Gold, and other matters…

And the only question I'm left with is: How did 17 billion dollars disappear overnight?

Since I have already written about this movie, I want to talk about movies playing now in Japan. A Bigger Splash stars Ralph Fiennes (from the Harry Potter series), Tilda Swinton (from Only Lovers Left Alive) and Dakota Johnson (from Fifty Shades of Grey). It will end its run this Friday. Everybody Wants Some is a Richard Linklater film about campus life that also ends its run this Friday. Remember is a movie about a forgetful old man who finds out about his wartime past. Another movie playing now is The Girl on the Train, starring Emily Blunt.

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Gold, and other matters…

"We've got a gold mine! We've got a gold mine!"

That is from the movie Gold, starring Academy Award Winner Matthew McConaughey and Edgar Ramírez. It's coming out this week in the US, though probably it won't arrive in Japan until the summer. It's based on a true story about a man who goes to Indonesia to mine for gold. He finds it and makes lots of money, but then there are some problems concerning the ownership of the gold. I had never heard of this story before watching this trailer, so I'm curious to find out what happens at the end.

And the only question I'm left with is: How can 17 billion dollars disappear overnight?

I wonder what happened to the gold?

Moving to movies that are actually playing now, I hope to see Everybody Wants Some, by Richard Linklater, and Girl on a Train. I'm not sure if I'll actually have the time, though, before Everybody Wants Some ends its run this week. I wish movies at Denkikan continued a little longer.

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Final Class!

1. Finish your essay on the Atama-ii books series.
2. Write your final Blog Stats post. Include your updated Juppun ha Juubun scores to show your progress over the year.
3. Prepare for the test (content below).

The test will consist of two parts as usual:

1. Your blog stats, such as number of words, number of posts, number of book reviews, etc. To prepare for this, the best way is to update your final Blog Stats post the day before the test. That will leave you more time for the second part of the test. During this part of the test, you can go online to check the figures.
2. An essay. The topic will be one of the topics covered in this semester's dictoglosses.* During this part, you may not go online, although you can use dictionaries (paper or electronic) if you like.

Possible essay topics in the exam:

• Freeters
• Cram schools
• Smartphones

Easy ways to improve your score in the last week

• Make sure you have finished your typing homework and posted all of it on your blog.
• Write more book reviews.
• Update your blog stats the day before the exam.

The Founder, and other matters…

Today we watched the trailer for The Founder, a movie starring Michael Keaton about the man who took over the McDonald's empire from the McDonald brothers. McDonald's started with one store in southern California, and Kroc turned it into an empire of 1,600 stores and annual revenue of 70,000,000 dollars.

I caught Rogue One last week before its run ended. It was kind of fun to watch but I didn't really feel satisfied after it ended. I hope that next year's installment, directed by Rian Johnson, will be better.

Arsenal and Liverpool are not having such a great time now, even though Arsenal managed to win in the end. It looks like Arsene Wenger will be banned.

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The Founder, and other matters…

Today we watched the trailer for The Founder, a movie starring Michael Keaton, about the founding of the burger franchise business McDonald's. It's about Ray Kroc (Michael Keaton), the man who tricked the McDonald brothers and took control of the McDonald's business, originally just one store in California. His first wife is played by Laura Dern.

In the Premier League, Chelsea won again. They're about 10 points ahead of everyone else now. It seems unlikely that anyone else can catch them, but Tottenham and Manchester United seem most likely.

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Everybody Wants Some, and other matters…

Today we watched the trailer for Everybody Wants Some, a movie directed by Richard Linklater that is now playing at Denkikan, the downtown cinema that shows unusual movies. I think it's worth watching anything made by Linklater, as he always has an unusual angle on a story. Some of my favorite movies by him are the Before trilogy, consisting of Before Sunset, Before Sunrise, and Before Midnight. Those movies feature the same actors, Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke, playing the same characters over a period of 18 years. Unusually, all three films feature a lot of talking. I think everyone has heard of Boyhood, for which Linklater filmed a boy every year for 12 years.

Other films that are scheduled for the near future at Denkikan are Girl on the Train and A Bigger Splash.

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Brainstorm

You are a scientist. Do you use your new nanobot technology to help people…or to destroy the world?

Today, I read another Atami-ii book, Brainstorm by Andy Boon. In this story, I am a scientist who has
developed nanobots for medical use. I work with a surgeon to send nanobots into patients' brains and repair damage.

One day, I work on a patient who has brain cancer. But, as I am working, the nanobots start multiplying. I have to decide whether to stop the operation or to continue it. Then the doctor has a stroke, and I have to decide whether to wait for help or operate alone.


flash-freeze: 急速冷凍する

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Paterson, Lost in London, and other matters…

Today we watched two movie trailers. The first one was Paterson. It is about a man called Paterson who lives in a town called Paterson in New Jersey. He is a bus driver, and he writes poetry in his spare time. It is a very quiet movie about his daily life. It stars Adam Driver, who has a great reputation for his work in movies such as Star Wars: The Force Awakens and While We're Young.

The second trailer was Lost in London. That is a comedy by Woody Harrelson, starring himself and Owen Wilson. It is based on an episode in Woody Harrelson's life. It is a very unusual kind of movie, because it is one take over two hours and will be broadcast live into cinemas.

At Denkikan now, Richard Linklater's Everybody Wants Some is showing. After Boyhood and the Before/After Sunrise/Sunset/Midnight trilogy, I am interested in any movie that he makes, so I hope to find the time to see this movie. Denkikan has many interesting movies, so I recommend that you try to find the time to see some while you are students.

In the Premier League, Chelsea and Spurs won, while Manchester United and Liverpool drew, and Manchester City lost. It looks like Chelsea will win the league, while Liverpool, Spurs, and Manchester United are favorites for the other top-four spots.

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