1. I don't like TV. I don't enjoy most of the shows that are on, but if I have a TV, especially with cable, I will watch way more than I plan to, and feel drained at the end.
2. I use netflix as a form of cable TV. I get films and watch them in snippets whenever convenient.
3. DVDs have subtitles. This is very convenient when dialogue is important but inaudible.
4. You can view the subtitles in many different languages. Some movies don't even have english subtitles.
5. I've taken to watching blaxploitation films with the French subtitles on. It was almost by accident - Coffy didn't have english subtitles, and I couldn't hear a critical bit of dialogue right that the end of the movie. I've also seen pieces of Cradle 2 the Grave this way. In that case, I was bored with the movie, but not bored enough to turn it off. Seeing the dialogue in French made the whole thing a bit more fun.
Fact is, the dialogue and plot in these movies is really basic. That makes the subtitles accessible, but still interesting. Why not just watch French movies? I actually was better at oral french than written (and probably still am), but even at my greatest proficiency, I had a hard time parsing movie dialogue. Blaxploitation French is alot easier, more fun, and well ... I pick up some useful vocabulary. Unfortunately, I didn't take any notes, but next time I'll try to jot down a few snippets.
Wow, this sounds like something I would do. A new way to annoy Chris!
Comment #1 :: link :: April 22, 2004 2:43 PM :: homepageIt is even easier to learn a language when it something you have seen before. Last time we were in Paris, I picked up a lot of phrases and cliches by watching The Golden Girls in English but with French subtitles. And in Italy Il Simpson was completely in Italian, but luckily I knew most of the dialogue by heart.
Funniest thing: seeing Hogan's Heros in German!
So, Chris, Emily, what movie can we all agree to watch together? My vote is for Berry Gordy's The Last Dragon. That should appeal to all of us. And the French subtitles should be ... quite interesting. Maybe there's even a Rocky Horror type game that could come out of this, where performers would do the movie karaoke lines, but in French!
I mean, don't you want to know how to say:
"I'm gonna slap that sucker silly for alienation of affection! If it wasn't for me, he wouldn't know who it was! Chocolate covered yellow peril! "
or
"Where are you gonna go Angie? Without me you're nothing! Without that outfit your just another no talent dental hygiene school drop out from Hue Gardens getting by on her tits!"
Warm memory: watching Woody Allen's "The Curse of the Jade Scorpion" in a very cute corner of Trastevere in Rome, with Italian subtitles.
Funny memory: watching an Arnold Schwarzenegger flick in Barcelona, dubbed in Spanish. They got a local Neanderthal to do the Arnold voice, but the other voices were all done with the two male and two female vocalists who seem to do all dubbing in Spain. They're like the Spanish Lata Mangeshkar/Asha Bhosle, they have a total lock on the market. I hear those voices everywhere in Spain!
Comment #4 :: link :: April 22, 2004 5:37 PM
