Submergence

Wim Wenders
James McAvoy
Alicia Vikander

Today we watched the trailer for Submergence, a film that's now playing at Denkikan. It's a love story starring James McAvoy and Alicia Vikander. It's playing for one week only. Another film that's coming to Denkikan soon is the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. I saw it in Tokyo a few weeks ago. It's great!

Have you been watching any soccer recently? In the Premier League, teams that are usually very strong such as Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United, and Chelsea are not doing so well. People are excited that some of the weaker teams, such as Leicester and West Ham, may do well this year.

(106 words)

Submergence

Submergence
Wim Wenders
James McAvoy
Alicia Vikander

Today we watched the trailer for Submergence, a movie starring James McAvoy and Alicia Vikander, and directed by Wim Wenders. James McAvoy plays an MI:6 and Alicia Vikander plays a marine biologist who usually works on a submarine. They both have dangerous jobs, and they both have to be away from home for a long time, but they fall in love. The trailer shows James McAvoy in Somalia. He is captured by terrorists.

From today, the Hummingbird Project has started playing. That stars Jesse Eisenberg. It looks very interesting.

(88 words)

Writing IV: an outline

Hi everybody,

Here are some details regarding Writing IV.

Basically, there are three types of work:

1. Gofun ha Juubun: This is a kind of timed writing that we will do at the beginning of each class. Please be sure to come on time so that you can do the timed writing with everyone.
2. Reading and book reviews: Reading English regularly is probably the most important thing if you want to improve your writing. You should write 12 book reviews during the semester, basically one a week. When possible, I will give you time to write one in class. But most of the time it will be necessary to read a book and write a book review for homework. Very short books are fine, but if you have extra time I recommend reading something a bit longer and more difficult.
3. Essay-related work: There will be about three major topics during the semester. These will lead up to writing an essay, but we will do lots of activities before you have to write the essay, so that you can read, listen to, or talk about the topic, or do short writing tasks to prepare you for the essay.

Henry and Mudge and the Yellow Moon

The clicking got louder.
The shoes are coming! thought Henry.
He put his head in Mudge's neck.
Now the clicking was louder than ever.
"Mudge," Henry's mother said, "stop chattering."
Chattering?
Henry put his ear near Mudge's mouth.
And Mudge's teeth went CLICK-CLICK-
CLICK-CLICK-CLICK-CLICK.

Henry and Mudge and the Yellow Moon, like the other Henry and Mudge books, is a Ready-to-Read Level 2 book. It is a collection of three very short stories, all about the autumn. The three stories are Together in the Fall, Under the Yellow Moon, and Thanksgiving Guest. The above quotation is from the second story. Henry's mum likes reading ghost stories to the family at Halloween. Henry doesn't like them. But they are all surprised to find that Mudge is more scared than anyone!

Vocabulary

hold one's breath
graveyard
jack-o'-lantern
chipmunk

Rylant, C. (1987). Henry and Mudge and the yellow moon. New York, NY: Simon Spotlight.

Henry and Mudge under the Yellow Moon (Henry & Mudge) 著者 : Cynthia Rylant Simon Spotlight 発売日 : 1996-06-01 ブクログでレビューを見る»

932 words

歴史と現代が調和するコンパクトCity”熊本市”を巡る

Today we watched a video about Kumamoto, made by some westerners based in Fukuoka (I think). They talked about how to get to Kumamoto from Fukuoka. They mentioned that Kumamoto is one of the biggest cities in Kyushu, and that it is easy to get around the city.

How was everyone's summer vacation? I didn't really have much real vacation, but I went on several business trips and had some free time in the evenings. I took some students to Aso for a week for an English camp. I also went to Tokyo twice for some meetings and a seminar.

(99 words)

Henry and Mudge and the Careful Cousin

Henry felt around under his bed.
He pulled out a brown paper bag.
It had some dust balls on it and an old piece of hard gum stuck on it.
Henry pulled out a cookie and handed it to Annie.
She turned pink again.
Uh-oh, thought Henry.
This was going to be a very long visit.

Henry lives with his dog Mudge and his parents. One day, his cousin Annie comes to visit. Henry has never met her before, so he is a bit worried. When she arrives, he is even more worried, because she wears very elegant clothes and she doesn't like getting dirty. She doesn't like it when Mudge licks her, and she doesn't seem happy that Henry's room is so dirty.

But, as time goes by, she gets used to Henry and Mudge, and she is very good at doing the frisbee.

By the time she leaves, Henry and Mudge are sad to see her go.

Henry and Mudge and the Careful Cousin 著者 : Cynthia Rylant 発売日 : 1994 ブクログでレビューを見る»

歴史と現代が調和するコンパクトCity”熊本市”を巡る

Today we watched the beginning of a video about Kumamoto. The video is in English, and it's about 10 minutes long. We only watched about one minute or so. The two hosts are one man whose name I've forgotten and a woman called Nita. I think the man was probably Australian and the woman Finnish or Swedish. The video seemed to be from a series made by people based in Fukuoka who make videos about Kyushu. They told us how to get to Kumamoto from Fukuoka and they showed us Kumamoto Station, Shimotori arcade, and Suizenji. They wore a kimono to Suizenji. It looks rather interesting, so I look forward to watching the rest.
(114 words)

The Old Man & the Gun, and other matters…

Today we watched the trailer for The Old Man & the Gun, a true story about a man who was addicted to robbing banks. The staff at the banks that he robbed all said that he seemed friendly, but he also had a gun. It is said to be the last movie starring Robert Redford. You may know his name from movies like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Natural, Sneakers, A River Runs Through It, The Sting, and recently some of the Marvel movies. In addition to being an actor, he was also a movie director and the founder of the Sundance Festival.

I went to Osaka last weekend for a seminar, and also saw The Old Man & the Gun there.

[123 words]

End of the semester

Before next week, please:

• Study your self-introduction/homestay letter, so that you can write it again without any notes.
• Write any missing posts, or extra posts that you would like included in your grade.
• Make sure that your different kinds of posts have appropriate tags (labels).
• Make a note of the total number of posts you have written, as well as the number of book reviews.

Midnight Run: sentences and mindmap frame

Everybody Knows, and other matters…

Javier Bardem
Penelope Cruz

Today we saw the trailer for Everybody Knows, a movie starring Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem. A family gets together in the countryside, but someone is kidnapped. I didn't really understand the story from the trailer, but it looks very interesting.

The Wimbledon tennis tournament is coming to an end. The men's singles has reached the semifinals, and the women's singles has reached the final. In the women's singles, Simona Halep will play Serena Williams. In the men's semifinals, Rafael Nadal will play Roger Federer, and Djokovic will play Roberto Bautista Agut. I have never seen him play, but the other players are all very famous.

105 words

Midnight Run, and other matters…

Robert De Niro: Jack (bounty hunter)
Charles Grodin: Jonathan Mardukas (The Duke) (accountant for the Mafia)
Jimmy Serrano: Mafia boss
Eddie: bail bondsman

Today we watched the trailer for Midnight Run, a movie starring Robert De Niro and Charles Grodin. Charles Grodin plays an accountant (The Duke) who was working for a mafia company but stole lots of money from them. Now, the mafia want to kill him, and the FBI want to arrest him so that they can get evidence to arrest the mafia members. Jack (Robert De Niro) is a bounty hunter. A bail bondsman hires Jack to catch The Duke, because he has run away. Jack has to keep him away from the FBI and the Mafia, and try to get the Duke back to Los Angeles in 72 hours, in order to get money from the bail bondsman.

On another note, I think the Wimbledon semifinal between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer is on TV tonight. It should be very exciting!

141 words

White Crow, American Animals, and other matters…

Rudolph Nureyev
Pushkin: Ralph Fiennes

Today we watched two movie trailers. The first one was for White Crow, and the second for American Animals. White Crow is a movie about Rudolph Nureyev, and American Animals is about students who decide to steal expensive books from a library.

Now, the Wimbledon tennis tournament is happening. Last night, Rafael Nadal won his match.

55 words

White Crow, and other matters…

Rudolph Nureyev: Oleg Ivenko
Pushkin: Ralph Fiennes

Today we watched the trailer for White Crow, a new movie about Rudolph Nureyev, the famous Russian ballet dancer who defected to the West. It's directed by Ralph Fiennes, who also plays Pushkin. Nureyev is played by Oleg Ivenko. It's playing at Denkikan now. Also playing there is American Animals, a movie about an attempt to rob a library!

Have you been following the Women's World Cup Football? It's coming to an end soon. The USA beat England in one semifinal and the Netherlands beat Sweden in the other, so the USA and the Netherlands will meet in the final. England will play Sweden in the 3rd-place playoff. Those matches will take place on Saturday and Sunday.

116 words

The Good Liar (Bill Condon), and other matters…

Ian McKellen
Helen Mirren

Today we watched the trailer for The Good Liar, a movie starring Ian McKellen and
Helen Mirren. Ian McKellen is known in recent years for The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Mr Holmes, and Magneto in the X-Men movies. Further back, he's known for Richard III and Scandal, for example. Helen Mirren is known for Gosford Park, The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover, The Long Goodbye, and many more movies. More recently, she has appeared in RED and RED II.

82 words

The Good Liar

Ian McKellen (Lord of the Rings)
Helen Mirren (Eye in the Sky, The Queen)

Today we watched the trailer for The Good Liar, a movie directed by Bill Condon and starring Ian McKellen and Helen Mirren. It's about a swindler called Roy Courtnay who goes on a date with Helen Mirren. He pretends it's for a romantic relationship, but actually he knows that she is rich and he wants to take all her money. It looks very interesting, but I don't know when it will come to Japan.

The women's world cup is approaching its end. England reached the semifinals yesterday by beating Norway. I'm not sure who their opponent will be, though.

98 words

Zombie by The Cranberries, and other matters...

The Troubles
Dolores O'Riordan

Today we watched some music videos. The first two were Zombie by The Cranberries. The first was the studio version with lyrics shown on the screen and the second was a live performance in Paris. The audience was very big and they were all standing, and they seemed very involved with the performance. I would have liked to see them live sometime, but the singer Dolores O'Riordan died last year. We also took a look at the beginning of Ridiculous Thoughts. The singing/wailing there sounds pretty good.

(87 words)

Zombie, by The Cranberries and other matters...

Today we watched a music video. It was Zombie by The Cranberries, an Irish group. First we watched the song with lyrics, and then we watched a live performance in Paris. That was in 1999, and at the end of the song the singer said something about wanting peace in Northern Ireland. That was around the time of the peace agreement.

The Cranberries are the second most successful Irish group ever. The most successful one is U2. Do you know them? They became popular in the 1980s and are still successful now.

It has been raining quite a lot since yesterday. I guess the rainy season is here. Fortunately, the rain is not so heavy now. Hopefully, it will clear up tomorrow. It seems to me that the season is much later than usual.

(132 words)

Men in Black: International, and other matters…

Chris Hemsworth
Tessa Thompson

Today we watched the trailer for Men in Black: International. It stars Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson. It begins on June 14th (today) in the U.S., and on the same day in Japan, too. It looks rather fun and exciting.

There has been quite a lot of sport going on. In France, the Roland Garros (French Open) tennis tournament was held. Rafael Nadal won his 12th title there. In football, the women's World Cup has been going on.

(77 words)

Saving Zoë

Laura Marano
Vanessa Marano

Today we saw the trailer for Saving Zoë, a new movie directed by Jeffrey Hunt. It's about two sisters, one of whom is called Zoë. She is murdered near the beginning of the film and her sister tries to find out what happened.

I was hoping to watch Colette at Denkikan but it's only playing for another week, so I guess I'll have to wait for it to be released as a DVD. At the big movie theaters, Aladdin and Men in Black are playing now. I'm not so interested in seeing them. I wonder what else is coming soon?

(99 words)