Jeff: So Ella, what do you think of that new Scorsese movie?

Ella:  I am so disappointed. I love horror movies, thriller flicks. But Shutter Island, it was just a huge disappointment. It was so predictable and it was just like “Oh, they’re on an island, they’re in a fortress, it’s all locked down, something scary is gonna happen!” But nothing scary happened. It was…I was just so disappointed, compared to his movies in the past. Have you seen his other movies before?

Jeff:  Yeah, I’ve seen…I was just thinking about Taxi Driver earlier today. I really like that one. I feel like a lot of his earlier stuff I’m in favor of, like I don’t think the newer stuff measures up.

Ella:  I think he’s losing his mind.

Jeff:  Yeah, an Oscar for The Departed? I disagree.

Ella:  I never saw that, so I can’t say anything about that yet.

Jeff:  Well, I’ll go ahead and let you decide for yourself, but that wasn’t my favorite.

Ella:  So, how do you think he’s evolved, you know, compared to his older movies, to now?

Jeff:  I think that’s the problem. He hasn’t evolved. His new ones are a little too formulaic.

Ella:  Yeah.

Jeff:  And he’s kinda been pulling the same punches for years.
Discussion

Ella loves horror movies and thrillers, so she was excited to see Shutter Island, which looks scary. But Ella didn’t think the movie was scary at all. She was disappointed by the film.

Martin Scorsese directed Shutter Island. Jeff is a fan of some of Scorsese’s earlier films, like Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, and Goodfellas. But he has been less impressed by Scorsese’s more recent work. He thinks Scorsese’s movies have become too formulaic and predictable. Scorsese hasn’t learned to pull any new punches.

Who is your favorite movie director? Are you someone who is predictable, or do you like to try new things?
Grammar Point

Present Perfect Progressive

Jeff says Martin Scorsese has been pulling the same punches for years. This is an example of the present perfect progressive tense.

We use this tense to talk about an on-going action that began in the past and is still in progress now. Martin Scorsese began pulling the same punches in the past, and he is still pulling the same punches now.

We form the present perfect progressive with have/has been + main verb + ing. For example, “I have been following Scorsese’s career ever since he made Taxi Driver.”

Which is correct, “We has been watching a lot of movies lately” or “We have been watching a lot of movies lately”?