VOA标准英语2010年-Fantasy Battles Reality for Best Pictu

The countdown to the 82nd Academy Awards, Hollywood's glitziest event, has begun.

This year, 10 films, instead of the usual five, are competing for Best Picture. Two of them  -- "The Hurt Locker¹" and "Avatar" -- appear to be favorites and are in fierce competition with nine Oscar nominations² each.

The two movies couldn't be more different. "The Hurt Locker" is a low-budget war drama while "Avatar" is an epic³ 3D fantasy with special effects and box office revenues of "Titanic⁴" proportions.

Another world

The inhabitants of director James Cameron's fictional⁵ planet fight for survival against humans in "Avatar."

In "Avatar," director James Cameron creates a visual extravaganza that immerses the viewer in the lush, tropical world of planet Pandora. The filmmaker invented a habitat with thousands of imagined animal and plant species. He also created the Na'vi, an alien tribe of 10-foot-tall blue people who speak a language of their own.

"We were creating an entire world from scratch," says Cameron. "So we got a number of top-class artists, I mean the top people. I am an artist so I went to find people that impressed me."

But what's most novel is the film's 3D cinematography. Cameron built a 3D camera that shoots from two different perspectives at the same time, mimicking⁶ the way human beings view the world. The movie screen gives the illusion that one is looking from a window into a three-dimensional universe.

 

Mark Fellman

James Cameron, who won Best Picture for "Titanic," faces tough competition from his ex-wife, director Kathryn Bigelow.

"Avatar" is the story of Jake Sully, a paraplegic former marine⁷ sent to Pandora to help humans infiltrate⁸ and destroy the Na'vis in order to exploit the planet's mineral resources. Jake fuses his consciousness with his avatar, a 10-foot-tall Na'vi engineered by human geneticists.
 
However, the more Jake inhabits his avatar, the more he empathizes with the natives. He ultimately sides with the Na'vi in a deadly battle against the humans. The film cost $300 million to make and has grossed almost $1 billion.

Cameron, who won Best Picture for "Titanic", is facing tough competition from his ex-wife, director Kathryn Bigelow and her gripping Iraq war drama, "The Hurt Locker."

Realities of war

While Bigelow's $11 million production cannot match Cameron's alternate universe, the film does offer riveting⁹ cinematography, an intelligent script and Oscar-worthy performances.

The movie focuses on a bomb disposal unit in Baghdad. Danger surrounds them and no one is more exposed than the three soldiers working to disable homemade bombs all across town.

 

 

Kathryn Bigelow has already been named Best Director by the Directors' Guild¹⁰.

The movie is nerve-racking. Bigelow drives home the war's bottom line: the fight for survival. Bigelow's film does not glorify¹¹ war. She shows the soldiers' bravery but at the same time portrays¹² their anguish¹³ and addiction¹⁴ to the rush of battle. Four cameras roll at the same time, jerking from one soldier to the next in documentary style.

Bigelow has already been named Best Director by the Directors' Guild. She, like Cameron, has received nine Oscar nominations including Best Picture and Best Director.

If she wins either, she'll be the first woman director so honored.   

"I think that what's amazing is to be recognized for a film that puts a magnifying lens on a very difficult, if not insane, situation in Iraq," says Bigelow.

And what does James Cameron say about his rival?

"I wish her the absolute best. If she wins, I'll be cheering," he says.

 

1 locker   

n.更衣箱，储物柜，冷藏室，上锁的人

参考例句：

• At the swimming pool I put my clothes in a locker.在游泳池我把衣服锁在小柜里。
• He moved into the locker room and began to slip out of his scrub suit.他走进更衣室把手术服脱下来。

2 nominations   

n.提名，任命( nomination的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Nominations are invited for the post of party chairman. 为党主席职位征集候选人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Much coverage surrounded his abortive bids for the 1960,1964, and 1968 Republican Presidential nominations. 许多消息报道都围绕着1960年、1964年和1968年他为争取提名为共和党总统候选人所做努力的失败。 来自辞典例句

3 epic   

n.史诗，叙事诗；adj.史诗般的，壮丽的

参考例句：

• I gave up my epic and wrote this little tale instead.我放弃了写叙事诗，而写了这个小故事。
• They held a banquet of epic proportions.他们举行了盛大的宴会。

4 titanic   

adj.巨人的，庞大的，强大的

参考例句：

• We have been making titanic effort to achieve our purpose.我们一直在作极大的努力，以达到我们的目的。
• The island was created by titanic powers and they are still at work today.台湾岛是由一个至今仍然在运作的巨大力量塑造出来的。

5 fictional   

adj.小说的，虚构的

参考例句：

• The names of the shops are entirely fictional.那些商店的名字完全是虚构的。
• The two authors represent the opposite poles of fictional genius.这两位作者代表了天才小说家两个极端。

6 mimicking   

v.（尤指为了逗乐而）模仿( mimic的现在分词 )；酷似

参考例句：

• She's always mimicking the teachers. 她总喜欢模仿老师的言谈举止。
• The boy made us all laugh by mimicking the teacher's voice. 这男孩模仿老师的声音，逗得我们大家都笑了。 来自辞典例句

7 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

8 infiltrate   

vt./vi.渗入，透过；浸润

参考例句：

• The teacher tried to infiltrate her ideas into the children's minds.老师设法把她的思想渗透到孩子们的心中。
• It can infiltrate as much as 100 kilometers into enemy territory at night.可以在夜间深入敌领土100千米。

9 riveting   

adj.动听的，令人着迷的，完全吸引某人注意力的；n.铆接（法）

参考例句：

• I find snooker riveting though I don't play myself.虽然我自己不打斯诺克，但是我觉得它挺令人着迷。
• To my amazement,I found it riveting.但令我惊讶的是，我发现它的吸引人处。

10 guild   

n.行会，同业公会，协会

参考例句：

• He used to be a member of the Writers' Guild of America.他曾是美国作家协会的一员。
• You had better incorporate the firm into your guild.你最好把这个公司并入你的行业协会。

11 glorify   

vt.颂扬，赞美，使增光，美化

参考例句：

• Politicians have complained that the media glorify drugs.政治家们抱怨媒体美化毒品。
• We are all committed to serving the Lord and glorifying His name in the best way we know.我们全心全意敬奉上帝，竭尽所能颂扬他的美名。

12 portrays   

v.画像( portray的第三人称单数 )；描述；描绘；描画

参考例句：

• The museum collection vividly portrays the heritage of 200 years of canals. 博物馆的藏品让运河200 年的历史再现眼前。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The film portrays Gandhi as a kind of superman. 这部电影把甘地描绘成一个超人。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 anguish   

n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼

参考例句：

• She cried out for anguish at parting.分手时，她由于痛苦而失声大哭。
• The unspeakable anguish wrung his heart.难言的痛苦折磨着他的心。

14 addiction   

n.上瘾入迷，嗜好

参考例句：

• He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
• Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。