Changeling

Intro

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

• hype
• winning combination
• flack
• heavy-handed

• have a good eye
• single mother
• previews
• period piece

• Oscar contender
• melodramatic

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

There’s nothing more annoying than knowing you’re right about something when everyone else thinks you’re wrong. It’s enough to drive you crazy.

That’s exactly what happens to Angelina Jolie’s character in the new thriller Changeling. Jolie plays Christine, a single mother whose son was kidnapped in 1928. Later, the police find the boy and return him to Christine. She insists that the boy isn’t her son, but nobody believes her. Listen to Marni tell Beren about the film.

Dialog

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

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

Marni

Beren

Marni:  Have you seen the Changeling by chance?

Beren:  No, but I’ve seen a ton of previews.

Marni:  It’s got a huge ad campaign, right?

Beren:  Yes.

Marni:  Yeah, I felt like I was inundated for ads for it when I was in New York. It was just everywhere. All over the subway. And I got totally excited about it, ‘cause it looked kinda scary and…

Beren:  Totally.

Marni:  And it’s just really not so great.

Beren:  Really?

Marni:  Unfortunately, yeah. I figured it’s kind of a period piece, an Oscar contender, perhaps because of the combination of Angelina Jolie and Clint Eastwood. But it’s just really melodramatic and just…Not very good. Like, do you know what the story is?

Beren:  Yeah, totally. A kid gets kidnapped and…

Marni:  Angelina Jolie, the main character, her child gets kidnapped, then gets returned to her, but it’s not her child. So she says. But everybody’s like, “You’re crazy, it’s your kid.” And so, it drives her insane, and she ends up in a, you know…

Beren:  A mental institution.

Marni:  Yes.

Beren:  Where she often ends up in these Oscar...

Marni:  In these Oscar performances. It’s like this winning combination. But it just…It wasn’t, I don’t know…

Beren:  So, like, the story doesn’t gel? I know Clint Eastwood got some flack for Mystic River. It was a really good movie. Slightly heavy-handed, but…

Marni:  I think it’s kinda interesting looking, visually…

Beren:  He has a great eye.

Marni:  He does have a great eye. And, you know, John Malkovich? Also in it. You know, good cast. But sometimes that just isn’t a winning combination.

Grammar Point

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Lesson MP3

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