bit unlikely / masterpiece / Oscar-winning / twisted / spectacular scenes / technically and visually stunning / familiar narrative / a flop / simple and ordinary / full of action / charismatic leads / well-acted / intensely shot / honest and charming / dull and repetitive / full of tension / left something to be desired

4. Make compound adjectives by matching the words in column A with those in B. Use the compound adjectives to complete film reviews below.

5. What type of films do you prefer watching? What genres are the most popular among your peers? Give examples of the following genres.

documentary / autobiography / musical / historical / superhero / family / epics

7. Describe each of the film mentioned in the recording using the adjectives below. Tell which of them are positive, negative, or neutral.

amusing / disappointing / gripping / hilarious / inspiring / lousy / powerful / provocative / unoriginal / uplifting / absorbing / moving / violent / legendary / sentimental

8. Work in pairs. Think of a film you have seen recently and describe it. Don’t name the film, but tell about its type, tell who directed it, starred in it, where it was set, and what it was about. Share your impressions about the film itself, the actors, stunts, and special effects and let your partner guess the film you told them about.

9. What do you prefer, reading a book or watching a story? Watching it on a screen or stage? Are you a theatre or cinema goer, or neither? Read the reviews of the same story screened and staged and tell which of them are theatre or film reviews.

What a beautiful production of The Nutcracker in one of my favourite venues – the Detroit Opera House. We all loved the performance. From the orchestra to the dancers, a beautiful show – excellent soloists and ensemble, with the Sugar Plum Fairy being exquisite. I couldn’t keep my eyes off of them. Perfect costumes and stage settings. Gets you in the Christmas spirit. Definitely want to take my family back again next year.

Though it hasn’t won critical acclaim, this new Christmas story takes a classic tale and puts a large modern twist on it. It was very cute, but very fantasized. However, the visuals were stunning. I loved the costumes and setting, they were beautiful and magical, the cast was outstanding. But I wish there was more ballet, Mackenzie Foy is perfect as the heroine in the role of Clara, dealing with the passing of her mother, which is the central theme of the story. While I could see some kids getting bored at times, my kid never once got bored. So, all-in-all, the film was visually appealing, and content-wise, I believe, it is suitable for young audiences. To those, who thought it was a simple storyline, most likely you’ve missed some of the deeper messages.

Great family movie, no inappropriate language or fictional violence. My girls are 6 and 9 and are extremely sensitive – and there is not a single G-rated movie we’ve seen in the theatres that hasn’t terrified them. But this was a hit!

They loved it, as did I. We all three are dancers and had no problem with this tale being different from the traditional ballet of The Nutcracker.

This show was visually spectacular! The costumes, set, and props were amazing, as were the “special effects”. The music and dancing were glorious! All the little extras such as the live reindeer, the choir in the lobby, and photo ops with Santa, and the Nutcracker really topped off a spectacular and memorable experience for my daughter and me.

The first 15 minutes of the movie were okay but sad, another Disney dead Mother. Story line was terrible and just strange at times. Ok costumes, but bad acting, some scenes were disturbing and not appropriate for young children. The Nutcracker character had only a few speaking scenes and did not seem important to the story at all, Clara’s character was an unlikeable brat. Huge waste of money.

We’ll save the time and cost next year and attend some other performance. Dancers were less than enthusiastic and lacking the ability to really show professional-level skills.

All but the Sugar Plum Fairy and her partner, who were beautiful. Sets were absolutely low budget.

The voiceover narration was booming like a sporting event. This was more like end of the year stuff for the local ballet schools. I expected much more for one hundred dollar seating.

praise of critics / graphics / transform / off-stage commentary / cheap / photo shoot / extremely beautiful and delicate / imagined / spoilt child / stop looking at / suitable to be seen by children / a place of any action or event

11. Read the reviews again and do the test.

1) The first review says that _____.

a) lead dancers were great

b) both lead and secondary dancers were good

c) the music and dancing were wonderful

2) The second review says that _____. 

a) it was a good movie adaptation of an old tale 

b) not everyone understood the main idea 

c) the storyline of the play is plain

3) The third review says that _____. 

a) The girls weren’t afraid of watching the movie 

b) The girls were afraid while watching the movie 

c) There was not such a movie which would terrify the girls

4) The fourth review says that _____. 

a) visitors could take a photo with a live reindeer after the show 

b) visitors could take a photo with Santa and the Nutcracker during the play 

c) they liked the opportunity to take a photo with Santa and the Nutcracker a lot

5) The fifth review says that _____. 

a) first the show was not really good 

b) the show was rather slow but fine 

c) all in all the show is really worth watching

6) The sixth review says that _____. 

a) the show is dull and ridiculous 

b) the show is not good enough, but ok 

c) main heroes of the show didn’t impress the audience

7) The seventh review says that _____. 

a) all dancers didn’t show a good performance 

b) the Sugar Plum Fairy and her partner were the only good party 

c) all dancers were professional except for the Sugar Plum Fairy

12. Put the following words or expressions under the correct columns.

that day / this / that night / the day before / the week after / these / before/ then / now / yesterday/ the previous day / last week / here / those / that / the next day / today / this week / the following day / that week

1) Mary informed me that she would play/will play cards the following day.

2) Sophie said that she had gone/went to bed early the night before.

3) My dad told the immigration officer that it was/is his first visit to England.

4) He told me that I was/had been the most beautiful girl he had ever seen/he ever saw.

5) Nick said that he was going/had been going to see his parents the following month.

6) Gloria said that she was/would be sorry but she couldn’t/couldn’t have come to my birthday party because she had been/had been being away for the weekend.

7) Ann complained that she already had written/had already written that paragraph four times.

1) Michael Corleone: “There are many things my father taught me here in this room. He taught me, “keep your friends close, but your enemies closer”.

2) Harry Potter: “You think I don’t know how this feels?”

3) Ron Weasley: “No! You do not know how it feels! Your parents are dead! You have no family!”

4) Marion Ravenswood: “You’re not the man I knew ten years ago.”

5) Indiana Jones: “It’s not the years, honey, it’s the mileage”.

6) William Wallace: “They may take our lives, but they’ll never take our freedom!”

7) Solomon Northup: “I don’t want to survive, I want to live”.