Film Reviews and End -of - Course Test!

Week 23^rd – 25^th June

 Well, we have nearly finished this course!

We’ll have our last class on Monday 30^th June, tomorrow.

In our last lessons we reviewed the vocabulary on films. You told me about the films you had written the review about.

‘Amelie’ is a film set in Paris. The story is about a girl who comes across (finds by chance, unexpectedly) a box with something inside and decides to give it back (return it) to its owner. The feeling is so rewarding (satisfying) that she, then decides to help people.

The reviewer recommends this film because is entertaining and shows that there are good people in the world. And also because of the soundtrack.

‘The Dead Man’s Chest’ is the second film from the trilogy ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ starring Jonny Deep, Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley. It’s set in the Caribbean in the XVII or XVIII centuries.

In this film, the captain Jack Sparrow has to pay his debt. He had his ship- The Black Pearl - back in exchange of a 100 year- work for his enemy, the captain of ‘The Flying Dutchman’. This will lead him to a big adventure.

The reviewer recommends all of ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ films because they are entertaining, the stories are interesting and the films are full of action. He also likes the special effects, make-up and costumes.

‘Three Sixty’ is a Spanish movie set in present time. The action could happen anywhere but it takes place (happens) in Spain. The story starts when a man develops a camera film and sees the image of a friend of his. He starts to investigate and finds himself in the middle of a scheme in organ trafficking. He wants to reveal (tell) everything but his girlfriend is trapped and he has to make a difficult decision. Will he risk the life of the girl by making his findings public or will he remain silent?

The reviewer recommends this film because is an interesting thriller with a realistic end.

Apart from learning to write a review, we studied the third conditional.

We focus on the topic of ‘luck’ to explain this conditional.

Do you believe in luck? Do you think good or bad luck exists?

According to you nothing is a question of luck but decisions you take. For example, losing a match isn’t bad luck but lack of training or wrong decisions. (I must admit that I disagree. I do believe in luck and not only in expertise)

We read two stories. There was a couple. He was sent to Australia on business and she lived in England. After a year they decided to visit each other on the same date without saying anything to the other, as it was supposed to be a surprise. It was a surprise because they couldn’t see each other! When he arrived in England he found out (discovered) that his girlfriend had gone to Sydney to visit him and the same thing happened to the girl in Australia! Good luck? Bad luck? You said it was just a lack of foresight! But if you want to surprise somebody and you arrange it … It isn’t a surprise, is it?

In the second story, a lady was flying to the USA in company of he daughter when she started to feel ill. She had a heart attack. On the plane there was a call for a doctor and there wasn’t a doctor! The plane was full of doctors, cardiologists that were going to a conference. So, they gave her first aid until the plane had an emergency landing. They saved her life! Was it lucky having all those doctors on that flight? Was a question of luck that she survived?

So, this was the third conditional.

Past conditional or impossible.  It refers to something that didn’t happen in the past, that’s why it’s called impossible conditional.

·        If + past perfect ------------------ would / wouldn’t + have+ infinitive

     (had + participle)  ----------------  (past conditional)

If there hadn’t been any doctors on the plane, she would have died. As there were doctors, she didn’t die.

Remember all conditional structures:

·        Zero conditional. (Real situation/ facts)

We use if + present simple                            present simple

If you begin the sentence with “if”, you have to use a comma.

·        First conditional.

·        Possible and very probable situation

We use if + present simple                                     will / won’t + infinitive

If it doesn’t study more, he won’t pass his exams.

·        Instructions

We use if + present simple                                     imperative

·        If you miss the bus, give me a ring (phone me).

·        Second conditional.

·        Unreal situation

If + past simple ------------------ would / wouldn’t + infinitive

                                                 (present conditional)

If I were you, I wouldn’t tell anybody.

(You can use ‘were’ with all persons of verb ‘to be’ in 2^nd conditional clauses)

·        Possible but very improbable situation

If + past simple ------------------ would / wouldn’t + infinitive

                                                  (present conditional)

·        If I won £5,000,000 on the lottery, I wouldn’t tell anyone, except my family.

·        Third conditional.

·        Impossible situation. Something that didn’t happen.

If + past pefect ------------------ would / wouldn’t + have + Infinitive

  (had +participle)                        (past conditional)

·        If she hadn’t been ill, she would have attended the concert.

And we finished the week with an end – of – course- test!

 I’ll give you the results tomorrow. We’ll listen to some songs and we’ll play games! See you!