TASK DEFINITION: In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.
PROBLEM: is evil dead ii a bad movie ?
it 's full of terrible acting , pointless violence , and plot holes
yet it remains a cult classic nearly fifteen years after its release .
explaining why this movie stands out from others with similar plots ( including the original evil dead ) is extremely difficult .
` well what 's it about ? '
` five people stranded in a log cabin in the middle of nowhere struggling to survive vicious attacks from a variety of ugly , hairy , wart covered monsters . '
` come on i saw a movie just like that on monster vision last week .
why should i see it again ? '
` no evil dead ii is different , it 's funny . '
` it 's funny to see people die ?
are you sick or something ? '
maybe i am and maybe director sam raimi is as well to create such an enigma of a movie .
his unique execution is as sarcastic as subtle , as disturbing as it is hilarious .
an example of raimi 's odd approach : a monster ( formerly protagonist ash 's girlfriend of all people ) is cut in half by a chainsaw and a tidal wave of blood comes from the open wound .
sure it 's over - the - top , but it is so over - the - top that it is laugh out loud funny ; just try watching ash with a straight face as he unexpectedly is showered with ten gallons of blood , staining his face and knocking him back a few feet .
the whole movie is like this , watch ash get beat up , watch ash defeat the monster , watch ash get beat up again by another even zanier monster .
the more repetitive and unrealistic the movie gets , the more amusing it becomes .
no matter how sick it may sound , it is funny to watch
bruce ampbell 's ash get his butt kicked every five minutes .
and raimi takes advantage , he has ash tormented by the head of his girlfriend , by the body of an old lady , even by his own right hand .
like the less superior idle hands , we watch ash uncontrollably hit himself over and over again until he is forced to cut off his own body part .
but it does n't end , ash now has to fight his severed hand which now moves with the same celerity as thing from the addams family .
all of these events , thrown at you from minute one with roller coaster- like camera movements , at first become shocking , then inexplicably funny .
raimi expects the audience to laugh and as the film progresses , he seems to be enjoying himself even more by borrowing the classic mirror scene from the marx brothers ' duck soup , then bringing more characters into the picture to comically kill them off .
with a running time of less than an hour and a half , raimi gets away with the impossible , making a horror film with more gore than plot and intentionally more laughs than scares . ending evil dead ii with an opening for the third film in the series , raimi obviously had a lot of fun making this movie and could n't wait to make it 's sequel .

SOLUTION: P

PROBLEM: if you want some hearty laughs , then rat race is the movie for you .
this unpretentious little comedy , which sneaks into theaters today with very little hype ,
will have you bouncing in your theater seat .
and while the film fits neatly into the low - brow , slapstick school of comedy , one refreshing aspect is its lack of mean - spiritedness .
the plot follows a group of people chosen at random by an eccentric las vegas casino owner ( john cleese ) who must race from vegas to a bus station locker 700 miles away in silver city , n .
m .
inside the locker is a duffel bag containing $ 2 million .
the first one to open the locker , gets the bag and the money .
what the group of participants does n't know is that cleese 's donald sinclair ( " i can do anything i want -
i 'm eccentric ! " ) is staging the race as a betting game for a group of high rollers at the hotel .
the participants include vera ( whoopi goldberg ) and merrill ( lanai chapman ) , a newly reunited mother and daughter ; disgraced pro football referee owen templeton ( cuba gooding jr . ) ; italian tourist mr .
pollini ( rowan atkinson ) ; randy pear ( jon lovitz ) and his family ; the bumbling con men duane and blaine cody ( seth green and vince vieluf ) ; and cynical young lawyer nick shaffer ( breckin meyer ) .
various amusing encounters and mishaps befall the participants en route to silver city .
screenwriter andy breckman adds a nice touch by not having the racers try to sabotage one another .
the most side - splitting situations involve vera and merrill 's encounter with the squirrel lady , a nice nutsy cameo by kathy bates ; owen 's commandeering a charter bus full of lucille ball look - alikes on their way to a lucy convention ; the cody brothers misadventures with a hot - air balloon , a flying cow and a monster truck ; and the pear family 's stopover at a barbie museum , which turns out not to be what they think it is .
the pear family situation is a fine example of the way breckman 's script builds the laughs .
without going into detail , this bit segues from the museum to hitler 's touring car , to eva braun 's dark lipstick , to lovitz burning his tongue , culminating at a ceremony honoring world war ii veterans .
rat race 's cast is first rate .
cleese is wonderfully devilish and madcap ; lovitz is , at first , a bit whiny , but his character grows on you ; gooding is having a fine romp ; and dave thomas almost steals the show as cleese 's deadpan assistant , a man " born without a personality .
"
the film is directed by jerry zucker , who knows something about comedy
.
along with his brother , david , and friend jim abrahams , he was responsible for such hits as airplane ! and ruthless people .
a throwaway subplot , which is good for some laughs , features cleese and his buddies , betting on a series of outlandish situations , including one dealing with a hooker and pepto - bismol .
this is a fun little feature .
the only letdown comes at the finale , which is too touchy - feely and sweet , almost negating what came before it .
rat race is a summer sleeper , but it will keep you awake , as will the laughter of those watching around you .

SOLUTION: P

PROBLEM: it is with hesitance that i call " apocalypse now " a masterpiece .
certainly , it had the pedigree to be one of the greatest films ever made , with a director known for producing masterpieces with ease , and some of the finest actors of the 1970 's .
the plot , an adaptation of joseph conrad 's " heart of darkness " , was set in vietnam , and the timing of the film was supposed to be brilliant , coming on the heels of the end of the war .
" apocalypse " certainly has its moments , some of which are the finest in film history .
the plot is fairly simple .
captain willard ( sheen ) , is a troubled soldier who came back to hanoi for a 2nd tour of duty .
his mission is simple : take a boat up to cambodian territory , and destroy the command of renegade colonel kurtz ( brando ) " with extreme prejudice " .
along the way , willard runs into a series of adventures , including one with lt .
col .
kilgore ( duvall ) , and a strange encounter with playboy bunnies .
willard ' s four person crew finally make it to kurtz ' compound , where he discovers kurtz has set himself up as a god among the natives .
willard 's experiences with kurtz take up the last half - hour , with a confrontation and eventual ending .
the movie is visually breathtaking .
the battle scenes are exquisitely done , and the score is brilliant , setting a murky mood of darkness that is first - rate .
the collage of disturbing images that coppola presents is at times both astonishing and sickening .
the vast amount of detail poured into every war scene is stunning , and there are many episodes that are deeply powerful which resonate through the entire movie .
the journey to kurtz ' camp is quite a ride , with psychosis setting in on almost every character .
the most interesting one is kilgore , the lt .
col .
who cares more about the surf than about the mission .
it is at times revolting , psychotic , and incredible , and
it is one hell of a movie .
the scenes are bold , inventive , and powerful , and the acting is stunning , especially be sheen , duvall , and fishburne .
the narration is exquisite , as is the mystery of kurtz .
coppola sets about a hallucinatory ride through vietnam , kind of like " saving private ryan " on lsd .
the film is jarring in its implications , and psychotic in its execution .
the problems come when the film slows down .
one of the major scenes in the film , where the boat arrives at the final army checkpoint before they start their search for kurtz , is a colossal mess .
the dialogue is confusing , the lighting is atrocious , and the scene drags on for 10 terrible minutes of film .
the true problems happen after the crew does come into the kurtz compound .
the film slows down to a drag .
sheen seems forever captured by a madman , played by brando is a lazy performance that is not deserving of the accolades it received .
brando is in the film for no more than 15 minutes , but is bathed in shadows the entire time , making the last half hour of the film visually pathetic .
the scenes are poorly done , the dialogue is muffled , and the whole mess is utterly confusing beyond all belief .
sheen seems to adore this man , but why the viewers are never told .
the entire journey is supposed to be a prelude for a stunning entrance of this god - like kurtz , but the scenes fall way short of expectations .
granted , it has its moments , which are brutally horrific , but the general feeling is one of confusion .
brando mumbles his lines in a incoherent stir , and my feeling was that this could never be a great man , this could never be a man who inspires hundreds to follow him , so why do they do it ?
there are moments of brilliance , but the visual confusion dilutes the power of the scene .
there are too many questions left unanswered with the character of kurtz to have a satisfying ending .
the finest scene at the end is sheen 's escape , and his entrace into the temple .
his rise out of the water , with the smoke coming off of his slicked head , is a brilliant 30 seconds of film .
yet , you can not shake the feeling that there is so much more this film could have done .
the psychotic ride is unforgettable at times , and indeed the film on the whole is very good .
it is a stunningly flawed expression of film , for it addresses major issues , such as man 's mental stamina during bouts of war .
but one still can not shake the feeling that this film could have so much more powerful , had the character of kurtz been more explored , and had sheen truly succumbed to the fate that the viewer thought he was destined for .
there is too much good material in here not to be called a masterpiece , but it could have been so much more rewarding .

SOLUTION:
P