20 Movies and Books Collocations in Context

Read carefully this text where you will find 20 movies and books collocations in context and then complete the quiz.

My brother is a huge fan of movies. When he sees a movie trailer (a short video offering a preview of the movie), he counts down the days until the movie comes out. He always goes to the movie theater on opening night – that’s the first day a movie, show, concert, or performance is open to the public. He also loves to analyze the film critics’ reviews (the evaluations of the people whose job is to analyze movies) and tries to guess which movies will be nominated for an award. 

One of his favorite movie stars (famous actors/actresses) will be starring in an upcoming film about the Vietnam War. It’s based on a true story, and they’re shooting the film on-site in Vietnam – that means they will be recording/filming the movie in the same location as the story occurs. 

This particular actor had been talking about retiring, but when he was offered the leading role (the opportunity to play the most important part in a movie) in a film that’s sure to be a box-office hit (a movie that is very successful) he couldn’t turn it down. 

I, on the other hand, prefer books. I’m currently engrossed in a book by Stieg Larsson (the book is taking all my attention) – it’s the final part of a trilogy, and I can’t wait to see how things turn out for the main character (the most important person in the book). I already have a huge collection of books, and I also borrow books from the library. 

One book I took out last week deals with modern feminism and motherhood. It’s a bit of a controversial topic, but it’s an interesting and enjoyable read. I’m not sure I’ll have time to finish it before I have to return the book to the library. Maybe I’ll renew it for another week – that means to get an extension of the length of time I can keep the book. 

Note: We talk about the beginning and end of a book, story, or film (not the “start and finish”). The first and last parts of a story can also be called the opening and closing scenes (in a movie) or the opening and closing chapters (in a book). 

Do you know any other collocation or expression related to family? Share with us!… and keep on task learning more collocations in context or 25 more relationship collocations in context!

Quiz

Complete the following quiz with the right movies and books collocation in context:

1. A movie from an amateur filmmaker was based / nominated / presented for three awards at an international film festival. 

2. Did you see the trailer / trilogy / theater for the new Star Wars movie? It looks like it’ll be awesome! 

3. The opening chapter / genre / scene of the movie is very violent. 

4. I didn’t like the close / end / finish of the movie; it just didn’t seem believable. 

5. I enjoyed the book because I could really identify with the main character / role / star. 

6. It was a very moving film – and it was based on a factual / real / true story. 

7. It’s an enjoyable page / read / scene, written in a humorous and relatable style. 

8. Oh no! I lost a book that I borrowed / loaned / returned from the library. 

9. The documentary deals with a number of controversial / debatable / polemic topics. 

10. The first movie was excellent, but the sequel got mediocre analyses / critics / reviews. 

11. The movie Titanic hits / shoots / stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. 

12. We couldn’t get a ticket for initial / opening / beginning night – they were all sold out. 

To keep on improving your speaking skills, have a look at this post on savvy synonyms for overused words in speaking.

Answer Key

Complete the following quiz with the right movies and books collocation in context:

1. A movie from an amateur filmmaker was nominated for three awards at an international film festival. 

2. Did you see the trailer for the new Star Wars movie? It looks like it’ll be awesome! 

3. The opening scene of the movie is very violent. 

4. I didn’t like the end of the movie; it just didn’t seem believable. 

5. I enjoyed the book because I could really identify with the main character. 

6. It was a very moving film – and it was based on a true story. 

7. It’s an enjoyable read, written in a humorous and relatable style. 

8. Oh no! I lost a book that I borrowed from the library. 

9. The documentary deals with a number of controversial topics. 

10. The first movie was excellent, but the sequel got mediocre reviews. 

11. The movie Titanic stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. 

12. We couldn’t get a ticket for opening night – they were all sold out.