The Johnny English films are a great way to get pupils to think about the clichés of the James-Bond-type spy film. English, created and played by Rowan Atkinson (Mr Bean) is the perfect parody of 007. The third film in the series, Johnny English Strikes Back, is no exception. As the leaders of the G12 are … Continue reading “Teaching With Trailers: Johnny English”
A Star Is Born is so popular with Hollywood that the new version with Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper is the fourth feature film based on the “rags to riches” fame story. We thought it would be interesting to compare the trailers for the four versions. The first two versions of the story are set … Continue reading “Teaching with Trailers: A Star is Born”
A Star is Born stars Bradley Cooper and music superstar Lady Gaga, in her first leading role in a major film. Cooper makes his directorial debut with this third remake of a classic Tinseltown story. In this new take on the tragic love story, Bradley Cooper (“Very Bad Trip “, “Happiness Therapy”, “American Sniper”, “American … Continue reading “Born Again”
The House with a Clock in its Walls is a new film adapted from a classic of American children’s literature. This sequence uses one of the film’s trailers to work on Halloween vocabulary and revise clothes vocabulary with A1+ students. Language and structures : a/an plural of nouns pronunciation of the plural “s” ending invariable adjectives … Continue reading “The House with a Clock in its Walls”
In the year in which the bicentenary of the publication of Frankenstein is being celebrated, a new biopic of its author, Mary Shelley, turns the spotlight on the young author who has long been eclipsed by a creation which escaped the pages of her book to enter popular culture. Rather like the eponymous Dr Frankenstein … Continue reading “Making Mary Shelley”
Ready Player One is set in a universe many pupils recognise – that of video games and virtual reality. The trailer is relatively simple in terms of speech and very rich visually, so it’s a great classroom resource from A1+. If there are pupils in the class who have seen the film already, or read … Continue reading “Teaching with Trailers: Ready Player One”
These three videos associated with Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets provide plenty of opportunities to get pupils talking on a film many will have seen. This teaser trailer is almost without dialogue or voiceover, so it’s a great place to start, and can be used at all levels, with pupils commenting according … Continue reading “Valerian: Teaching with Trailers”