美国国家公共电台 NPR--Latest 'Minions' movie set a box office record for the July 4th weekend

Latest 'Minions²' movie set a box office record for the July 4th weekend

Transcript³

Minions: The Rise of Gru brought out audiences in droves for the July fourth weekend. Its success is partly due to a TikTok trend.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Even if you haven't seen the movies, you probably know the sound.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "MINIONS: THE RISE OF GRU")

PIERRE COFFIN⁴: (As minion¹, speaking Minionese).

FADEL: Minions return this weekend in their fifth film, called "Minions: The Rise Of Gru." The little yellow creatures swept away the U.S. box office, bringing in $125 million over four days and setting a box office record for the July 4 weekend. Stephen Thompson is a co-host on NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast, and he's here to tell us why. Hey, Stephen.

STEPHEN THOMPSON, BYLINE⁵: Hey, Leila.

FADEL: OK, so for those who are not in the Minion know, just give us a quick summary of "The Rise Of Gru" before we get into this.

THOMPSON: Well, it's basically a sequel to a prequel to the "Despicable Me" movies, which is kind of complicated, but basically you're getting the early days of the lovable supervillain Gru and how he came to become a supervillain and work with the Minions. It's set in 1976. So for parents of a certain age like me, you get a certain amount of nostalgia⁶, which helps even when the jokes don't quite land.

FADEL: OK, so I've been seeing the videos of men - not kids - filling into theaters to see this animated⁷ movie dressed up in suits. What's going on?

THOMPSON: Well, there's a trend fueled by TikTok where you get groups of these young guys - usually young guys - gathering⁸ in formalwear and calling themselves GentleMinions.

FADEL: OK.

THOMPSON: So you got, like, you know, just groups of young dudes. And there have actually been theaters that have said they won't accept groups in formalwear because some of these groups have been kind of noisy and disruptive, throwing bananas at the screen and stuff like that. But it sort of speaks to the way the "Minions" franchise⁹ has kind of somehow managed to thread the needle where they have this really widespread mainstream¹⁰ acceptance, but also childhood nostalgia for, you know, 20, 25-year-olds. You know, for people that age, the first "Despicable Me" movie's a childhood memory. But you also get a little bit of ironic¹¹ appreciation¹². So you have massive mainstream exception - acceptance, but also irony¹³.

FADEL: So is that the reason that this movie set a record this weekend? I mean, is it also good?

THOMPSON: Well, I've seen the movie, and I think it's fine. It's very colorful and bright and lighthearted. It's 90 minutes, so you kind of get in and out pretty quickly. You don't have the bloat that you get with some overstuffed kind of summer sequels. The soundtrack is surprisingly great. It's got a really fun voice cast. Taraji P. Henson is having a complete blast. You know, I would have taken a few more jokes and a little bit less kind of just body humor. But, you know, it's fun to look at.

FADEL: So maybe TikTok helped the box office weekend for them, the box office success. But also is it a sign that families are feeling safe? And I'm talking about the pandemic here - going back inside and to movie theaters now.

THOMPSON: I mean, I think that this is definitely a sign of that. I mean, anytime you're seeing the box office this strong, tons of people are going back into theaters and feeling comfortable doing so. I think it's a sign - you look at the success of movies like this and "Doctor Strange" and "Top Gun: Maverick¹⁴." I think what we're seeing is at least that people are willing to come back to movies that feel like events. I think there's still a sign that smaller movies are struggling - you know, aren't doing quite as well. But if you have a movie that feels like a big, big event, a big - you know, it's tied into a franchise, then, you know, then we're seeing success.

FADEL: That's Stephen Thompson, co-host of NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour. Thanks, Stephen.

THOMPSON: Thanks, Leila.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

1 minion   

n.宠仆；宠爱之人

参考例句：

• At worst some egregious minion had conducted a childish private enterprise.这最多也不过是一批低能的小人物自己干的无聊把戏而已。
• She delegated the job to one of her minions.她把这份工作委派给她的一个手下。

2 minions   

n.奴颜婢膝的仆从( minion的名词复数 )；走狗；宠儿；受人崇拜者

参考例句：

• She delegated the job to one of her minions. 她把这份工作委派给她的一个手下。 来自辞典例句
• I have been a slave to the vicious-those whom I served were his minions. 我当过那帮坏人的奴隶，我伺候的都是他的爪牙。 来自辞典例句

3 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

4 coffin   

n.棺材，灵柩

参考例句：

• When one's coffin is covered,all discussion about him can be settled.盖棺论定。
• The coffin was placed in the grave.那口棺材已安放到坟墓里去了。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 nostalgia   

n.怀乡病，留恋过去，怀旧

参考例句：

• He might be influenced by nostalgia for his happy youth.也许是对年轻时幸福时光的怀恋影响了他。
• I was filled with nostalgia by hearing my favourite old song.我听到这首喜爱的旧歌，心中充满了怀旧之情。

7 animated   

adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的

参考例句：

• His observations gave rise to an animated and lively discussion.他的言论引起了一场气氛热烈而活跃的讨论。
• We had an animated discussion over current events last evening.昨天晚上我们热烈地讨论时事。

8 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

9 franchise   

n.特许，特权，专营权，特许权

参考例句：

• Catering in the schools is run on a franchise basis.学校餐饮服务以特许权经营。
• The United States granted the franchise to women in 1920.美国于1920年给妇女以参政权。

10 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

11 ironic   

adj.讽刺的，有讽刺意味的，出乎意料的

参考例句：

• That is a summary and ironic end.那是一个具有概括性和讽刺意味的结局。
• People used to call me Mr Popularity at high school,but they were being ironic.人们中学时常把我称作“万人迷先生”，但他们是在挖苦我。

12 appreciation   

n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨

参考例句：

• I would like to express my appreciation and thanks to you all.我想对你们所有人表达我的感激和谢意。
• I'll be sending them a donation in appreciation of their help.我将送给他们一笔捐款以感谢他们的帮助。

13 irony   

n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄

参考例句：

• She said to him with slight irony.她略带嘲讽地对他说。
• In her voice we could sense a certain tinge of irony.从她的声音里我们可以感到某种讥讽的意味。

14 maverick   

adj.特立独行的；不遵守传统的；n.持异议者，自行其是者

参考例句：

• He's a maverick.He has his own way of thinking about things.他是个特异独行的人。对事情有自己的看法。
• You're a maverick and you'll try anything.你是个爱自行其是的人，样样事情都要尝试一下。