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Two blockbusters, one Friday: -ed and -ing adjectives to describe movies

This B1 ESL lesson plan teaches -ed and -ing adjectives for describing movies through two blockbusters with one US release date, December 18, 2026: Avengers: Doomsday and Dune: Part Three.

Grammar
Ten pairs such as confused and confusing: -ed for the viewer's feeling (I was amazed.), -ing for the trailer or plot that causes it (The trailer was amazing.), plus five preposition chunks.
Topic
Two giant movies on one Friday, the IMAX twist and Barbenheimer, with words such as cast, villain, spoiler and box office.
Activities
A dated news story, two friends choosing an opening-night movie, self-checking drills, Zoe's chat about movie night and open boxes of movie questions.

What's inside

  1. Chapter 1Warm-up: popcorn questions

    • PictureUnlock
    • Spin the wheel and answerSpin the wheelUnlock
    • Study the words: at the moviesVocabularyTry it
    • Match the words and the meaningsMatchUnlock

  2. Chapter 2Let's read: one Friday, two giants

    • Read the news storyArticleUnlock
    • Read and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock
    • Read again and choose the correct answerQuizUnlock

  3. Chapter 3Let's listen: Zoe vs. Marcus

    • Listen to Zoe and MarcusListeningTry it
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen and choose the correct answerQuizUnlock

  4. Chapter 4Grammar: bored or boring?

    • Study the scheme: bored or boring?Grammar schemeTry it
    • Choose the correct option: a feeling or its cause?Choose the optionUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps: make -ed or -ing adjectives from the verbsFill in the gapsTry it
    • Fill in the table: the person and the thingFill in the tableUnlock
    • Choose the correct option: feelings and prepositionsChoose the optionUnlock
    • Choose the correct answer: bored or boring?QuizUnlock

  5. Chapter 5Let's talk: pick a movie

    • Choose the right replies: movie night with ZoeChatTry it
    • Open a box and answer: your movie opinionsOpen the boxUnlock

  6. Chapter 6Homework

    • Unscramble the movie wordsAnagramUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps with the lesson's wordsFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Find the matching pairs: words and meaningsMemory gameUnlock
    • Drag the words into the gaps: a post about movie nightDrag and dropUnlock
    • Sort the adjectives into the correct columnsSort into columnsUnlock
    • Choose the correct option: new sentencesChoose the optionUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps: -ed or -ing? Use the verbs in bracketsFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Put the words in the correct orderUnjumbleUnlock
    • Choose the correct answer: what do they mean?QuizUnlock
    • Read Nina's movie review and choose the correct optionChoose the optionUnlock

28 exercises in 6 chapters. Start a 7-day free trial to open all of them, copy any part into your own lessons, and teach the lesson live.

Movie vocabulary

10 words and phrases from the lesson, each with a picture and audio in edio.

+7 more with pictures and audio in the lessonMore words

  • plot
  • cast
  • spoiler
  • soundtrack
  • special effects
  • box office
  • villain

Grammar: -ed and -ing adjectives: bored or boring?

Zoe is excited, and the trailer is exciting: the -ed adjective belongs to the person who has the feeling, and the -ing adjective to the movie, plot or trailer that causes it. Learners ask who feels it and what causes it, then practice ten pairs, five feelings with their prepositions and the slips the scheme warns about.

Bored or boring?

-ed: how a person feels. -ing: the thing or person that causes the feeling.

The viewer feels it, the movie causes it

The -ed ending names a feeling: Marcus is bored. Zoe was surprised. The -ing ending names the cause, often a movie, a trailer or a plot: The movie is boring. The ending was surprising. Zoe uses both: The trailer was amazing. I was amazed.

Two endings, two meanings

EndingIt describesExample
-eda feeling: how a person feelsMarcus is bored. Zoe was surprised.
-ingthe cause: what makes the person feel that wayThe movie is boring. The ending was surprising.

Who feels it? What causes it?

-ed: the person who feels

  • Zoe is excited about Dune.
  • Marcus was confused by the first two movies.
  • I'm tired after a long day.

-ing: the cause of the feeling

  • The trailer is exciting.
  • The plot was confusing.
  • It was a tiring day.

Ten verbs, twenty adjectives

Each verb in the scheme gives two adjectives: disappoint, disappointed, disappointing. Verbs ending in -e add just -d and lose the e before -ing: confuse, confused, confusing; so do bore, excite, surprise, amaze and tire. Relax, annoy and interest take both endings with no change.

Verb-ed: the person feels-ing: the thing is
boreI'm bored.The movie is boring.
exciteShe's excited.The trailer is exciting.
interestHe's interested.The book is interesting.
surpriseWe were surprised.The news was surprising.
disappointThey were disappointed.The ending was disappointing.
confuseI was confused.The plot was confusing.
amazeYou'll be amazed.The special effects are amazing.
tireHe's tired.Long lines are tiring.
relaxI feel relaxed.A quiet evening is relaxing.
annoyShe was annoyed.The noise was annoying.

Feelings with a preposition

Five -ed adjectives come with their own preposition, so learn each one as a chunk: interested in sci-fi, excited about Friday, bored with superheroes, surprised by the ending, disappointed with the soundtrack. Marcus uses one in the dialogue: I'm really interested in the new villain.

Feeling + preposition

Learn these as chunks: interested in sci-fi, excited about Friday, bored with superheroes, surprised by the ending, disappointed with the soundtrack.

Zoe and Marcus

  • I'm so excited about Dune!
  • Long movies are tiring.
  • The trailer was amazing. I was amazed.
  • I was confused by the first two movies.
  • I'm really interested in the new villain.
  • You won't be bored. I promise!

When a person is -ing

A person takes -ing when they cause the feeling: The teacher is boring means the students are bored. So I'm boring means other people are bored with you. Three more slips from the scheme: The movie was bored, I'm very interesting in sci-fi and It was a tired day.

“I'm boring” is not “I'm bored”

A person can be -ing too, when he or she causes the feeling. The teacher is boring = the students are bored. So I'm boring means “other people are bored with me”! When you talk about your own feeling, say I'm bored.

Common mistakes

  • I'm boring. Let's go home.

    I'm bored. Let's go home.

    your feeling: -ed

  • The movie was bored.

    The movie was boring.

    a movie has no feelings: -ing

  • I'm very interesting in sci-fi.

    I'm very interested in sci-fi.

    your feeling: interested in

  • It was a tired day.

    It was a tiring day.

    the day made you tired: -ing

More lessons on this grammar: Adjectives and adverbs lessons and exercises

Try the ed and ing adjectives exercises

Try them yourself: these are the same exercises your students do in edio.

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What's in the lesson

  • 17 auto-checked exercises
  • 5 games
  • 1 article
  • 1 grammar scheme
  • 1 set of word cards
  • 1 audio clip
  • 1 picture
  • 1 transcript

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

  • say how a viewer feels with -ed adjectives: I'm so excited about Dune! I was confused by the first two movies.
  • describe a movie, a trailer or a plot with -ing adjectives: Long movies are tiring. The trailer was amazing.
  • use five feelings with their prepositions: interested in sci-fi, excited about Friday, bored with superheroes, surprised by the ending, disappointed with the soundtrack
  • spot the slips the scheme warns about: I'm bored. Let's go home, not I'm boring; It was a tiring day, not a tired day
  • give polite movie opinions and recommendations: I see what you mean, but I never get tired in long movies.

Two blockbusters, one Friday is part of English B1 · Hot Topics, where none of the five lessons depends on another and each waits for its own event. This one fits the week of December 18, 2026, the US release date of both Avengers: Doomsday and Dune: Part Three. Teach it before or after Why do readers still love Nancy Drew? (lesson 17 of English B1.1 · Stories That Travel), which practices the same adjectives with books. Picking one of two giant movies brings both forms together: excited fans, exciting trailers and a confusing choice.

Students spin a wheel of popcorn questions, then learn ten movie words, from recommend and direct to box office and villain, on cards with audio and short definitions. They read a news story dated December 14, 2026, then hear Zoe and Marcus, two AI-voiced friends with one ticket each, pick a movie for opening night. Five self-checking drills follow the scheme, among them a table that pairs each feeling with its cause. In the speaking chapter, students choose replies in Zoe's chat about movie night, then open boxes about their own movie opinions.

All ten homework tasks check themselves: an anagram, a gap-fill and a memory game on the movie words, a post about movie night with all ten words to drag in, a sort into -ed and -ing columns, a choice of forms, a gap-fill from verbs in brackets, word order, a quiz on meanings and Nina's review of an invented space movie.

Grammar:
-ed and -ing adjectives · bored vs boring · adjectives of feeling · adjective + preposition
Topic:
movies · Avengers: Doomsday · Dune: Part Three · Barbenheimer · opinions · December 2026

Teaching tips

  • Start with trailers, not rules: ask about the last trailer students watched, and write their answers in two columns, how they felt (I was excited) and what the trailer was like (It was exciting).
  • Take a class vote before the dialogue: Dune or the superheroes? After listening, students sort the adjectives they heard into feelings (excited, confused, interested) and causes (tiring, amazing, surprising).
  • Ban spoilers in the open boxes: students may describe an ending only with an adjective, as in The ending was surprising, never with what happens in it. That keeps both forms busy.
  • Use the IMAX twist for a reaction round: Dune: Part Three has the US IMAX screens for at least three weeks, so Avengers: Doomsday can't be shown on them. Students react with both forms: I'm disappointed. That's disappointing news.

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The whole course: English B1 · Hot Topics

Five stand-alone lessons for teens and adults at B1, in American English, each tied to an event of late 2026: GTA VI's release on November 19, Black Friday, two blockbusters on December 18, Christmas around the world and New Year. Teach each one in the week of its event, for example between units of English B1.1 or B1.2. Every lesson has its own grammar point, and the practice exercises check themselves.See the course

  1. Unit 1 November: a launch and a sale

    GTA VI's release after two delays and Black Friday deals, with the present perfect with already, yet, for and since, and the first conditional

    1. Lesson 1GTA 6: worth the wait?The present perfect with already, yet and just vs the past simple
    2. Lesson 2Black Friday: deal or trap?The first conditional: if + present simple, will / won't

  2. Unit 2 December: holidays and big screens

    Christmas in four countries, two blockbusters on one Friday and New Year's resolutions, with the present simple passive, -ed and -ing adjectives, and be going to vs will

    1. Lesson 3Christmas around the worldThe present simple passive for customs
    2. Lesson 4 · you're hereTwo blockbusters, one Friday-ed and -ing adjectives: bored or boring?
    3. Lesson 5Goodbye 2026, hello 2027Be going to vs will

Questions about this lesson

What are -ed and -ing adjectives?
They're pairs of adjectives that come from one verb of feeling, such as excited and exciting. The -ed adjective says how a person feels: Zoe is excited about Dune. The -ing adjective describes the movie, trailer or plot that causes the feeling: The trailer is exciting. Two blockbusters, one Friday, a B1 lesson on edio.ai, teaches ten such pairs with two movies that share a US release date, December 18, 2026.
What is the rule for -ed and -ing adjectives?
Decide whether the word describes someone with a feeling or something that causes one. A person with the feeling takes -ed: Marcus was confused by the first two movies. A plot, a trailer or a long line can't feel anything, so it takes -ing: The plot was confusing. A person can take -ing too, when they cause the feeling: The teacher is boring means the students are bored. The scheme in Two blockbusters, one Friday on edio.ai sets this out.
Which -ed and -ing adjectives describe movies?
For the movie itself, use the -ing forms: exciting, surprising, confusing, disappointing, amazing, boring. The special effects are amazing. The ending was disappointing. For how you felt while watching, switch to -ed: I was amazed. We were surprised by the ending. Two blockbusters, one Friday on edio.ai practices both, from Zoe's words about a trailer to a homework review of an invented space movie.
Is it "the movie was bored" or "the movie was boring"?
It's the movie was boring: a movie has no feelings. The people watching it are the ones who feel bored: The movie is boring, and Marcus is bored. The same logic gives It was a tiring day, not a tired day, because the day made you tired. Both slips are in the scheme of Two blockbusters, one Friday on edio.ai, and every wrong reply in its chat with Zoe has a slip like them.
Which prepositions go with excited, interested and disappointed?
The lesson teaches excited about, interested in, disappointed with, plus bored with and surprised by. In Two blockbusters, one Friday on edio.ai, Zoe says I'm so excited about Dune!, and Marcus admits I'm really interested in the new villain. The prepositions follow the -ed adjectives, the ones for a person's feeling, and a whole drill in the grammar chapter practices them: We were surprised by the ending.
What is the release date of Avengers: Doomsday and Dune: Part Three?
Both movies share one US release date: Friday, December 18, 2026. Avengers: Doomsday, directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, was first planned for May 2025, then moved to May 1, 2026, and in May 2025 it moved again to December 18. Dune: Part Three, directed by Denis Villeneuve, has the US IMAX screens for at least three weeks, so Avengers: Doomsday can't be shown on them there in that time. The lesson's news story sets out these facts.
What was Barbenheimer?
On July 21, 2023, Barbie and Oppenheimer opened on the same day, and people called the pair “Barbenheimer.” They made jokes and memes about it, and many planned to watch both. In their first US weekend, Barbie made 162 million dollars and Oppenheimer 82.4 million, and around the world the two made more than 2.4 billion dollars together. The news story in Two blockbusters, one Friday on edio.ai recalls it beside the two movies of December 18, 2026.
How do I teach -ed and -ing adjectives in the week of December 18, 2026?
Let the release date do the warm-up: ask which of the two movies students would pick and how they feel about it, then read the news story, dated December 14, 2026. In Two blockbusters, one Friday on edio.ai, Zoe and Marcus haven't seen either movie, and the texts keep to facts about the release, the casts and Barbenheimer, so the lesson works just as well in the weeks after the opening.
What's a good game for -ed and -ing adjectives about movies?
Try a three-word review: a student thinks of a movie and describes it with three -ing adjectives (exciting, confusing, amazing), and the class guesses the title. Whoever guesses it says how they felt watching it: I was confused, but I was amazed by the special effects. In Two blockbusters, one Friday on edio.ai, the open boxes give partners more prompts, such as What do you find annoying in a movie theater?
What's good homework for -ed and -ing adjectives?
Good homework moves the pairs into new places: a sort into how a person feels and what a movie can be, gaps where a verb in brackets becomes bored or boring, and a review with forms to choose. All ten homework tasks in Two blockbusters, one Friday on edio.ai check themselves, from an anagram of movie words to Nina's review of Moon Bus 9, an invented space movie.
How can I use this movie lesson one-to-one?
Plan a movie night together: the teacher suggests two movies, and the student agrees or objects politely with -ed and -ing adjectives: I see what you mean, but the plot sounds confusing. Then swap roles. In Two blockbusters, one Friday on edio.ai, the chat with Zoe works without a partner: the student picks each reply, and every wrong one has an -ed or -ing slip.
Are there interactive exercises for -ed and -ing adjectives?
Yes. Without an account, this page plays three parts of Two blockbusters, one Friday, a B1 lesson on edio.ai: Zoe and Marcus's opening-night dialogue, a gap-fill that turns each verb into an adjective, and Zoe's chat about movie night, where the student picks the replies. The news story, the word cards and the other drills need an account.
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