English HW

How to Write a Movie Review: Five Parts (Paragraphs) of a Movie Review

Opening: Catch the Reader's Attention - Consider how advertisements sell movies: "trailers" show you a few seconds of the movie to get you interested. When you begin your movie review, make your own "trailer." If you liked the movie, then your trailer should make people want to see it; but if you didn't like it, the trailer should be something that shows why you didn't like it. Don't explain why you liked it or didn't like it; make the reader like or not like the movie by what you describe. Begin your review by retelling an incident or moment from the film that you think captures the spirit of the work as you understood it.

Second Paragraph: Take Care of Business - Near the beginning of the review, you have to tell the reader all the obligatory stuff--the title of the movie, the director, the studio, the main actors, the year it was made (if you watched it on video), the rating. This paragraph tells the reader the things they have to know about the movie. Also, in one sentence or two, you should explain very simply what the movie is all about--not necessarily what happens, but that might work too, if you can say it in one two sentences

Third Paragraph: Character and Plot Summary - What happens in the movie? You shouldn't reveal everything that happens- and especially not the ending. But you want to summarize the basic plot of the movie in more detail than you do in paragraph two. One way to do this might be to write a sentence about each main character.

Fourth Paragraph: A Key Moment or Idea - In this paragraph, go into detail about something important that interested you about the movie. If it was a musical, you should say something about the songs. Or if the soundtrack was outstanding, talk about that. Or write more about one character who was really intriguing. Or retell another big scene from the movie and explain why it is important. If you think the "idea" behind a movie was interesting, explain that idea and talk about it in more detail. In this paragraph, you must go into depth about the movie.

Fifth Paragraph: Evaluate the Movie - Do you recommend it or not? Who will like it (kids or adults)? The most important thing here is that you must explain why you are making your recommendation. You must justify your opinion- and that opinion should grow out of what you write in the rest of the review. Give at least two reasons why you liked or disliked the movie.

Source: http://ucls.uchicago.edu/students/projects/1996-97/MovieMetropolis/howto.html