Alissa (Macmillan Readers)

Alissa

Suddenly the woman shouts at Alissa. "You aren't going to read here," she shouts. "You're going to cook and clean and wash."… Alissa is very unhappy. She cries every night.

This story is probably set in Latin American or South America. It's about a girl who is sold into slavery. But something good happens to her in the end.

Moore, C.J. (2005). Alissa. Oxford, UK: Macmillan Heinemann ELT.

300: Rise of an Empire, and other matters…

Today we watched the trailer for 300: Rise of an Empire. As you can imagine, it is the sequel (or prequel?) to the movie 300. That movie has a good reputation but, to tell you the truth, I never saw it. I plan to watch it on DVD soon and then go and see the second movie at the theater when it comes, in March next year.

Talking about movies playing now or coming soon, A Royal Affair is now playing at Denkikan. It is based on a true story involving the Danish royal family. It stars Mads Mikkelsen, who is best known for his work in the James Bond movie, Casino Royale. It ends on July 5th, so don't wait too long!

Rain, Rain, Rain!

Faye waits for the next bus. She waits and waits. There is no bus. "Where's the bus?" thinks Faye. Faye does not see a car. The car goes into the water. Now she is very, very wet.

Rain, Rain, Rain! is a Level 1 book in the Foundations Reading Library. It's about Faye, who is late for school because of problems with buses and trains. But there's a surprise waiting for her at school!

Waring, Rob and Jamall, Maurice. (2006). Rain, Rain, Rain! Boston, MA: Thomson ELT.

The Desolation of Smaug, and other matters…

Today we watched The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. It is part 2 of the 3-part Hobbit movie. As usual, the effects look impressive. There is of course a dragon, and the stars of The Lord of the Rings all appear: Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom, Christopher Lee, Ian McKellen, Hugo Weaving, and Ian McKellen. Martin Freeman, who plays Bilbo Baggins, is of course the major new star of The Hobbit.

Before class, I also watched the trailer for The Colony. It seems to be a combined science fiction/zombie picture. I'm not particularly interested in zombie pictures, but this one features Lawrence Fishburne (who you may know from The Matrix) and Bill Paxton, so I hope to see it.

Have you been watching the Confederations Cup? Japan lost all three matches and so left without a point and bottom of their group. Spain and Brazil went through without any problems, so the semi-finals will be between Brazil and Uruguay (26th), and Spain and Italy (27th).

The Nightingale (FFT)

At the palace, the nightingale sang and sang. The king loved the music so much that he cried. "I will buy you a fancy cage so you can sing for me always," he said.

So he did.

By and by, a present came from the king of Japan. Inside was a toy nightingale. It was made of gold and covered with jewels.

The toy nightingale makes the king forget what is really important!

Compulsion, and other matters…

Today we saw the trailer for Compulsion, a movie starring Heather Graham and Carrie-Anne Moss (of The Matrix fame). It seems to be a story about someone (played by Heather Graham) who has a food compulsion and needs someone to enjoy eating what she has cooked. When Heather Graham's neighbour, played by Carrie-Anne Moss, disappears, a police officer, played by Joe Mantegna, gets involved. It looks pretty interesting, but I don't know when it will come to Japan. In any case, it's good to see these two actresses again.

Cambridge English Readers

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The Elves and the Shoemaker (FFT)

"Two elves have been making the shoes!" said the shoemaker.
"Did you see their tattered clothes? Let's make them some new ones to say thank you," said his wife.
All day, the shoemaker and his wife worked and worked. She made two tiny outfits. He made two tiny pairs of shoes.

The Elves and the Shoemaker tells the story of a shoemaker and his wife who are helped by two elves.

Killing Season, and…

Today, we watched the trailer for Killing Season. It's a new movie starring John Travolta and Robert De Niro. It's probably similar to many other movies, but I'm excited to see those two actors together, so I'll try to see it. I don't know when it's coming to Japan, though.

Two movies showing now are Olympus Has Fallen and Oblivion. Oblivion is a science fiction action movie starring Tom Cruise. Olympus Has Fallen is a thriller starring Morgan Freeman, Gerard Butler, Robert Forster, and Angela Bassett.

Henry and Mudge in the Family Trees

Henry suddenly felt nervous. So many relatives! What would they say? Would they be nice? Would they be friendly? Would they understand dog drool? Henry and Mudge got out of the car. Henry felt very shy.

Henry and Mudge have received an invitation to Cousin Annie's house. Henry and Mudge both like Cousin Annie very much so they are looking forward to the visit. But when they get there, there are so many people that they feel nervous. How does the visit go? Read Henry and Mudge in the Family Trees to find out!

Rylant, Cynthia. (1997). Henry and Mudge in the family trees. New York: Simon Spotlight.

The Heat, and other matters…

Today we watched the trailer for The Heat, starring Sandra Bullock. She plays an FBI agent who's very tough and effective but isn't liked by the other agents, so she's given a desk job. But she gets a new partner and things soon change…

This probably won't come to Japan until the end of the year, but I'll keep a look out for it.

Henry and Mudge and the Long Weekend

"Let's make a castle," said Henry's mother. "A castle?" said Henry and Henry's father. "We still have the box the new refrigerator came in, and the box the new stove came in."

In this way, a long, rainy, boring weekend changes into an exciting one where Henry hardly has time to eat. Do they manage to make a castle, and what does it look like? What does Mudge do while they are making the castle? Find out the answers to all these questions and more, in Henry and Mudge and the Long Weekend! This is the eleventh book of the adventures of Henry and Mudge. Look for the others!

Rylant, Cynthia. (1992). Henry and Mudge and the long weekend. New York, NY: Simon Spotlight.

The Heat, and more…

Today we watched The Heat, a comedy action movie starring Sandra Bullock. It looks pretty interesting, but I'm not sure when it's going to be released in Japan. There are lots of other movies on the iTunes movie trailer site that look interesting. Some of them that I took a look at yesterday are White House Down, Tiger Eyes, The Prey, and Wish You Were Here.

Movies playing at the cinemas now include Oblivion, The Grandmaster, End of Olympus, and many more!

Monsters University, and other matters…

Today, we watched the trailer to Monsters University, the new Pixar movie. It looks very exciting, and I think it's coming out in Japan in early July. Theree is lots of information available on this movie. Check out the movie page on the Disney site, the site of the actual university(!), the Facebook page, the info on comingsoon.net, and the trailers page on the iTunes Movie Trailers site.

Useful movie sites

Here are some useful movie sites:

1. The Internet Movie Database: This is a very big English-language database of movies and TV shows.
2. iTunes Movie Trailers: The database is not so big, but it shows us trailers and featurettes of upcoming and recent movies, usually in high-quality video.
3. allcinema Movie Database: This is a Japanese site that translates movie titles between English and Japanese, and also gives the date when the movie will start playing in Japan.

Monsters University, and other matters

This morning, we watched the trailer for Monsters University. It is of course the sequel to Monsters Inc, the 2001 movie from Pixar. Often, sequels are just moneymaking enterprises, but in the case of Pixar they're usually really good; I actually enjoyed Toy Story 2 and 3 more than the original Toy Story. I checked Monsters University on allcinema.net, and it looks like it's coming at the beginning of July.

Other movies coming soon in Japan are The Great Gatsby, Celeste and Jessie Forever, and Olympus Has Fallen. Olympus Has Fallen doesn't have such great reviews, but it looks pretty exciting!