| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| susquesus |
Posted - February 11 2007 : 01:17:14 AM
I was being a nerd and looking around for weird new movies to check out and I found this:
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It's german but it might be interesting. Let me know if anyone's watched it. |
| 25 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Light of the Moon |
Posted - February 22 2007 : 09:18:57 AM
quote:
Originally posted by Fitzhugh Williams
Another friend of my daughter spent a summer in Spain as an exchange student. She said it was about a month before she quit "translating" and began speaking naturally. Without that kind of immersion, I don't think you ever really learn a language.
 Couldn't agree more. This is usually why college professors refuse to translate or speak english in any foreign language class. I do regret saying that my current spanish professor teaches only in english and uses H.S. handouts to assist her . I feel let down because I figured a professor would want to speak only the language they're teaching. That is why students are taking the class, right?
At Univ. of Cincinnasty all you'll find are foreign language professors who refuse to speak english. Too bad out-of-state tuition is ridiculously high in OH.
Oh well...as the french say, "C'est la vie!" |
| Fitzhugh Williams |
Posted - February 22 2007 : 08:56:05 AM
quote:
How did you ever understand the guy?
After listening to him for four years, I could understand what he said. The problem is, I couldn't understand anyone else. His was a very harsh sounding German. He loved the umlaut. Other Germans I have known rolled over the pronunciation very smoothly, but he seemed to delight in the way he spoke them.
I watched my new DVD Le Colonel Chabert last night. It was in French with no subtitles (not my choice, but that's the only way it came). I did understand a couple of dozen words! Some great scenes of the French cavalry charge against the Russians at Eylau, but in general typically a 19th century novel.
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| RedFraggle |
Posted - February 22 2007 : 08:09:43 AM
quote:
Originally posted by Fitzhugh Williams
I had a German teacher in college that spoke a very harsh Baltic German. He could make a two syllable word out of "ich". Needless to say, I can't begin to understand German as most people speak it.
Wow. Two-syllable ich? How did you ever understand the guy?
As far as understanding goes, I'm just beginning. I understand about 90% of what my instructor says in the classroom, but when I listen to dialogues on tape I catch maybe a little over half. The instructor says that, for right now, "getting the gist" of what's said is more important than understanding every word. Hopefully someday I'll be able to understand every word, but I'm a long way from that now!
Sorry about lapsing into German earlier. Since I am just learning I get excited when I think I can practice with someone. My husband is annoyed to no end when I go around the house speaking German to myself. He's convinced I'm saying bad things about him. |
| Fitzhugh Williams |
Posted - February 21 2007 : 11:47:03 PM
Who me? Translate what? |
| Light of the Moon |
Posted - February 21 2007 : 9:43:44 PM
Out of curiosity (being a language freak I can't help it) can you translate that? |
| Fitzhugh Williams |
Posted - February 19 2007 : 2:45:35 PM
I had a German teacher in college that spoke a very harsh Baltic German. He could make a two syllable word out of "ich". Need less to say, I can't begin to understand German as most people speak it. We had to read Kafka, Mann and others and I got to where I acually liked them. I ran into another reenactor at Cowpens that also does WWII, and I guess he is the only person I ever met who knows the words to Die Fahne Hoch, and I am probably the only person he knows who understands them. |
| Light of the Moon |
Posted - February 19 2007 : 12:11:06 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Fitzhugh Williams
A thought:
It's one thing to read a language, another to compose a sentence in it, and quite another to understand it when it is spoken. I can't understand a lot of English dialects, so what chance do I have to understand a spoken foreign language unless I happened to be taught that specific dialect. My favorite phrase: Parlez plus lentement, s'il vous plâit.
Pourquoi, monsieur? Non c'est possible!
Good point Fitz. A lot of people don't understand the difference unless they've ventured into it in greater depth. In HS they pretty much stick with the grammatics (or at least they did in mine) but getting into college I get this native to France professor who spared no mercy. She spoke it the entire time even if you didn't understand. I remember only one time she explained in english and only because the entire class looked confused. So when I got to college, I could read it, write it, like it was nothing. In college (it took about 3 semesters) I started to speak it with ease. Unfortunately, like I said, haven't used it much in ten years and lost the ability to speak it. I do remember some and am trying to relearn the conversational skills.
Sorry for going all crazy on the spanish thing. I love to jump on every opportunity I can to practice! |
| Irishgirl |
Posted - February 15 2007 : 2:32:41 PM
Hey Red you can buy the VHS version on ebay for $2.99 right now. It is the 1978 version that I watched with Steve Forrest as Hawkeye. Act fast. |
| RedFraggle |
Posted - February 15 2007 : 1:06:51 PM
Hey, look! Me again! Clearly I'm not going to get any work done today.
I was looking around for the version of Deerslayer that IG mentioned, but it's not available on Netflix.  But I did find out that the guy who plays Hawkeye in the movie was 54 years old when the movie was made! Deerslayer is supposed to be about Hawkeye's "first warpath" when he's a lad of 21 or 22. And a 50+ actor plays him! Weird.
Also weird is this, the only version of Deerslayer that Netflix offers. It's a 1921 silent film starring Bela Lugosi as Chingachgook. Wonder if he flits into the Huron camp in bat form and sucks the blood of his unwitting enemies.
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| RedFraggle |
Posted - February 15 2007 : 12:48:52 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Fitzhugh Williams
Last night I watched some of Brokeback Mountain (hey! it was Valentine's Day) and I couldn't understand half of what Heath Ledger said.
Me either! I watched this movie with a group of friends and we all kept looking at each other going "What?!?" every time he opened his mouth. What gets me is that he was nominated for an Academy Award for the performance. How is slurring your words so horribly that no one can understand you acting?!
Sorry.  Clearly I didn't like this movie. I almost stopped watching halfway through because I found it so boring. I think I was expecting a lot because of all the hype about it, but I really can't see why the movie was all that controversial. HBO's Six Feet Under portrayed a homosexual relationship on screen much more explicitly, so Ennis and Jack's blink-and-you'll-miss-it romp in the tent seemed like nothing. I spent the whole movie yawning and glancing at my watch.  |
| Irishgirl |
Posted - February 15 2007 : 12:41:10 PM
You're welcome Red and you know they always change things when they make books into movies. Look how much stuff was different in LOTM. |
| RedFraggle |
Posted - February 15 2007 : 12:35:18 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Irishgirl
Hawkeye and Chingy have to go save a Delaware Princess Wa-tah-wa who is captured by the Hurons and rescue Plowden along the way. They go to Fort Niagra where all have been slaughtered by the Huron and meet Harry March there. . . . They travel to the Lake to rescue Mr Hutter and his two daughters Judith and Hetty who live on the Lake.
It's always interesting to me how books get transformed into movies. Sometimes they don't even seem like the same stories.
Cooper's book Deerslayer starts with Hawkeye and Harry March traveling through the woods to visit the Hutter family on the lake where they live. I'm only about 3/4 of the way through the book right now but, as far as I can tell, Fort Niagara doesn't come into play at all. And there's no Plowden yet either. Hawkeye and Ching certainly don't save him when they go to get Wah-ta-wah. I wonder if someone thought Plowden should be added in to make the story more like LOTM, where Duncan plays the role of the guy who just can't hack it in the woods. Curious! 
quote:
Well I watched "The Deerslayer" last night and was surprised to see a young Madeline Stowe in it playing Hetty Hutter.
Interesting! I'll have to watch this movie. Wonder if it's available on Netflix. Talking to the bear does seem a little funny, but I'm curious to see Madeline Stowe in the role of the "simple-minded" Hetty Hutter. Thanks for the info, IG!  |
| Irishgirl |
Posted - February 15 2007 : 10:02:36 AM
quote:
Originally posted by Fitzhugh Williams
quote:
No grenades back then
Actually, there were. Hence the term "Grenadier". The cartridge box they carried was originally for grenades, and they still retained the tube for the slow match as a status symbol. I guess the grenades weren't too effective, so they Grenadiers were used as shock troops instead.
I stand corrected. Thanks for the info Fitz. |
| Irishgirl |
Posted - February 15 2007 : 09:59:50 AM
At last someone else who could not understand Heath Ledger's accent in that movie. Seems to me he spent most of his time mumbling. I had to ask my daughter what he said when we watched it. The movie made me "squirm" for obvious reasons and I only watched it to see what all the fuss was about. People saying what a great movie it was. I did not think so at all. I will never watch that again. Enough said. |
| Fitzhugh Williams |
Posted - February 15 2007 : 09:58:41 AM
quote:
No grenades back then
Actually, there were. Hence the term "Grenadier". The cartridge box they carried was originally for grenades, and they still retained the tube for the slow match as a status symbol. I guess the grenades weren't too effective, so they Grenadiers were used as shock troops instead. |
| Fitzhugh Williams |
Posted - February 15 2007 : 09:52:57 AM
Last night I watched some of Brokeback Mountain (hey! it was Valentine's Day) and I couldn't understand half of what Heath Ledger said. Probably just as well. But imagine a non-native English speaker trying to understand that. I can understand some of the Spanish language stations, but I can understand a word the local Mexicans say. It doesn't sound like the same language. My daughter used to play doubles with a girl whose father was retired from the CIA. We used to sit at tournaments and try to pick out where the other players were from by their accents. He was good!!! Another friend of my daughter spent a summer in Spain as an exchange student. She said it was about a month before she quit "translating" and began speaking naturally. Without that kind of immersion, I don't think you ever really learn a language. |
| Irishgirl |
Posted - February 15 2007 : 09:38:32 AM
Well I watched "The Deerslayer" last night and was surprised to see a young Madeline Stowe in it playing Hetty Hutter. Two daughters of a guy who live on the Lake in this one and she is the one who supposedly is a bit "touched" and the Huron would do her no harm. She is very sweet in this one. What a coincidence though.
Well Hawkeye and Chingy are blood brothers in this one and it takes place after Uncas has died. The bad guy Huron is "Rivenoak" who is no match for "Magua" obviously and then there is the English Officer Lt. David Plowden who knows nothing of the wild and surviving in it. Hetty even has to save him.
Hawkeye and Chingy have to go save a Delaware Princess Wa-tah-wa who is captured by the Hurons and rescue Plowden along the way. They go to Fort Niagra where all have been slaughtered by the Huron and meet Harry March there. He is some kind of trapper or trader. Pretty fond of Huron scalps too at 10cents a piece. They travel to the Lake to rescue Mr Hutter and his two daughters Judith and Hetty who live on the Lake. Well to cut a long story short they have to save them and rescue the Princess.
Hawkeye is the one whom "Rivenoak" and the Hurons want to BBQ in this one.
Not an epic like LOTM the movie  but it was okay. There was some silliness with hand grenades being thrown at the Hurons when they tried to make their escape at the end. No grenades back then and too many white men playing Indians in this one  God how I hate that. At least get Indians to play Indians. It was watchable though and Madeline Stowe was very enjoyable in this. So young and sweet and innocent and her character loved the woods although she had a wild bear that she could talk with which was more silliness.
Just wanted to comment on this one. Anyone else seen it
Steve Forrest is no DDL as Hawkeye. No sexiness there at all. Acting was not great overall as they were all a bit wooden. Worth a watch though. |
| RedFraggle |
Posted - February 15 2007 : 08:15:32 AM
quote:
Originally posted by Fitzhugh Williams
A thought: It's one thing to read a language, another to compose a sentence in it, and quite another to understand it when it is spoken.
Well said! I've been studying dead languages for a long time(and am now teaching them), but I had never had a modern foreign language course until a few years ago.
I took a French for reading knowledge class, which treated the language like a puzzle rather than a language, with the obvious result that I can dissect French sentences for reading pretty easily but can't speak a word of it. I can pick out a few select phrases here and there if someone is speaking very slowly, but that's about it.
I started learning spoken German 6 months ago and wow! is it ever a different experience than learning Latin, Greek, or French for reading. Our learning muscles for reading, writing, and speaking are definitely very different, which I think a lot of people don't realize.
Sorry. That's my
Hope everybody had a great Valentine's Day! I'm off to feel guilty about eating more of the red velvet cake I made yesterday. Yum!  |
| Fitzhugh Williams |
Posted - February 14 2007 : 11:36:36 PM
Well, I had two years of what is known as high school Spanish, and four years of German in College. Of course that was a year or two ago. But surprisingly enough I seem to remember more of the Spanish than the German. I made "A's" in German and barely managed to squeeze out a "D" in Spanish. Go figure. Then I decided a that I needed to learn French. I mean after all, if you are going to be French then you probably should speak it. Or at least understand something of it. So I went to Best Buy and bought a CD on sale. After a year or so I was making no progress. Then I put the CD in the laptop and played it, and that made all the difference. Probably if I played the CD more, I would learn more. I have noticed a relationship there. I guess I am more of a dabbler than a learner. I took a year of Latin and remember nothing, but I can recite the Greek alphabet. I tried to learn some Egyptial heiroglyphics, but didn't make much progress there. And I also bought a CD of the Cherokee language and a dictionary to go with it. I guess I should try playing it too. When I started going north for some F&I events, we were told then when we were on the field to either speak French or keep our mouths shut. All the drill and marching commands are in French, and many of the Canadiens are native French speakers. But many of the "US" French do not speak it, and it makes for some interesting situations when your immediate superior does not understand the marching commands, and is not really sure which is droite and gauche, and you find yourself at the front of the column and you have to interpret command, which are a great deal more than just droite and gauche. So, in 2008, when I grap my passport and my fusil and head for Louisbourg, maybe I will be able to speak and understand enough French to be comfortable in the tavern!
A thought:
It's one thing to read a language, another to compose a sentence in it, and quite another to understand it when it is spoken. I can't understand a lot of English dialects, so what chance do I have to understand a spoken foreign language unless I happened to be taught that specific dialect. My favorite phrase: Parlez plus lentement, s'il vous plâit. |
| RedFraggle |
Posted - February 14 2007 : 10:27:06 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Fitzhugh Williams
No, I don't speak French all that well (understatement). It's better than my German, but not quite as good as my Spanish.
Ah, Fitz! Wenn Sie Deutsch sprechen wollen, koennen Sie mit mir sprechen. Ich lerne jetzt, aber ich spreche (sonst noch!) nicht besonders gut. Ich kann nur Franzoesisch lesen. Hoffentlich werde ich nachstes Jahr Franzoesisch lernen.
Probably some mistakes in that.  Entschuldigung! I'm just learning. |
| Light of the Moon |
Posted - February 14 2007 : 9:31:35 PM
Oops! I doubled again. Apparently I'm having some problems with my computer skills! Just ignore me. |
| Light of the Moon |
Posted - February 14 2007 : 9:18:59 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Obediah
The French may have given up Joan d'Arc to the Brits, but they're the ones who toasted her...the 1st french fry??!! Kind of reminds you of Duncan, huh? 
EEEWWWWWW, Obi! 
'Tis true though.
I just gotta' wonder...Did somebody shoot her while she was going up in flames?
Hey...I think you just found the right woman for Cap. Crunch! And on Valentine's! How nice of you Obi! 
********************************
No creo, Fitz! Dige me, por favor, quantos anos que hablas espagnol y a donde apprendes? Escuela? Amigos? Familia? Y que dialecto?
********************************
Oh yeah! Happy Valentine's Day Y'all!
          AND my personal fave for this holiday:
Damn Cupid!
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| Fitzhugh Williams |
Posted - February 14 2007 : 7:46:07 PM
No, I don't speak French all that well (understatement). It's better than my German, but not quite as good as my Spanish. So the movie should be a real challenge, but I understand there is some really good calvary battles. The other movie, Girl With a Pearl Earring, is supposed to be a "chick flick", but guys seem to like it and girls don't, so go figure! I guess we are the emotional ones after all. And now with 5 more hours of Mohican madness at my disposal, I will be spending some time with the DVD player. |
| Obediah |
Posted - February 14 2007 : 6:46:03 PM
The French may have given up Joan d'Arc to the Brits, but they're the ones who toasted her...the 1st french fry??!! Kind of reminds you of Duncan, huh? |
| Light of the Moon |
Posted - February 14 2007 : 12:18:00 PM
Do you speak French, Fitz.
I haven't spoke it in about 10years. But if you speak it I can understand it pretty good. In fact, a friend of mine didn't know that I use to speak it and she was talking with another friend of mine and (not about me) they were just having fun seeing who was more fluent. When I bust out laughing at a joke they told they were surprised to say the least. Anyway...I may see if it's rentable or downloadable anywhere. I don't really get into 17th century Europe too much. Lots of sad, twisted things going on there. Amd the french had a strange way of showing gratitude for someone saving their country.
Joan of Arc - betrayed and turned over to the English who burned her at the stake for being a woman dressed like a warrior. The French Parliment did this AFTER she saved France of course. The cruel twist of fate is they didn't have to turn her over and they could have saved her at one point but never did.
Napolean - exiled to a deserted island, his followers with him, in the Chateau Deif (jail known as house of the deaf - scream all you want, we can't hear you) or prosecuted on the spot with the Guillotine. Yes, 17th century french not exactly my cup of tea. A very brutal time in history.
Still I'd like to see the flick but wouldn't want to own it.
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