A discussion of the use of movies for teaching English as a Second Language looks at some basic principles in using movies as instructional materials and discusses a number of issues in selecting materials and developing classroom instruction. It is argued that film communication offers links between classrooms and society, contains a wide range of vocabulary, can help explore cultural context, may be integrated easily into the curriculum, are entertaining, allow flexibility of materials and teaching techniques, can be related to students' personal experiences, act as a focus for teacher-student interaction, can be used to promote awareness of the interrelationship between modes (picture, movement, language, sound, captions), and should be used in their entirety. Movies can also be considered as a form of text. They are controllable teaching instruments, and offer great variety of subject, communicative language, language environment, and cultural content. Criteria for selecting films and techniques for using them in the classroom are discussed, drawing on related literature. Five criteria are proposed concerning film length, language quality, cultural aspects of theme, adaptability to communicative teaching methods, and potential for provoking thought and discussion. Contains 25 references. (MSE)