MeRrY ChRiStMaS!!!

MeRrY ChRiStMaS!!!

Dangerous Minds

Film Review

Dangerous Minds

An intelligent adaptation of LouAnne Johnson’s book “My posse don’t do homework”, “Dangerous Minds” (1995) is a powerful and significant film directed by John N. Smith.
It stars Michelle Pfeiffer as LouAnne Johnson, who got a job as a substitute teacher to work with disadvantaged kids.
Obviously, it won’t be an easy task to teach this group of students, who are neither interested in English poetry nor grammatical rules.
The essential ingredients for success are here – a daring teacher, a group of students who can be considered outsiders of society and a conservative principal.
Although the plot can be considered a cliché, “Dangerous Minds” is definitely worth seeing. It is a moving film, well constructed in terms of plot. It was set in an American ghetto in the late 1990s.
LouAnne Johnson, whose only dream was to teach, was happy when she got the job as an English teacher and didn’t care about the fact that her students weren’t ordinary kids. Actually, in her first class, LouAnne finds a group of tough teenagers, who didn’t pay attention to her. At first she couldn’t stand them and left the classroom, saying that she just couldn’t teach that group of students. Another teacher advised her – she had to get those kids’ attention. To achieve this goal, “she broke the rules and changed their lives”, with new teaching strategies. She began to read some books at home and started her second class with martial arts. Although the students seemed to love it, she was told that teaching karate was against school rules.
Determined to make a difference in her students’ lives, she told them that if they wanted to pass, all they had to do was to try. Moreover, she gave them support assuring them that “at this point, each one of you has an A, all you have to do is to keep it”. This was certainly a turning point for her to earn their trust because she showed the students she believed they could succeed.
In the following classes, she brought chocolates to give them when they answered the questions correctly and played them a song from the 60s with a hidden meaning that could refer to drugs.
The role of LouAnne Johnson is brilliantly played by Michelle Pfeiffer who is really at her best. The young actors who play her students also offer us very strong and promising performances. The remarkable job of director John N. Smith can’t be overlooked. Featuring the hit “Gangsta’s Paradise”, “Dangerous Minds” has a powerful and well chosen soundtrack.
All these features contribute to pass on the message that failure shouldn’t be accepted as a way of life – there’s always another choice because “when there’s a will there’s a way”.
And did the students get LouAnne’s message? Sure. They gave her a candy begging her to stay next year and called her “the light”…

The Lord of the Rings – the Two Towers

Running time: 179 minutes
Genre: Epic adventure
Director: Peter Jackson
Starring: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Vigo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Christopher Lee, Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom, John Rhys-Davies, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Miranda Otto, Brad Dourif, Hugo Weaving, David Wenham …

The Two Towers is the second film of the trilogy The Lord of the Rings directed by Peter Jackson. Maybe if you haven’t seen the first film – The Fellowship of the Ring – you will not understand why the hobbits Frodo (Elijah Wood) and his companion Sam (Sean Astin) are so obsessed in destroying the ring that Frodo - the Ring bearer - brings with him.
The whole story is about this ring – the One Ring - because it contains an enormous power and is wanted by everyone, especially Sauron and the wizard Saruman (Christopher Lee) who try everything to take it with their servants’ help. These two evil forces want to destroy and change the whole face of Middle Earth forever and that all kind of horrible creatures like orcs, trolls and many others start ruling all the kingdoms of Middle Earth.

Aragorn (Vigo Mortensen) has been the leader of the Fellowship since the wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen) had disappeared at Khazad-dûm and also plays an important role in this epic adventure as the king, who will return in the third part of the trilogy. In this film as well as in the whole trilogy there’s a love story between Aragorn and the elf Arwen (Liv Tyler) which is disturbed by the appearance of lady Eowyn (Miranda Otto), the niece to the King Theoden (Bernard Hill) of Rohan. The title The Two Towers means that the Fellowship has to face at the same time the increasing power of Orthanc Tower in Isengard where Saruman is the commander and Sauron’s Tower at Barad-dûr in the dark lands of Mordor. The War of the Ring starts in this film but we will only know how it ends if we see the third and last film of the trilogy – The Return of the King. The Two Towers introduces new characters such as Gollum (Andy Serkis), Wormtongue (Brad Dourif), Faramir (David Wenham), the people of Rohan and the Ents.
Besides the story, what I liked most in this film were the special effects which are amazing. That’s why it won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. The character Gollum is particularly impressive because it is very realistic. My favourite character is the elf archer Legolas (Orlando Bloom) due to his beauty, wisdom, skills and kindness. He plays some funny scenes with the dwarf Gimli (John Rhys-Davies). However, I think the funniest characters are the young hobbits Merry (Dominic Monaghan) and Pippin (Billy Boyd).
I loved everything about this film so I can’t point out what I didn’t like. It is one of my favourite films besides the other two of the trilogy because it portrays a totally different reality with all its fantastic characters such as hobbits, dwarfs, elfs and ents.
This film, which is an adaptation of the book written by J. R. R. Tolkien, was nominated for thirteen Academy Awards, including the one for Best Film, and won four. People who have seen the first film can’t miss this one. Better than this one only the third film of the trilogy – The Return of the King.

The Notebook

The film is based on the best-seller by Nicholas Sparks, “The Notebook” is a story about lost opportunities, life experience and the strength of eternal love.
Everything begins when Allie Hamilton (Rachel McAdams) goes to the town of Seabrook, in North Carolina for the summer and meets Noah Calhoun (Ryan Gosling). Although they belong to different worlds (she is from a rich family and he is a simple worker), they fall deeply in love during a full of emotion summer. They are separated, first by her parents an then by World War II, but they remain tormented by their memories.
After the soldiers come home, everything changes. Allie is engaged to Lon (James Garner), a successful businessman that she met when she worked as a volunteer in a hospital. Noah lives alone with his memories in a 200-year-old house that he had lovingly restored. One day, Allie sees an article in a local paper about Noah’s handwork. She knows that she’s got to find him and makes a decision once and for all about what to do with her life and her love. When she finds him again, their love revives and she chooses to stay with the man that she has always loved, Noah.
After some years, a man (James Garner) is reading an old notebook to a woman (Gena Rowlands) that he visits every day in a nursing home. When that man finishes the book, we know that he is Noah and the woman to whom h reads every day is Allie. She suffers from Alzheimer’s, and Noah does everything to prevent Allie from forgetting their exciting love story.
“The Notebook” shows other sides of a strong and beautiful love story. Other stories finish when a woman and a man stay together, but this one goes beyond, and tells us about the problems that all relationships have to face, which makes it more real.

On the Road...

This photo was taken on the Greek island of Mykonos. I was on the balcony of the hotel, staring at the horizon when I noticed this yacht in the middle of the sea.
I chose this photo for my technology task because I think it is connected with the idea of “On the Road”.
The boat can be used as a metaphor to describe human life. Imagine that you’re in the yacht you see in the photo, but with no specific destination. You’re moving forward, but you don’t know what is going to happen next. Something similar happens in our life. We’re on the road and we must go on, even without having the slightest idea of what future holds. Sometimes we feel that the world is our oyster, that we could do almost everything we ever wanted. Sometimes we don’t – we feel there’s nothing else to achieve in life and, so, we can just stay where we are.
However, staying there in the middle of nowhere, without a destination, without aims, won’t make our dreams come true. Consequently, even if we feel a bit adrift, we should always go on because life is a big ocean made of obstacles, but also of surprises and challenging opportunities.
Nevertheless, it is difficult to sail without looking back. It is also difficult to live without remembering our past experiences, especially if they bring about bad memories. However, either good or bad, we always learn something from the things we did and experienced. We may feel we sailed too close to the wind but we learnt how not to make the same mistake again.
Life is like a voyage by boat – the most challenging task is learning how to be a good sailor…

Ana Rita Faustino

Adriana on the road...

I've chosen this image because I think that as time goes by we leave our mark in the desert of life. In the beginning, life is still a desert where we can build our own way and leave our own marks. Each one of us chooses to go round a different road and each road leads to a different end so we must think carefully before taking any decision. However, sometimes we must take some risks in order to succeed. Life is made of decisions and each decision has a consequence. We must be prepared to face the consequences of our decisions.

On the road...

I chose this image because I think that our life should be very colourful. We have a long journey in our life, and sometimes with some sadness, however we should have always a smile.
Sometimes we have some difficulties, and some bad things happen, but we have to confront those things and try to be happy, after all we only have one life.

Adriana

Hello! My name is Adriana and I'm 18 years old. I live in Pinhal Novo near Setúbal with my parents and my little brother Rúben.

My football team is Benfica. I love football and sports in general even though some people as my mom say that football is only for men. I totally disagree with this idea because I believe in a thing called equality.

A country I would like to visit is Egypt because its history fascinates me. Reading is a hobby and I'm a fan of "The Lord of the Rings".

At the first sight you may think that I'm an unpleasant person but that's because I'm a bit shy and I take a little time to integrate myself. One of my best friends had that feeling when she first met me and currently we are inseparable. Her name is Cátia and she also makes part of this class. The thing I value the most is friendship.

I don't know what else to say so if you are curious about something just ask.

KISSES***

Cátia...

This interview is about Cátia Santos. She is 18 years old and she studies "Línguas, Literaturas e Culturas" in "Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas".

1. What is your most marked characteristic?
Well, I think that the perfect people to answer are my friends, however I can say that my most marked characteristic is friendship. I love my friends and I like to help them and make them laugh.

2. What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Well, I am very explosive and sometimes I say things that I don’t think.

3. What is that you most deplore in others?
Dishonesty, in my opinion people should say what they are thinking.

4. What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Be happy.

5. Who is the person you most admire?
The people that I really admire are my family and my friends, because they support me!

6. What is your greatest achievement?
To be admitted in University.

7. What is your greatest regret?
I don’t have any regret.

8. What is your greatest fear?
I fear that I would not finish my degree.

9. What is your most treasured possession?
My family, my friends and my rabbit!

10. Where would you like to live?
I would like to study abroad, although I think that would be very difficult for me to live in other country, because I like Portugal

11. What is your favourite journey?
Italy and Egypt.

12. Where is your favourite place?
My bedroom.

13. When you were a child, what did you want to be?
Veterinarian

14. What is you idea of perfect happiness?
To be with my family and my friends.

15. What are your favourite hobbies?
I like listening to music, watching films and football games.

16. What is your favourite book?
Harry Potter

17. What is your favourite film?
Notebook

18. What is your favourite fiction character?
Harry Potter

19. If you could choose what to came back as, what would it be?
I think that I would like to be a bird. I would like to travel around the world with my own wings.

20. What are your plans for the future?
I don’t like to make plans. I prefer to live one day as unique without being concerned about the future.

Adriana...

Hello!
I interviewed Adriana Hortense, a 18 years old girl, who lives in Pinhal Novo.
She is in the Línguas, Literaturas e Culturas course.

1. What is your most marked characteristic?
Sensibility

2. What is the trait you most deplore in your self?
To be so shy.

3. What is that you most deplore in others?
Dissimulation

4. What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
To be genuine

5. What is the person you most admire?
My best friend Sónia.

6. What is your greatest achievement?
To be admitted in University

7. What is your greatest regret?
I have no regrets.

8. What is your greatest fear?
To loose the people I love.

9.What is your most treasured possession?
My family and my friends.

10. Where would you like to live?
I love travelling but I also love my country. For me Portugal is the best place to live.

11. What is your favourite journey?
Egypt

12. What is your favourite place?
My bedroom.

13. When you were a child what did you want to be?
Veterinarian

14. What is your idea of perfect happiness?
To be close to the people that I love.

15. What are your favourite hobbys?
Reading, listening to music and going out with my friends.

16. What is your favourite book?
The Lord of the Rings (the trilogy)

17. What is your favourite film?
The Lord of the Rings too.

18. What is your favourite fiction character?
Legolas (The Lord of the Rings)

19. If you could choose what to came back as, what would it be?
A person. I enjoy being rational.

20. What are your plans for the future?
I want to finish my degree, but I don't know what career to choose.

My simple life...

I’m Cátia Santos and I’m 18 years old.
I live, since I was little girl, in Lagameças, a small village close to Setúbal. I still live with my parents and my sister. She is 24 years old and we are big friends.
I studied in two different places, in Palmela and Pinhal Novo. I still have friends from Palmela, however my best friends are from Pinhal Novo. I have great memories from these places and I miss many people from there.
I’m a person with many dreams. I would love to travel to Germany or England to study, however my favourite countries are Egypt and Italy. I like very much of Italian culture and art, and Egypt is a country with an incredible History and Egyptian pyramids are very fascinating. Other dreams of mine are to finish university and work in a publishing house.
I have many passions. I love my horse, it is so sweet and I like to mount him. Other passion is my folk dancing group. Many young people make fun of folk dancing groups, but I don’t care because dancing is one thing that I really adore.
I think that many of this young people have no idea what a folk dancing group really is. There are many traditions of our culture that we represent, and there is also a big relationship between the members of the group.
I love also films, at night when I’m sad I like to see a comedy or a romance.
Finally football, my biggest love. Since I was little I love to see and talk about football with my father. My football team is Sporting Club de Portugal and I’m a big fan of Diego benaglio, a Swiss goalkeeper.




I like to present you my little friend, the rabbit that is in the picture.






KISSES****

Me...

Hi there! My name is Rita and i´m 18 years old. I live in Pinhal Novo, a village near Setúbal. I´m studying L.LC. (English and German). I chose this course because I've always loved everything which was connected with languages - I enjoy reading a lot as well as writing. As far as I´m concerned, learning a foreign language is like a challenge and, at the same time, it is fascinating to learn new words and literary and cultural aspects. That's why i'm interested in learning new languages and, besides English and German, I intend to learn other languages such as Russian, Arabic or Greek.

Besides reading and writing, I love travelling, discovering new countries and getting in touch with different cultures. I have already been to many of the european countries. The ones I liked the most were England, Germany, Austria and Greece.I also like to surf the net and to hang out with my friends - we do lots of funny things together! I also enjoy dancing - I practise it at a Gym and it's really relaxing and funny.
Another of my interests is connected with animals - I love all that has to do with cats!

As far as this year at the Nova is concerned, I feel that i'm still adapting to it. The most difficult thing will be to have to talk in front of the class. As i'm a bit shy, I don't feel comfortable talking in front of many people. I prefer to write rather than to speak.

I also consider myself a perfectionist - I like to do things the best way I can.

As far as the future is concerned, I still don't know what I want to do when I finish my graduation, but I hope I will get a challenging oportunity!I haven't said all there is to say, but i'm getting a bit tired of talking about me. So, I wish you all good luck and hope we can achieve our goals successfully!

Kisses***

Rita