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thebrandynabides · Joined: 12 Jun 2011 Posts: 31 Location: Shaoguan

The English Corner at my college plays English films every other week and the students discuss them afterward. I'm just curious if anyone else has shown movies and had success, and in the same respect, are there any that I should avoid?

I know full-well that they are college students, but their hobbies typically include rollerblading, shuttlecock, and studying-so I get this impression that they are really innocent.

Is dark or dry humor something worth trying-say a Wes Anderson flick?

If I went with a comedy, should I keep it simpler and more slapstick?

Any suggestions or experiences would be helpful. I just don't want to show something that they think is too profane or plain stupid.

7969 · Joined: 26 Mar 2003 Posts: 5782 Location: Coastal Guangdong

I showed a few clips from "Spies Like Us" this week. I have a writing class and in the final class before the exam I show the clip leading up to and including the Foreign Service Board Exam that Fitzhume and Millbarge have to write (and which they cheat on). The students like the parts of the film they saw and I think the entire film would be well-received. Downside is if you can't get it with subtitles (my copy is without) the whole film might be a bit too much for some to handle.

Guerciotti · Posted: Wed Dec 07, 2011 9:58 am Post subject:

I had success with subtitled versions of "Monsters Inc", "Cars", "Ghost", "The Butterfly Effect", and episodes of Big Bang Theory (bazinga!).

It's a big country hence different places and schools will like different things.
I ask the students to choose from my very limited selection or bring their own.

macroidtoe · Joined: 27 Jul 2010 Posts: 128

I highly recommend "The Iron Giant." The dialogue between the boy and the robot is simple and easy to follow (including a "learning English" scene early in the movie), other characters speak at a more standard level, and then there's a fast-talking villain who throws around 50-cent words who the students love to hate. The setting (America, 1957, during the Red Scare) can also make for some interesting discussion.

kev7161 · Joined: 06 Feb 2004 Posts: 5880 Location: Suzhou, China

A really good movie that is fun, funny (sometimes laugh-out-loud funny) is the recent remake of "Get Smart" starring Steve Carrell and Anne Hathaway. It has just enough slapstick humor to keep it lively (the scene where he dances with the "hefty" woman was a hoot) but also action-packed throughout. The female lead (Hathaway) gets plenty of action-scenes (often rescuing the bumbling Maxwell Smart) so it's empowering for your female students watching and just some very, very slightly sexy scenes (but NOTHING out of control!) to keep the boys interested. It also features Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson so I'm sure he would be a hit as well.

I would also try to find older movies from the 80s (70s?) that were before their time but are good "classics" they may not have seen: Comedies (Tootsie?), action (James Bond, perhaps), light romances (Sleepless in Seattle - - wait, was that 80s?), a little music (Footloose?), etc. Recent hits from the past 5-10 years (and let's not forget Forrest Gump and Titanic) have probably been long ago downloaded and watched. I love introducing my Chinese friends to flicks they probably never would have tried on their own. One friend of mine who abhors scary movies absolutely loved "Cloverfield" and even called a couple of his friends to recommend it.

askiptochina · Joined: 26 Feb 2010 Posts: 488 Location: Beijing

You should have a list of movies you enjoy. Share. You expect us to tell you a list of movies to share? Shame on you.

randyj · Posted: Wed Dec 07, 2011 12:59 pm Post subject:

A line from an Alan Alda movie "Sweet Liberty" came to mind. The character played by Bob Hoskins said teenagers like movies where people 1) defy authority, 2) destroy property, and 3) take their clothes off.

The Great Wall of Whiner · Joined: 29 Jan 2003 Posts: 4946 Location: Blabbing

Has anyone ever tried showing Animal Farm?

roadwalker · Joined: 24 Aug 2005 Posts: 1750 Location: Ch

Romantic comedies seem to do well. And anything with a clear morality (i.e. it's easy to tell the good guys from the bad guys.) And anything cartoony.

Ariadne · Joined: 16 Jul 2004 Posts: 960

My students really enjoyed A Knight's Tale. It's funny and romantic, with lots of action and some good music. They also liked Space Buddies... silly talking dogs but very sweet. Whatever you show, make sure the English subtitles are good. Some can be so awful it's like they are from a different movie- and maybe they are.

I know some FTs want to show serious, complicated movies full of symbolism, etc. I think it's a much better idea to show movies with clear, simple dialogue and easy to understand plots.

.

xiguagua · Joined: 09 Oct 2011 Posts: 768

peewee1979 · Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2011 10:43 am Post subject:

I showed season one of The Walking Dead to a class I had to do over the winter holiday. Same students everyday for 4 hours for 8 days. They liked it.
Especially when I told them it really happened in the USA but the government kept it a secret

ruindasia1 · Joined: 03 Oct 2011 Posts: 32 Location: shenzhen, china

i think my students seemed to like, the new movie with adam sandler, "just go with it."
really funny stuff, they laughed out loud and none of them slept.
Also, you can tell how good a movie is by seeing how many get up to leave at their break time. (i teach 90min classes)
this time only like one student did.

a couple other movies they liked have been
rat race-cuba gooding junior,john lovitz, whoopi goldberg, and mr. bean
identity-good for a thriller/suspense movie, for those who don't know it stars john cusack, movie definitely keeps the college students attention from beginning to end...they really liked the ending too.
american history x-edward norton, good movie that talks about racism and the problems it brings with it.

Old Surrender · Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2011 7:12 pm Post subject:

The American version of the Japanese cartoon Shin Chan (called Xiao Xin in China) is good to show. It's a childhood fave for the students but it's dubbed with more adult humor. Most of it's PG-13 but there's some episodes that revolve around, um, er.... NC-17 topics. Watch, pick, and choose.

dean_a_jones · Joined: 03 Jul 2009 Posts: 1151 Location: Wuhan, China

Groundhog Day worked well. There is actually quite a lot you can discuss, but it is also a relatively simple story and very repetitive, so having English only subs works as it doesn't matter so much if you don't catch everything the first time around. Might want to introduce to concept first.

There is a website that has movie specific vocab lists, discussion questions etc. for ESL students. The lists are way too long, but they can give you some good ideas.

http://www.eslnotes.com/

Other films I have used:

Dead Poet's Society
Angela's Ashes and The Wind that Shakes the Barley (both for Irish history and culture class, worked for that but probably not great otherwise).
Corpse Bride (a student brought it in, they enjoyed it)

Films I have shown older students with Chinese and English subs, but which then provided some really good English discussion:

Good Will Hunting (be warned, there is a lot of swearing, but they like the story)
Revolutionary Road (easy to follow, about 1 second of nudity and some slightly more explicit sex scenes without nudity. They like the fact that it has the leads from Titanic, and it was popular with both the boys and girls)

I have thought about showing Hoop Dreams, as I think it is a great documentary and the boys would love it as it is about basketball. But it is quite long, so would need a few days viewing and time to discuss after. I think Back to the Future would also work well, they won't get all the cultural references, but it is a lot of fun and again, easy story to follow.

They key with showing films is to prep them first if you can, with some vocab and some general info on the plot without giving too much away. It means it is then a lot easier for them to follow.