英語趣味課堂：對好萊塢電影的看法-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 couch 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 immersed 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 Transformers 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.

重點詞匯：

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.

immerse

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 immersion 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 acceptable. Notice the following:

Sometimes his jokes are offensive 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.