The Imitation Game

'The Imitation Game': Movie review  

Story of the English math genius, played by Benedict Cumberbatch, who helped win World War II is solidly done but might have been better with a less conventional approach

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Monday, November 24, 2014, 3:12 PM

There’s an algorithm for making an Oscar-ready prestige picture — and “The Imitation Game” follows it obsessively. With a committed Benedict Cumberbatch in the lead and awards-savvy producer Harvey Weinstein steering the campaign, this polished, poignant biopic may well earn the success it clearly seeks.

Ultimately, though, director Morten Tyldum’s conventional approach doesn’t do full justice to his tragically unconventional hero.

As played by Cumberbatch, English mathematician Alan Turing is a man fated by the timing of his birth. Ferociously brilliant, possibly autistic and definitely gay, Turing is charged with saving the war-ravaged country that considers him an abomination.

The film starts in 1952 but it quickly flashes back to 1938, when Turing was called in to crack the German Enigma code. With the code being changed daily, it has been impossible to gain any traction.

Turing immediately antagonizes his new colleagues (overseen by a charismatic Matthew Goode), who are equally put off by his arrogance, intense intelligence and idea for a proto-computer he thinks could solve their problem. Only Joan Clarke (an underused Keira Knightley) respects his outsider perspective. With her help, he finally persuades the establishment to look beyond established methods.

Cumberbatch specializes in emotionally detached geniuses, and there’s no doubting his skill and his innate empathy for Turing. But there’s a meticulous self-awareness to this portrayal that has been absent from his previous performances. When we watch him as Sherlock Holmes, we simply see the great detective. Here, we see Benedict Cumberbatch working very hard to play Alan Turing.

Similarly, Tyldum and screenwriter Graham Moore seem to be using the Oscar-approved method of “The King’s Speech”: stately, straightforward filmmaking.

But Turing’s story was impossibly messy. The heartbreaking betrayals and ironies of his existence — the man who saved Britain only to be betrayed by her — deserve more than well-meant platitudes.

Fortunately, Tyldum and Cumberbatch demonstrate enough compassion and sincerity to give us a respectable imitation of an extraordinary life.

structure:

who: Benedict Cumberbatch

what: Story of the English math genius, played by Benedict Cumberbatch, who helped win World War II is solidly done but might have been better with a less conventional approach

when: 2014

where: not given

how: not given

websites:

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/imitation-game-movie-review-article-1.2022089

keywords:

1.algorithm 算法

2.prestige 威望;聲譽

3.savvy 機靈

4.steer 操舵

5.poignant 悽美的

6.biopic 傳記片

7.ferociously 兇猛地

8.abomination 厭惡

9.traction 牽引

10.antagonize 對抗

11.detached 超然的

12.meticulous 細緻的

13. filmmaking 電影

14. platitude 老生常談

week 3-Taoyuan fire

Six firefighters perish in Taoyuan blaze

ILLEGAL OPERATION:Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan has ordered local officials to perform inspections to identify all illegal constructions in the municipality

Six firefighters, all in their 20s, were killed in Greater Taoyuan yesterday morning after the bowling alley in which they were battling a blaze collapsed. All six were found dead when rescuers managed to reach them.

Officials from the Taoyuan District Prosecutors’ Office announced that an inquiry would be conducted into the deaths to investigate the cause and circumstances of the fire, and to determine if there had been any negligence or dereliction of duty.

The fire broke out early yesterday morning at about 2am at a three-story building in Sinwu District (新屋). The proprietor operated a bowling alley on the second floor and a swimming pool on the ground level, with the third floor used as a dormitory for employees.

The six firemen were on the second floor, near the bowling alley’s counter area, when a burst of flames erupted at shortly before 3am and the burning structure collapsed, trapping the firefighters.

“Suddenly, we heard a loud explosion, then the burning metal-sheet roofing caved in. It was terrible, because we knew some firefighters had gone inside to battle the fire,” an eyewitness was quoted as saying.

The bodies of the six firefighters were transported to the Sinwu Branch of Taoyuan General Hospital for identification by DNA testing and post-mortem examinations.

Two civilians, including the proprietor of the building, surnamed Liu (劉), were pulled from the fire and sustained minor injuries.

A total of 104 firefighters employing 36 fire engines and other vehicles were dispatched to the blaze.

Officials including Premier Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國), Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) and Minister of the Interior Chen Wei-zen (陳威仁) sent condolences and paid tribute to the firefighters for their sacrifice in the line of duty.

Cheng said his government would seek the maximum compensation payment possible for their dependents according to official regulations, which would be about NT$19 million (US$600,000) per family.

Taoyuan Fire Department Chief Hu Ying-ta (胡英達) said the building’s operating permit, received in 1994, approved the facility’s swimming pool business and the second floor for residential use.

“The bowling alley did not have a permit, so it was operating illegally. The third floor is also an illegal add-on structure,” Hu said, adding that the building passed a fire safety inspection last year.

After finding out the bowling alley had been operating illegally for 20 years, Cheng was incensed, mandating government officials to make inspections to identify all illegal buildings in Taoyuan within 10 days.

Meanwhile, a number of questions were asked following the incident, including whether the firefighters were equipped with inadequate protective and communication equipment; why there was a lack of accountability among government officials regarding the existence of illegal structures; and why no action had been taken against many known illegal businesses.

Commenting on the incident, the National Association for Firefighters’ Rights (NAFR) said it highlighted a widespread lack of personnel and adequate equipment among firefighting squads across the nation.

NAFR secretary-general Cheng Ya-ling (鄭雅菱) said firefighters could benefit from the use of infrared imaging equipment, such as thermographic cameras, which can be used to establish the topography and temperature of a fire prior to entry.

Fire stations in Taoyuan possess only two thermographic cameras, an insufficient number to significantly reduce the risk to firefighters, Cheng said.

She added that firefighting squads often have a drastic shortage of personnel, leading to the common absence of an incident safety officer and an emergency reaction team at fires.

structure:

what:Six firefighters were killed in Greater Taoyuan

who:Six firefighters

why:They were battling a blaze collapsed

when: yesterday morning 

where:Greater Taoyuan

how:The building collapsed

website:

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2015/01/21/2003609731/2

keywords:

1.perish 殞滅

2.municipality 直轄市

3.dereliction 拋棄物

4.proprietor 業主

5.dispatch 調度;派遣

6.condolences 慰問

7.compensation 賠償金

8. incensed 激怒

9.mandate 強制

10.accountability 責任

11.infrared 紅外線

12. thermographic  熱感

13.topography 地形

14.absence 缺席

Week 2 - Sydney cafe hostage

Hostage in Sydney cafe was killed by police bullets during raid: courts 

The first day of an inquest into a 16-hour hostage standoff in Sydney revealed that police accidentally killed hostage Katrina Dawson as they raided the cafe and shot gunman Man Haron Monis.

When police stormed a Sydney cafe in December, killing a gunman to end a 16-hour hostage standoff, they also accidentally killed a hostage, an inquest revealed Wednesday.

Katrina Dawson, 34, one of the two hostages killed in the Lindt Chocolat Cafe, was struck by six fragments from one or more police bullets, one of which hit a major blood vessel.

That detail emerged in the first day of a coroner’s court inquest about what happened that day in December and what led up to it. Several surviving hostages will be called as witnesses, the BCC reports.

A former member of Australia’s counter-terrorism unit has suggested the police used the wrong rifles during the standoff, with bigger bullets that were more likely to ricochet, ABC reports.

The first inquest day also revealed that gunman Man Haron Monis forced Tori Johnson, the other hostage who was killed, to kneel down before being shot in the back of the head. The media previously reported Johnson, the cafe's manager, tried to knock the gun out of Monis’ hand before being shot.

Monis took 18 people hostage in the Lindt Chocolate Cafe on a Monday morning. He reportedly had a history of mental illness and supported radical Islamic extremism. During the standoff, he hung a black flag in the cafe that said in Arabic: “There is no God but Allah; Muhammed is the Messenger of Allah,” a phrase that also appears on the ISIS flag.

Police raided the cafe after several hostages ran out of it. Besides the three fatalities, four other hostages and a police officer were injured.

As the inquest continues, prosecutors plan to delve into Monis’ mental health history and determine how he got the guns used in the attack.

structure:

who: police, hostage and gunman Man

what: police accidentally killed hostage

when: not given

where: Sydney

why: to save hostage

how: use gun

website:

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/sydney-cafe-hostage-killed-police-bullets-courts-article-1.2095666

keywords:

1. raid 突襲

2. inquest 審訊

3. standoff 僵局

4. storm 攻佔;闖入

5. coroner 驗屍官

6. ricochet 彈飛

7. prosecutor 檢察官

8. delve 探索;翻找

Week 1-Eric Garner

Black Police Officers Divided Over Eric Garner's Death

In the wake of Eric Garner's highly publicized death, many African-American police officers are finding themselves caught in the middle of fiery debate over the use of excessive force. As we mark Black History Month, NY1's Cheryl Wills speaks to two important figures in the NYPD with sharply different views. She filed this report.

“The most difficult part of this whole process is people failing to understand that I am an African-American man. I could be Eric Garner or I could be Daniel Pantaleo – I could be either or," says 48-year-old NYPD Detective Yuseff Hamm.

Hamm readily admits that he is caught in the middle of a firestorm within his own ranks. He is the president of the NYPD Guardians Association, a fraternal organization of African American police officers. There are about 2,000 members and they are sharply divided about the use of force in the death of Eric Garner. Many members want Yuseff Hamm—who's been on the job since 2001—to condemn what some black officers believe is excessive force, but Hamm refuses. For that, he says, he's been harshly criticized.

"You should read some of the emails that I receive. They call me all kinds of names except the one name that I remember," says Hamm. "The guardians position is unique. As the president of this fraternal organization, I've made a conscious decision to stand on the side of justice."

"He caused a man to lose his life and as far as I'm concerned that's unforgivable," says Charlie McCray, the president of the Retired NYPD Guardians.

McCray has harsh words for NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo, who is seen here taking Eric Garner down. He says his 800 African-American retired NYPD members are unanimously opposed to the way officers handled Eric Garner—and the group also has strong views about Patrolmen's Benevolent Association President Pat Lynch.

"Pat Lynch is protecting his job, but he really, really overdid it," McCray says.

Although Hamm and McCray have different points of view, both agree that more dialogue is needed and The Guardians should be included in the ongoing dialogue at City Hall.

structure:

who:Eric Garner and many African-American police officers

when: not given

where: New York

what: Many African-American police officers are caught in the middle of fiery debate over the use of excessive force.

how: Eric Garner's highly publicized death

website:

http://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/black-history-month-2015/2015/02/16/black-police-officers-divided-over-eric-garner-s-death.html

keywords:

1. readily 樂意地

2. firestorm 大爆發

3. fraternal 兄弟的;友好的

4. unanimously 全體一致地

 

Week 7-Canadian Parliament. Ottawa. shooting gunman

Police: Ottawa gunman made video of himself prior to attack

(CNN) -- The gunman responsible for the terrorist attack in Ottawa(渥太華) last week was "driven by ideological and political motives" and made a video of himself, police said Sunday.

Authorities have previously identified the gunman as Michael Zehaf-Bibeau. He opened fire Wednesday at Canada's National War Memorial and Parliament Hill, killing army reservist Cpl. Nathan Cirillo.

The gunman was then shot and killed by security.

The video was recorded just prior to the attack, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said in a statement. Authorities are conducting an analysis of that video and said they would not be releasing it at this time.

They also provided a handful of other updates on their investigation:

-- Zehaf-Bibeau used a gun that was old and uncommon;

-- He carried a knife, which authorities believe was retrieved from his aunt's property;

-- Zehaf-Bibeau had worked in the oil fields in Alberta and saved his money;

-- Officials are looking into whether anyone else could have contributed to the attack.

Zehaf-Bibeau had ties to jihadists in Canada who shared a radical Islamist ideology, including at least one who went overseas to fight in Syria(敘利亞), multiple U.S. sources said last week.

He was a Canadian citizen who may have had dual Libyan(利比亞)-Canadian citizenship, according to RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson. The gunman had criminal records indicating infractions related to drugs and violence.

Zehaf-Bibeau was applying for a passport -- an application that was under investigation -- at the time of the attack, Paulson said.

"I think the passport figured prominently in his motives," said the police commissioner. "However, we have not come to ground completely on his motivations for this attack. But clearly, it's linked to his radicalization. Clearly, it's linked to his difficult circumstances."

structure:

who the gunman responsible for the terrorist

what: he attack in Ottawa and made a video of himself

why: he was driven by ideological and political motives

where: Ottawa

when: last week

how: use gun 

website:

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/10/26/world/ottawa-shooting/

keywords:

1. ideological 思想的

2. reservist 預備役

3. retrieve 獲取

4. jihadists 聖戰者

5. dual 雙重的

6. commissioner 署長;局長;專員

7. infractions 侵害;違規

8. radicalization 激進主義

9. circumstance 情況

Week 6 - Scottish independence referendum

Should Scotland be an independent country?

On 18 September 2014 millions of Scots will vote on whether they want their country to become independent or remain part of the United Kingdom. But what do opinion polls suggest about which way the decision will go?

Over recent weeks the gap between "No" and "Yes" has narrowed in the opinion polls and this has created its own excitement as the two campaign groups redouble their efforts to convince voters to support them.

As each side tries to create momentum, the polls are used to batter their opponents. But where does that warfare leave individual electors as they seek to discover possible outcomes?

Traditionally, we describe polls as temperature readings valid at the time they are taken.

Individual polls are important, but we should also be looking at any trend over time: is the direction of travel benefiting one side or the other?

However, it is also important to look beyond the headline poll figures for "Yes" or "No".

Most polls will ask respondents how certain they are to vote - are the supporters of one side more enthusiastic about voting than those of the other. Pollsters will often adjust their referendum voting figures to take account of any such differences.

The issues of what currency an independent Scotland would use, as well as the economic consequences of any independence have played a significant role in the campaign.

The campaign polls have also revealed significant differences between various groups: older voters are much more likely to oppose independence than younger voters; women are much less supportive of independence than men; and people living in Scotland but born outside it are less favourable towards an independent Scotland than native-born Scots.

Will the final polls show that these divisions remain, or will they become less stark?

The polls certainly suggest that the real battleground in this campaign is among Labour voters. Conservatives and Liberal Democrats are overwhelmingly opposed to independence but there is evidence that a significant minority of Labour voters support it and, I suspect, they will be the focus of the two campaigns right up to 18 September.

And this campaign will be a real test for the polling companies themselves.

You would think, given the choice is simply "Yes" or "No", that the challenge to produce accurate figures would be relatively simple. But predicting the same "Yes" or "No" choice in the 2011 UK referendum on the Alternative Vote system caused some pollsters serious grief.

The September referendum has no precedent for the pollsters to measure their 2014 poll results against. This issue cuts across gender, families, friendships and parties and that makes the work of the pollsters more difficult than simply measuring either "Yes" or "No" would suggest.

structure:

what : millions of Scots will vote on whether they want their country to become independent or remain part of the United Kingdom.

who : Scots

when : On 18 September 2014

why :  they want their country to become independent or remain part of the United Kingdom.

how : vote

website:

http://www.bbc.com/news/events/scotland-decides/poll-tracker

keywords:

1. redouble 加倍

2. momentum 氣勢

3. valid 有效的

4. currency 貨幣

5. favourable 有利的

6. stark 絕對

7. Democrats 民主黨人

week 5 - Ferguson. Michael Brown. Darren Wilson. Missouri

What Happened in Ferguson?

Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, was shot and killed on Aug. 9, by Darren Wilson, a white police officer, in Ferguson, Mo., a suburb of St. Louis. The shooting prompted protests that roiled the area for weeks. On Nov. 24, the St. Louis County prosecutor announced that a grand jury decided not to indict Mr. Wilson. The announcement set off another wave of protests. UPDATED Nov. 25, 2014

What Evidence Was Presented About an Altercation at the Police Vehicle?

Several witnesses reported seeing an altercation in the S.U.V. between Officer Wilson and Mr. Brown. Some said Mr. Brown punched Officer Wilson while Mr. Brown was partly inside the vehicle. At least one witness said no part of Mr. Brown was ever inside the vehicle. In his own testimony, Officer Wilson said that Mr. Brown reached into the vehicle and fought for his gun. 

Examiners found Mr. Brown’s blood or other DNA outside the driver’s door, outside the left rear passenger door, inside the driver’s door, on the upper left thigh of Officer Wilson’s pants and on Officer Wilson’s shirt and weapon.

Two shots were fired by Officer Wilson. One bullet was found lodged in the driver’s door. Mr. Brown had a graze wound on his right thumb, consistent with a close range shot.

A medical examination indicated that Officer Wilson had some swelling and redness on his face.

How Did Witnesses Describe Michael Brown’s Movements?

Some witnesses said Mr. Brown never moved toward Officer Wilson when he was shot and killed. Most of the witnesses said the shots were fired as he moved toward Officer Wilson. The St. Louis County prosecutor said the most credible witnesses reported that Mr. Brown charged toward the officer. Officer Wilson also said that Mr. Brown charged at him, making “a grunting, like aggravated sound.” 

Some witnesses said that Mr. Brown had his hands in the air. Several others said that he did not raise his hands at all or that he raised them briefly, then dropped them and turned toward the officer. Others described the position of his arms as out to the side, in front of him, by his shoulders or in a running position.

What Did the Grand Jury Decide?

The grand jury decided not to indict Officer Wilson in connection with the shooting of Michael Brown, 18. The grand jury, made up of nine whites and three blacks, had been meeting to consider evidence in the case since Aug. 20. Its task was to determine whether there was probable cause to believe that Officer Wilson should be charged with a crime, and if so, which one. An indictment would have required nine of the 12 grand jurors to agree. The county prosecutor released forensic reports, photographs of evidence and transcripts of the proceedings, materials that are usually kept secret.

What Happened After the Grand Jury Announcement?

The decision not to indict Mr. Wilson set off a wave of anger among those who had gathered outside the Ferguson Police Department. As the night wore on, the situation grew more intense. Buildings were set on fire, and looting was reported in several businesses.

structure:

who: Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager and Darren Wilson, a white police officer

when: on Aug. 9

what: Michael Brown was shot and killed by Darren Wilson, and a grand jury decided not to indict Mr. Wilson, then the announcement set off another wave of protests.

how: not given

where: in Ferguson, Mo., a suburb of St. Louis

website: 

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/08/13/us/ferguson-missouri-town-under-siege-after-police-shooting.html

keywords:

1. prosecutor 原告

2. indict 起訴

3. altercation 爭論;爭辯

4. punch 衝

5. testimony 證詞

6. bullet 子彈

7. graze 擦傷

8. credible 可信的

9. charge 衝

10. jurors 陪審員

11. forensic 法庭的

12. looting 搶劫