Sigourney Weaver Interview

Practice your English by reading an interview with the most excellent Sigourney Weaver.

In the article, Sigourney talks about career in movies, her passion for the environment and, of course, her role in the up-coming uber-blockbuster Avatar.


For more Avatar related posts, you can read about James Cameron talking about his own movies here and you can watch the trailer for Avatar here.

Twilight: Promoting Abusive Relationships and Female Submission

Practice your English by reading this interesting article - Twilight: Promoting abusive relationships and female submission.

This thought-provoking article uses a check list provided by The National Domestic Violence Hotline (of America), to critique the relationship between Bella and her vampire boyfriend.

The check list is designed to help you determine if you are in an abusive relationship.  There are 15 questions on the check list.  If you answer 'yes' to any one of them, you may be in an abusive relationship.  Bella's relationship answers 'yes' to all of them.

The article's author suggests that the girls who watch this movie (and presumably read the book), will get "the idea that a seriously unhealthy relationship is somehow the equivalent of love".

I can honestly say, and I'm a little ashamed to admit, that these observations had never occurred to me.  I am particularly surprised, as the story is so popular with girls.

If you want to read the original article, you can find it here.

The 99 Most Jaw-Dropping Movie Moments

Practice your English with the 99 most jaw-dropping movie moments.


You get a mixture of video and text from 99 different movies of different genres, so surely something for everyone here.


If you haven't seen one of the films listed; and intend to, it's probably best to miss that video out.  It might spoil your enjoyment of the movie, when you do see it.

30 Killer Movie Closing Lines

Practice your English by watching this collection of 30 Killer Movie Closing Lines.

I love the ending to Sunset Boulevard:  'All right, Mr De Mille, I'm ready for my close-up'.  Wonderful, insane, haunting end to a fantastic piece of classic old Hollywood.

Interview with the Director of Twilight Saga: Full Moon

Practice your English by watching an interview with the director of Twilight Saga: Full Moon.

In the video, you get a mixture of 'face to face' interview with the director and clips from the movie.

I'm not the biggest fan of these movies; though I do admit, the lead vampire is a sassy guy.

James Cameron Interview: On his own Movies

Practice your English by reading what James Cameron has to say about his movies!

If you'd like to see the trailer for James Cameron's newest film Avatar, you can find it here.

I don't know why, but they've missed out True Lies.

New Avatar Trailer

Practice your English by watching the new trailer for James Cameron's latest 'Avatar'.

There is also some written text about the trailer, which you can read.  See if it matches you're understanding of what you saw.

Love him or hate him, you've got to admit: James Cameron knows how to make a blockbuster movie.  I think 'Aliens' lines up as my favorite, followed closely by the original 'Terminator'.

Practice your English & Kick Ass!

Practice your English and kick ass: The Trailer for the movie 'Kick Ass' is here.

Watching movies is a great way to practice your English: you get to hear the language as it is spoken by native speakers, you get to hear a lot of idiom and expression, and it's a lot more interesting than your average text book!

If you're worried about your English level being too low to watch movies yet, try watching the film with English subtitles: hearing and reading the language at the same time will make it easier for you to understand.

Another trick is not to be too hard on yourself.  When I watch films in French (Oui, Je parle un peu de français), I don't worry about understanding every detail.  As long as I understand the general story, I'm happy.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

As I have already posted on my facebook pages and explained on my blogs in the sidebar, I'll now be posting English culture links here on my TobytheTeacher blog.

If you want General & Business English and English @nswers, you can easily visit the other blogs by clicking on the links in the sidebar.


Let's start today with a list of quotes from one of my favorite movies:  Sergio Leone's 'The Good, The Bad and The Ugly'.

You can check out the trailer for the movie here on youtube.  I have to say, I've never liked the trailers for Sergio's films.  They never do the films justice, but you do get a sense of the scope of the movie.

Hollywood Vs The Bechdel Test: Public Enemies?

Maybe I'm just getting old; but as much as I enjoyed just watching Michael Mann's 'Public Enemies', do we really need another 'two men set against each other in the arena' movie?

It was very well done, but what exactly is the difference between Depp & Bale in 'Public Enemies' and De Niro & Pacino in 'Heat'? Or Cruise & Foxx in 'Collateral' for that matter?


I'm reminded of The Bechdel Test, where you should only watch a movie if it satisfies the following three rules:

1. There are at least two named female characters, who...

2. ...talk to each other about...

3. ...something other than a man.

I have seen a lot of films and right now, I can honestly say, I can not think of a single one that passes this test. What exactly does that say about Hollywood (or, indeed, my taste in films)?

Should Hollywood really still be making movies that glorify violence when we're in the midst of sending boys off to war? You can't really tell me that they don't look up at that big screen, filled with guns, glory & noise, and not make the connection. However somber the overall tone of 'Public Enemies' may be, you can't help but look at it and think it's cool.

A few months back, I watched Robocop for the first time in years. I remember, as a 13 year old boy, loving the blood, gore and ED209 of this movie. But as a 32 year old man, I was amazed how much the violence shocked me.

I think it might be time for Hollywood to ditch the Macho Fairy Tales, as a genre they have done well and to death. And start to consider a broader world view. Or maybe it's just that I'm getting old.

Hollywood Blockbuster Stories?

Does anyone remember a simpler time when Hollywood knew how to tell stories? Two of this summer's biggest blockbusters, Transformers 2 and Terminator Salvation were both spectacularly shot collections of exciting set pieces, strung together by an entirely random story structures.

Does Hollywood just write movies by rolling dice? Or perhaps throwing darts while blindfolded? Does this mean anybody could write a Hollywood blockbuster?


Bob works in an office (I don't know which one). One day his office explodes (I don't know why). On the way to hospital, the ambulance carrying Bob is hijacked by a Megan Fox (for no apparent reason). The ambulance jumps over a moving train, through a helicopter, before crashing into a river (because, why not?).

We think they're both dead, but Megan has her own submarine (yes she does). Then Megan takes a shower (it'll help sell the DVD). An ancient sea-dinosaur attacks the submarine (nothing expensive has happened for a while). But it's OK, because Megan's submarine is also a rocket ship (there's more than meets the eye). However, the sea-dinosaur can also fly (oh my god!). And now the entire - insert generic South American country name here - air force is after Megan and Bob (just because). But it's OK, because Bob works for the CIA (now it makes sense). And the entire American air force arrives to save them (cue gung-ho Michael Bay Pro-American masturbating).

Megan & Bob's submarine rocket ship crashes in a desert (it's topical). They have 'super slo-mo movie sex' (it'll help sell the DVD). Generic Arab terrorists arrive and capture them (topical). Megan & Bob are transported to a super-secret-underground-nuclear-reactor-death-ray-base (the death ray is in space, but the base is underground). The death ray is disguised as a Al Jazeera TV satellite (because the US networks will love it!). We won't call it 'Al Jazeera', we'll call it 'Al Jaz-zoo-roo' (so we don't get sued, but everybody'll know who we're talking about).

The terrorists captured Megan's father (a famous death-ray scientist), and forced him to build the base & satellite (emotional dynamic). Megan uses her super-kung-fu to free her father, while Bob is male, funny and useless (because that's feminism, isn't it?). But stereotypical-crazed Arab terrorist leader (who turns out to be a North Korean General in disguise, who then turns out to be a rich European investment banker in disguise, who turns out to be a former KJB agent in disguise, who turns out to be a Nazi) sets the base to self-destruct, which will start a chain reaction in all the middle Eastern oil (topical) and destroy the planet (maybe?).

Megan's father sacrifices himself (Bob! Take care of my little girl!) and blasts the base into space, destroying the Al Ja-Zoo-Roo death-ray satellite (cue reaaally expensive CGI sequence). As it rains pretty pretty fire balls down onto the desert, the sunsets and Megan & Bob kiss to a retro 70's middle of the road rock tune (that your Dad probably drives to).

Original Movie Quotes

The Guardian is here with the top ten Movie Misquotes of all time.

But how about quotes that were in the original scripts, but, for some reason, did not make it to the finished films:


1. James Bond - 'I'm feeling a little vulnerable after killing all those people. Could we just cuddle tonight?'

2. Braveheart - 'Oh I do hope the English colonise us today!'

3. Citizen Kane - 'I want my sledge! I want it! I want it!'

4. Silence of the Lambs - 'Do you want fries with that?'

5. Titanic - 'Look, we'll win their tickets, go on the boat, sail to American. What's the worst that could happen?'

6. My Girl - 'I dare you to play with this bee.'

7. The Matrix - 'Nobody can be told what the matrix is.' 'Then why the hell are you still talking to me?'

8. Saturday Night Fever - 'Dude, what you doing Friday?'

9. Desperatly Seeking Susan - 'Has anyone seen Bob?'

10. Superman - 'Sorry, I can't help you.'

Alien Vs Pope

The Vatican have decided to forgive John Lennon for his 'bigger than Jesus' remark.

Speaking of The Vatican, I've been working on movie ideas this weekend. One of the ideas I came up with was 'Alien Vs Pope':

A hidden vault is discovered in Vatican and opened for the first time in hundreds of years. Thousands of alien eggs are inside. Now the Pope must battle an army of alien killing machines to save the world.

There's a great scene where the Pope is driving his 'Pope-Mobile' at high speed through the Vatican, shooting aliens with a machine gun.

...it's violent and religious. I think it would be perfect for Mel Gibson!

Bush has been Oliver Stoned...

Director Oliver Stone talking about his new film 'W'

He also briefly mentions my favourite Oliver Stone movie - Natural Born Killers.

In my opinion, in cinematic terms the most original and important film of the 90s (though you'll notice from the review that not everyone agrees with me).

In general, not a big fan of his work. I think listening to him is usually more interesting than watching his films.

Still, you have to give him credit for making such a politically relevant and contemporary film.

The Dark Knight

The Dark Knight is coming to Luxembourg next week. I feel it is my duty to encourage you all to watch films in English. Shall we indulge in a little hype?

Utopolis link:

http://www.utopolis.lu/film.php?id=5228&room=1



Reviews Reviews Reviews (the last one by my good buddie, Yvonne):

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2008/jul/25/actionandadventure1


http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_dark_knight/

http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/movie/16155928/review/21477208/dark_knight

http://ithadbetterbegood.blogspot.com/2008/08/dark-knight.html


Still, I can not see why they didn't keep the original theme music for Batman...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iI2mhvadTlY&feature=related


...Now, why would that in any way damage the dark overtones of the new Batman?



Positive praise for The Dark Knight has been almost universal, but not everybody in Gotham loves Batman:

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/4d6d5673d4

...reminds me of when my car insurance went up by £200 a year because my car needed to be insured against being used in a terrorist attack. I don't know why, but I found it hard to believe that Osama Bin Laden was sitting in a Afghan cave saying, 'Ok, we have the weapon of mass destruction. We have the fake IDs. We have maps to the city and information regarding Police deployment on that day. Now, all we need is the correct type of car.' Terrorist A pops up and suggests, 'A Mercedes?', to which Osama replies, 'No, too flashy.' Terrorist B interjects with, 'A van?', frustrated, Osama counters, 'Always with the vans! Can us terrorists think of nothing original?!' Nervously, terrorist C raises his hand and says shyly, 'TobytheTeacher's 1997 bright red Ford Escort Turbo Diesel?' 'The one with all the hubcaps missing?' 'Yes.' 'And 200,000 miles on the clock?' 'Yes.' 'That stalls every time you put it into reverse?' 'Yes.' Osama grins, 'Perfect!'

Risk, Shoes, Darth Vader and Blondes

Afternoon all!

It's been a grueling day of messing about with my brother... a hard fought competition at 'Risk' led to my total world domination (an omen of things to come in real life?), at which point my brother announced that the game was 'stupid', I was 'stupid' and everything in the world was 'stupid'.

...I have felt like saying similar things on occasion in regard to my job, but I keep it all inside, all inside.

Ah, Saudi Arabia... where women can't drive cars, but men can spend large amounts of money 'pimping' their cars....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7498634.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7497804.stm

...still, I guess it could be worse... they could be pimping their wives... oh no wait, do they do that as well??

Staying on the subject of women: shoes. Good news girls! All you need to do is fall over when wearing heels and you can sue the shop... never need work again!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jul/09/consumeraffairs.fashion

...a little sexist if you ask me. I mean, what are us men supposed to do? I guess we could all start cross-dressing.... ....I suppose wearing a dress is a lot cooler in the summer, no?


To bring the blog back to its much more accustomed tone - The Dark Knight is on his way back:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8PPh-C9pRU

...in this modern age of slick, stylish, uber-cool Batmans, it easy to forget those early days back in the 60s:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGWmJPToolM

I'll never be able to watch the film 'Rocky' in the same way again. I'd forgotten that the same actor who played Rocky's 'he's a wrecking machine!' trainer, also played The Penguin. ...wow, that would have been a weird scene: if Rocky had chased the chicken around, whilst his trainer was dressed as The Penguin... 'Wak Wak Wak! Get him Rocky! He's a chicken chasing machine!'

Meanwhile, in space, Darth Vader has had a bad day at the office... and he's decided to be a jerk:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YwLQSTo_ow

Finally, A blonde joke courtesy of my friend Yvonne, wait a minute.... I'm blonde! Is she trying say something?! Have yourself happy, 'blonde free' weekends!

A blonde calls her boyfriend and says, 'Please come over here and help me. I have a killer jigsaw puzzle, and I can't figure out how to get started.'Her boyfriend asks, 'What is it supposed to be when it's finished?'The blonde says, 'According to the picture on the box, it's a rooster.'Her boyfriend decides to go over and help with the puzzle.She lets him in and shows him where she has the puzzle spread all over the table.He studies the pieces for a moment, then looks at the box, then turns to her and says,'First of all, no matter what we do, we're not going to be able to assemble these pieces into anything resembling a rooster.'He takes her hand and says, 'Second, I want you to relax. Let's have a nice cup of tea, and then ..' he said with a deep sigh
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'.Let's put all the Corn Flakes back in the box.'

Clint Eastwood, Culture and Sleep

Culture Culture Culture....

For those of you who like to read, and like to listen, the BBC world book club....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/programmes/world_book_club.shtml


For those of you who work in Marketing, a piece about TV advertising....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/7453357.stm


For those of you who enjoy cinema, an interview with Clint Eastwood, a filmmaker who has quietly gone about building a body of work that would rival most of the, far more acclaimed, cinema masters...

http://film.guardian.co.uk/interview/interviewpages/0,,2283921,00.html

TobytheTeacher's entirely unscientific list of five Clint Eastwood movies you should all sell your last Tic Tac to see:

The Outlaw Josey Wales

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/outlaw_josey_wales/

Unforgiven

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1041911-unforgiven/

Million Dollar Baby

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/million_dollar_baby/

Letters from Iwo Jima*

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/letters_from_iwo_jima/

*though I would watch 'Flags of our Fathers' first. The contrast between the two is interesting.

Heartbreak Ridge

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/heartbreak_ridge/

Always bold, always telling it straight, and more often than not, funny, Clint Eastwood movies rank amoung some of the most important and entertaining American movies ever made.


And finally, a poem that I wrote back in April. It's written in a form I came up with and was playing around with. The form is called 'name form', details are as follows....

The form describes a concept or object. The first letter of each line spells the concept / object in question. The last word of each line rhymes with the concept / object in question. Each line has the same number of syllables as the concept / object in question has letters.

Each line is a description / metaphor of the concept / object in question.

The final line of the poem is a stand alone line that consists of only one word, the word in question (this is the only time in the poem the word in question can be used).

The word in question also forms the title of the poem. Thus,

‘Sleep’

Sunday morning streets
Leaves that bed down deep
Elephants heaped
Effortless moon-leaps
Pressure off my feet

Sleep


TobytheTeacher

City, Sex and Heat

Hello,

It's hot people. Hot like the sun. Hot like the sun on a warm day. Hot like the sun on a warm day at the height of summer. Hot like the sun on a warm day at the height of summer and you're wearing too manyclothes. Hot like the sun on a warm day at the height of summer andyou're wearing too many clothes... and they're winter clothes. Hot like the sun on a warm day at the height of summer and you're wearing too many clothes... and they're winter clothes, and someone has set your head on fire. Hot like... you get the point.

Apparently, some girls are having sex in a city:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3512669.stm

..I've read the review and it sounds a lot like the Arnold Schwarzenegger film 'Commando'. The girls go shopping - Arnold goes shopping... for guns, grenades and a rocket launcher. The girls get dressed up - Arnold gets dressed up... with guns, grenades and a rocket launcher. The girls face challanges - Arnold faces an army of Southern American Facist Terrorist Freedom Fighters (a challenge). One (or more?) of the girls learn to be parents - Arnold learns to be a good parent by saving his daughter from the aforementioned South American Facist Terrorist Freedom Fighters (he does this by killing many hundreds of human beings, but the principle is the same).

For more info on Commando:

http://www.badmovies.org/othermovies/commando/

Right, once more onto the heat dear friends, once more...

Toby.