Hālǐ Bōtè zhǎngdà zhīhòu jiù méiyǒu yǐqián hǎokàn le.
哈利波特长大之后就没有以前好看了.
B: Yes! What a pity!
Shì de! Duō kěxī a!
是的, 多可惜.
A: But Hermione (Emma Watson) is getting prettier all the time.
Dànshì Hèmǐn què yuè lái yuè měi le!
但是赫敏却越来越美了！
Have a little common sense and try to steer it onto their careers rather than their franchise, that should get you out of the mess.
Another good trick is to talk about the acting, because no one knows anything about it. Some names just scream bad acting and be sure to know them when your doubter brings up your lack of qualifications on the subject.
A: They said Yang Mi's acting was better in this movie, but I still don't think she's good.
Dàjiā dōu shuō Yáng Mì zài zhè bù diànyǐng lǐ de yǎnjì bǐ yǐqián hǎo, dàn wǒ háishi juéde tā bù zěnmeyàng.
大家都说杨幂在这部电影里的演技比以前好,但我还是觉得她不怎么样.
B: Really? I thought she was pretty good this time.
Zhēn de ma? Wǒ juéde tā zhè cì yǎnde búcuò a.
真的吗？我觉得她这次演得不错啊.
A: I just don't like the way she speaks the lines.
Wǒ bù xǐhuān tā shuō táicí de fāngshì.
我不喜欢她说台词的方式.
B: Well, maybe you are prejudiced against her.
Nǐ duì tā yǒu piānjiàn ba?
你对她有偏见吧？
A: Maybe, but I admit that she is very beautiful.
Kěnéng shì. Dànshì wǒ chéngrèn tā hěn piàoliang.
可能是.但是我承认她很漂亮.
Don't worry about offending a true fan. Even their crazed fans usually won't insist on their acting skills being praised. But if you don't want to be mean, you can also go in the opposite direction—find some names that can always be praised. Maybe they're not as well-known, but it shows that you have good taste.
Talking about the director is another useful strategy. You can give a pretty standard comment for most Chinese directors: his new stuff isn't as good. In most cases, that's true. And at the same time, a mood of nostalgia is fostered. If you can remember some basic information and representative works from those famous directors, it can be really helpful.
