QUICKTakes
KONG RITHDEE
Deja Vu
Starring Denzel Washington, Val Kilmer, Paula Patton
Directed by Tony Scott
Sultry, muddy, post Katrina New Orleans provides a haunting backdrop for this time-travelling thriller that resembles a longer, smarter, nuttier episode of TV series Crime Scene Investigation, with the addition of an inventive car-chase setpiece. When a huge bomb blows up a Mississippi steamship taking 543 passengers to Mardi Gras, Detective Carlin (Washington) joins an FBI taskforce investigating the crime with the help of an expensive thingamajig (with twinkling lights) that allows one to see into the past. Carlin follows clues to one of the murder victims, a pretty waitress named Claire (Patton), and as he watches her glide about her darkened room in a "live" broadcast from her past, he falls in love, with her image, her shadow, her ghost. Frankly, nothing is new in this deja vu of a movie, and Carlin's gung-ho persona can be a little off-putting at times, but as a 120-minute distraction this should hold your attention.
The next review is a little bit easier to read and with less new vocabulary. I have therefore turned it into a gap-filler. Use the vocabulary list below to fill in the empty spaces.
The Noodle Boxer
Starring Worawej "Dan" Danuwong, Nattaweeranuch Thongmee
Directed by Rirkchai Puangtech
This Thai comedy is so unfunny and so _____1_____ that you'd probably get more laughs watching the Animal Planet channel. Pop singer Dan plays Sanit, a noodle _____2_____ who _____3_____ to become a boxer and is being _____4_____ to that end by a gang of _____5_____ clowns, played by some _____6_____ comedians who escaped from local TV. Nattaweeranuch Thongmee, who's pretty as long as she keeps her mouth shut, plays the love interest in this, the most uninteresting love story of _____7_____ memory. I did _____8_____ try very hard to like the film, but no matter how you view it this is still one heavyweight _____9_____.
Extra Activity
Movie reviewers, book reviewers, food reviewers, hotel reviewers, they all use the same scale of 1 to 5 stars - 5 stars being top quality, and 1 star being well below what should be expected. Now, after you have read the reviews, how many stars do you think that Kong Rithdee gave these two movies? Read the texts again carefully, and give your own opinion of Mr Rithdee's judgments. Then, when finished, compare your guesses in class. How many stars did the other students think that the reviewer gave Deja Vu and The Noodle Boxer?
backdrop
the place/setting for something
nuttier
crazier
inventive
creative, new
Mardi Gras
a big festival and party that is before Easter in the Christian calendar
taskforce
a group of often military people or police officers that has a special mission
clues
things that help to solve a mystery or a crime
frankly
honestly; really
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deja vu
a feeling of experiencing something from the past for a second time
gung-ho
extremely enthusiastic or eager to do something
distraction
something that takes someone's attention away from something else
recent
something that happened not too long ago
vendor
somebody who sells something
scatterbrained
something that is very unserious and stupid, or somebody who is unable to think seriously or about important things
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stinker
something of very poor or low quality
gag-spewing
a long line of jokes with no end to them
groomed
trained and prepared somebody for a special mission or task
sincerely
honestly and open
aspires
seeks or tries to reach a goal
slapstick
a kind of rather stupid humour that relies more on the body and actions than language
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