Michael Chugani 褚簡寧 - Asteroids｜又中又英

Global interest in asteroids (space rocks) rose after America’s space agency NASA successfully proved it could change the direction of asteroids by crashing rockets into them. The asteroid that NASA’s rocket hit was not a threat to Earth but NASA now knows it can change the direction of asteroids that could collide with Earth. Hollywood has made many movies about asteroids threatening Earth, including the 1998 science fiction movie Armageddon. In the Bible, the word　“Armageddon” means the place or time of a final battle between the forces of good and evil at the end of the world. The word can also mean a battle that can destroy Earth and humankind.

US President Joe Biden recently warned there would be Armageddon if Russian President Vladimir Putin used nuclear weapons in Ukraine. In the movie, a giant asteroid was hurtling (moving very fast) towards Earth. The collision in 18 days would destroy Earth. NASA sent a team of experts to drill a hole in the asteroid and then put a nuclear bomb in it to break it up. I recently watched a 2021 movie on Netflix called Don’t Look Up about an asteroid hitting Earth. It is a political satire black comedy with an ensemble cast, including Leonardo DiCaprio and Meryl Streep.

An ensemble cast consists of several well-known performers who play equally important parts in a movie. The word “satire” means a way of criticizing people or ideas in a funny way to make a political point. A black comedy movie is a movie that looks at the funny side of things such as death or destruction. Don’t Look Up has a tragic yet funny ending. I won’t tell you in case you want to see it.
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在美國機構太空總署證明它可以透過將火箭撞進小行星（asteroids）來改變其方向以後，掀起了全球對小行星（asteroids）的興趣。太空總署火箭所撞擊的那顆小行星（asteroid）並不對地球構成威脅，但太空總署現在知道，它可以改變那些有機會與地球相撞的小行星的軌迹。荷里活拍過許多關於小行星（asteroids）威脅地球的電影，包括一九九八年的科幻電影《絕世天劫》（Armageddon）。在聖經裏， Armageddon譯作「哈米吉多頓」，是指在末世末期，善良與邪惡力量終極一戰的戰場或時刻。這個字也可以解作足以毁滅地球和人類的戰役。

美國總統祖‧拜登最近警告，若俄羅斯總統弗拉米基爾‧普京使用核武器攻擊烏克蘭，將會變成哈米吉多頓的決戰（Armageddon）。
  在電影裏，一個巨大的行星（asteroid）正在衝向（hurtling）地球。這個撞擊將於十八天內毁滅地球。太空總署派出一隊專家去在行星（asteroid）中鑽洞，再投進核彈以炸碎它。我最近在Netflix上看到一齣二零二一年的電影叫《千萬別抬頭》，也是關於一顆小行星（asteroid）正要撞向地球。
  這是一套政治諷刺的黑色幽默（satire black comedy）電影，巨星雲集（ensemble cast），包括李安納度迪卡比奧以及梅麗史翠普。

An ensemble cast就是電影由知名演員演出戲份大致相等的群戲。Satire是指用詼諧手法批評、諷刺一些人或想法，去帶出某一政治見解。A black comedy movie就是探視死亡又或破壞之中的滑稽一面。《千萬別抬頭》有一個悲慘但又好笑的結局。我就不告訴你了，以防你會想觀賞這齣電影。中譯：七刻
Michael Chugani褚簡寧
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中譯:七刻
Michael Chugani 褚簡寧