Lesson: The Only 4 Christmas Movies Ever Made
Conversation
Answer the following questions. You might be asked to write them down or answer them out-loud.
- Do you enjoy Christmas time? Why?
- Do people behave differently during Christmas?
- Do you celebrate Christmas in any special way? How?
- Do you see your relatives at Christmas time?
- Do you decorate your house for Christmas?
- Did you believe in Santa Claus when you were a child?
- Do you remember when you found out that Santa Claus wasn't real or when your children found out? What was your/their reaction like?
- Do you like Christmas movies?
- What´s the best Christmas movie you´ve ever wacthed? Why did you like it?
- Do you agree that most of Christmas movies are all the same story? Why?
Vocabulary
Look at the vocabulary below. Take time to explore the links for their definitions in English and their translations to Portuguese. When you are done, make a sentence with each word. Ask your teacher if you should write them down or say them out loud.
Video
Watch the following video but DON'T read the transcript yet.
After watching the video do this listening exercise.
Reading practice
Read the following transcript then do the associated reading comprehension exercise.
I´m guessing that you´ve seen a lot of Christmas movies in your life. But did you know that there are only four types of Christmas movies that have ever been made? That´s right: Four! And they´ve been made over and over again. So I´ve got Matt Gallager here to walk us through them. And the first one is the "Christmas Redemption Story", which is really just Charles Dickens' Christmas Carol retold.
M.G.: That´s your, hmm, guy who hates the season, having a big life-changing event. It could be, hmm, Christmas vacation, hmm, the Santa Claus, hmm, Bad Santa comes to mind a lot, lot, lot of that plot.
Secondly, is the holly-jolly-blood bath.
M.G.:That is "Your Christmas is in trouble" one. Which is great because the villain doesn’t get, uh, doesn’t get redeemed so much as he gets thrown off a roof by Bruce Willis usually, uh, or some other piece of slapstick violence. It´s like a Home Alone, uh, Gremlins comes to mind, uh, which I completely forgot was a Christmas movie until I went back and watched it.
Ok and the third type of Christmas movie that you´re gonna see is what we´ll call "All in the family". And this is where you´ve got this big dysfunctional family and they hate each other, it´s crazy, but…
M.G.: Christmas is the time to kind of gloss over that. That seems to be the basis for a lot of these. My favorite Christmas movie, uh, is "Trapped in Paradise", with Nick Cage and Dana Carvey. And it´s a horrible family! It´s like three guys who are all just getting out of jail who decide that their family is the reason for the season.
The final Christmas movie you´ll see over and over again is "The Christmas cash-in".
M.G.: Find a story that might not even work any other time in the year, but if you slap a santa hat on it, all of the sudden it´s an excuse to put out what is honestly an inferior product and pass it off as a Christmas movie and everybody loves it. The classic one is the, is, “The Star Wars Christmas Special”, that´s so bad it´s become infamous.
And that´s it: The only four Christmas movies ever made! So, we´d like to know what your favorite Christmas movie is and if it fits in the list. Or if you think there´s another type of Christmas movie out there, let us know. And Happy Holidays.
Writing practice
Write a couple of paragraphs about your best or worst Christmas ever. What hapenned for this holyday to be so remarkable? Make sure to use words you learned from the text and try to make it as long as you can.
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