Last week we completed Unit 17 in your books, which focuses on reading, discussing and writing reviews, as well as the correct use of articles. We had a lively conversation about film tastes, particularly in regard to Star Wars, which doesn't seem to have aged very well. Ultimately, we came to the conclusion that everyone is entitled to their opinion, and we agreed to disagree.
Your homework for this week is exercise 6 on p. 111: write a review about a TV program. Follow the instructions given in your book, and refer back to the unit for help if you need it.
Now, let's see if you can guess the classic films referred to in the review excerpts below:
1. Yes, it's very good, but Brando is hardly the reason.
(This film), now and maybe forever at the Chicago Theater, ends with a door being closed in the face of the audience, and it is because we have been behind that door for nearly three hours that the film has such remarkable appeal. To permit us a glimpse at The Mob, with all of its ethnic insularity, is like giving a chronic gambler a chance to wander above the false mirrors that overlook every casino.
2. Watching (this film), you don't just get engrossed in what's happening on screen. You get intoxicated by it — high on the rediscovery of how pleasurable a movie can be. I'm not sure I've ever encountered a filmmaker who combined discipline and control with sheer wild-ass joy the way that Tarantino does. For 2 hours and 35 minutes, we're drawn into the lives of violently impassioned underworld characters — hit men, drug dealers, lethal vamps — who become figments of fury and grace and desire. We're caught up in dialogue of such fiendishly elaborate wit it suggests a Martin Scorsese film written by Preston Sturges, in plot twists — they're closer to zigzags — that are like whims bubbling up from the director's unconscious.(This film) is the work of a new-style punk virtuoso. It is, quite simply, the most exhilarating piece of filmmaking to come along in the nearly five years I've been writing for this magazine.
3. (This film) is an outstanding motion picture, an achievement of big-budget filmmaking that will continue to amaze for decades to come. While some might argue that the story has grown dated over the years, it's hard to deny the quality of the film's pitch-perfect action set pieces, raw emotion and the brilliance of the production itself. (This film) isn't just a great film, it's a magnificent historical record of one of the most unfortunate disasters in the annals of human history.
What do you think?
