Editor's words:
Bumped into a fantastic movie, read an absorbing book, or listened to a great CD recently? If you are still seething with excitement, then why not drop us a few lines and enable our readers to share your feelings? Do it right now! Send your English review to vivi@xmrb.com (400 words or less) and receive some cash once it has been printed.
编者的话:
最近是否欣赏到精彩的电影,书籍,或是CD?如果至今还令你回肠荡气不能平静的话,不妨把感受写下来与我们的读者共享.现在就开始行动,往vivi@xmrb.com里发英文短评吧(字数在400字内).一经采用,必有稿酬.

 

Review of Osama
By Shadow and Dio



Osama is a touching and heartbreaking movie depicting women trying to survive in the Taliban ruled Afghanistan. Based on a true story, this realistic drama was the first film made in Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban.

After the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, they forced women to wear burqas and forbid them to work or go outside without a male escort. Most of the men had been killed in Afghanistan's wars so there were many widows who had no one to provide for them. When women marched for their rights, the Taliban attacked them and put them into prison.

Osama was a twelve-year girl who lived with her mother and grandmother. The mother was a nurse but the Taliban closed the hospital, arrested the doctor and sent the nurses home. They had no work and no food so would soon starve.

Following the grandmother's suggestion, Osama cut her hair and disguised herself as a boy in order to find a job. She was just a girl who should have been having a happy life as a child but whose little shoulders had to carry a heavy burden. She had no choice and, in the end, she could not escape from her fate. Viewers will find the film's ending to be haunting.

Osama won the 2004 Golden Globe for best foreign language film and was shot on location in Kabul, Afghanistan using only amateur actors. The director tries to show the audience what life has been like for Afghanistan's people. The film is a powerful reminder of the need to cherish human dignity and preserve peace all over the world.

Vocabulary:
depict 描写
burqa 从头到脚的面纱
escort 护卫
disguise 化装
haunting 挥散不去的

 

 

A cool comedy in 2004
By Zhou Yidan



If you are feeling upset and have nothing urgent at hand, there is a nice choice for you: rent the film of "50 First Dates" and enjoy the coolness in it.

Directed by Peter Segal and starring Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore, 50 First Dates is a simple comedy of romance between a vet in a Hawaii aquarium and a local art teacher who suffers from short-term memory loss. Generally speaking, memory loss has been commonplace among various themes of films. Then what kind of uniqueness can this romance produce when it strikes the old tune?

Well, 50 First Dates did turn out to have several features. As far as the plot is concerned, it is based on short-term memory loss. As a result, the teacher, Lucy Whitmore, wakes up every morning only with the long-term memory she had before her car accident, in which her brain got partially damaged. In her mind, everyday is the Sunday when she and her father are going to pick a pineapple for the celebration of her father's birthday. Everything is all right except for the devoted lover, Henry Roth. To remind her of the love of the previous day, every day Henry has to try by all means to make Lucy fall in love with him again. It surprises us when it turns out that Lucy cannot recover forever and that courting her becomes the daily work of Henry for the rest of his life.

It may be interesting to court 50 different people during 50 days, but it is definitely more challenging to woo the same girl every day as if she had never seen you before. Someone may take this kind of romance as unreal, meaningless or even silly. So what? Bored and exhausted in these busy days, what we need is to relieve ourselves in this easy-going romance, just like enjoying the coolness of an ice cream.

 

 

听许巍的"礼物"
By 厦广音乐台 高翔



真正开始听许巍的歌曲,是从"时光·漫步"开始的.觉得这张专辑里的歌曲歌词清新明了,旋律脱俗动听.专辑记录了亲情, 爱情和其他的人生经历和感受,有的是大感受,有的是小感受.

音乐中多处融入了电子音乐的成分,律动时尚,这一点是目前中国流行乐坛的流行方向之一,像"火星电台"为周迅制作的"夏天"专辑,老狼的"晴朗"专辑,还有"与非门",最近的"龙宽九段".此外,"时光·漫步"也吸收了一些英式摇滚的编曲风格.

很多人喜欢这张专辑,不过,乐评界也有一种流行的评论,认为许巍"商业了", "不摇滚了", "不真实"了.这种说法是浮躁的,不切实际的.仔细听听这张专辑歌曲,你会发现每一首歌曲都很真挚.

专辑中的"礼物"是我喜欢的,这是一首送给父母的歌曲,表达了对父母之爱的感动与感激.许巍的爸爸是中学老师,妈妈好像也是,很淳朴甚至微土的普通市民,操着一口西安话,我在"艺术人生"里见到过.许巍妈妈生他的时候难产,差点死掉.许巍不爱读书,喜欢玩吉他,爸爸妈妈打他骂他.后来妈妈还是给他买了一把4000元的电吉他.

我喜欢这首歌,旋律很美,音乐很棒自不必多说.歌词简洁明了,感情真挚,且富有诗意.其中最有意境的那句是"头顶的蓝天,沉默高远,有你在身边,让我感到安详".我觉得父母亲的确给我这样的感觉.

你知道怎么表达对父母的情感吗?我在这方面很笨拙的(好像男生都是),父母亲打电话嘘寒问暖的时候,我总是"嗯嗯啊啊"的,满口的语气词.等明年"母亲节"和"父亲节"到来的时候,给你的父母亲买份礼物,然后再把这首歌送给他们吧,Sunshine FM可以为你效劳.

 

 

Symphonic chorus debuted
交响合唱《山河回响》试奏
Photo by Yao Fan



The symphonic chorus "Resounding over mountains and rivers" had its debut being played by Xiamen Philharmonic Orchestra and Xiamen Choir under the conduction of Zheng Xiaoying on Nov. 13. It was composed by Liu Yuan, a China Music Gold Bell Award winner and professor from the Central Conservatory of Music.

The piece demonstrates the gorgeous Yangtse River and dauntless heroism of the people working at the construction projects over the river. After the trial performance, a discussion was held with experts of different walks present.

 

 

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