A Film Review

WRITING A REVIEW Reviews are short descriptions of books, films, TV programmes, etc. We express our opinion and recommendations about them. PARTS OF A REVIEW • INTRODUCTION In the introduction we summarize the information of the book, film or TV programme. You mention the title, name of author/director, type of book/film (adventure, romantic, thriller…..) in two or three sentences. • THE MAIN BODY It normally consist of two paragraphs: one that includes the main points of the plot in chronological order and another with comments on the plot (positive and negative aspects), the main characters, the acting etc. But you DON´T REVEAL THE END OF THE STORY. • THE CONCLUSION In the conclusion we recommend or not recommend the book/film/programme… and give reasons why.

©Saro Rosales

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USEFUL LANGUAGE • INTRODUCTION It´s a romance/an action film/a cartoon/a biography….. The film/book tells the story of……. The story/film is set……. It´s based on….. It´s written/directed by……. • THE MAIN BODY • Paragraph 1 (Main points of the plot) The story/film begins/is about….. (Start telling the story…. • Paragraph 2 (Comments) It´s rather/quite long/confusing/moving/sad…. It´s a well-written book/ well-acted film… The script/the story is beautifully written The cast is excellent/fantastic…… The book/ the film is full of hilarious/exciting scenes/moments….. • THE CONCLUSION In my opinion…. I would (not) recommend it because….. I really enjoyed/hated it because…. It is definitely (not) worth seeing/reading….. Don’t miss it. I highly/thoroughly recommend it.

©Saro Rosales

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USEFUL VOCABULARY Adjectives entertaining exciting funny hilarious dull serious moving violent predictable entertaining frightening amusing sad fantastic romantic fascinating excellent tragic badly/wellwritten/-acted/-made touching dreadful Adverbs a bit a little rather really absolutely slightly quite very extremely Nouns acting actor actress author writer director novelist character ending novel film/movie documentary plot scene series sequel special effects cast star story soundtrack Verbs act star play write

©Saro Rosales

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A film review ‘A Walk in the Clouds’ This story is about a touching romance which is set in ‘The Clouds’ the place where the Aragons live. The film is directed by Alfonso Arau. The cast includes Keanu Reeves as Victoria´s husband, Aitana Sanchez-Gijón as Victoria Aragón a young student, Anthony Quinn as Victoria´s wise grandfather and Giancarlo Giannini as Victoria´s father. It tells the story of a soldier who comes back home to his wife. He has to earn a living so he goes to other places to sell chocolate. Then the soldier meets Victoria who has come back home too. She is pregnant and single. Victoria fears her father. The man proposes her to pretend to be her husband for a day and afterwards, he will carry on his life together with his wife. Victoria agrees with him but her father suspects of them. The film is filled of amusing and dramatic scenes. The actors give a brilliant performance. It also has beautiful and colourful pictures which go with a superb soundtrack. I highly recommend it. Don´t miss it. If you like familiar values, it will be worth seeing.

MARIA DEL CARMEN RODRIGUEZ ESPINO

INI

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The Big Torino This film, directed by Clint Eastwood, is set in a small town in EEUU. It's an interesting film because it's about the feelings of a rude man after his wife's death. He meets his Asian neighbours and little by little, he becomes a good person. The story begins after his wife's death. He lives and feels alone because his children don't love him. He is an ex-military from Vietnam and he hates himself because of his murders. His neighbours are Asian and he remembers Vietnam, but he helps them to live in the difficult town, which is too dangerous. After a few months, the Asian people become his own family. He teaches their son to look for a job and finally, the main character has a tragic end. The film is fantastic. Its director and main character, Clint Eastwood, creates tension and he gets a bounding atmosphere. The characters are very real and the spectator gets interested by the story. I recommend this film. I think it continues to pull at your thoughts and it's funny too. Excellent story and very good directed.

Angeles Reverón NI 1

5

The Curious case of Benjamin Button The film is about a baby who was born old suffering a terrible disease in which, while the time passed, the person made the opposite: he became younger and younger. His mother died at the moment he was born and his father left his baby to an old couple A Black woman who worked at the house went out and saw the baby in the entrance. She looked at him and looked after him as if the baby was her own. At Benjamin’s 12th birthday he looked like if he was a 80 year old man. Then he met a very beautiful girl and he fell in love with her but he couldn’t confess his love because he was like her grandfather. He told her about his disease and they became friends. One day Benjamin decided to work on a ship to earn Money. While he was sailing around the world he wrote letters to his little friend . After a couple of years, Benjamin returned home and saw his mother, she couldn’t believe his son was a very young man now. He looked for the little girl who he had been writing letters to for a long time ago. He found her and they fell in love. As time passed Benjamin got younger and younger. Now he looked much younger that his girlfriend. One day he told her that it couldn’t be possible because in a period of time he would become a child and later in a baby so he broke the relationship with her. She got married and after a long time, when she was about 60 years old, she received a call telling her that a man had found a little boy who had a diary with her name in his bag . He was Benjamin, and at that time he was about six. She took care of him until he died. I really enjoy this film and I think it is one of my ten favourites.

Francisco Nieto NI1

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Che el Argentino The last film I saw was “Che el argentino”. It tells the story of the world’s most famous Marxist revolutionary, Ernesto “Che” Guevara which is played by Benicio Del Toro as the main character. He won the best Actor Awards. The film is about the beginning of the Cuban revolution, when Fidel Castro met Guevara. He listened to Castro’s plans and signed on as a member of the July 26th Movement. The film shows how he makes an impassioned speech against American imperialism, how his ideas were and the life of Ernesto Guevara in that situation. How he organized the farmers and how he thought about the ideal society. The film shows Guevara as an intelligent and hard man. It’s an interested film because there are a lot of photos about Guevara but I think people don’t get to know who he really was.

Cristina Belver NI1

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REVIEW “El Misterioso Caso de Benjamín Button” The film “El Misterioso Caso de Benjamín Button” is a story that takes place in the last century in the city of London. This is directed by a famous director and the main character is Brad Pitt. This fantastic story begins when somebody leaves a baby in the stairs of a house because he believes that it’s better for the baby to live with them. They discover he’s a special baby because he’s like an 80-year old man, with the appearance and pains of an old man, but the age and experience of a child. He has a little difficult life because while people grow up and die, he gets younger year by year. This fascinating film tells the story of this strange person and his experience and relationships with people. He falls in love with a woman too, but their relation is not easy although their love is strong. Although the film is a little long, I recommend seeing it because it’s a really good story. Maybe you can predict the end but it’s worth seeing it.

YOLANDA VEGA NI1

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