【英语趣味课堂】对好莱坞电影的看法-Thoughts on Hollywood Movies

Michael: Okay. Hello, my name is Michael. Next to me I have Goron from Italy and Win from Vietnam. And today we’re going to do discuss movies, and specifically, we’re going to discuss about Hollywood movies. Do we like Hollywood movies, what is typical in our own countries and so on? So we’re going to start with you Goron. Please.

 

Goron: I will say that generally, I like Hollywood movies. They are -- if I want to be like without thinking anything, you just like lie down on my couch¹ and just eat something and drink and watch a movie, I would choose like a Hollywood movie. They are pretty fun. They are well done. They spend – they have huge budgets for those kinds of movies. Like the last superhero movies now, there’s about Ironman, Spiderman, the Avengers, all those kinds of movies. The story or the plot is pretty weak but, you know, you have this like visual effects which the impact on you is strong. And you just think, or at least I think, “Oh wow, how did they do that?”

 

Michael: Yeah. I will give like that example there. You have Avatar. You know, the story is – it’s a huge cliché.

 

Goron: Yeah. We heard about this story for…

 

Michael: I knew how the movie would end. But, you know, just going there to see the good 3D effect that movie had, I think it had good 3D. It really immersed² you in this whole world. You know, you saw those flying things from the forest.

 

Goron: Yeah, but if you think, it was recorded by a 3D camera because just the camera was a million of dollars.

 

Michael: Yes, but…

 

Goron: The other 3D movies are really crap because everything in post production. So you can tell, “Oh this is 3D?”

 

Michael: Yes.

 

Goron: I mean, it’s dark and you have to wear glasses. And if you already have glasses, it’s uncomfortable. So it’s kind of – it sounds – it seems like a technology that’s trying to steal your money.

 

Michael: It was a huge hype, I would say. They were charging more for it, and everyone tried to get on the 3D bandwagon. All the movies went into 3D and it became more normal for there to be 3D movies in cinemas than normal movies. But yeah, I agree totally with you. They went too far. Avatar was made, you know, from the ground up. The idea was to make it in 3D, and they really worked hard to provide a good 3D experience. While those other movies, they’re…

 

Goron: I guess…

 

Michael: It’s just not the same.

 

Goron: Technology is not ready yet, probably.

 

Michael: And I also agree with you that, you know, there is movies that you watch for the story, which are really good, and you love them. They don’t have to be 3D. They don’t have to be and you just focus on the story. And then you have the movies, like – you know, even Transformers⁴ with lots of explosions, lots of effects. It’s entertaining in another way.

 

Win: I mean it depends on how we look at entertainment. I mean, some days you could – I mean, you want to watch something emotional and romantic, and then some days you just want some really easy stuff.

 

But I’m just saying that Hollywood isn’t all about the blockbuster and effect-heavy movies. I think Hollywood have made some really good thinking, really good food for thoughts. And it’s not that all bad.

 

重点词汇：

 

cliché

 

It’s a huge cliché.

 

A cliché is an overused idea or saying that once was original, but now is common. Notice the following:

 

Working from a café is now so cliché.

The phrase "Think outside the box" is now cliché.

immerse³

 

It really immersed you in this whole world.

 

When you immerse yourself in something, you become deeply involved with it. Notice the following:

 

I loved being immersed in water on a hot day.

In the French immersion⁵ program, you live in Paris for two months.

hype

 

It was a huge hype.

 

When something is hyped, it is heavily promoted or made known by all. Notice the following:

 

The product was hyped on TV.

There was a lot of hype for his new book, but it was just a dud.

get on the bandwagon

 

Everyone tried to get on the 3D bandwagon.

 

When people 'get on the bandwagon', they start to support something because it is becoming popular. Notice the following:

 

During the World Cup, lots of fans get on the German bandwagon. 

Lots of people are getting on the Instagram bandwagon.

go too far

 

They went too far.

 

When something 'goes too far', it exceeds what people think is acceptable⁶. Notice the following:

 

Sometimes his jokes are offensive⁷ and go too far.

The movie was too violent. It went too far.

food for thought

 

Hollywood has made some good food-for-thought movies.

 

When something is food for thought, it has lots of good ideas worth thinking about. Notice the following:

 

That book has lots of food for thought.

When she talks, she gives lots of food for thought.

1 couch   

n.睡椅，长沙发椅；vt.表达，隐含

参考例句：

• Lie down on the couch if you're feeling ill.如果你感觉不舒服就躺到沙发上去。
• The rabbIt'sprang from its grassy couch.兔子从草丛中跳出。

2 immersed   

浸入的，沉入的，沉思的

参考例句：

• She immersed herself in her work. 她埋头工作。
• When a body is immersed in a fluid, it apparently loses weight. 身体浸入水中就会明显减轻重量。

3 immerse   

v.使沉浸在，使深陷于；使浸没在

参考例句：

• Immerse the cloth in the dye for twenty minutes.把布浸在染料里20分钟。
• Don't immerse yourself in the infliction too long.不要长时间沉浸在痛苦经历中。

4 transformers   

n.变压器( transformer的名词复数 )；促使变化的（或人物），改革者

参考例句：

• The magnetic cores of transformers and other apparatus are laminated. 把变压器及其它仪器的磁心分层。 来自辞典例句
• Several distributor transformers had fallen from the poles, and secondary wires and service drops were down. 几个配电变压器从电线杆上摔下来，副线及吊饰也垂下来。 来自辞典例句

5 immersion   

n.沉浸；专心

参考例句：

• The dirt on the bottom of the bath didn't encourage total immersion.浴缸底有污垢，不宜全身浸泡于其中。
• The wood had become swollen from prolonged immersion.因长时间浸泡，木头发胀了。

6 acceptable   

adj.可接受的，合意的，受欢迎的

参考例句：

• The terms of the contract are acceptable to us.我们认为这个合同的条件可以接受。
• Air pollution in the city had reached four times the acceptable levels.这座城市的空气污染程度曾高达可接受标准的四倍。

7 offensive   

adj.令人不快的，侮辱的，攻击用的；n.进攻

参考例句：

• His mode of doing business is offensive to me.他干事情的方式叫我很不喜欢。
• If all else fails,I will take the offensive.如果其他方法不行，我将采取攻势。