English, baby!

B Movies

Date: Nov 07 2007

Intro

1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.

2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

There is a whole kind of American movie you probably never see. Hollywood is famous for making big blockbusters that are shown all over the world. Those movies cost millions of dollars. But there are lots of movies made in the US without big budgets or great ambitions. These are called B movies.

A lot of people love B movies, but they’re an acquired taste. They don’t look as pretty as major motion pictures, but they’re often very funny, scary and over the top. A lot of horror movies are B movies.

Some famous filmmakers started out making B movies. Listen to Beren and Mason talk about some of the most well-known B movies.

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Mason

Beren

Mason: Did you…You saw Grindhouse a few months ago, right?

Beren: No, I totally didn’t. I missed it. I totally missed it. I’m a little bummed out. Is it good? I heard it’s awesome.

Mason: Yeah, I mean, it’s like a very good recreation…

Beren: It’s like an homage to B movies.

Mason: ...of yeah, this B movie experience. And I haven’t seen a whole lot of B movies, but some of my favorites are like the kinda B horror flicks. Like Army of Darkness and Dead Alive. Have you seen that one?

Beren: Yeah yeah yeah, totally. That’s uh, brother who directed Lord of the Rings...

Mason: It’s Peter Jackson, I know. Isn’t it like really funny, that two of the most successful pop film directors got their start doing these terrible B movies.

Beren: Yeah totally. They’re totally cult hit films now. Everybody loves them.

Mason: It’s like there’s something to it.

Beren: It’s so funny, though, Army of Darkness, like Bruce Campbell, he is directing a movie in Medford, Oregon, right now.

Mason: Really?

Beren: Yeah. I’m serious. He took over the whole town of Medford, and it’s like the set. I was down there with a band and we met all these locals and they were like, “Oh yeah, we just got done making a movie with Bruce Campbell.”

Mason: They were like, “Oh yeah, we were hanging out with Bruce Campbell.”

Beren: Yeah. He lives there. That’s like the B movie capital of the world.

Mason: Like, “I rubbed his chin for good luck,” you know.

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Discussion

Mason asks Beren if she’s seen Grindhouse, a B movie double feature by famous directors Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino. She hasn’t seen it yet, but she’s heard it’s the ultimate B movie. “Grindhouse” is actually a slang term used to describe a theater that specializes in B movies.

Beren and Mason discuss how it’s rather amazing that the director who made Lord of the Rings also made one of the biggest B movies of all time, Dead Alive.

Another B movie star, Bruce Campbell, happens to live in a town in Oregon, the state where Mason and Beren live. If you go to that town you can see him on the street and you can be in his movies. That’s how low-budget B movies are!

What’s the worst movie you ever liked?

Comments

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HIEMA

Egypt

I Like This Movie

dddodod

Egypt

bbbbbbbbb

batranhs

Saudi Arabia

I am Saudi also moslem and need any one to disscusion about Islam

the businessman

Turkey

i think so

RISEPEARL

Afghanistan

thanks for the reply me.. plz i want to suggests you plz if you have some good tips for the improving english quite well plz share to me.. i shall be thanks full to you for this great kindness.

abddul

lym19832001

Canada

I think what determines whether a movie is good or not is the inner quality of the movie itself, instead of the amount of money invested. This article makes me think about a Chinese movie "man on the way". It is a low-budget movie withot glorious set, but it touches my heart deeply.

lym19832001

Canada

I think what determines whether a movie is good or not is the inner quality of the movie itself, instead of the amount of money invested. This article makes me think about a Chinese movie “man on the way”. It is a low-budget movie withot glorious set, but it touches my heart deeply.

shajahan

Bangladesh

i also like

RISEPEARL

Afghanistan

its very funny and amazing movies. i seen alot of but i removed (forget) the Sketch quickly coz its very scary i never puting it in my mind. but any way its very amaizing movies…

thanks

Emilyning

China

I like the movies too.

And in my free time I like to watch film with my friends.

Emilyning

China

I like watching movies with my friends and talk about it with each other

lily zeng

China

I am majoring in the movie , and I

have seen so much movies , and I like the B movies very much .

lily zeng

China

I am majoring in the movie , and I

carlosbertholdi

Brazil

I've watched Army of darkness and its previews Evil Dead and Evil Dead 2, but Army of Darkness is very funny horror kinda movie, I laugh all the time while watching it.