ESL Reading

The Weatherman is a window into the personal life of a middle-aged man named Dave, played by Nicolas Cage.  Dave is a minor celebrity, has a relatively easy job as a weatherman, and a good salary.  Unfortunately his personal life is in shambles.  He’s unhappy, unfriendly, and doesn’t seem to have any friends.  He wants to show he’s a good father to his kids and tries to no avail to convince his ex-wife their marriage deserves a second chance.  He finds out that he’s being considered for a great job in New York with a massive pay raise but once again money doesn’t seem to help his life.  This movie makes you think about what’s really important in life.  Some critics dislike the movie but I personally think it’s underrated and definitely worth watching.

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Window – a window into something is like saying it’s a view into something or an opportunity to see something that you normally wouldn’t have a chance to.

Minor celebrity – someone who several people recognize but the majority of the population wouldn’t.  Someone who does the news on TV or a professional athlete who isn’t very famous might be considered minor celebrities.  Michael Jordan and Tom Cruise are both major celebrities in the US because most people would recognize them.

Weatherman – The person on TV who delivers the weather forecast to the public.

Shambles – something that is in a state of destruction or total disorder.  That city was in shambles after the hurricane.  Her life was in shambles after she lost her job and her boyfriend.

Tries to no avail – If you try something to no avail it means you try but fail.  He tried to no avail to date the girl of his dreams.

Critics – Movie critics are people who have the job of watching movies and writing descriptions and ratings for those movies.  I can’t believe the critics didn’t like that movie.  I haven’t seen that movie but apparently the critics love it.

Underrated – Not given the praise that is deserved.  I think he is an underrated basketball player.  That means that most people don’t realize how good he really is at basketball.

Worth watching – This means that it won’t be a waste of time to watch it.  You can also say “worth doing” or “worth going”.  “worth doing something” means it’s a good idea to do and you won’t regret it.  It wasn’t my favorite place for a vacation but it was definitely worth going.  That means that going on that vacation was still better than not going and you don’t regret it.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 29th, 2007 at 3:20 pm and is filed under Fun English Lessons, fun-english-vip. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.