English, baby!

Jonah Hex

Date: Jul 28 2010

Themes: Alternative

Grammar: Contractions and Abbreviations

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Intro

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The British have knights. The Japanese have ronin. The Argentinians have gauchos. And the Americans have the western.

Westerns are stories about cowboys in the 1800s. A new movie called Jonah Hex updates this common theme in film.

Like many westerns, Jonah Hex is a story of gunfights, romance and revenge. But the guns are bigger, the girl is sexier and the main character, who is played by Josh Brolin (of No Country for Old Men), has a scar on one whole side of his face to make sure you never forget why he’s out for revenge.

The Old West is also a time that people like to romanticize and imagine to be better than it was. In Jonah Hex, the hero even has super powers. See if Ella and Mason are caught up in the magic of the film.

Dialog

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

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

Ella

Mason

Ella: Megan Fox. That’s all I have to say.

Mason: Not a big fan, quite frankly. You know that new movie she’s in, Jonah Hex, right?

Ella: Oh yes.

Mason: Yeah, I’m generally a fan of comic book movies…

Ella: It’s a comic book?

Mason: Oh, for sure.

Ella: It looks like it’s a western.

Mason: Yeah, it’s kind of like a mystic western, right? Jonah Hex is this dude who gains these mystical powers after whoever the character John Malkovich plays kills his family and scars Jonah Hex’s face and leaves him for dead.

Ella: He’s like a cowboy with mystical powers?

Mason: He’s like a demon cowboy, like Ghost Rider.

Ella: Well, Megan Fox is in it so that’s pretty much what sold me. And the mystic stuff…

Mason: ...also good. I would go for Malkovich, personally. He’d be the draw. But I don’t know, they whole thing is like he’s out for blood. He’s on this vengeance streak. It’s that kind of motivation. Those can be interesting stories.

Ella: So it’s going to be a gory hotness, basically.

Mason: Gory. Hotness. Hopefully it won’t delve into Wild Wild West territory, the Will Smith and Kevin Kline classic.

Ella: I hope not.

Grammar Point

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Quizzes

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Discussion

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Ella is a big fan of Megan Fox, who stars in the new movie Jonah Hex. Mason isn’t so sure about Fox or the movie, which he tells Ella is based on a comic book.

Mason normally likes movies based on comic books, but doesn’t think Jonah Hex looks all that good. If he were to see it, it would be to watch John Malkovich, who plays the villain.

Both Mason and Ella agree that revenge stories can be interesting and that the movie will most likely be gory and sexy. They hope it isn’t too silly like the Will Smith movie Wild Wild West, which makes fun of westerns.

Have you ever seen a western? What kind of western do you like best? What sort of stories from the past do people like to make movies about in your country?

Comments

Marcelolic

Brazil

Hummm I have already seen some movies about western and I liked a lot…Some films as Tombstone,The Unforgiven and Maverick…Others like Back to the future with Michel J Fox and Shangai Knights with Jackie Chan both are comedic…

Besides I just have seen the western on tv films I don't know USA :)

kukuka

Ukraine

I don't know if you can call No country for old man a western but I didn't like it anyway. And the wild wild west is also boring in my opinion. Unfortunately these are the only western type movies I have ever seen. So, I guess I can't make a conclusion or at leastI don't have the right to jump to conclusions. Still hope to see such a western that will seem qiute interesting to watch.

rosendo

Mexico

Romio79

Russian Federation

I'm not a fan of western but there are some of them which I like. "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" or "The Magnificent Seven" are really cool. And I haven't known untill today that there are different kinds of western. Comics, mystic, etc. So now I'm thinking what types of western are the flics which I like

Suchi

Thailand

I'm learning to understand real English with native speaker. For the first time listening without looing at the script, I couldn't catch all but after many time repeating, I can get most. It's great! I like the story too.

amado

Jordan

WITH ALL DO RESPECT, WHO'S THE GIG WOULD LIKE TO SEE ANOTHER COWBOY MOVIE?

IT'S ALL ABOUT 3D FROM NOW ON…......

rebel lee

China

I've seen a couple of western movies. But I can't remember any of them. Maybe because I don't like them. I am a Chinese. In our country, we always make movies about kings, or I should say emperors. There are lots of movies and TV shows about ancient pelple. One reason is that China has a long history, there are lots of things to talk about. The other reason is we love kungfu movies about ancient people, they can fly and do lots of amazing things that we can not do today.

fahadcom

Saudi Arabia

I have been writing in my profile,

really I like Cowboys movies since I was a child.

you can see that.

laura329

China

Yes,I admire the spirit of Japanese ronin.also like westerns.cowboys,yeah,are always riding horses and carrying guns in my opinion.very cool,I think.I haven't seen this film yet,but have a little kwowledge of it.maybe full of violence scenes.I like Megan Fox,she's so sexy!

jiahui.lei

China

thank u,it's a good lesson. although i haven't watched it yet,i prefer cowboy culture to the movie:)

Firithlainiel

Spain

Great lesson, thanks!!

As a fan of films…I'm not interested in this Jonah Hex, at all…I love John Malkovich, but in How to be John Malkovich or Dangerous Liaisons…Have you seen it?? They are great!!!

I cannot wait to see Toy Story 3!!! :D

eng_amr_h87

Egypt

thy ail
I learned a lot

luu.-21

Argentina

Yes, but well it seems like someone has deleted his comment hahah

solch

Argentina

I agree with zabotto.
murilo saved a rude comment. im from argentina, and there are a lot of gauchos in some parts of the country.
ignorant people don't give comments about argentina like him.

Monique Fernandes

Brazil

heheh Murilo said that because everyone that is born in Rio Grande do Sul is called Gaúcho.. as well as someone that is born in Rio de Janeiro is called Carioca. He didnt know about the original meaning.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaucho

zabotto

Brazil

Of course there are gauchos in Argentina, as a brazilian I feel sorry for my compatriot Murilo, who certainly doesn't know shit about it and thinks he can post rude coments like the one below just to look smart! =s

SantiagoC

Uruguay

Murilo, In Rio Grande do Sul you have gauchos because Rio Grande do Rul used to be part of Uruguay, not because it is related to Brazilian culture itself. regards

luu.-21

Argentina

Yeah, you're right Gauchos are also from Brazil too. But it's more common to find a gaucho in Argentina or Uruguay than in Brazil. And Gauchos are more related to argentinian or Uruguayan culture, than Brazilian culture.