Movie Review
电影评论
对话 Dialogue
Welcome back movie lovers to another ”Premier Movie Review”. My name is Richard Clarke and I am joined today by the very erudite David Watson.
欢迎回来，影迷朋友们，又到了“首映影评”时间。我是理查德·克拉克，今天和我一起的是博学多识的大卫·沃森。
Thank you Dick. Today we are going to talk about the movie ”Lion King”. Tell me Dave, what is your impression of this film?
谢谢你，迪克。今天我们要谈论的是电影《狮子王》。告诉我，戴夫，你对这部电影有什么看法？
Well, I think this film is simply a fable, depicting man’s eternal greed for power, and in my opinion, it’s a very fine film. Even despite the accusations of plagiarism traditional folk tales from other countries. The musical score was amazing, the animation was very well done, and the story was simply enchanting.
嗯，我认为这部电影就是一个寓言，描绘了人类对权力永恒的贪婪。在我看来，这是一部非常棒的电影，尽管被指责剽窃了其他国家的民间故事。配乐很棒，动画制作精良，故事也引人入胜。
I think otherwise. Even though the animation was technically strong, and as you say, the score and songs performed by Elton John were great, the film lacks a certain originality; it lacked heart. And I would dare to say, it was too predictable.
我不同意。虽然动画技术过硬，而且正如你所说，艾尔顿·约翰的配乐和歌曲很棒，但这部电影缺乏一定的原创性，缺乏灵魂。我敢说，它太 predictable 了。
Predictable! How! Come on Dick, It’s a G-rated movie! It’s for the kids! It’s not a thriller!
老套！怎么可能！拜托，迪克，这是一部G级电影！是给孩子们看的！不是惊悚片！
Well, that’s just it. It did have some very dramatic and intense scenes. For example when Mufasa dies, or the dark, grim portrayal of Scar. Even so, the film is linear. Mufasa dies, Simba runs away thinking it’s his fault. Falls in love and returns to retake what is rightfully his. It’s just too cliché.
正是这点。电影确实有一些非常戏剧化和紧张的场景，比如木法沙去世时，或者刀疤邪恶阴暗的刻画。即便如此，电影的情节线很直白：木法沙死了，辛巴逃走以为是自己造成的，然后坠入爱河，最终回来夺回属于自己的一切。这太老套了。
How can it be cliché? It’s a fable! It’s telling a time-honoured story! The movie make a point of how the hunger for power leads to corruption, and teaches children the value of respect, life and love.
怎么会老套？它是个寓言！在讲述一个经久不衰的故事！电影强调了权力欲望如何导致腐败，并教导孩子们尊重、生命和爱的价值。
You have always been so soft, Dave!
你总是这么心软，戴夫！
Open your heart Dick. Don’t shut us out.
敞开你的心扉，迪克。别把我们拒之门外。
Anyway... That’s all for today folks! Join us next time as we talk about 'How to lose a guy in 10 days'. I’m sure you’ll love that one Dave!
总之……各位观众，今天就到这里！下期我们将讨论《十天丢个郎》。我相信你一定会喜欢那部电影的，戴夫！
完整节目 Full Program
Hello English learners! Welcome back to EnglishPod! My name isMarco.
And I’m Erica.
And today we’re gonna go back to the movies, but this time we’re gonna do it a little bit different.
That’s right, uh, we’re gonna be listening as two movie critics offer their opinion on the latest release.
Right, so, we’re gonna be learning how to criticize or give your opinions about something.
That’s right and, uh, here we’re talking movies, but a lot of this language can be used to offer your… your criticism or ideas on literature, um, or art or other artistic pursuits.
Okay, so, before we listen to this dialogue for the first time, let’s take a look at “vocabulary preview”. Voice: Vocabulary preview.
Well, we’re gonna look at one word here that we will hear in the dialogue and it is erudite.
Erudite.
Erudite.
Okay, so, this word erudite, some people pronounce it Erudite.
That’s true and, basically, it’s an adjective, describing someone, who has a lot of knowledge about a subject.
Okay, so, an erudite in engineering.
Yes, or an erudite professor.
Okay, very good, so, that’s the word that we’re gonna preview today and now let’s listen to our dialogue and find out what movie they are criticizing.
Alright, so, The Lion King, one of my old time favorites.
A very good movie and, well, mixed feelings about it, right? Some people think it’s good, other people th… other people think it’s not that good.
Um, I’m in the good camp, as you know, um, but anyway there’s tons of really useful, um, and quite difficult language here, so, why don’t we look at that now in “language takeaway”? Voice: Language takeaway.
Alright, on language takeaway today we have five words and we can start with the first one.
So, the critic… the first critic said that this was a movie, depictingmen’s eternal greed for power.
Depicting.
To depict.
Alright, so, this word depict, it sounds a little bit strange, so, before we explain it, let’s take a look at some examples. Voice: Example one.
I don’t really like the way that novel depicted the role of women in society; it was pretty sexist! Voice: Example two.
The film depicts the realities of war very accurately. Voice: Example three.
See, this image here is depicting some of the most well-knownscenes from Australian history.
Alright, so, depicting, um, I can basically understand that this means to show something. Now, If… now, we can notice, uh, that the word depict has th… this short and little word – pict in there…
Uhu
That… that sounds like picture.
Uhu.
And when we think about, um, depicting, we’re often thinking about “in a picture” or “in a book”, um, or “in a painting”.
So, in his case the story is depicted in a movie, right?
That’s right.
So, you can see it, it’s a picture, basically.
Exactly.
Alright, very good, so, to depict. Well, moving on, the critic also talked about the grim portrayal of the villain of the movie - Scar.
That’s right, so, grim portrayal.
A grim portrayal.
Okay, let’s look at the word grim first. When something is grim, it’s really unpleasant or uncomfortable or even shocking to think about.
Okay, so, something that is grim. Now, what about portrayal?
Really close to depict. A portrayal is something that shows or describes something, especially like in a book or in a picture or in a play.
Okay, so, a portrayal. I guess we can relate it again to a portrait.
That’s right.
Alright, so, portrayal.
Now, we can also use this as a verb – to portray. So, this movie portrays men’s eternal greed.
Okay, so, we can use this as a noun or as a verb.
That’s right.
So, moving on with our third word today we have an enchanting movie.
That’s right, the story was simply enchanting.
Okay, so, if something is enchanting…
It’s really, um… it’s really attractive and beautiful and interesting and it holds your attention.
Okay, it holds your attention. So, it’s something very nice, something that is enchanting has to be nice.
That’s right, and it has this sense of magic around it.
Okay, very good, so, an enchanting moment.
Or an enchanting woman.
Okay, and now, what about our next word? It’s very… And what about our next word? It’s French, actually, but we use it in English.
That’s right, so, the… the critic said that this story was cliché.
Cliché.
Cliché.
Okay, so, we hear this all the time, what is a cliché?
Well, basically, a cliché is a phrase or an idea that is used so often, um, that it loses its meaning or importance or interest.
Okay, so, can you give us some examples of a cliché moment or maybe, uh, a phrase that’s cliché?
Okay, well, how about this one? When you’re breaking up with your boyfriend, then you say “honey, it’s not you, it’s… it’s me”.
Okay, that’s cliché, it’s typical.
Yeah, or maybe, um, a cliché portrayal of a Frenchman would be a guy, riding a bike with a baguette, smoking a cigarette and with aberet on his head.
Okay, that’s a cliché portrayal, very good.
Yeah.
So, it’s common, it’s even to a certain point a little bitstereotypical.
That’s right.
Alright. And what about our last word?
Well, they described this story as a fable.
Fable.
A fable.
Okay, so, when we were small, we all read fables.
That’s right, uh, they are stories, um, about animals that are used to teach people a lesson.
Okay, so, a fable teaches you a lesson, I think the most famous one is the one of “The Tortoise and the Hare”, right?
Yeah, and another good one would be “The Three Little Pigs”.
Okay, that’s also a fable.
Yep.
Okay, so, we’ve looked at these five great words and now it’s time for us to move on to “putting it together”. Voice: Putting it together.
Okay, here we’re gonna look at some phrases that you can use in a bunch of different ways to help you criticize or give you opinion about a piece of art like a movie or a book or whatever.
Okay, so, let’s start right away with our first word. So, the film critic asked “what is your impression of this film?”
What’s your impression of.
What’s your impression of something, right?
That’s right.
Alright, so, before we get into explaining impression, let’s listen to some more examples. Voice: Example one.
I don’t know where, but I have the impression that we’ve met before. Voice: Example two.
I get the impression that he’s a very organized person. Voice: Example three.
Somehow Jim got the impression I was gay; did you tell him that?
Okay, so, I can see that this means, basically, what’s your opinion or how do you feel about something.
Okay, so, you can have an impression of something or of someone.
Yep.
Alright. And what about the next word?
Well, the critic Richard Clarke said that it was a really enjoyable film, even despite the accusations of plagiarism.
Okay, so, now we have an interesting phrase here – the accusations of plagiarism.
Accusations of plagiarism.
Okay, so, accusations is a noun, right?
Right, it’s the action of accusing.
Okay, of blaming somebody.
Yeah.
Alright, and what about plagiarism?
This is an academic term. If you, uh, plagiarize, you copy someone’s work and take credit for it.
Okay, so, if I copy somebody’s book and I say I wrote it, then that’s plagiarism.
Yeah, that’s pretty bad, so…
Alright.
Accusations of plagiarism. Now, we can use this phrase,accusations of something, in a bunch of different ways. So, Marco, what… let’s have an example.
Alright, so, for example, we can say “he was cleared of all accusations of tax evasion”.
Okay. He denied accusations of cheating on his wife.
Alright, very good, so, accusations. And now, moving on to the final part of putting it together, we have this word – lacks.
The film lacks a certain originality.
Okay, so, the film lacks a certain originality. What does he mean by that?
It doesn’t have enough of.
Okay, so, if you’re lacking something, you don’t have enough of it.
Or you don’t have it at all.
Alright, so, can you give us some more examples of how we can use lack?
Okay, the same way it’s used in the dialogue – “our team lacks the… appropriate talent to complete this project”
Okay or I can say “our school lacks infrastructure for so many students”.
Or we can also say “infrastructure is lacking at our school”.
Okay, so, you can use it in those two ways, right? You can use it as a gerund or as a verb.
That’s right. Okay, lots of great language here and why don’t we hear one more time in context with the dialogue?
Alright, so, a good movie. What do you think about The Lion King? What do you think about his critique?
Well, I am with Dick on this one. Um, I think that this is a great film, it was one of my favorites and I’ve seen it about five billion times.
Really?
Yeah.
You really liked it?
But I’m not interested in my opinion. I wanna hear criticisms and film criticisms from our users.
Right, so, come to our website at englishpod.com, where you can leave your questions or comments and also any criticisms on this particular movie or maybe the other one that we mentioned, uh, “How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days”.
Personally, not so fond of that one, but looking forward to hearing from our users.
Alright, or maybe any other movies you might like. So, uh, come to the website and until next time…
Good bye!
Bye! ***
复习 Review
The EnglishPod audio review.
Listen to the meaning, then say the vocabulary word.
The written words from a film.
Screenplay.
The activity of an actor in a play.
Performance.
Have the confidence to say.
Dare to say.
The main person in a movie.
Central character.
Story in a movie or book.
Pilots.
According to law.
Rightfully.
Use to describe the camera work in a movie.
Cinematography.
Having a lot of knowledge, especially gained from studying.
Area Dites.
The feelings one has after a specific event.
Impression.
To describe, show, especially in art or pictures.
Depicked.
Beautiful story about animals that has a moral or lesson.
Fable.
Lasting forever.
Eternal.
Action of claiming something is wrong.
Accusation.
Practice of copying others' ideas.
Plagiarism.
Attractive.
Holding one's attention.
Enchanting.
Written work showing notes of music.
Score.
Easy for others to foresee what is going to happen.
Predictible.
The act of showing or describing something, especially in art.
Portrayal.
Unpleasant.
Graham.
Moving in logical way.
From start to end.
Linear.
Something that is too often used so that it loses meaning or importance.
Something that survives the testing of time.
Time honored.
Not critical enough.
Soft.
Let's try that faster.
Used to describe the camera work in a movie.
Cinematography.
The feelings one has after a specific event.
Impression.
The main person in a movie.
Central character.
The written words from a film.
Screenplay.
According to law.
Rightfully.
Action of claiming something is wrong.
Accusation.
Lasting forever.
Eternal.
Something that is too often used so that it loses meaning or importance.
Cliché.
Attractive.
Holding one's attention.
Enchanting.
Written work showing notes of music.
Score.
The confidence to say.
Dare to say.
To describe.
Show.
Especially in art or pictures.
Depicked.
The activity of an actor in a play.
Performance.
Easy for others to foresee what is going to happen.
Predictable.
Story in a movie or book.
Plot.
Not critical enough.
Soft.
Having a lot of knowledge, especially gained from studying.
Area dates.
Something that survives the testing of time.
Time honored.
Unpleasant.
Gram.
Moving in logical way.
From start to end.
Linear.
Beautiful story about animals that has a moral or lesson.
Fable.
The act of showing or describing something.
Especially in art.
Portrayal.
Practice of copying others' ideas.
Plagerism.
Now say the word and hear it in a sentence.
Impression.
I don't know where, but I have the impression that we have met before.
Impression.
I get the impression that he is a very organized person.
Impression.
Somehow, Jim got the impression that I was gay.
Did you tell him that?
Our company lacks the manpower for this new project.
The problem with our school is that it lacks the infrastructure for so many students.
I like these paintings, but I think they lack creativity and passion.
Dare to say.
I would dare to say that your report is completely erroneous.
Dare to say.
She dared to say that I had no class.
Can you imagine that?
Dare to say.
I would dare to say that this is the most beautiful city in the world.
Come on, are you really going to quit?
You don't want to really break up with your girlfriend.
Come on.
Come on, man.
Don't be so rude to the waitress.
Rightfully.
The king is claiming that France should rightfully belong to England.
Rightfully.
Dan found a dog on the street, but returned it to its rightful owner.
Rightfully.
I rightfully took back what belonged to me from the thief.
Rightfully.
I rightfully took back what belonged to me from the thief.
Rightfully.
I rightfully took back what belonged to me from the thief.