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Speed Racer

Speed Racer

Date: Jun 04 2008

Themes: Pop Culture, Sports

Intro

1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.

2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

Race car driving is a pretty intense sport. You go hundreds of kilometers per hour and if you make a mistake at any time, you could die. Sounds like great material for a movie, right?

Speed Racer is based on a Japanese cartoon and it’s been in production since 1992, but Mason doesn’t think it turned out very well. What went wrong?

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

Log in to Listen

2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Marni

Marni

Mason

Mason

Marni:  So, I have this kind of secret, burning desire to see Speed Racer.

Mason:  Oh, God…

Marni:  No?

Mason:  You can’t.

Marni:  Really?

Mason:  Literally, you would do better gouging your eyes out.

Marni:  Well, OK. Here’s why: because I just am a huge Emile Hirsch fan.

Mason:  He was the lead guy? From Into the Wild?

Marni:  Yes!

Mason:  He’s terrible in it!

Marni:  Really? Oh no…

Mason:  I’ve never seen such a wooden performance. I don’t know if was making a deliberate choice that happened to be a colossal mistake…

Marni:  Wow.

Mason:  ...but he was so, so dull. Which is…

Marni:  That’s disappointing.

Mason:  ...kind of keeping in theme with the rest of the movie. I thought it would be bad, but at least fun and exciting.

Marni:  Interesting. A lot of visual stimulus, I imagine.

Mason:  Yeah, and not even that. They give you the stimulus. It’s just like syrup being poured straight down your eyes. But uh…no joke!

Marni:  That’s an interesting, uh…

Mason:  I swear to God, it was like someone pelting you with Jolly Ranchers that were like a foot wide.

Marni:  Wow. And the story line, I assume, is nothing…

Mason:  It’s complete…It’s complete ridiculousness. The one thing I will say is it’s obviously targeted at kids. They’ve got the little kid with the monkey and whatnot and they laughed at that, but the kids weren’t even excited by the race scenes. They were just kind of really dry.

Marni:  OK, well…

Mason:  Save your money. The Wachowski brothers jumped the shark. It’s just…Let it go.

 

Quizzes

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Lesson MP3

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Discussion

Marni says she wants to see Speed Racer, but Mason tells her she should not, under any circumstances, see that movie. He says it’s poorly acted and boring, despite the fact that it looks cool.

But the language Mason uses to describe the graphics makes it sound like they’re almost too good. They sound overwhelming.

Mason likes other movies by the Wachowski brothers, like The Matrix, but he says they made a mistake with this one.

 

Comments

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wanglanxiang

China

oh,

07:46 AM Jul 11 2008 |

rsms

Eritrea

This lesson and the rest of the work done on this site is awesome.

03:49 PM Jul 10 2008 |

iris20512

iris20512

Taiwan

very critical movie review with good words

03:55 AM Jul 07 2008 |

maheboob

India

HI THIS IS MAHEBOOB ,,,,,WILL BE MY FRIEND  ?

 

02:24 PM Jun 11 2008 |

l-j-c

China

speed racerLaughingi'm lovein it

12:30 PM Jun 09 2008 |

ashwagh_0

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

hi marjan.flower.can practice with me.I live in tehran.

07:23 AM Jun 07 2008 |

195854255

195854255

United States

cool.  both the movie and the race car driving!

05:52 PM Jun 05 2008 |

zeus2006

zeus2006Super Member!

Turkey

Everything is so fast in our life; fast food, fast working,we are speed racers also.But life disappears…

09:48 AM Jun 05 2008 |

J.K

J.K

India

i dont know about that pls tell me

08:17 AM Jun 05 2008 |

marjan.flower

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

i agree with mason

06:57 AM Jun 05 2008 |

maitrang88

maitrang88

Viet Nam

Is it just me who see "June 11 2008" as the date of the lesson? As I'm going to see this movie tomorrow, I'm kinda bummed out right now with Jason's comment Frown I will still like Emile Hirsch tho Tongue out 

03:03 AM Jun 05 2008 |

sunnylinda

sunnylinda

China

SEE

12:09 AM Jun 05 2008 |

sunnylinda

sunnylinda

China

Innocent  HEY, LONG TIME NO. HOW ARE YOU .

12:08 AM Jun 05 2008 |

smart2022

smart2022

Saudi Arabia

actually, i'm addicted to movie but this one i have never seen it yet.

 i like that kind of movie

cooooooool

 

11:40 PM Jun 04 2008 |

ashwagh_0

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

i cant listen.thanks for this lesson.

07:55 PM Jun 04 2008 |

kuaileniao66

China

i want to read this dialogue after them.But I can't .i only read it on my computer.i'll do like this for some time till i can listen to easly

02:19 PM Jun 04 2008 |

tiffintime

tiffintime

Sri Lanka

Thanks for this lesson. I remember as a college kid, seeing that great motor racing film, Grand Prix, starring James Garner and the unforgettable Toshiro Mifune. Unfortunately, a lot of people had a problem with pronouncing its French title. There was a priest at my college who called out to a friend some distance away, "Hey! Have you seen the grand pric*" lol  

10:41 AM Jun 04 2008 |

LLYZ

LLYZ

China

It’s so so

03:22 AM Jun 04 2008 |

aljensen

aljensen

United States

Wachowski brothers can't direct open action sequences, remember the boring chase scene in Matrix II?

They do great with action scenes in constrained spaces, like in V for Vendetta and the original Matrix.

09:43 PM May 28 2008 |

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