L3 Composition 2 Format

Follow this format to write Composition 2: email a friend about a recent film you've seen and that you recommend seeing. Use vocabulary from Module 2 in New Opportunities. Write the required 150-160 words, double-spaced.

Tomás Pérez García
English 310
Composition 2
17th November 2009

Hi John,
You already know what a film buff I am, so let me tell you about The Hours, a stunning film I’ve seen recently, starring Nicole Kidman, Meryl Streep and Ed Harris. The film, which is based on a novel, is about British writer Virginia Woolf’s literary career and her influence on successive generations of readers. I found the story a bit confusing at first. The Australian actress is absolutely fantastic in the part of Virginia Woolf; she puts on quite a beautiful British accent. The window scene between Streep and Harris —when he jumps off the window ledge— is quite touching. (I remember first seeing this American actor in the unforgettable The Truman Show, did you see that one? What a brillant script that was! The sets in that film were superb, too.) This one is a must-see film!
Email me back and tell me if you have seen any good films that I shouldn’t miss.
Cheers,
Tom
(160 words)

Quoting Groucho Marx :)

I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.

I never forget a face, but in your case I'll be glad to make an exception.

Military intelligence is a contradiction in terms.

Military justice is to justice what military music is to music.

Money frees you from doing things you dislike. Since I dislike doing nearly everything, money is handy.

My mother loved children -- she would have given anything if I had been one.

She got her looks from her father. He's a plastic surgeon.

Those are my principles, and if you don't like them... well, I have others.

I don't have a photograph, but you can have my footprints. They're upstairs in my socks.

Age is not a particularly interesting subject. Anyone can get old. All you have to do is live long enough.

Either this man is dead or my watch has stopped.

President Obama's Speech on Equal Rights

NEW BRITISH CINEMA TAKES SEVILLE

NEW BRITISH CINEMA TAKES SEVILLE

At the Seville European Film Festival (6-14 November), the programme section “The New Brits” will include the latest films made by the emerging talents who are leaving their mark on British cinema. These include Shane Meadows, who represents one of the main trends in British cinema: social realism. He will be presenting Le Donk & Scor-zay-zee. The Oscar-winning Andrea Arnold, who follows the line of working class drama, will be showing Fish Tank. Xiaolu Guo, who recently won the Golden Leopard at the Locarno Film Festival, is coming with She, a Chinese while Paul King is making his debut with the feature film Bunny & the Bull, starring the Spanish actress Verónica Echegui. Bomber and In The Loop are films not to be missed!

SEFF ’09 will also show a selection of films chosen by the well known London producer Jeremy Thomas, who has been responsible for such notable films as The Last Emperor and The Sheltering Sky. He will pay a tribute to British cinema with a collection of his favourite films, which will be included in a special season. The titles chosen include films by directors such as Joseph Losey, Nicholas Roeg and Ken Loach.

The producer will also participate in the ceremony to announce the nominations for the prestigious European Film Academy awards which, once again, will be held in Seville on 7th November.

This year, the guest country at the Seville European Film Festival is the United Kingdom, and therefore a large selection of the programming will be aimed at showing British films. See a synopsis and trailer of each film by clicking on this link.

This year, the Seville European Film Festival will present new productions, documentaries and short films and will organize meetings on co-production. Numerous directors, producers and members of the industry and of film institutions in the United Kingdom will be in Seville from 6th to 14th November.

The SEFF has been collaborating with the British Council, the British Film Institute and the organizations in charge of financing British cinema: the UK Film Council and Film London.

The BFI will present a program in Seville made up of eight titles from the work made in the 30s by the British Post Office. This includes films which range from the quintessence of the documentary (Night Mail) to the avant garde in animation (Trade Tattoo) and includes musical comedy (The Fairy of the Phone). All of these were made by outstanding film directors such as Alberto Cavalcanti, John Grierson and Len Lye, among others. The BFI’s selection will also include several titles by Jeff Keen, one of the most prolific directors in British experimental cinema.

L3 The "worth" structures

The "be + worth + -ing" structures

Worth can be used in two structures with a following -ing form:

1. With introductory it as subject (or its almost symmetrical alternative):

It is not worth getting upset (= getting upset is not worth it/worthwhile).
I live a short walk from here, so it's not worth taking a taxi (= taking a taxi is not worth it/worthwhile).

2. With a noun or pronoun as subject. (Note that in this case the subject of the sentence is also the object of the -ing form.):

Your old car isn't worth repairing.
What was the film like? Was it worth seeing?
The Greek Islands are definitely worth visiting.

Practise this second structure and conjugate the following examples:

the Prado Museum/ go to
Amenábar's latest film/see
Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy/read
tonight's Stuttgart-Seville match/watch
'Salsa Rosa'/watch

Amenábar's ÁGORA

Set in 4th-century Roman Egypt, Rachel Weisz plays astrologer-philosopher Hypatia of Alexandria, an atheist scientist who fights to save the collected wisdom of the ancient world. Her slave Davus (played by Max Minghella) is torn between his love for his mistress and the possibility of gaining his freedom by joining the rising tide of Christianity. Ágora is a historical epic story about the clash between scientific knowledge and superstition, free thinking and religious fanaticism. Spectacular and highly entertaining, this is Alejandro Amenábar at his best.

Filmed in English, the original version has been released only in major Spanish cities.

V.O.: La voz humana

CARLOS MARTÍN GAEBLER

Una de las prácticas más nefastas de la dictadura franquista era el doblaje de películas extranjeras, lo que ayudaba a censurar convenientemente cualquier diálogo considerado incorrecto por el régimen nacional-católico. El pensamiento único que, cual martillo pilón, propició el fascismo español también exigía un idioma único, que suprimió las otras lenguas españolas y, por supuesto, evitó cualquier lengua extranjera en las películas que se proyectaban en cines o, a partir de los años 60, en televisión. La consecuencia de este hábito inculto produjo un empobrecimiento idiomático progresivo en los españoles, circunstancia que tristemente hemos arrastrado hasta la actualidad. Y así, mientras nuestros vecinos portugueses se manejan con soltura en inglés o en francés, los españoles que pretenden hablar un idioma distinto al suyo materno se han de enfrentar a una desventaja de partida: no tienen hecho el oído a escuchar lenguas extranjeras porque ni las televisiones ni la mayoría de los cines respetan la versión original de las películas de ficción.

Sólo en los últimos años se ha extendido la buena costumbre de ver y escuchar películas en VO (subtituladas en español) en diversas ciudades españolas, privilegio hasta hace poco únicamente de Madrid y Barcelona. Una generación de españoles cinéfilos y cosmopolitas reclama su derecho a disfrutar del cine en todo su esplendor. Pero hay más consideraciones que hacer. Escuchar una película doblada es equiparable a escuchar una sinfonía de Beethoven interpretada por una orquesta de música ligera, o leer un poema de García Lorca traducido a otro idioma. La voz humana es una riqueza en sí misma; suplantarla es como dejar que el espectador simplemente vea el filme pero no lo oiga como fue originalmente creado. Este flagrante atentado contra la obra artística priva al espectador del placer de la palabra dicha, de la interpretación completa (acto + texto) de los actores y actrices del celuloide y ahora del soporte digital. Gozar con las voces de otros nos enriquece como personas. Si bello es escuchar recitar un poema con duende, igualmente gozoso es oír la cadencia de una escena cinematográfica emotiva. A mi memoria vienen las voces llenas de matices y de empaque de Paul Newman, Joan Crawford, Marlon Brando, Gerard Depardieu, Marcello Mastroianni, Emma Thompson, Juliette Binoche, Javier Bardem, Hugh Grant o Paco Rabal, por citar sólo a algunos.

Hoy en día, la técnica del subtitulado simultáneo permite seguir los diálogos de cualquier película sin demasiado menoscabo de la experiencia fílmica. El espectador poco habituado a leer mientras ve tardará poco en poder simultanear ambos actos; y, casi sin darse cuenta, empezará a disfrutar de la autenticidad de las voces originales, que, no olvidemos, representan el 50% de toda película hablada. Una vez despertado el gusanillo, se preguntará cómo pudo alguna vez escuchar películas dobladas. Compartir y comentar el visionado de una película en la pantalla gigante de una sala de cine con otros ciudadanos (sin interrupciones comerciales ni telefónicas) es en sí mismo un hermoso acto social. ¡Pasen y oigan!

Here is a list of 21 memorable films I recommend for learners of English (with the names of actors and actresses whose voices you will enjoy hearing). I advise you to try to watch these films on DVD with English subtitles on first.

The Bridges of Madison County (with Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep)
American Beauty (Kevin Spacey + Annette Bening)
Love Actually (Emma Thompson, Hugh Grant, Colin Firth, etc)
Match Point (Scarlett Johansson + Johnathan Rhys Meyers)
Babel (Cate Blanchet + Brad Pitt)
Unforgiven (Clint Eastwood)
Crash (Matt Dillon)
The English Patient (Ralph Fiennes)
Dogville (Nicole Kidman)
About a Boy (Hugh Grant)
Billy Elliot (Julie Walters + Jamie Bell)
The Lord of the Rings trilogy (Vigo Mortensen, Orlando Bloom, etc)
The Godfather trilogy (Marlon Brando, Robert De Niro, etc)
Blade Runner (Harrison Ford)
The Day After Tomorrow (Dennis Quaid + Jake Gyllenhaal)
A House at the End of the World (Colin Farrel)
The Truman Show (Jim Carrey + Laura Linney)
The Talented Mr Rippley (Matt Damon + Jude Law)
Dead Poets’ Society (Robin Williams)
Good Will Hunting (Matt Damon + Robin Williams)
American History X (Edward Norton)

Italy, STOP FASCISM!

Hair-raising, horrifying photographs, don't you think?