Episode 164 B

EPISODE 164
LEVEL B1-B2

READING COMPREHENSION

Hollywood Sequels

One of the funniest things about the recent movie 22 Jump Street is its self-deprecating nature. The comedy was a sequel of the rebooted franchise from the ‘80s, and is blatantly a sequel about sequels. The film, starring Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum, is not even attempting at not being repetitive. The two main characters are literally instructed by their commanding officer in the movie to do the same thing as last time, and everyone will be happy. But will they?

Hollywood is becoming infamous for the reboot. At this point in pop culture history, it’s hard to find a successful franchise that hasn’t been redone and remade at least twice. Most of these films appear to be made with the sole intention of generating profits while riding the wave of the previous ones’ success. With the release of innumerable reboots, remakes and sequels, viewers wonder what exactly Hollywood thinks they’re doing?

22 Jump Street, as a sequel of a reboot, should, in theory, be absolutely terrible and serve as a sign of the creative desperation of Hollywood. But instead, the audience ended up quite satisfied, which translated into box office performance. The audience knew exactly what 22 Jump Street was doing, as they were expected to. The bromance movie is shamelessly self-aware, and self-mocking. This movie really is the typical sequel formula, where actors do the same thing on a larger budget, but the movie embraces it. And the end result is both a funny and profitable movie.

But these days it often feels like sequels, remakes and reboots are all we see from the film industry. Not infrequently, these films feel tired and desperate, and ordered by some outof- touch movie executive who just wants to squeeze every last dollar out of the franchise. Yet, before we go any further, the difference between reboots, sequels and remakes ought to be clarified. A remake is a recreation of a previously released film, such as Jaden Smith’s Karate Kid. A reboot is re-launching a previously established franchise or character, such as Superman: Man of Steel. And a sequel is a movie that continues the work of a previous one, like Transformers 4: The Age of Extinction. Other examples include, frankly everything that’s recently been on. Studios have increasingly become dependent on bankable, bigbudget movie franchises like The Hobbit, Star Wars, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Pirates of the Caribbean, Superman, Batman, The Avengers, Harry Potter, Indiana Jones, Godzilla, Footloose, Planet of the Apes, James Bond, Freaky Friday, Shrek, The Hunger Games – the list continues indefinitely.

So why does Hollywood reboot constantly? Well, there are two reasons, and the first one is pretty obvious. Money. Reboots and remakes are a pretty tried and true formula, usually, even if the movie isn’t all that great, it will make money. It’s a lot less risky monetarily to recreate something that worked before than to try something new. Secondly, despite public outcry of the constant and endless stream of remakes, sequels and reboots, people generally like what they know. Sure I kind of hate the fact that there are three Hobbit movies, seemingly to suck every last dollar out of the franchise. But I love The Lord of The Rings franchise, and you can bet that I have and will continue show up to the theaters.

Adapted from www.equities.com

 

Exercise 1

Find the words or expressions in the text which mean the following:

1) saying bad things about oneself in a funny way: __________
2) part two of sth (or the next part): __________
3) to try to do sth: __________
4) known for doing bad things: __________
5) to be happy in the end: __________
6) realizing what one is: __________
7) making fun of oneself: __________
8) not connected to reality: __________
9) putting sth on the market again: ___________
10)honestly: __________
11)all the time: __________
12)to earn: _________

 

Exercise 2

Match the expressions from the two columns into logical collocations:

1) to reboot                               culture
2) the sole intention of          outcry
3) to ride                                   established franchise
4) box office                             monetarily
5) sth is ordered                     a franchise
6) to squeeze                          by sb
7) a previously                       performance
8) less risky                            generating profits
9) public                                 the wave of previous success
10)pop                                     every last dollar out of sth

 

Exercise 3

Provide English equivalents of these expressions:

1) otwarcie
2) dosłownie
3) niezliczone
4) coś przełożyło się na zyski
5) bezwstydnie
6) objąć coś
7) ostatnio
8) dość często
9) dochodowe
10)wysokobudżetowe
11)w nieskończoność
12)raczej

 

Grammar corner…

 

There are several interesting adjectives in the text that are made of more than one word. They’re called, guess what, multi-word adjectives, and the term explains itself. Most of the time is just enough to put more than one word together in front of a noun, join them with hyphens (-) and … ready. So for example, a story that is never to be forgotten is a NEVER-TO-BE-FORGOTTEN story:-) Practice makes perfect.

 

Exercise 4

Express the phrases using compound adjectives

1. a device which can be used for many purposes is a …
2. an action that you take to defend yourself is …
3. a machine that is easy to use and doesn’t cause any problems for the user is a…
4. a man who made his own career without any help is a …
5. a cosmetic that doesn’t damage the environment is …
6. a cross country skiing competition in which everybody starts at once (as a mass) is a …
7. something you don’t have to pay any duty or tax for is …
8. an internet service that doesn’t require any cables is a …
9. a device you don’t have to operate using your hands is a …
10.a glass of juice that has been squeezed from a fresh orange is a …

 

GLOSSARY

self-deprecating – samoośmieszający się
a sequel – kolejna część
to attempt at doing sth – usiłować coś zrobić
infamous for sth – okryty złą sławą
to end up satisfied – w ostatecznym rozrachunku być zadowolonym
self-aware – samoświadomy
self-mocking – śmiejący się sam z siebie
out-of-touch – oderwany od rzeczywistości
to re-launch sth – ponownie wprowadzić coś na rynek
frankly – szczerze
constantly – ciągle
to make money – zarabiać pieniądze
to reboot a franchise – ponownie rozpocząć jakiś cykl filmów
the sole intention of …  – główny cel czegoś …
to ride the wave of previous success – jechać na fali poprzednich sukcesów / odcinać kupony
box office performance – wyniki sprzedaży biletów
sth is ordered by sb – coś jest na czyjeś zamówienie
to squeeze every last dollar out of sth – wydoić coś z pieniędzy
a previously established franchise – wcześniej rozpoczęty cykl filmów
less risky monetarily – mniej ryzykowne z finansowego punktu widzenia
public outcry – ogólny lament
blatantly – otwarcie
literally – dosłownie
innumerable – niezliczone
sth translated into profits – coś przełożyło się na zyski
shamelessly – bezwstydnie
to embrace sth – objąć coś
these days – ostatnio
not infrequently – dość często
bankable – dochodowe
big-budget – wysokobudżetowe
indefinitely – w nieskończoność
pretty – raczej
to wonder – zastanawiać się
bromance – bliski związek dwóch mężczyzn bez podłoża seksualnego!!!

 

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