English, baby!

Cadillac Records

Date: Dec 31 2008

Intro

1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.

2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

Many famous and talented musicians have had tragic or dramatic lives. Maybe the tragedy even helps make their work great. Some people believe that the best art comes out of painful experiences.

Hollywood loves to immortalize the crazy lives of famous musicians, from Ray Charles to Bob Dylan. And if you think about it, it makes a lot of sense. Music biopics, with their hit soundtracks and real-life drama, are almost guaranteed to sell a lot of tickets.

The latest music biopic is Cadillac Records, which tells the story of the birth of rock n’ roll. Listen to Devan and Marni talk about it.

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Marni

Devan

Marni: Have you seen Cadillac Records?

Devan: I did. Did you see it?

Marni: I have not. But I totally want to, because I love that music. Huge fan of most of the artists featured in that film.

Devan: Yeah. Well, I went and saw it because I love the blues and old rock n’ roll and soul and all that kind of music. But I gotta say, the movie wasn’t great, but the music was great.

Marni: Okay, okay. This is kind of what I’ve been hearing. So, it’s… You know, the biopic… I kinda think they either nail it or they don’t. And a lot of times the element that really shines through is the music. And, you know… seeing Beyonce Knowles as Etta James...

Devan: I was really skeptical, but I think she did a great job. She really nailed the part. Yeah, it wasn’t a great movie, but I’d still recommend seeing it, because… Especially if you have an interest in that genre of music, or that record labell in particular… Even though I already knew about it, I still learned a lot from it, and found out things about Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters that I never knew before.

Marni: Yeah, and those would be interesting people to see. And Mos Def as Chuck Berry? I gotta see it right there. Sold.

Quizzes

Go Super to take Quiz

Lesson MP3

Go Super to download full lesson MP3

Go Super to Ask Ebaby! teachers your questions!

The iTEP^® test

Sponsored by

Schedule an iTEP^® test and take the official English Practice Test.
Take Now >

Discussion

Devan has seen Cadillac Records, and Marni is interested in seeing it because she loves the musicians that the movie is about. Devan thinks that the best part about the movie is the music. Marni points out that not all music biopics are successful, but even the bad ones usually have great soundtracks.

Marni is curious about Beyonce playing the singer Etta James. According to Devan, she did a really good job. She thinks the movie is worth seeing because of the actors’ strong performances and the fascinating life stories of the musicians in it.

What’s your favorite biopic? Do you think musicians who’ve had crazy or sad experiences make the best songs?

Comments

Marcelolic

Brazil

One of the biopic that I more liked was “The Legend”,tells the story of Bruce Lee,one of the greatest actors of martial arts of all the time,very good ;)

DaMnWoRlD

Taiwan

good discussion topic, I would like to see this film recently although I had to learn more about Bob Dylan, so I won't miss anything… :D

lch41521

China

Happy new year!

Karen

China

it is really a good lesson.i like it.i like to see some movie or biopic just for nice music.

hab1020

Congo

It's really cool

hab1020

Congo

It's really cool

祝勋=zx>confidence

China

happy new year ,all

Amido Hernan Rios

Colombia

For me the biopics are the reflex of the soul of each singer

Amido Hernan Rios

Colombia

I haven't seen it yet but when I see it, I'll give you my opinion.

nad1a

Greece

It's cool. Super intriguing and interesting. Amazing actors. For one thing, I haven't been giving Beyonce much credit as an actress before now.

But I think they've overdone it with the mix of stories and this way, none is being done justice. All the viewer gets is just snippets of life stories but not enough details about individual characters. As you're watching, you'd like to see more about some of them; like Berry , for example, who appears for just a few scenes.

nad1a

Greece

<!-[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]-><!~~-[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState=”false” LatentStyleCount=”156”> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]~~-><!-[if !mso]><object classid=”clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D” id=ieooui></object> <style> st1\:{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]-> <!~~- /~~ Style Definitions / p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:””; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-fareast-font-family:”Times New Roman”;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} -> <!~~-[if gte mso 10]> <style> /~~ Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:”Table Normal”; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:””; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]->

It’s cool. It’s super intriguing and interesting. Amazing actors. For one thing, I haven’t been giving Beyonce much credit as an actress, before now.

But I think they’ve overdone it with the mix of stories and this way, none is being done justice. All the viewer gets is just snippets of lives but not enough details about individual characters. As you’re watching, you’d like to see more of some of them; like Berry, for example, who appears for just a few scenes.

nad1a

Greece

It’s cool. It’s super intriguing and interesting. Amazing actors. For one thing, I haven’t been giving Beyonce much credit as an actress, before now.

nad1a

Greece

adorable. totally enjoyed watching it.

miffoo

Slovakia

good lesson

whitetutu

China

It is so good to learn some new like nail it and shine through. I wish I can find time to watch the movie. I like music even I don't quite tell the difference of blue and soul. But I will enjoy any kind of good music. I prefer classic music most. You know movie Mamamia which is a music movie with a lot of good musics. The song of music is the first movie I watched and I still remember most of musics in that movie.