EnglishisEasy/Elinglésesfácil

Gulliver's Travels is a movie, now in DVD format, to watch only if you really have nothing else to do. Though the visual effects are not so bad, the movie as a whole is an entire mess. Followers of Jack Black's not-so-unique-style might like it but won't truly understand it unless they read the story written by the Irish author, Jonathan Swift, in the eighteen century. Unlike the film the book is a masterpiece.

This is definitely not Spiderman 4 but a reboot, meaning it is like the story told in the other three movies never happened. This is a “new” Spiderman. Whether this is bad or good, that is for each one to decide depending on how much you liked the old version and the impression this new version makes on you when you see it. First and most important, this Spiderman is more faithful to what originally was told in the comics. Here are some things that are different: -Ju st like Eve was not Adam's first wife, Mary Jane Watson was not Peter Parker's first love interest: Gwen Stacy was. Emma Watson plays Peter Parker's first love and hot girlfriend and makes you forget easily Kirsten Dunst's perfomance as Mary Jane Watson.  - We get to meet Peter's parents who were never mentioned in the previous films. The reason for their mysterious disappearance is a loose end that probably will be solved in future films. - No Green Goblin. Not yet at least. Norman Osborn is me...

The problem with the verb Be is not for English learners but for Spanish learners. When we learn English we are told that the verb To Be has a double meaning: Ser o Estar. This double condition does not exist in English and it is a bit difficult for Spanish learners to understand the difference between Ser and Estar. Ser indicates essentially a situation as for example who you are. If you want to say in Spanish, “I’m José Pérez” then you use a form of Ser, “Yo soy José Pérez”. With Ser you can indicate your profession, nationality, personality traits, physical appearance, political inclination, religious confession among other important things. Estar indicates how you feel so this is the verb Be when expressing moods and also physical states such as tiredness (I’m tired = Estoy cansado). With Estar you can tell another person you have a romantic interest on her or him, or state your position regarding some important topic and express your feelings in general. Curiously ther...

Usually these things depend on who is speaking. When writing dates Americans prefer to place first the month and then the day (as in April 2nd for example)  while British place the day first ( 2nd April ). Nevertheless even Americans make exceptions if there is a good reason for it such as for example today. For any other English speaker today is just another day, but for the citizens of the United States of America today is when they celebrate their Independence Day. So instead of referring to this day as any other, an exception is made and the right way to do it is: The Fourth of July (if you are an American that is). Curiously Independence Day is not really when the United States became independent, apparently that happened on July 2, 1776. T he legal separation of the Thirteen Colonies  from Great Britain took place on July 2, 1776, when the members of the  Second Continental Congress  voted and approved a  resolution of independence , b ut then the Decl...

w Sweet dreams are made of this, who am I to disagree, I traveled the world and ...(you know the rest). This is a movie that very much reminded me of Brazil (1985) Same as in that film the main character retreats in a reality less harmful than the one she actually lives. Not a family movie since it begins with a story of child abuse.  It´s really intended for those who like action mixed with fantasy and in particular for those who fantasize and fashion entire alternate realities where they are not pushovers but heavy hitters (even if you are a skinny and fragile sweet-looking blonde teenager). The best of the movie is the sequences dreamed by the protagonist and somehow shared    by other girls unfairly imprisoned in the same center where she is. As it´s usual in these movies the soundtrack is impeccable including the immortal "Sweet Dreams". The ending is a bit bitter but hopeful, unlike Brazil the ending of which is anything but happy.

The old controversy of which one is more difficult is not really that controversial. When learning another language (English in this case) students may reach a state of frustration  when  they find their progress in acquiring the new language does not go as they expected initially and one of the things they most commonly say is "English Grammar is hard". Regarding other languages, that may be true or not, but Spanish is another story and the answer is definitive: English Grammar is a lot easier. In order to prove my point let us review the Simple Present tense in both languages using the verb EAT which in Spanish is COMER. Simple Present:     I / You / We / They  EAT                               He / She / It    EATS Presente Simple: Yo    COMO                              Tú...

I wonder how many fictional invasions Earth can stand, or to be more precise, the U.S. For some reason, Hollywood execs honestly believe that if our planet is ever invaded, those invaders will pick the American soil to begin with. Why not China where there are more people? Or Latin America that is more vulnerable in terms of weapons and logistics? But of course it´s not about being realistic. They only want to sell tickets and their main market is precisely the U.S. It stands to reason that the audience will feel more identified if they see their own cities and people being destroyed. If you have seen Skyline you will find it inferior if compared to other movies with a similar theme such as Cloverfield or Independence Day. The only original thing here is how the aliens of this film plan to eliminate all human beings...they... erm... collect them, separate their brains and spines and attach them to drones of their own making. Mankind is hopeless.  Great special effects, but r...