★ 全國話劇比賽台北決賽通知★

各位家長、同學您好:
全國話劇比賽台北決賽為5月1日(星期六)，我們於明天早上6點10分在GCP9教室集合，將所需的道具及布幕搬至校車上。早上6點半準時出發至台北參賽。

有幾件事情請同學配合:
1.牢記自已的台詞
2.準備好所有隨身應攜帶的服裝及道具
3.做好充足的睡眠
4.請務必攜帶豬鼻子

明天午餐將由學校統一訂購便當。決賽結束時間為5點半，預計我們將於8點半左右抵達台中。請家長至明道中學接您的孩子回家。如有任何疑問，請與導師聯絡。謝謝各位的配合。祝我們演出順利成功。謝謝。

親愛的家長您好！
由於GCP8、9 學生們在校內大隊接力比賽表現傑出，將於98年11月20日(星期五)代表本校參加「全國國民中學班際大隊接力錦標賽台中縣複賽」，如當天上午蒙貴 家長時間許可，歡迎蒞臨現場為學生們加油打氣。

PS.當天早上的課程將調整為戶外體能訓練活動，並已安排相關老師給予運動習慣、運動精神、比賽規則方面之指導。

★參與學生：GCP8、9
★日 期：98年11月20日(星期五)
★時 間：10:10~10:40 國中八年級組/10:50~11:20 國中九年級組
★比賽地點：台中縣立體育場

國際事務處 敬啟 98/11/17

84年次以後出生者 確定免當兵

摘錄自中時電子報
更新日期:2009/07/15 02:54 吳明杰、朱芳瑤／台北報導


民國八十四年次（含）以後的役男確定可以免當兵！國軍將從一○四年實施全募兵制，不少家長和役男都關切何時可以免服役，據了解，最後一年徵召的末代義務役官兵，將在八十二或八十三年次擇一，至於八十一年次（含）以前的役男，則仍須接受徵召服滿一年兵役，如果役男因就學或刻意延畢者，還是須服一年替代役。
八十四年以後出生者可望免兵役。全國家長團體聯盟理事長謝國清驚呼：「這訊息來得十分突然！」他舉雙手贊成，且樂觀其成。台北縣新莊市家長協會理事長陳啟利也肯定這項作法，他認為，「不是每個人都適合當兵」，全民皆兵的時代過去了，政府轉向實施募兵制，更能提升兵的素質。
據指出，軍方遲不公布義務役徵召年齡分界線的主因，除了避免役男逃避兵役，更擔心公布後恐將引爆兵役公平性的爭議，特別是只因早一年或晚一年出生，就必須將面臨一年兵役或四個月軍事訓練的不同待遇，屆時將遭遇民意壓力；因為無論訂在哪一年，都會有家長或役男不滿。
據了解，軍方希望屆時能以兵源和作戰需求等數據進行解套，以避免外界質疑。國防部人力司長王春江昨天就說，國防部目前有三個年次的方案（已排除八十四年次），以及另一種採入伍年度的方式，全部都以電腦模式模擬進行計算分析，看哪一年次或年度較能符合兵源充足和兵額需求再做決定，很快就會有結果。
此外，目前一年義務役役期在一○四年以前也不會再縮短，軍方認為，如果目前一年役期再縮短，軍中將會出現一堆未接受完整訓練的「無用兵力」，不啻是國防資源浪費，因此一年役期已經是底線，將會維持到一百零三年，並在隔年一次到位，直接改為四個月軍事訓練。役男受完訓以不需下部隊再當兵，直接退伍成為後備兵，只有教召時才需再接受軍事訓練。據指出，由於實施全募兵制後，仍將保留部分替代役，為避免役男以攻讀碩博士的方式，或以延畢方式延後入伍時間，軍方已規劃，只要該年次役男仍須入營服役，就算拖過一百零四年，還是必須轉服一年期的替代役。
據軍方規劃，民國一○三年的徵募比例將調整為九比一，屆時將徵召最後一批役期一年的義務役男約一萬八千人，這批役男在年底退伍後，國軍的義務役兵役制度將走入歷史，並在一○四年正式推動全募兵制。

A Latin Take on Films Has Wide Appeal
【By LARRY ROHTER／田思怡譯】

MEXICO CITY — Cha Cha Cha Films is the name of the new production company started by Mexico’s three most successful and acclaimed directors: Alfonso Cuaron, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu and Guillermo del Toro. But don’t go looking for an office or a telephone number here, or anywhere else for that matter, because you won’t find one.
「恰恰恰電影公司」是由墨西哥最成功和最受好評的三位導演創立的新製片公司，他們分別是阿芳索柯朗、阿利安卓崗札雷伊納利圖和吉勒摩戴托羅。但不要在墨西哥市找這家公司的辦公室或電話號碼，也別到其他地方去找，因為根本找不到。

That’s not just because of a dislike for bureaucracy and unnecessary overhead. After scoring a series of box office hits and Oscar nominations and awards in recent years with movies like “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” (Mr. Cuaron), “Babel” (Mr. Gonzalez Inarritu) and “Pan’s Labyrinth” (Mr. del Toro), the three directors now have their pick of big-budget, studio-supported projects to take them all over the world.
這不只是因為他們不喜歡管理公司的繁文縟節和不必要的開銷。近年來以「哈利波特：阿茲卡班的逃犯」（柯朗）、「火線交錯」（崗札雷伊納利圖）和「羊男的迷宮」（戴托羅）等片迭創票房佳績、屢獲奧斯卡提名並拿下電影大獎後，三位導演現在可以任意挑選由製片公司資助的大製作拍片計畫，使他們經常在世界各地跑。

But that means the Three Amigos, as Hollywood has taken to calling them, don’t spend as much time with one another as they would like. So an official business relationship, with lots of phone calls and e-mail messages flying back and forth across the planet, seemed the best way to continue the conversation about cinema they have been having since they were starting out and first met here two decades ago.
不過，這也意謂「三個墨西哥哥兒們」（好萊塢喜歡這麼稱呼他們）沒辦法如願經常碰頭。因此正式的商務關係，像是在全球各地打很多電話和電子郵件往返，似乎是他們繼續聊電影的最佳方式，他們自20年前在墨西哥市開始進入電影這一行和初結識後，就一直聊個不停。

“We don’t have a mission statement,” said Mr. del Toro, 44, who also has directed “Hellboy” and “The Devil’s Backbone” and is now at work on “The Hobbit” in New Zealand. “Right now we can do anything, make a movie in French or in Spanish, together or apart, producing or not producing, helping with the writing and ping-ponging ideas. It’s more like a virtual company than a big development company.”
44歲的戴托羅說：「我們沒有宣示公司的成立宗旨。」他導過「地獄怪客」和「靈異孤兒院」，最近正在紐西蘭拍「哈比人」（暫譯）。他說：「現在我們可以隨心所欲，拍法語或西班牙語電影，一起拍或分開拍，當製片或不當製片，協助寫劇本和腦力激盪。這家公司比較像虛擬公司，而不是大型開發公司。」

For Latin America cinema the Cha Cha Cha experiment also represents a new way of engaging and relating to Hollywood. Directors of earlier generations, like Glauber Rocha and Ruy Guerra, to cite two examples from Brazil, often defined their identities quite vocally in opposition to Hollywood and took pride in operating outside a studio system that might not have been all that interested in them either.
對拉丁美洲電影來說，恰恰恰電影公司的經驗代表打入好萊塢並與好萊塢維持關係的新方式。早期的導演可以兩個巴西導演克勞伯羅加和魯伊奎拉為例，經常公開自我標榜反好萊塢，而且以在好萊塢製片體系以外拍片為傲，而這個製片體系可能對他們也沒多大興趣。

But the Cha Cha Cha directors and their contemporaries, who include Brazilians like Walter Salles and Fernando Meirelles, move easily in and out of Hollywood, using the studio system when it seems to suit a particular project but going elsewhere for financing and marketing when it does not.
但恰恰恰電影公司的導演和他們同時代的導演，包括巴西導演華特沙利斯和佛南度梅爾瑞斯，卻能在好萊塢來去自如，拍片計畫適合好萊塢製片體系時就利用這個體系，不適合時就到別處找資金和行銷管道。


“These guys are Mexican through and through and embrace their heritage and everything that comes with that,” David Linde, a chairman of Universal Pictures, said of the Three Amigos. “But they have a global perspective, much as I hate that phrase. It fascinates them to tell stories in Mexico, Spain, the U.K. and the United States because what drives them, quite simply, is an interest in what it means to be human.”
環球電影公司董事長大衛．林德談到這三個墨西哥佬時說：「這些傢伙是道地的墨西哥人，擁抱他們的傳統和所有連帶的東西，但他們有全球視野，雖然我很討厭這個名詞。述說發生在墨西哥、西班牙、英國和美國的故事都令他們著迷，因為，很簡單，他們對人性有興趣，這是他們拍片的動力。」

The first film released under the Cha Cha Cha banner is “Rudo y Cursi,” or “Tough and Corny,” which the three partners produced but did not direct. It is a bittersweet comedy about two brothers of humble origin who become big league Mexican soccer stars almost overnight. Spoiled by their success, they see their careers collapse just as rapidly.
打著「恰恰恰電影公司」旗號發行的第一部片子是「Rudo y Cursi」（英文名稱為Tough and Corny），由這三個夥伴任製片，但不導演。這是部酸甜苦辣兼具的喜劇，敘述出身卑微的兩兄弟一夕間成為墨西哥大聯盟足球明星的故事。兄弟倆被成功沖昏了頭，看著他們的足球生涯同樣在一夕間毀掉。

The brothers Tato and Beto Verdusco are played by Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna, probably best known for their breakout roles in “Y Tu Mama Tambien.” That film, nominated for an Academy Award in 2002 for best original screenplay, was directed by Mr. Cuaron, 47, who wrote it with his brother Carlos, 42. Carlos Cuaron makes his feature- length debut as a director in “Rudo y Cursi” in what can only be called a family setting.
塔托和貝托．維杜斯柯這對兄弟由蓋爾賈西亞貝納爾和狄哥魯納飾演，兩人最出名的演出是在「你他媽的也是」一片中的突破角色。那部電影在2002年獲奧斯卡獎最佳原著劇本獎提名，由47歲的柯朗導演，劇本是他和他42歲的弟弟卡洛斯合寫。
“Rudo y Cursi,” which had its premiere in Mexico and will be released worldwide this summer and fall, is set in the world of sports and examines issues like corruption and celebrity, but “this is really a film about brotherhood,” Carlos Cuaron said in an interview here.
"Rudo y Cursi"。

"Rudo y Cursi"是卡洛斯柯朗初次執導劇情長片，這部電影具有濃厚的家庭背景。已在墨西哥首映，將於今年夏秋全球發行，背景是體育界，探討墮落和名流等議題，但卡洛斯柯朗在墨西哥市接受訪問時說：「這其實是一部有關兄弟情的電影。」

That seems an appropriate assessment not just because of the plot and Alfonso Cuaron’s involvement as a co-producer, but also because Mr. del Toro and Mr. Gonzalez Inarritu, 45, are “like a pair of older brothers to me,” Carlos said.
這似乎是很恰當的說法，卡洛斯說，不只因為電影情節如此，阿芳索又是製片之一，也因為戴托羅和45歲的崗札雷伊納利圖「也像我的兩個哥哥」。

That means they are willing to offer tough love to help their younger sibling get his directing career off on the right foot.
這表示他們願意以愛之深、責之切的態度協助小弟弟，讓他的導演事業有個好的起頭。

“I don’t think you can find producers who are more demanding than these three, and in a very positive way,” Mr. Luna said. “They gave Carlos a structure and a mechanism that allowed his talent to flourish, but they questioned him a lot too. What do you want to say? Are you sure you want to say this? Is this the best way to say this?”
魯納說：「我看再也找不到比他們三個要求更多的導演了，而且他們是用非常正面的方式。他們給卡洛斯一個讓他的才華得以盡情揮灑的架構和機制，但也對他多方質疑。你想要表達什麼？你確定你要表達這個嗎？這是最好的表達方式嗎？」

As Carlos Cuaron recalls it, Mr. del Toro was the one who originally encouraged him to become a director. One night more than a decade ago, when the two men were having dinner together here, Mr. del Toro noticed that Mr. Cuaron was feeling “sad and depressed,” and asked why.
卡洛斯柯朗回想起來，最初是戴托羅鼓勵他當導演。十多年前的一個晚上，兩個男人在墨西哥市一起吃晚餐，戴托羅注意到卡洛斯「哀傷和沮喪」，問他原因何在。

“I told him that I was writing all these screenplays that weren’t getting produced, and that it was like giving birth to dead babies,” Mr. Cuaron explained. “Being the wise man he is, he answered, ‘Don’t be stupid, direct them yourself, damn it,’ and that’s how all this began.”
卡洛斯柯朗解釋道：「我告訴他，我寫了這麼多劇本，都沒有拍成電影，感覺好像產下死胎。他是聰明人，答道，『別傻了，你自己當導演，天殺的』，一切就是這麼開始的。」


關鍵字句
1. 本文標題”A Latin Take on Films Has Wide Appeal”中的take 當名詞，指受歡迎的作品，例如，The play is a great take.（這齣劇大受歡迎。）take也有嘗試的意思，這裡一字雙關，指3位墨西哥導演嘗試自組公司拍電影。

2. 第2段have their pick of big budget projects意思是他們可以任意挑選大製作拍片計畫，have one's pick 是任意挑選的意思，例如He can have his pick of jobs.（他可以任意挑選工作）。
第3段as Hollywood has taken to calling them中的take當動詞，take to有喜歡的意思，例如They took to each other.（他們惺惺相惜）

【2009-05-12/聯合報/G9版/UNITED DAILY NEWS】

皮克斯動畫 零售商發愁
【By BROOKS BARNES／張佑生譯】
LOS ANGELES — Pixar Animation Studios has never released a movie that was not a commercial and creative triumph, and its 10th feature, “Up,” is looking to be no exception — at least artistically.
皮克斯動畫工作室發行過的電影部部叫好又叫座，第10部劇情片「天外奇蹟」看來也不會例外，至少在藝術方面是如此。

To the extreme irritation of the Walt Disney Company, however, two important business camps — Wall Street and toy retailers — are not especially excited by “Up.”
然而，讓迪士尼公司非常生氣的是，華爾街和玩具零售商這兩大商業陣營對於「天外奇蹟」卻不是挺興奮的。

The film, about the adventures of a cranky 78-year-old who ties thousands of balloons to his house, features dazzling animation that evokes the work of Hayao Miyazaki, the refined Japanese filmmaker and anime master. Like Pixar’s Oscarwinning “Wall-E,” there are stretches without dialogue. A few scenes are rendered in black and white.
電影是關於一個78歲的怪老頭，把房子繫上數千顆氣球的冒險經歷，以令人眼花撩亂的動畫為特色，讓人想起優雅的日本導演暨動畫大師宮崎駿的作品。如同皮克斯的奧斯卡得獎作品「瓦力」，有些長段落沒有對白。有些畫面以黑白方式處理。

Some industry watchers, a few of them still griping about the hefty $7.4 billion that Disney paid for Pixar in 2006, are fretting about the film’s commercial potential, particularly when it comes to benefiting other Disney businesses.
部分業界觀察家為本片的商業潛力發愁，特別是拉抬迪士尼其他生意的部分。這些觀察家中有些人對迪士尼2006年以74億美元重金收購皮克斯，至今仍有微詞。

Doug Creutz of Cowen and Company said qualms ran deeper than whether “Up” will be a hit — he thinks it will — but rather whether Pixar can deliver the kind of megahit it once did.
Cowen & Company的道格‧克魯茲表示，他認為「天外奇蹟」賣座不成問題，但在賣座與否之外，皮克斯能否再度締造超級賣座的佳績，才是眾人更深的疑慮。

“The worries keep coming despite Pixar’s track record, because each film it delivers seems to be less commercial than the last,” Mr. Creutz said.
「雖然皮克斯動畫過去成就輝煌，疑慮卻始終不斷，因為它推出的片子商業性似乎一部淡似一部。」克魯茲說。

Robert A. Iger, Disney’s chief executive, responded, “We seek to make great films first. If a great film gives birth to a franchise, we are the first company to leverage such success. A check-the-boxes approach to creativity is more likely to result in blandness and failure.”
迪士尼執行長勞勃‧伊格回應道：「我們先求製作好電影。如果一部偉大的電影能孕育出商機，我們就是第一間以成功的電影博得更大商機的公司。如果用傳統的方法激發創意，結果可能是枯燥乏味與失敗。」

The budget for “Up” is about $175 million excluding marketing, on par with other Pixar titles. “Up” will not begin opening in theaters worldwide until next month, but Pixarphiles are already effusive.
假設不計算行銷成本，「天外奇蹟」耗資1.75億美元，與其他皮克斯動畫作品相當。「天外奇蹟」要到下個月才會在全球上映，皮克斯迷已經讚不絕口。

“Sophisticated, mature, poignant,” wrote Blue Sky Disney, a blog that chronicles everything Pixar. The Cannes Film Festival is so excited about “Up,” which will be released in 3-D, that it slotted the film on its prestigious opening night, a huge promotional platform that has never before gone to an animated film or a 3-D one.
「精緻、成熟、扣人心弦，」記錄皮克斯大小事的部落格「藍天迪士尼」是這麼寫的。坎城影展對於將以3D上映的「天外奇蹟」深表興奮，安插在備受尊崇的開幕夜播放，如此重大的宣傳舞台過去從未開放給動畫片或3D電影。

Retailers, meanwhile, see slim merchandising possibilities for “Up.” Indeed, the film seems likely to generate less licensing revenue than “Ratatouille,” until now the weakest Pixar entry in this area. (“Cars” wears the merchandising crown, with sales of more than $5 billion.)
在此同時，玩具零售商認為「天外奇蹟」商品商機不大。的確，「天外奇蹟」帶來的授權費收益看來八成還不及「料理鼠王」，而「料理鼠王」是迄今皮克斯作品中這方面成績最差的（「汽車總動員」是帶動商機最成功的電影，周邊商品大賺超過50億美元）。

Thinkway Toys, which has churned out thousands of Pixarrelated products since 1995’s “Toy Story,” will not produce a single item.
自1995年的「玩具總動員」以來，Thinkway玩具公司開發製造的皮克斯相關商品種類數以千計，這次卻一樣也不生產。

Disney sees the worry as unfair and tiresome given Pixar’s track record.
迪士尼認為，鑑諸皮克斯工作室歷來的績效，這類憂慮既不公平且惹人厭。

With “Ratatouille,” analysts fretted about whether moviegoers would go to see a movie about a rat in the kitchen. They did. With “Wall-E,” people feared the lack of dialogue would bore children. It did not.
「料理鼠王」上片時，分析師擔憂影迷會不會願意走進電影院看一隻窩在廚房的老鼠。事實證明會。當「瓦力」上檔，許多人擔心缺少對話的劇情會讓小朋友感到厭煩。結果並沒有。

So, Disney says, hasn’t Pixar earned the benefit of the doubt?
因此，迪士尼說，皮克斯這樣的表現難道還無法讓各界往好處想嗎？

Disney marketers had hoped to curtail the it’s-not-commercial reaction to “Up” by breaking with past practice and widely screening unfinished footage of the film. Inside the studio, executives are bullish on it, particularly because focus groups have responded favorably. The company added that it does not expect every Pixar movie to become a franchise.
迪士尼行銷人員一反過去的做法，大量舉辦「天外奇蹟」未完成片段的試映，以使指影片不夠商業化的反應減少。在公司內部，主管一派樂觀，特別是因為焦點團體反應良好。公司還說，並不指望每部電影都能營造更大的市場。

After “Up,” the overtly commercial “Toy Story 3” arrives in 2010 and “Cars 2” in 2011, and there is much talk that a sequel to “Monsters Inc.” is in the works.
繼「天外奇蹟」之後，商業企圖明顯的「玩具總動員3」將於2010年上映，「汽車總動員2」是2011年，另外盛傳「怪獸電力公司」的續集已經著手拍攝。

Perhaps Wall Street would not care so much if Pixar seemed to care a little more. The co-director of “Up,” Pete Docter — who also directed “Monsters Inc.” — said in a recent question and answer session with reporters that the film’s commercial prospects never crossed his mind. “We make these films for ourselves,” he said. “We’re kind of selfish that way.”
假如皮克斯看起來多關心點，華爾街就不會這麼擔心。執導「天外奇蹟」，也是「怪獸電力公司」導演的彼得‧達克特最近在與記者問答時表示，他腦中從未考量電影賣不賣座。「我們拍這些電影是為了自己，」他說。「我們這麼做是有點只顧自己。」


關鍵字句
報導開頭就用了commercial 和creative 兩個押頭韻（alliteration）的字做對比，加上第一段結尾的artistically，不難得知這是一篇關於藝術創作和商業獲利之爭的文章。
受訪者談到業界對於皮克斯新片能否成為超級票房強檔（megahit）的普遍疑慮（qualm），這個字在這裡指的是對於所做的事是否正確的疑慮或憂慮，與misgiving 同義。She had no qualms about reporting her husband's crime to the police. 說的是一位大義滅親的妻子。
市場的疑慮是皮克斯的電影愈來愈不商業化（less commercial than the last）。一部比一部更強調藝術創意，與傳統的商業取向漸行漸遠。
迪士尼主管解釋道，如果偉大電影（great film）能孕育（gives birth to）一個franchise，迪士尼是第一個以此模式成功的公司。Franchise是一門生意，而且是超越電影本身的生意，等於是延伸擴大的市場。
例如「玩具總動員」裡面的「巴斯光年」，除了玩具，電影下檔後還拍成電視影集，真人扮演的角色在迪士尼樂園表演吸引遊客，還有配合的歌曲繼續撈金。易言之，franchise 激發出更多的商業活動，超越電影的主題和角色。

【2009-04-21/聯合報/G9版/UNITED DAILY NEWS】

Days of Easy Money In Hollywood Are Gone好萊塢不再遍地黃金
【By MICHAEL CIEPLY and BROOKS BARNES／田思怡譯】

UNIVERSAL CITY, California — In the bungalow offices here that house Steven Spielberg’s newly formed DreamWorks Studios, there is less swagger these days.
在史蒂芬史匹柏新成立的夢工廠製片公司的平房辦公室裡，這些日子神氣活現的人少了。

When the company reorganized itself as an independent operation a few months ago, Stacey Snider, a co-owner of Dream- Works and its chief executive, envisioned herself presiding over a grand new empire. It was a nice fantasy while it lasted.
幾個月前，這家公司重組為獨立運作的公司時，夢工廠的老闆之一兼執行長史塔瑟．史奈德想像自己掌管著一個新的大帝國，這個夢在破滅之前還真是挺美的。

“You’re not presiding over anything,” Ms. Snider, 47, said that she had quickly realized. “You’re back in the trenches.”
47歲的史奈德說，她很快就明白「你沒掌管到什麼東西，你是重返戰壕。」

After riding two decades of almost nonstop growth from the cable and video revolutions, a new generation of Hollywood power players is finally being tested.
有線電視和影音革命帶來20年幾乎沒停過的成長，在搭過這班順風車後，新一代好萊塢權力玩家終於受到了考驗。

These executives — consummate insiders who enlisted when young and worked their way up — now find themselves approaching 50 just as some brutal problems are arising in the industry: a collapse in DVD sales, a credit crisis that has curtailed financing for new movies, a group of corporate owners determined to pull more profits from studios to compensate for hard-hit publishing and broadcast television divisions.

這些執行長是老練的圈內人，從年輕入行一路往上爬，現在卻發現在自己逼近50歲之際，這個產業冒出了些嚴峻的問題：DVD銷售大跌、信用危機使籌拍新電影的資金縮水、一些企業主決定從製片公司抽取更多獲利，以彌補受重創的出版和電視部門的不足。

“These folks were born from a place where they knew no failure — all they could ever see was up, both for the business and their careers,” said Peter Guber, a former chairman of Sony Pictures who is now a producer and industry elder statesman. “Now they must confront the unsettling truth that failure is close at hand and that it’s on their backs to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
新力電影公司前董事長、現為製片人兼電影業大老的彼特．古柏說：「這些人生在見不到失敗的地方，他們看到的總是蒸蒸日上，不論是這個行業還是自己的職業生涯。現在他們必須面對失敗近在咫尺、如影隨形這惱人的事實，確保失敗不會到來。」

As studios trim staff and producer deals, many executives are now hoping to emulate some of the entrepreneurial cowboys — David Geffen, Barry Diller and Michael Eisner come to mind — from the generation of moguls that preceded them.
電影公司裁減人事和製片合約之際，許多片廠主管現在想要取法上一代大亨中的創業悍將，立刻浮現腦海的有大衛葛芬、貝里狄勒和麥可艾斯納。

Inevitably, the sudden shift has set off soul-searching among the loose network of allies and adversaries who must rewire the industry in the short span before a next Hollywood generation comes along to replace them.
無可避免地，突然的轉變在這個由盟友和敵人組成的鬆散網絡裡，引發了一番省思，這些人必須在好萊塢下一代取代他們之前的極短時間內，替這個行業重新接好線。

They are tightening budgets, lowering expectations and becoming occasionally more cutthroat, but also grappling with some unusually philosophic thoughts about a business for which they now have to fight.

他們緊縮預算、降低期望，有時不惜割喉競爭，但也對現在他們必須力保的這一行反覆進行不尋常的哲學思考。

Uncertainty breeds stress, even among friends.
不確定性會製造緊張，連朋友間也不例外。

“Darwinian” is one word Patrick Whitesell, a partner at the Endeavor talent agency, uses to describe the current landscape. People who were formerly able to succeed by clinging to mediocrity suddenly find themselves without cover, he said.
「達爾文理論」是Endeavor人力公司合夥人派崔克．懷特塞爾用來形容目前景況的字眼。他說，過去表現平庸卻依然獲得成功的人，突然發現自己失去了憑恃。

“Everybody has to dig deeper than they ever have,” said Mr. Whitesell, who has a background in television and now works as an agent. “That means more creative deal-making, more complete understanding of the economics of the industry, more hard-edged business decisions.”
有電視背景，現在當經紀人的懷特塞爾說：「每個人都必須更賣力。」這意味簽下更具創意的合約、對這個產業的經濟學有更通盤的了解、更犀利的商業決定。」

A number of executives and agents declined to be interviewed for this article, citing concerns about competitors or corporate overseers. The people who did speak acknowledged that many outside the glamour industry have it much worse. Hollywood is manufacturing one of the only products consumers are still lining up to buy, evidenced by a surge in box office revenue since December. That uptick is not nearly enough to offset the decline in DVD sales, but other businesses — online streaming, mobile, video-on-demand — are expanding and could pick up the slack.

有些主管和經紀人不願接受訪問，表示對競爭對手或企業上層主管有所顧忌。願意發表談話的人承認，這個迷人產業之外的許多產業更慘。好萊塢製造的是消費者仍願排隊購買的極少數產品之一，自去年12月以來票房收入大幅成長就是明證。電影業的成長絕不夠彌補DVD的銷售下滑，但其他事業，包括網路串流、行動影音內容和隨選視訊，都在擴展中，可彌補產業的不景氣。

“I look at it as growing pains,” said Donald De Line, 50, a Disney and Paramount executive who is one of the industry’s leading producers. “We’re going to figure it out, and the revenue streams will get healthy again. That’s the history of Hollywood.”
50歲的唐納迪萊恩是好萊塢大製片人，曾任迪士尼和派拉蒙高層主管，他說：「我把它看作成長過程必經的痛苦。我們總會想出辦法，營收會恢復正常，好萊塢就是這麼走過來的。」

Enduring financial pain is not why Kevin Misher, a 44-year-old producer who studied finance at the University of Pennsylvania, came to Hollywood. After making his mark as an executive at Universal and Sony, however, Mr. Misher last year lost the comfort of a Paramount producing deal when it was bought out by the studio during widespread costcutting.
44歲的製片凱文米希在賓州大學讀書時主修財務，他可不是為了忍受財務困境才來好萊塢的。在環球和新力擔任高層職務成名後，去年接下派拉蒙的製片合約，可就沒那麼一帆風順了，派拉蒙在普遍降價期間買下這個合約。

“You’re ultimately fending for yourself here,” said Mr. Misher. Like more than a few similarly aged “studio babies,” he now operates from an office far removed from the company lots, but is still feeding the system films like “Public Enemies,” a gangster drama directed by Michael Mann scheduled for release by Universal in July.
米希說：「你終於得自立更生了。」就像不少同年紀的「製片廠寶寶」一樣，他現在在距離派拉蒙片廠很遠的辦公室作業，但仍提供好萊塢「頭號公敵」之類的電影，此片是由麥可曼恩執導的幫派電影，預定今年7月由環球發行。

But he, too, sees an upside: The tough operating environment has forced producers like himself and Ms. Snider deeper into the moviemaking process.
不過，他也看到樂觀面：艱困的營運環境已迫使像他本人和史奈德這樣的製片更深入電影製作過程。

“This is what you love to do, get on with it,” Ms. Snider recalls telling herself lately, even as Dream- Works was scrambling to complete financing arrangements that would let it get another round of films in production. Ms. Snider added that she and the rest of her generation — having figured out that the real prize is being in the game — might stay in it a bit longer than intended, instead of clearing the way for thirtysomethings awaiting their turn at the top.
史奈德記得，最近在夢工廠為籌拍下一輪電影而忙著調度資金之際，她還告訴自己：「這是你愛做的事，好好去做。」史奈德接著說，她和她這一代的製片想通了，繼續待在這一行本身就是最大的獎賞，她們也許會比原先打算的待得更久一點，而不會讓出路來給等機會爬上頂端的卅來歲那個世代。

“They’re going to have to kick me out,” she said.
她說：「他們得把我踢走才行。」

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鐵達尼號情侶 真愛旅程重逢
2009/01/01
Portrait of Bleak Suburbia Reunites ‘Titanic’ Lovers
【By CHARLES McGRATH／張佑生譯】

Richard Yates’s 1961 novel, “Revolutionary Road,” is far from the kind of book that typically becomes a big Hollywood movie, especially one starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio in their first post-“Titanic” outing together. For one thing, the book is set back in the mid-20th century — an era that was thought to have about as much entertainment potential as the Bronze Age. The story requires armies of boring commuters to disembark in Manhattan every morning. The characters drive boatlike cars, and everyone drinks and smokes too much — even pregnant women.
理查葉慈1961年的小說《真愛旅程》絕不是會被改編為好萊塢大片的小說類型，尤其不會是凱特溫絲蕾和李奧納多狄卡皮歐在「鐵達尼號」之後首度合作的大片。一則，小說背景設在20世紀中葉，一個娛樂潛力有如青銅時代的年代。故事需要大批無聊的通勤族每天早上到曼哈坦下車。書中人物駕駛外觀像船的汽車，每個角色都菸酒過量，連孕婦也是。

Nor does it help that “Revolutionary Road” is among the bleakest books ever written. It ends unhappily, with a gruesome death, and neither of the main characters is entirely likable to begin with. Partly autobiographical, the novel tells the story of Frank and April Wheeler, who in the mid-1950s move with their two children to the suburbs.
這點無助於《真愛旅程》免於名列史上最陰鬱悽慘的小說之一。結局不圓滿，有人慘死，所有主角從一開始就不是挺討喜。小說帶有部分自傳性質，小說敘述法蘭克與愛波．魏勒夫妻1950年代中期帶著兩名子女搬到郊區的遭遇。

On no particular evidence the Wheelers consider themselves full of unrealized potential. Frank works for Knox Business Machines at what he calls “the dullest job you can possibly imagine,” but thinks of himself as an intellectual, an “intense, nicotine-stained Jean-Paul Sartre sort of man.”
沒有特別跡象證明，魏勒夫妻充滿自認尚未實現的各種潛力。法蘭克在諾克斯商業機器公司上班，他稱之為「可能想像最無聊的工作」，但他自認是知識分子，「精神集中、菸癮極大的沙特型男人。」

April has theatrical aspirations, and it’s she who comes up with the solution to their depressing lives: they’ll give up everything and move to Paris, where she’ll get a well-paying secretarial job until Frank “finds” himself. For Frank, who has meanwhile begun an affair with a young woman at the office, the plan is an agreeable fantasy, but April is in deadly earnest about it, and the marriage proceeds to unravel with the inexorableness of Greek tragedy.
愛波滿腦子想當劇場演員，她提出擺脫抑鬱生活的方案：放棄一切，搬去巴黎，她在那裡有個待遇不錯的秘書工作，可支持法蘭克直到他「找到」自己。對其間已和年輕女子發展辦公室戀情的法蘭克，這項計畫是個可以接受的奇想，但愛波非常認真，兩人的婚姻如希臘悲劇般難以挽回，開始瓦解。

“I’m pretty surprised it ever got made,” Blake Bailey, Yates’s biographer, said recently about the movie version, which opened December 26 in the United States and will open in January and February worldwide. “It has long been an ambition in Hollywood to make a movie that’s the last word on postwar suburban malaise, but like any highly nuanced work of literary art, ‘Revolutionary Road’ is awfully hard to translate onto the screen.”
「居然真能改編成電影，我很訝異，」葉慈傳記作者布雷克‧貝利日前表示，電影12月26日在美國上映，明年1月和2月在全球上映。「好萊塢很久前就有人想拍論定戰後郊區生活抑鬱的電影，但如同任何一本字裡行間高度微妙的文學作品，《真愛旅程》搬上銀幕難度很高。」

By all accounts, that the movie did get made is owing mostly to the drive and enthusiasm of Ms. Winslet, who liked the script from the moment she read it. “I loved the emotional nakedness, the brutal honesty about what can sometimes happen in a marriage,” she said in an interview.
根據各方說法，電影能拍成，主要靠凱特溫絲蕾熱心推動，她打第一眼就喜歡上劇本，有一次受訪時她說：「我喜歡赤裸裸的情緒，及對婚姻可能出差錯的殘酷坦率。」

She began lobbying Mr. Di- Caprio, she recalled, after slipping him the script over coffee, and she also worked on Sam Mendes, the director. He was an easier sell in some ways, because he happens to be her husband. “I just told him, ‘Babe, you’ve got to do this,’ ” Ms. Winslet said.
凱特溫絲蕾回憶，她利用喝咖啡的機會把劇本遞給李奧，開始遊說他演出。她也對導演山姆曼德斯下工夫，在某方面比較容易說服，因為他正是凱特的丈夫。凱特溫絲蕾說：「我就告訴他，『親愛的，你非拍不可。』」

What none of the principals knew then is that for all its gloominess, or maybe even because of it, “Revolutionary Road” is a novel cherished by a passionate and protective coven of admirers . They appreciate its honesty, its uncompromising exactness, the austere beauty of its prose.
電影主事者當時沒人知道的是，儘管小說本身非常憂鬱，或者正因為憂鬱，《真愛旅程》受到一群情緒激昂、嚴密維護的粉絲珍愛。他們欣賞小說的真實，不妥協的精準及文體的簡樸之美。

But despite its many champions, the book has slipped in and out of print, never quite catching on with a wider audience.
不過，儘管有不少支持者，小說當時出版和絕版都沒有引起太大注意，也未能吸引更多讀者。

“The book is very cinematic in some ways,” said Justin Haythe, the screenwriter . “But it never occurred to me that it could be a viable business proposition,” Mr. Haythe went on. “You’ve got the ending, the whole outlook of the book.”
「這種小說在某些方面很適合拍成電影，」電影編劇賈斯汀海耶斯表示：「但我從未想過可以發展成一門可以賺錢的生意。你知道故事結局，也就知道小說的整體展望。」

Everything changed, he said, when Ms. Winslet and Mr. Mendes took an interest, and once Mr. DiCaprio came on board the movie almost immediately went into production. “The way you make a movie like this, it turns out,” he said, laughing, “is you get Kate, Leo and Sam.”
他說，凱特溫絲蕾和山姆曼德斯表示有興趣後，一切都變了，等李奧納多狄卡皮歐加入，電影幾乎立刻進入製作階段。他笑說：「要拍一部這種電影，別無他途，就是要找來凱特、李奧和山姆。」

Mr. Haythe’s original screenplay was a faithful and at times literal adaptation, using great chunks of Yates’s own language. Mr. Mendes, he said, urged him to give it more shape.
賈斯汀海耶斯的原始劇本忠於原著，引用大量葉慈小說的原句，有時簡直是逐字改編。他說，山姆曼德斯要求他讓劇本更具體。

“Sam’s a very visual guy, and he kept saying, ‘What does it look like?’ ” Mr. Haythe recalled. “Sam got me to focus on this as a tragic love story, and the big challenge was to find ways to externalize all the things they don’t say to each other.”
「山姆非常注重視覺效果，他不斷說，『這看起來像什麼樣子？』」賈斯汀海耶斯回憶：「山姆要我聚焦在這是一部愛情悲劇上，重大挑戰是將他們彼此沒有告訴對方的話，找出可以具體呈現的方式。」

When he picked up the novel after first reading the script, Mr. Mendes recalled, he found it compelling. “The book is very particular in its insights into what people are thinking when they’re saying the opposite,” he said.
山姆曼德斯記得，第一次看過劇本後拿起小說來看，就覺得非常吸引人。他說：「小說特別洞察人心口不一的現象。」

He added that a number of early viewers of the movie, including Yates’s daughters, had approached him to say: You didn’t mess it up.
他又說，包括葉慈的女兒在內，有些先睹為快的觀眾跑來告訴他：「你沒搞砸。」

“That’s meant to be high praise,” Mr. Mendes explained, “but I think it’s really a sigh of relief. There are a lot of great books, but somehow this one is different. If you make a film of ‘War and Peace,’ people don’t come up to you say, ‘You better not mess it up.’ I’m glad I didn’t know about this at the beginning, or I think I might have just frozen.”
山姆曼德斯解釋：「那該是高度的讚美，可我覺得其實鬆了一口氣。偉大的小說很多，但這本就是與眾不同。如果拍像《戰爭與和平》那種電影，不會有人跑來說，『你最好別搞砸。』我很高興一開始不知道有人會這麼說，否則我想我可能僵在原地不敢動啦。」

關鍵字句
英國舞曲二人組「寵物店男孩」（Pet Shop Boys）在Suburbia 一曲中唱著：Let's take a ride, and run with the dogs tonight /In Suburbia / You can't hide, run with the dogs tonight / InSuburbia。

紐時標題用suburbia，文中稱主角搬到郊區（the suburbs）。在美語辭典兩字意義相近，但在英語辭典則有差異，suburbia 指的是雖有房舍，但無大型商店、工作或娛樂場所的郊區，帶有貶意。

存在主義巨擘沙特的註冊商標之一是菸斗，現在到處被封殺的抽菸行為，曾代表思想和酷勁，nicotine-stained 除了指菸癮很大，另有這層意義。

作者用希臘悲劇的inexorableness形容劇中人婚姻必將瓦解，這個字有冷酷無情，無法改變、難以阻擋的意思。現代主義小說大師喬哀思被迫看著愛女罹患精神分裂症，病情逐日惡化：During the 1920s James Joyce was forced to watch the inexorable slide into madness of his adored daughter Lucia.

【2008-12-30/聯合報/G9版/UNITED DAILY NEWS】

克林伊斯威特 活到老拍到老
2008/12/25
Revolution, Without All the Messy Parts
【By TERRENCE RAFFERTY／張佑生譯】

Even at the age of 78, Clint Eastwood reaches out to shake your hand with a firmness that still intimidates no matter how much time you spent preparing your grip.
即使已78高齡，無論你準備多久，克林伊斯威特握手的力道還是令人生畏。

He arrived for the interview at the Mission Ranch restaurant here as if he owned the place, and it didn’t make any difference that, in this case, he does.
他來到加州小鎮卡麥爾「傳道度假牧場」餐廳接受訪問的架式，彷彿是這裡的主人。其實沒啥差別，因為他的確是這裡的老闆。

It’s been 20 years since Mr. Eastwood was mayor of Carmel, but clearly he’s still the king around here. Unlike the taciturn characters he plays on screen, he’s voluble, chatting and laughing with his staff with a sharpness and enthusiasm that make him seem far younger than his age. Mr. Eastwood’s on familiar ground in another way. The Oscar nominations are coming up next month, and he has two films in contention, “Changeling,” with Angelina Jolie, and his newest, “Gran Torino,” being released this winter worldwide.
克林伊斯威特擔任卡麥爾鎮長已是20年前的事，但他顯然還是這裡的老大。不像在銀幕上扮演的角色沉默寡言，他口若懸河，和工作人員閒聊與談笑間的敏銳和熱忱，讓他看起來比實際歲數年輕許多。克林伊斯威特在另一方面也熟門熟路。奧斯卡入圍名單下月公布，他有兩部片子來勢洶洶，安琪莉娜裘莉主演的「陌生的孩子」，及他最新的作品「經典老爺車」今冬將在全球發行。

In “Gran Torino” Mr. Eastwood plays Walt Kowalski, a Korean War veteran, retired Ford line worker and full-time bigot who stews on his porch in Detroit watching his block being taken over by Hmong immigrants from Southeast Asia. When a gang pressures a teenager living next door (played by Bee Vang) into trying to steal Walt’s vintage Gran Torino, the aging veteran gets pulled reluctantly, then violently, into the lives of his neighbors.
克林伊斯威特在「經典老爺車」中飾演韓戰老兵華特‧寇華斯基，一位福特汽車的退休裝配員，一個老頑固，成天坐在底特律自家門廊，看著社區被來自東南亞的苗族移民占據。直到一個幫派逼迫住在他隔壁的青少年（畢范飾演）去偷他的經典老爺車Gran Torino，這名老兵先是心不甘情不願捲入，然後強力介入鄰居的生活。

the Oscar talk — he has never won as an actor — is running high. He claims not to care deeply about awards. When asked whom he makes films for, Mr. Eastwood said, “You’re looking at him.” Calculated or not, that stance seems to charm the voters some 300 miles to the south in Los Angeles, who have rewarded his movies richly in the past 15 years, including two best-picture awards.
克林伊斯威特不曾贏過奧斯卡演技類獎項的風聲到處流傳。他宣稱不是非常在意得獎與否。被問到為誰拍片，他回答：「遠在天邊，近在眼前。」無論是否出於算計，這種態度似乎對奧斯卡選民很有效，過去15年給他的電影很多獎勵，包括兩座最佳影片獎。

“Gran Torino” is the 29th full-length movie Mr. Eastwood has directed — more than Scorsese, more even than Spielberg — so perhaps it’s an accident of memory that his name first conjures up the impression of the squinty guy on a horse.
「經典老爺車」是克林伊斯威特執導的第29部劇情長片，比馬丁史柯西斯多，甚至超過史蒂芬史匹柏。因此，若說他的名字給人的第一印象是馬背上斜眼瞇人的傢伙時，或許只是記憶的偶然。

Mr. Eastwood bought the script in February, then shot the movie over the summer at a guerrilla filmmaker’s pace, finishing in 32 days. The fast clip, Mr. Eastwood said, helped him with the Hmong members of the cast, most of whom had never acted and many of whom didn’t speak English. “I’d give them little pointers along the way, Acting 101,” he said. “And I move along at a rate that doesn’t give them too much of a chance to think.”
克林伊斯威特2月買下「經典老爺車」劇本，然後以打游擊的閃電速度在夏季拍了32天就殺青。克林伊斯威特說，速度快有助於他和苗族演員工作，他們大多沒演過戲，許多人不會說英語。「拍片過程我很少指導他們，初次表演者快速入門準則，」他說。「我推進的速度讓他們沒有太多機會思考。」

It also doesn’t give Mr. Eastwood too much time to worry about Hollywood. After shooting, he returned to Carmel, where he lives with his wife, Dina Ruiz, and manages his investments, including an ownership stake in the Pebble Beach golf course company. He set up a bay and worked with his two film editors in an 1862 farmhouse on the Mission property for a week or so. Between sessions he sat at the piano and picked out a score: he has written music, including full scores, for many of his films. He even sings one of his own melodies over the film’s final credits, his voice burned down to a whisper.
這也讓克林伊斯威特沒有太多時間去擔心好萊塢。拍完片，他便返回與妻子狄娜‧魯茲居住的卡麥爾鎮，處理自己的投資，包括在圓石灘高球場公司的所有權股份。他和兩位電影剪輯師在「傳道度假」牧場一棟1862年的農舍內作業約一星期。閒暇之餘，他坐在鋼琴前挑選配樂：他創作音樂，包括為自己的多部電影做完整配樂。他甚至在本片結束上字幕時唱一首自己寫的歌，歌聲減弱成低吟。

What “Gran Torino” shares with the “Dirty Harry” movies is the sheer force of its incorrectness. Walt expresses his disgust for the Hmong and just about every other racial group in a steady stream of obscenities.
「經典老爺車」和「緊急追捕令」系列電影的共同點是錯誤的純粹力量。劇中人華特清楚表達對苗族人的嫌惡，對其他族群差不多也都出口成髒。

For Mr. Eastwood the raw language is central to Walt’s story. “If he comes in and just befriends these people and doesn’t have any hurdles — any personal hurdles to overcome — that doesn’t make for a very interesting character,” he said. But Mr. Eastwood, who last spring had a verbal run-in with Spike Lee over the lack of black soldiers in the Eastwood film “Flags of Our Fathers,” also confesses to some sympathy for Walt’s choice of words in a way sure to irk the Hollywood types who have finally embraced him despite his libertarian politics.
對克林伊斯威特，粗話是華特遭遇的核心。他說：「假如他出現後直接和這群人做朋友，沒有任何個人障礙需要克服，這個角色就不會那麼有趣了。」不過克林伊斯威特也坦承，對華特的用語有些同情，這肯定會讓那些不計較他自由派政治立場、總算接受他的好萊塢人士惱火。

“A lot of people are bored of all the political correctness,” he said. “You’re showing a guy from a different generation. Show the way he talks. The country has come a long way in race relations, but the pendulum swings so far back. Everyone wants to be so” — here he paused and narrowed his eyes, like Dirty Harry drawing a bead on a perp — “sensitive.”
「許多人已經厭倦一切政治正確，」他說。「你在展現一個來自不同世代的人物。展現他說話的方式。這個國家已經在族群關係上走過漫漫長路，鐘擺又往回擺盪這麼遠。每個人都想要非常…敏感。」他頓了一下，瞇上眼睛。

More so than any other leading man, he has been willing to play his real age. At 78 he is perhaps thinner than he once was, but in that sinewy way that reveals strength as much as diminishes it. After Walt beats up one gang member — hey, he’s still Clint Eastwood — the next scene shows him out of breath, struggling to open his front door.
與其他男主角相比，克林伊斯威特一直更願意扮演真實年紀。78歲的他或許比以前瘦，卻是那種展現力量和力量衰退等量齊觀的精瘦。華特海扁一名黑幫分子後，嘿，他畢竟是克林伊斯威特，下一個鏡頭看見他喘不過氣，費力想打開自家大門。

There were reports — again on the Internet — that this would be his last role, a rumor he helped fuel but now says is not necessarily true.
網路上，之前有傳言說這將是他最後一個角色，他說傳言未必屬實。

“Somebody asked what I’d do next, and I said I didn’t know how many roles there are for 78-year-old guys,” he said. “There’s nothing wrong with coming in to play the butler. But unless there’s a hurdle to get over, I’d rather just stay behind the camera.”
「有人問過我接下來要做什麼，我說我不知道有多少角色可以給78歲的老傢伙演，」他說。「扮演男管家沒什麼不好。但除非有障礙可以超越，否則我寧可在攝影機後面操盤。」

關鍵字句
紐時用intimidate 形容克林伊斯威特握手的力道令人生畏，符合接下來描述他在當地的「王者之姿」，讓其他人相形見絀。例如在頭角崢嶸的大一新鮮人當中覺得略遜一籌：intimidated by so many other bright freshmen。與scare和frighten 單純指使人害怕不同，此字意指恐嚇威脅，讓人畏懼而配合要求。威脅證人不得出庭作證：attempting to intimidate a witness expected to testify at a future court proceeding.

【2008-12-23/聯合報/G9版/UNITED DAILY NEWS】

給國二21：



看到你們出場時人數不到別班的一半，一開始主任還真有點替你們擔心呢！但看到你們胸有成竹的移動麥克風，並且信心十足的唱出第一句時，我就知道我的顧慮是多餘的了。看著你們整齊畫一的動作，用你們迷人的笑容詮釋Top of the World，真的是一幅賞心稅目的畫面哦！大家都說你們每個人都很有氣質哦！恭禧你們，你們在一、二年級面前展現了ＧＣＰ的最佳風範，很讚哦！



國中部主任　蕭碧瑤　20081225