ELA Resources for Middle School



|Film Review: Despicable Me |

|[pic] | | |

|Release date | | |

|Out now | | |

|The plot | | |

|Gru the super-villain hatches a plot to become the greatest super-villain ever by planning the biggest heist in the history of the world - | | |

|shrinking and stealing the moon! | | |

|But he has a rival - the new villain in town, Vector. | | |

|Gru adopts three orphans - Margo, Edith and Agnes - to try to break into Vector's house, but things don't go to exactly to plan. | | |

|The stars | | |

|[pic] | | |

|Vector is Gru's biggest rival | | |

| | | |

|The voice of Gru is Steve Carell, who was the voice of the Mayor of Who-ville in Horton Hears a Who!. | | |

|Teen superstar Miranda Cosgrove, who is Carly in iCarly is the voice of the eldest orphan sister, Margo. | | |

|Gru's mum is voiced by the mighty Julie Andrews from The Princess Diaries, The Sound of Music and Mary Poppins. | | |

| | | |

|Best bits | | |

|[pic] | | |

|Gru's minions are really funny in the film | | |

| | | |

|The gadgets Gru and Vector use are really cool - they've got shrink rays, freeze rays and loads of battle-ready vehicles - for land or air!| | |

|And you've got to love the tiny yellow minions. They are BRILLIANT! | | |

|Fave characters | | |

|The three orphans really make this film, especially Agnes. | | |

|And Gru's crew of minions - these cute little yellow creatures are really funny. | | |

|Any weak bits? | | |

|You can see where the story is going from a mile off so there are no big surprises, but it's still a fun family film. | | |

|Hit or miss? | | |

|A hit - this movie is definitely not despicable. | | |

|NR rating: | | |

|[pic] | | |

|DVD review: StreetDance 3D |

|[pic] | | |

|Release date | | |

|27 September 2010 | | |

|The stars | | |

|George Sampson lights up the dance floor in his role as a wannabe dancer. Although he's not the lead role, he's the most recognisable. | | |

|We're also treated to dance moves from Flawless, who play fictional rival Streetdance crew The Surge, and let's not forget Britain's got | | |

|Talent winners Diversity. | | |

|The Plot | | |

|When Carly and Jay reach the finals of the UK Street Dance Championships with their crew, Jay stuns everyone by walking out. | | |

|Angry and heartbroken - and with no rehearsal space - Carly stumbles upon Helena who teaches at the Ballet Academy she delivers sandwiches | | |

|to! | | |

|Helena offers Carly a deal - she can use the ballet studios for rehearsals, if she'll include Helena's ballet dancers in her crew. | | |

|But can the dancers put aside their differences and make it work in time for the Street Dance Championship? | | |

|Best bits | | |

|The dance-offs are definitely the highlight of the film and the shots of London look amazing. | | |

|[pic] | | |

| | | |

|Flawless are brilliant rivals to Carly's crew but it's a bit of a shame we don't get to see much of Diversity, who only appear briefly. | | |

|The soundtrack includes tracks from Tinie Tempah, N Dubz, Cheryl Cole and Pixie Lott, so there's loads to get you up on your feet. | | |

|Streetdance is the first 3D dance movie, so sometimes it feels like you're really there at the dance-offs, but don't worry - the DVD is | | |

|released in 3D and 2D formats, with a whole bunch of extras too! | | |

|DVD Extras | | |

|The extras are actually pretty good - especially if you like all the behind-the-scenes stuff, or fancy yourself as a movie director! | | |

|The Making of Streetdance, Anatomy of a Scene and On The Set of Streetdance all give different views of what it's like on the film set. | | |

|The DVD also features footage of Diversity's performance, with clips from the premiere and the National Movie Awards, plus a tour video. | | |

|Fave characters | | |

|Eddie, played by George Sampson, is by far the best character. He seems the most believable and genuine. | | |

|He's so desperate to join Carly's crew, and keeps popping up throughout the film with cheeky one-liners. | | |

|But Carly and the gang aren't convinced he's got what it takes… until the end! | | |

|Any weak bits? | | |

|It's a bit of cheese-fest in places, and the acting isn't always the greatest - but it's all about the dance really! | | |

|It follows the same storyline as films such as Step Up and Save The Last Dance, so there's not really much to it that's original, apart | | |

|from the 3D action (if you buy the 3D version that is)! | | |

|Hit or miss? | | |

|Tough one! If you like dance it's a definite hit, but if you're looking for an amazing plot and super-acting it might not be your thing… | | |

|NR rating: | | |

|[pic] | | |

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download