CINEMA

Saving Mr. Banks

This is a movie about the making of a movie but it doesn't matter if you've never seen the film in question, Disney's Mary Poppins from 1964. It was an adaptation of a children's novel by a British author, P.L. Travers, who for 20 years had refused to sell Walt Disney the film rights. When money problems forced her to compromise, she went out to Hollywood determined to stop Disney turning her book into something sugary and American. 

She failed, of course, but the story of her campaign gives Emma Thompson a great comic role as the difficult, sharp-tongued author. The real Walt Disney was not so relaxed and kindly as Tom Hanks' interpretation, however. But that's the problem with the movie as a whole-it's a Disney version on Disney history, too sweet and sentimental. Poor P.L Travers would no doubt be horrified to see what they've done with her life.FM

VOCABULARY

Sugary: ensucrat

Sharp-tongued: llengua afilada

The Monuments Men

Perfect timing? Just as George Clooney stars in (and directs) a film about the hunt for art stolen by the Nazis during the Second World War, the newspapers reveal theat an elderly German citizen has been hiding one billion dolars of masterpieces in his apartment. Sadly, critics report that Clooney's film lacks dramatic tension-for once, reality is more exciting that ficition, it seems...RM

VOCABULARY

Directs: dirigeix

Citizen: ciutadà

Hiding: ocultació

Masterpiece: obres maestres

5 stemps to your summer job in the USA

1. First of all, you must be over 18 and have one year of post-Bac education to be eligible for a J-1 visa. If you are not yet 18, then wait. This part is easy. If you are 18, continue to no. 2...

2. Happy birhday! Now find a job. Starting in January, American employers will be advertising thousands of summer jobs through sites like Coolworks.com and Summerjobs.com. Don't leave it too late and don't go through a placement service-you'll play about 300 euros for it and you'll probably fins yourself working with ofhter Europeans rather than Americans!

3.Once you have the job, you need your J-1 visa. This is no problem, but you must go through a sponsor organization. These are numerous, but it's best to choose a Paris-based one that will be close to the American consulate-it's faster and more convenient in the event of an emergency. We recommend the Parenthèse agency. They charge you only for the visa process(620euros), put job offers on their Facebook page and provaide a free service correcting you cover letter when you apply for a job. They do not, however, ofefer a " job-finding" service. " Nobody should ever pay anybody anything to find a summer job in the USA!" says Patti Brown of Parenthèse.

4. Expect to work for 6-8 weeks to cover your travel and visa costs. After that you will start to make money for youself quite rapidly because your food and housing is free with most jobs. " In general, depending on how much they travel, students come back to France with about 2000 dolars after the summer" says Patti Brown.

5. Come back to France only marginally richer, but definitely more mature. And cooler. With and American accent and good English. Wich is worth a lot.

VOCABULARY

Advertising: publicitat

Rather: més aviat

Provaide: proveïr

Apply: aplicar

Housing: habitage

Mature: madur

Cooler: millor

Worth: valor

Magma mia!

Yellowstone, Wyoming

A supervolcano under Yellowstone national park is 2.5 times bigger than previously thought and could be "catastrophic" for the planet if it were to erupt. With a 90 km-long magma chamber, geologists say it could produce an ash cloud that would make two-thirds of the US uninhabitable. Luckily, scientists say no eruption is imminent, but they will be keeping a close eye on it!

THE WATERS OF MARS

A virus in the water on a Martian colony transforms people into zombie-like creatures who spray contaminated water over their victims. It's a masterclass in how to create tension using only a drop of water.

Halloween handiscrafts

Make different disguises for these lollipops to give out to your friends on Halloween and then decorate your house with some spooky jars!


The vampire lollipops: For the cape or the collar, cut out shapes like these in a foam sheet. Use pipe cleaners to hold the cape or the collar to the lollipop stick.

The spider lollipops: For the spider's legs, place the lollipop stick in the centre of a pipe cleaner and wrap the pipe cleaner around the stick. Repeat this 3 times. Then shape the spider's legs.

The ghost lollipops: The lollipop is hidden under the white tissue paper. The black pipe cleaner is used to form the neck of the ghost.

The first Rolls-Royce

The Rolls-Royce 10-HP was created in 1904. It had big, brass headlamps, wooden wheels and a horn that looked like a musical instrument. The car's top speed was 63 km/h and only seventeen were made. Today only four of these cars exist-their value is € 5.5 million!

Royal cars
In 1950, Rolls-Royce supplied the British royal family with their first car, Phantom IV. It was created specially for royalty and heads of sstate, and is one of the most distinctive cars in the world.

Kristen Stewart

She earned more than any other actress in 2012, but there is still a big question mark over Stewart's post-Twilight career. Once the hysteria about Bella and Edward is forgotten, will people still want to see her films?