VOA慢速英语2011--Muppets, Penguins and Vampires Take a Big Bite of Movie Sales

AMERICAN MOSAIC¹ - Muppets, Penguins³ and Vampires⁵ Take a Big Bite of Movie Sales

 

DOUG JOHNSON: Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC in VOA Special English.

(MUSIC)

I’m Doug Johnson. Today, we tell about some of the major Hollywood movies, showing in theaters now, for young people.

And we play music from the most successful of those films…

(MUSIC)

Movie Time

DOUG JOHNSON: The winter holiday movie season is here. Many production houses release their major movies in late November, around the Thanksgiving holiday. Last week was no exception. Faith Lapidus has more about the big Hollywood films playing in theaters now.

FAITH LAPIDUS: The top five films in ticket sales right now are all aimed at young movie-goers. “The Muppets” opened in second place last week. It has already made more than forty million dollars in ticket sales across the United States. That is very good, considering the movie’s budget was fifty million dollars.

Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart star in the "Twilight6 Saga7: Breaking Dawn Part 1"

The Muppets were the creation of puppeteer⁸ Jim Henson in the nineteen-fifties. They became extremely well known characters on the public television children’s show “Sesame Street.” The Muppets also had a popular television show of their own. And they made several movies before this one.

(SOUND “The Muppets”)

Jason Segal wrote the latest movie and is one of its stars. But he also had to persuade Walt Disney Studios to make it.

JASON SEGAL: “Well, it’s hard to get a movie made in general, but I think that the big thing that we had to get across was that we had a pure love for the Muppets.”

(SOUND “Hugo”)

The new movie “Hugo” is based on the book “The Invention of Hugo Cabret,” by Brian Selznick. “Hugo” tells the story of a boy in Paris whose parents have died. He lives alone in a train station, stealing for food. But, he also works on a special, secret invention.

Martin Scorsese directed “Hugo.” The family film is not like other movies he directed. Scorsese’s works are usually violent dramas, like “Raging Bull,” “Goodfellas” and “The Departed.”

Scorsese told the magazine “Time Out London,” that he wanted to make a movie his twelve year old daughter could watch. And, he told Reuters he felt an immediate⁹ connection to the story of the boy.

“Hugo” was released the day before Thanksgiving. It has made about seventeen million dollars in American theaters. The movie cost more than one hundred fifty million to make.

There are two major animated¹⁰ movies for children in theaters now. They are “Arthur Christmas” and “Happy Feet Two,” which expands on the two thousand six film, “Happy Feet.”

(SOUND “Happy Feet”)

“Happy Feet Two” is about a young penguin² Erik. He comes from a land of great penguin dancers. But he does not trust in his own skill at dancing.

(SOUND “Happy Feet”)

“Arthur Christmas” is about Arthur and Steve, sons of Santa Claus and his wife. Steve is ready to be the new Santa Claus, but his father is not yet ready to surrender the position. And, could Arthur be the better man for the job, anyway?

(SOUND: “Arthur Christmas”)

“Arthur Christmas” came out last week. Americans have bought about seventeen million dollars worth of tickets to the movie. “Happy Feet Two” was released two weeks ago. It has more than forty million dollars in ticket sales.

(SOUND: “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part One”)

Finally, we tell about a huge hit movie for somewhat older children. “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part One” was released November eighteenth. It is the fourth film based on the Twilight series of books by writer Stephenie Meyer.

Actor Taylor Lautner plays the werewolf Jacob in "The Twilight Saga"

Movie goers looked forward to this part because it opens with the marriage of the series’ heroes. The young beauty Bella, played by Kristen Stewart, marries the vampire⁴ Edward, played by Robert Pattison. But there is also still romantic tension between Bella and Taylor Lautner’s werewolf character, Jacob.

The main concern of the movie is the baby in Bella and Edward’s near future. What will this product of mortal and undead parents be like?

(SOUND: “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part One”)

“Breaking Dawn, Part One” has earned more than five hundred million dollars worldwide since its release two weeks ago. The movie is now showing in more than fifty countries. It has done especially well in the United States, Britain and Russia.

Music from “Breaking Dawn”

DOUG JOHNSON: With all that business at theaters, it is no surprise that “Breaking Dawn” also has a best-selling album. The movie soundtrack entered Billboard’s Top Two Hundred Albums chart at number four last week. It remains¹¹ in the top ten list this week. Shirley Griffith has more.

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: Christina Perri is a twenty-five year old singer and songwriter from Philadelphia. She says she first discovered the Twilight series in two thousand nine. She watched the first movie months after its release. She says she became an immediate and major fan of Twilight. She says she read all the books, saw all the movies and even got a Twilight tattoo¹².

Perri says writing a song about the love between Bella and Edward came easily because she felt she knew them well. She describes “A Thousand Years” as a beautiful and simple song.

(MUSIC)

“Neighbors” is a song by Theophilus London, a native of Brooklyn, New York. He released his first album earlier this year.

“Neighbors” is as sexy a song as “A Thousand Years” is sweet. (MUSIC)

Some critics are not happy with so much popular music on the “Breaking Dawn” soundtrack. And, it is true that one of the biggest pop stars performs the album’s lead single. We leave you with Bruno Mars singing “It Will Rain,” from “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part One.”

(MUSIC)

DOUG JOHNSON: I’m Doug Johnson. Our program was written by and produced by Caty Weaver¹³.

If you have a question about American life, send it to [email protected].

Join us again next week for music and more on AMERICAN MOSAIC in VOA Special English.

1 mosaic   

n./adj.镶嵌细工的，镶嵌工艺品的，嵌花式的

参考例句：

• The sky this morning is a mosaic of blue and white.今天早上的天空是幅蓝白相间的画面。
• The image mosaic is a troublesome work.图象镶嵌是个麻烦的工作。

2 penguin   

n.企鹅

参考例句：

• The penguin is a flightless bird.企鹅是一种不会飞的鸟。
• He walked with an awkward gait like a penguin.他走路的步子难看得就像企鹅。

3 penguins   

n.企鹅( penguin的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Why can penguins live in cold environment? 为什么企鹅能生活在寒冷的环境中？ 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Whales, seals, penguins, and turtles have flippers. 鲸、海豹，企鹅和海龟均有鳍形肢。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

4 vampire   

n.吸血鬼

参考例句：

• It wasn't a wife waiting there for him but a blood sucking vampire!家里的不是个老婆，而是个吸人血的妖精！
• Children were afraid to go to sleep at night because of the many legends of vampire.由于听过许多有关吸血鬼的传说，孩子们晚上不敢去睡觉。

5 vampires   

n.吸血鬼( vampire的名词复数 )；吸血蝠；高利贷者；（舞台上的）活板门

参考例句：

• The most effective weapon against the vampires is avampire itself. 对付吸血鬼最有效的武器就是吸血鬼自己。 来自电影对白
• If vampires existed, don`t you think we would`ve found them by now? 如果真有吸血鬼，那我们怎么还没有找到他们呢？ 来自电影对白

6 twilight   

n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期

参考例句：

• Twilight merged into darkness.夕阳的光辉融于黑暗中。
• Twilight was sweet with the smell of lilac and freshly turned earth.薄暮充满紫丁香和新翻耕的泥土的香味。

7 saga   

n.(尤指中世纪北欧海盗的)故事，英雄传奇

参考例句：

• The saga of Flight 19 is probably the most repeated story about the Bermuda Triangle.飞行19中队的传说或许是有关百慕大三角最重复的故事。
• The novel depicts the saga of a family.小说描绘了一个家族的传奇故事。

8 puppeteer   

n.操纵木偶的人，操纵傀儡

参考例句：

• Mr. Sullivan is a professional puppeteer.沙利文先生是一位专业的木偶戏表演者。
• One puppeteer controls the doll's head,face,and right hand.一个表演者控制木偶的头部，面部和右手。

9 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

10 animated   

adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的

参考例句：

• His observations gave rise to an animated and lively discussion.他的言论引起了一场气氛热烈而活跃的讨论。
• We had an animated discussion over current events last evening.昨天晚上我们热烈地讨论时事。

11 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

12 tattoo   

n.纹身，(皮肤上的)刺花纹；vt.刺花纹于

参考例句：

• I've decided to get my tattoo removed.我已经决定去掉我身上的纹身。
• He had a tattoo on the back of his hand.他手背上刺有花纹。

13 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。