This month at the cinema
Inside Out After introducing us to the lovable monsters in Monsters & Co. and the incredible flight above the clouds (Up), the Oscar winning Pete Docter is going to take us on a journey to explore a mysterious and extraordinary place: the human mind. In his new animated film, produced by Disney-Pixar, we’ll become acquainted* with Riley and his emotions: Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust and Sadness. These live inside the control centre that is situated inside his mind and from there they guide him in his daily life. When Riley moves to San Francisco and has to adapt to a new city, a new home and a new school the control centre has to get organized in order to face the emergency. Growing up can be tiring but Joy, Riley’s principal* emotion, tries to see the positive side of things.
gerunds/nouns/has to
Minions We got to know them (and immediately fell in love with them) in the film Despicable Me, where they were Gru’s little yellow helpers. This film tells the story of their origins, from their birth at the beginning of time. The Minions evolved* during different centuries, perpetually* at the service of ruthless* bosses, from a T-Rex to Napoleon. But when they find themselves without a leader they isolate themselves and move to icy cold Antartica and fall into deep depression. At that point, a Minion called Kevin decides to venture* into the world together with a teenager called Stuart and little Bob, looking for a new cruel boss for him and all his brothers. The trio sets off on a long journey which will lead them to Scarlet Overkill, the biggest baddie* in the world. They’ll travel long distances, passing through New York and ending up* in London where a great danger awaits them the imminent destruction of all the Minions! What will they do?
Hotel Transylvania 2 After the success of Hotel Transylvania, a Sony Pictures Animation film that came out in 2012, its sequel is now on its way. Three years ago we discovered that Dracula is not only the Prince of Darkness but is also an affectionate dad and he’s very protective of his adolescent daughter Mavis. For this reason he has opened Hotel Transylvania, where his daughter and other strange creatures (like the werewolves, the Frankenstein spouses*, the Mummy and the Invisible Man) can relax safe and sound.* However, the peace and quiet doesn’t last for very long as Mavis falls in love for the first time. In this second episode the family reunites after Vlad (Dracula’s dad) returns to the city to visit his son who he hasn’t seen for a long time. It won’t take long for him to turn everyone’s lives upside down*.
Glossary acquainted: know, be familiar with baddie: the bad person in a film or book ending up: being in a particular place as a result of doing something evolved: gradually changed and developed over a period of time perpetually: continuing all
the time principal: main, most important ruthless: cruel, bad safe and sound: in no danger spouses: husband and wife upside down: change someone’s life completely often in a negative way venture: do something that is a risk
CURIOUS FACTS Here are some curious facts linked to the three films above. Can you match them to the right film? 1. Their strange language contains words from many languages: Italian, Russian, Spanish, old English and also elements from the Japanese language. 2. Adam Sandler, Selena Gomez, Steve Buscemi and Mel Brooks are the voices of the characters in the film. 3. One of the directors of the film, Pierre Coffin, gave his voice to the characters. 4. The director said: «The idea of visualizing the places of thought, memory and dreams fascinates me.».
14
The answer is on page 15