【英语听和读】电影“假日”评论

 Callum: Hello, I'm Callum Robertson and this is Entertainment. In the Christmas and New

Year season there are always a number of films released set in this time of year

which use images of traditional Christmas and winter scenery, like cottages in

country villages covered in snow. One such film in the cinemas at the moment is

The Holiday, a romantic comedy or rom-com which stars Kate Winslet, Cameron

Diaz, Jack¹ Black and Jude Law

In today's programme we hear a review of the film by my favourite BBC reviewer

Mark Kermode. I like Mark's reviews because he is passionate² about films. He

praises the films he likes and criticises those he doesn't and if he really doesn't like

a film he is very expressive³ and imaginative in his descriptions of how much he

dislikes it. So what about the Holiday? Does he like it, dislike it or hate it?

Before we find out, like any good review we need to hear a little bit about the plot.

Mark Kermode

The story is Kate Winslet is living in England and she is heartbroken and Cameron Diaz is living

in Los Angeles. And Kate Winslet works in a very little job for the Daily Telegraph. Cameron

Diaz makes movie trailers in Los Angeles and she's got some problems as well. So you know it's

really lucky because they end up doing a house-swap⁴ together. So Kate goes to Los Angeles,

where she meets Jake Black and Cameron Diaz comes to Surrey and she meets Mr Charm himself,

Jude Law and you know love starts to blossom.

Callum: So it's a film about two women who are unlucky in love, one in Surrey, England

and one in Los Angeles, United States. They have a house swap, a swap, when you 

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exchange one thing for another. They swap houses and meet new men and love

starts to blossom, love starts to grow.

So far, so good. It seems like a fairly reasonable basis for a romantic comedy and

has a good cast. Time now to hear what Mark thinks about it.

Mark Kermode

Firstly it's very long, I mean it's over two hours long and it should really have been like you know,

at tops, absolute tops, 88 minutes.

Callum: His first comment is that the film is too long. He says that at tops, at tops it should

be 88 minutes. At tops is a short expression meaning maximum, so the maximum

it should have been , the longest it should have been is 88 minutes. This all seems

quite reasonable so far but we are still waiting to hear Mark's opinion of the film

or some clue as to how he feels about it. You don't have to wait very long. Let's

hear why he thinks it should be shorter.

Mark Kermode

It should really have been like you know, at tops, absolute tops, 88 minutes because then it just

would have been vomit⁵-inducingly ghastly.

Callum: Oh dear, that doesn't sound good. Let's listen to that description again:

Mark Kermode

vomit-inducingly ghastly.

Callum: Vomit-inducingly ghastly. So ghastly, so horrible it makes you vomit, which

means it makes what's in your stomach come up out of your mouth. This is why I

like Mark's reviews so much, they are so descriptive and put an image in your

mind of people's reaction to the movie.

Mark Kermode

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vomit-inducingly ghastly.

Callum: So what gives Mark such a strong reaction to a romantic comedy? In his

explanation he talks about the saccharine⁶-sugary coating of the film. Saccharine is

an artificial sweetener, it makes things taste sweet, but not in a natural way. So

Mark is comparing the film to an artificially sweet food, it's not genuine, it's false

but still very sweet and like something that's too sweet it makes you feel sick.

He also uses the term pastiche⁷. A pastiche is a piece of writing or a film that is

deliberately⁸ made in the style of something else, often to show how bad the style

being copied is. So is the Holiday a pastiche, is it deliberately trying to be bad, to

be an example of a bad romantic comedy?

Mark Kermode

It's one of those films in which the saccharine sugary coating is so badly done that you think that

you're watching a pastiche, you think somebody is doing a joke about just how badly these things

can be put together.

Callum: Mark thinks that it is so bad it seems like a pastiche, a joke about how bad a

romantic film could be. He goes on to say the film is trying to be like the

successful romantic comedy Love Actually, does he think it is close to being as

good?

Mark Kermode

It desperately⁹ wants to be Love Actually, and it is Toilet Actually

Callum: Well, I think Mark's views on this film are clear. It's not Love Actually, it's

Toilet Actually! Not one of his favourites of 2006!

If you're making a trip to the cinema in the next few days, I hope you find a film

which you enjoy. That's all from this edition of Entertainment. 

1 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

2 passionate   

adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的

参考例句：

• He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
• He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。

3 expressive   

adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的

参考例句：

• Black English can be more expressive than standard English.黑人所使用的英语可能比正式英语更有表现力。
• He had a mobile,expressive,animated face.他有一张多变的，富于表情的，生动活泼的脸。

4 swap   

n.交换；vt.交换，用...作交易

参考例句：

• I will swap you my bicycle for your radio.我想拿我的自行车换你的收音机。
• This comic was a swap that I got from Nick.这本漫画书是我从尼克那里换来的。

5 vomit   

v.呕吐，作呕；n.呕吐物，吐出物

参考例句：

• They gave her salty water to make her vomit.他们给她喝盐水好让她吐出来。
• She was stricken by pain and began to vomit.她感到一阵疼痛，开始呕吐起来。

6 saccharine   

adj.奉承的，讨好的

参考例句：

• She smiled with saccharine sweetness.她的笑里只有虚情假意的甜蜜。
• I found the film far too saccharine.我觉得这部电影太缠绵了。

7 pastiche   

n.模仿 ； 混成

参考例句：

• He has a gift for pastiche.他有模仿他人作品的天赋。Peter Baker's bathroom is a brilliant pastiche of expensive interior design.彼得·贝克的浴室是高档室内设计的集大成之作。

8 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

9 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。