A film Review

Reviews

Nowadays magazines and newspapers publish a wide range of reviews, covering all the arts as well as other areas. A review is an article in a newspaper or magazine in which someone gives their views on a book, play, film, TV programme, etc. The purpose of a review is firstly to give factual information about the subject, and secondly to give an opinion about it which will help the reader to decide where to buy the book, see the film or visit the exhibition.

Reviews, particularly film reviews, normally contain the three main ingredients. However, it may not always fall in three neat sections. The writer may decide to describe an aspect of the subject and comment immediately on strengths and weakness, for example, before going on to describe another aspect of the subject.

·        Overview – a description of the subject
What is it about? Is there anything special/unusual about the production? Are there any well-known actors? Who is the director?

·        Pros and cons – detailed comments on the successful and unsuccessful features of the subject
Your comments will probably include both objective views (based on fact) – photographs were poor quality or the costumes didn’t fit the actors properly, for example – and subjective views (based on personal feelings) – the story wasn’t interesting or the film was too violent. Make sure, however, that you give reasons for your comments. You may have strong positive or negative feelings about the subject of the review and this is no bad thing. A strong opinion, clearly argued, is often more interesting to read than a carefully balanced assessment. Even so, try not to be completely one-sided.
·        Verdict – summing-up and recommendation.
The last paragraph should sum up your feelings and make it clear to the reader whether you recommend the  film or not. In real life, readers often look at the last paragraph of a review first to see what the general verdict is. Make sure your review gives a clear verdict.

Alice in Wonderland Movie Review 

Watch the trailer. Have you seen this film? Would you like to see it?

Read the film review.   Identify each paragraph below as: overview, 

pros and cons, verdict.

Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland” was probably the most anticipated movie of the year 2010. But is it any good? First of all, I should probably mention that hardcore Lewis Carroll fans may find very disappointing. The movie is merely based on the book. It features most of the same characters and a couple of the same locations, but the story is completely different. Alice is no longer a little girl, but an unconventional young woman who has the same dream of finding herself in Wonderland every night, until one day it happens in real life. Her arrival was expected. Alice is supposed to save the inhabitants from the evil Red Queen and get the reign back to her kind sister, the White Queen. She knows nothing about it, but she is meant to be the knight in shining armor, both figuratively and literally speaking.

So, as you can see, the original story was turned into a completely commonplace fairytale about struggle between good and evil. All the characters were made into the same types we can see in every other Disney movie: the villain, cruel and irritable (the Red Queen); the kind and creative outsider (the Mad Hatter); the fearless hero unaware of his/her own might (Alice); the sage (the Caterpillar), etc.However, there are some good parts. First and foremost, the visual effects are incredible. Every creature and every landscape is beautifully designed making the movie a real eye candy.Secondly, two of the main parts are played by Helena Bonham Carter and Johnny Depp. Despite the fact that their characters are very plain and trite, these brilliant actors still bring great performances.So, what would be my final verdict? The narrative may be forced and uninteresting but the combination of costuming, art direction, production design and cinematography compensate. 

Study vocabulary and useful language below

Film reviews

Types of film  feature film, documentary, blockbuster, art movie, thriller, Western, horror film, comedy (romantic, black), cartoon, love story.

People   director, producer, cameraman, cast, actor/actress (the lead, star, co-star).

Technical  camerawork, camera angles, on location, in the studio, subtitled, dubbed, screenplay, script, soundtrack, special effects, stunts

Narrative  storyline (plot), final scene, climax, flashback.

Useful language

 1 Overview

2 Pros and cons  

 3 Verdict

Find more:

http://www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Movie-Review
http://www.myenglishpages.com/site_php_files/writing-film-book-review.php
http://www.dailywritingtips.com/7-tips-for-writing-a-film-review/

Writing Task

You have been asked to write a short film review for a university magazine. Choose any film you think might be of interest to your fellow students. Write about 250 words.

Telling a Story

A nightmare journey

What is the worst journey you have ever made? What happened?

We asked our readers to tell us about their nightmare journeys. Jutta from Germany wrote to us about hers...

A nightmare journey I remembered was three years ago when I was going to the airport with my friend. We were going to Mallorca on holiday and we had to be at Dresden airport two hours before the flight.
We leaved home with plenty of time, but when we got to the motorway there was a huge traffic jam! The traffic wasn't moving at all. We didn't know what to do. It was too late to go another way, so we just sat in the car getting more and more stressed. After ten minutes the traffic started moving slowly. We decided to leave the motorway and try to find another way to the airport, but I wasn't sure of the way and we got completely lost. We were sure we were going to miss the flight. We finaly arrived at the airport just thirty minutes before the plane was going to leave.The woman at the check-in desk said we couldn't check in our luggage because it was too late so we had to run with all our cases to the departure gate.
Although my friend fell over and hurt her leg, we managed to get to the gate in time and in the end we caught our flight.


Look at the list of possible travel problems:

the flight was delayed
you broke down
you got lost
you missed your flight
there was a traffic jam
you got a puncture
you forgot your passport
your flight was overbooked

Can you think of any others?

Watch the video and do some comprehension tasks to revise transport and travel vocabulary:       http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/word-street/transport-and-travel-scene-1

Write about a nightmare journey you've had (or invent one).

Use the Plan to help you.

Paragraph 1 When was the journey? Where were you going? Who with? Why?
Paragraph 2 What went wrong? What happened?
paragraph 3 What happened in the end?

Place you piece of writing onto the Wallwisher: http://padlet.com/wall/9it7d39qfq

Describing a Person

Read the email and answer: why has Stephanie written to Claudia?

From: Stephanie

To: Claudia

Subject: Hi from Scotland

Dear Claudia,

I hope you’re well.

I’ve just had an email from your friend Christelle. She wants to rent a room in my house this summer. Could you tell me a bit about her (age, personality, etc. and what she likes doing) so that I can see if she would fit in with the family? Please be honest!

Send my regards to your family and I hope to hear from you soon.

Best wishes

Stephanie

Now read the Claudia's answer: does she recommend her friend?

From: Claudia

To: Stephanie

Subject: Hi from Switzerland

Hi Stephanie,

Thanks for your email.

Of course I can tell you about Christelle. She’s 21, and she’s studying law with me.

I think she’s quite extrovert and very sociable – she has lots of friends. She’s also very good with children. She has a young step-brother and several young cousins, and I know she likes playing with them. She’s incredibly hard-working and responsible – she passed all her exams last year, which is more than I did!

She likes going out, seeing films, and listening to music, but not rock or heavy metal – so don’t worry about noise! And she’s happy to do things on her own – she’s very independent, so you won’t really have to look after her. Her parents are divorced and she lives with her mother and stepfather, but she also sees her father regularly.

The only negative things I can think of are that she’s a bit untidy – her room is usually in a mess – and that her English is, well, not brilliant. But I’m sure she’ll learn fast! I think she’s really nice and that the family will get on well with her.

I hope that’s useful. Let me know if you need any more information about her.

Love

Claudia

PS I attach a photo of the two of us.

Which positive adjectives does Claudia use to describe Christelle?

What negative things does Claudia say about her friend?

Imagine you received Stephanie's email asking about your friend. 
Follow the plan and write an email to answer it.

Paragraph 1    age, family, work/study
Paragraph 2    personality (good side)

Paragraph 3    hobbies and interests
Paragraph 4    any negative things?

Find more: http://www.mokslai.lt/referatai/konspektas/7698.html 

Useful language: describing a person

He's quite/ very + adjective (friendly, extrovert, etc.)
She's a bit + negative adjective (untidy, talkative, etc.)
He likes/loves/ doesn't mind + verb+ -ing
He's good at + verb + -ing

Do the personality quiz to revise the personality adjectives. http://www.mobilestudy.org/u/26855/

These may help you:  http://www.buzzle.com/articles/list-of-adjectives-to-describe-a-person.html
http://www.learn-english-today.com/idioms/idiom-categories/descp-people/descr-pp1.html