TASK DEFINITION: In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.
PROBLEM: here is a film that is so unexpected , so scary , and so original that it caught me off guard and threw me for a loop .
okay , it is n't quite original ,
considering it is a sequel to the box office hit species , but
it certainly is smart .
most films of this genre are reminiscent of those cheesy b - horror films from the 50s and 60s , and some even become them .
however , as we learned with the 1995 small - budget horror / sci - fi film , sometimes expectations can be shattered .
a lot of criticism has gone against this film ( from what i have read so far , anyway -- yep , all two reviews ) , and it makes me wonder why these types of films are automatically dismissed as gory , laughable pieces of trash .
but , the thing is , it is n't .
it 's well made , well acted , and quite intelligent .
i can see most of the critics now complaining about the level of gore or the level of sexuality in the film .
but the species series is n't about the lack of these elements .
it 's about how much it can get into one film .
and yet , behind it all , it has this basic premise that allows it to get away with doing so .
species ii begins in the present day , though it seems to be an alternate universe .
many films ( especially sci - fi ones ) create similar timelines as our realistic one , but change it to fit the film 's needs .
species ii begins with the arrival of an american spacecraft , the excursion , landing on the surface of mars .
aboard is patrick ross ( justin lazard ) , a very bright and very handsome astronaut .
patrick is the son of senator ross ( james cromwell ) , who just wants patrick to succeed .
well , it would seem that he has succeeded .
landing on the surface of mars , he is the first human being to ever do so .
of course , he is n't the first ever .
about a billion years ago , an alien species supposedly landed on mars and destroyed the perfect living conditions that were able to sustain life .
now , of course , the red planet is cold and rocky .
no life lives on it .
that is , no visible life .
patrick , upon leaving the spacecraft and landing on the red soil , collects samples from the ground .
he takes them aboard , and puts them in storage .
unfortunately , one of the samples contains a form of life , and it gets loose when it is heated aboard the ship .
just prior to heading back to earth , this life form creeps along the floor and inhabits the earthlings .
they pass out for approximately seven minutes , and then shrug it off as nothing , because they ca n't even remember .
they blame it on a technical malfunction .
back on earth , patrick begins to have strong urges to mate with as many women as possible .
as we know from the original , this is because the alien wants to breed and take over the planet .
however , the children that are bred are half - human , as their father is .
patrick is really looking for another alien to breed with , and he finds it in eve ( natasha henstridge ) .
eve was cloned from dna taken from sil , the original alien .
however , this time around , most of her " alien " urges have been either decreased dramatically , or lie dormant .
the project is led by dr .
laura baker ( marg helgenberger , reprising her role from species ) , and her motives seem respectable .
since she was involved with the original alien attack , she wants to learn how to stop the alien should it come again .
and it has .
story - wise
, species ii is much stronger than its predecessor , but it is also much stronger than , say , aliens
( hey , i love the film , but you ca n't tell me it was strong on story ) .
what surprised me the most with this film was the incorporation of historical facts into the screenplay .
in my search for extraterrestrial intelligence course in college , we learned about a piece of rock from mars which landed in one of the poles .
this piece of rock contained fossils which may have been proof of life on mars ( later , it was proven that it was not a living creature that created it ) .
the script uses this effectively , but also manages to provide a well - balanced plot .
beginning with the first man on mars ( something i have always dreamed of seeing ) , i was hoping that the film would turn this element into a useful starting point for the movie .
and it does it quite well .
the characters are all smart , and they know what to do and what not to do .
the only character that seems a little cliched is the general ( george dzundza ) , and yet
, he remains logical in everything he does .
there are the obvious flaws of course , mostly lying in the technical aspects .
the special effects are only mediocre , and some are just plain bad .
but for the most part , they remain believable
( i even noticed a homage to the alien series when the mothers gave birth to alien children ) .
also , the most realistic ones are usually the goriest , ranging from people being torn open , or someone 's head being blown off .
however , some plot elements also may elicit laughs from the audience , including a menage a troi that is all but necessary .
many people dislike the species series because all it is is an excuse for sex , nudity , and gory violence .
however , i tend to disagree .
what were the alien films about ?
and , if an alien species ever did come to earth , and their sole purpose was to destroy us , would n't you mate as quickly as possible with as many people as possible ?
my only gripe with this is during the scene where patrick goes searching for a mate in a grocery store .
i did n't realize that aliens were that picky on choosing women to mate with
( i just assume it is his part - human side looking for the most beautiful one ) .
the acting is quite good for this kind of film .
it is a vast improvement over the first film , at least .
the acting is the key element to this film : if it was bad , it would have lowered itself into camp ; if it was good , it would have asked for comparison with films like aliens .
okay ,
so it is n't that good .
george dzundza is probably the most obvious mistake on casting , as his over - the - top impersonation of a general makes him annoying and distracting .
natasha henstridge is limited this time around , as she is usually enclosed in a cage .
however , she does manage a very impressive performance with this aspect hindering any of her talent .
oh yeah ,
and she 's quite fun to just plain watch .
marg helgenberger is immensely better this time around , and her performance is probably the best in this film .
michael madsen is so - so , but he is n't annoying ,
and he soon becomes rather appealing
( with his nice cynic personality ) .
james cromwell has a small part , but he makes it much better than what it could have been with a more incapable actor .
as i say , any film with james cromwell dramatically increases in likeability .
mykelti williamson gives an enjoyable performance , and he gives the film a more down - to - earth feel .
and , of course , justin lazard .
lazard has so far been ridiculed for his performance ,
but i think he is effective .
sure , he is wooden , but is n't that what his character is like ?
the moment when he touches the glass separating henstridge from him was extremely well done , due to the couple 's acting .
species ii is rated r for strong sexuality , sci - fi violence / gore and language .
this is definitely an r rated film that young kids should not see .
more than likely , they would probably have nightmares and never have sex for the rest of their lives .
hell , i do n't even know if i will .
what is sure to be a critically lambasted film turns out to be the surprise film of the year .
i probably wo n't see another film where i was expecting so little and got so much for quite a while .
director peter medak has crafted a very suspenseful , and sometimes very scary movie out of a mediocre series .
medak has also mastered the wonderful " jump !
" moments , and has probably the second scariest moment i have ever seen on film ( scream still has the first ) .
strong acting , smart dialogue , intelligent plotting , and a sure - handed director , species ii is exactly what these films should be : entertaining .

SOLUTION: P

PROBLEM: "
i 've been told by several people , ' you 're old fashioned .
you want to do everything by hand , ' " topiary gardener george mendonca complains , defending his continued resort to hand shears in trimming his intricately privet - sculpted animal creations .
"
this is the only way you can do it and do it right . " snip , snip .
"
some people believe that we are gon na replace ourselves by building these machines , and that may be , " muses mit robot scientist rodney brooks , who builds robots that run on instinct .
"
there may not be a place for humans in the future , if we 're really successful . "
" you feel that there 's a and looking directly into errol morris 's camera .
"
i know you are .
you know i am .
" in some ways the slickest film yet from nonfiction auteur morris ( the thin blue line , a brief history of time ) , fast , cheap & out of control is reportage of the highest order .
journalism students should dream of making connections like these .
cross - cutting among interviews and filmed segments , morris traces the lives of four disparate professionals who seem to share nothing but an immersion in their work , and then threads them around one another in an intricate quadruple helix .
the fun is settling into your theater seat and wondering just what the hell one story can possibly have to do with the other .
what morris manages is something akin to an intellectual magic trick , an interrogative sleight of hand .
one of the things that feels different about an errol morris documentary -- besides the always - striking visuals -- is the interview style , where subjects seem to look directly at the viewer .
weary of pressing his cheek against the camera lens to get this effect during conversations , morris developed an elaborate double - camera gadget he calls , half - jokingly , the interrotron . through a rig that uses a pair of teleprompters to project video images of the interviewer for the subject and vice versa , these folks talk , startlingly , right to the camera -- to the video image of morris , and by extension to the audience .
the gardener wonders whether , after his death , anyone will be interested in maintaining the garden that he 's devoted half his life to tending .
the robot scientist is more than a little pleased to note that his creations may be primal examples of what an insect or even an animal is -- a complicated set of sensory receptors .
the mole rat specialist is delighted to catalog the ways in which these vermin animals behave like insects , and notes that they may be more suited to long - term survival than people .
and the circus trainer pines for a long - lost ideal that was exemplified by world - renowned trainer and showman clyde beatty , who starred in such serials as zombies of the stratosphere ( excerpted at some length here , with affection ) .
starting to detect the patterns ?
fast , cheap & out of control contains a multitude of parallels and tiny intersections , culminating in what feels like an elegy ( the film is dedicated to morris 's late mother and stepfather ) .
the film is balanced on that airy precipice dividing the already musty past from the alternately exhilarating and terrifying space that is the future .
( the title is taken from brooks ' wish that nasa would send a payload of hundreds of expendable robots to scurry about the martian surface , creating a sort of road map for the terrain -- fast , cheap , and out of control . ) with able assists from editors karen schmeer and shondra merrill and cinematographer robert richardson ( oliver stone 's longtime collaborator ) , this becomes a cinematic contraption that 's a wonder of narrative divergence and coherence .
( further enhancing the picture 's wacky intellectual mood is the playful score by alloy orchestra founder caleb sampson . )
different story threads inform and comment on one another with the serene inscrutability of a kieslowski film , or a surrealist dream .
by cobbling together out of these motley musings a thesis on the nature of craftsmanship , invention , and existence itself , morris reveals the presence of cosmic themes -- creation , evolution , death -- in earthbound lives .
at the same time , and just as significantly , he pays tribute to a consuming passion for one 's work .
this breakdown of the dichotomy between the everyday and the extraordinary is likely as profound as anything you 'll encounter in pop culture this year , and the visuals cry out for the big screen .
do n't miss it .
--------------------------------------------------------------
directed by errol morris edited by karen schmeer and shondra merrill cinematography by robert richardson music by caleb sampson u
. s . , 1997 --------------------------------------------------------------

SOLUTION: P

PROBLEM: no humans were harmed , tested or tasted in the making of this film .
all recipes are fictions .
twentieth century fox does not condone cannibalism .
a psychological thriller that will scare you to the depth of your soul ! director / writer antonia bird shows us that the most terrifying horror is not provided by giant beasts , but instead by monsters lurking in ourselves . .
" . .
they were a party of settlers in covered wagon times and they had to resent to cannibalism in order to stay alive . .
"
this true story , briefly mentioned in " the shining " , has no turned into a 143 minutes long motion picture .
in 1847 , the united states was a land of pioneers , of gold - starved americans making their way west .
it was a period of manifest destiny , the inevitability of the country extending its boundaries , stretching out its arms and consuming all the land it could .
capt .
john boyd ( guy pearce ) has become both a " hero " and a victim during this period of relentless consumption . . .
in ways he could never have imagined .
boyd 's journey to hell begins when he is awarded for an act of cowardice during a horrific mexican - american war battle earns him banishment to a desolate military outpost , a waystation for western travelers in the barren and icy sierra nevada mountains in california .
upon his arrival he is greeted by a small , motley group of soldiers , including his commanding officer , hart ( jeffrey jones ) , a previously intelligent and sophisticated man who has lost his aristocratic origin in the heat of battle and has pretty much given up on life ; toffler ( jeremy davies ) , the fort 's personal emissary to the lord ; knox ( stephen spinella ) , the veterinarian that plays doctor , who never met a bottle of whiskey he did n't like ; reich ( neal mcdonough ) , the no - nonsense soldier of the group ; and the seriously " over - medicated " cleaves ( david arquette ) , a cook whose meals are inspired more by peyote than culinary ambitions .
into this cold , bleak and bizarre world staggers a stranger , colqhoun ( robert carlyle ) , a half - starved scot who had been traveling with a group of settlers until they became snowbound .
seeking refuge in a cave , they soon ran out of food - and were forced to consume one another .
colqhoun barely escaped becoming an hors d'oeuvre himself .
our heroes then decide to journey through the mountains to find the survivors , and colqhoun tags along to help out .
soon it becomes clear that colqhoun 's tale has ramifications beyond cannibalism and the will to survive .
it involves an old indian myth called weendigo , which states that a man who eats the flesh of another steals that person 's strength , spirit and very essence .
his hunger becomes an insatiable craving : the more he eats , the more he wants , and the stronger he becomes .
there can never be enough , and death is the only escape . .
it 's all fairly sickening and you have to have a healthy stomach to see the whole movie through .
as professionally made as the movie is , you have to wonder who they thought would come piling into the theater to see this .
teen - age horror fans wo n't care because none of the soldiers look remotely like neve campell .
older folks might show up when they hear that the movie is actually a satire about the pioneer spirit , but they 'll be disappointed once all the raw meat starts getting waved in their faces .
but jokes aside , this is a film that is well worth watching .
it has wonderful and mature characters , that few horror film s can boast of and a strangely effective story that continues to electrify you till the end .
the two main characters are also the most interesting .
boyd is a simple , honest man tiered of war , killing and fear .
his sacred wish is to live a normal , quite life away from gunpowder and blood .
colqhoun is different .
he proves that a man , on the brink of death , would do anything to stay alive , including sacrificing his own soul .
he believes so much in this indian myth that he starts to change physically .
it is the power of the human mind and conviction that make miracles happen .
the atmosphere in " ravenous " is macabre and bizarre , scary and surreal .
completely isolated from the rest of the world , stands fort spencer .
here time stands still , and nothing changes .
the inhabitants are soldiers driven by war and pillage .
they are all somehow losers of society that have been banished -- men that are used to killing and have not done anything else in their entire life .
men that are nothing , and has nothing to loose .
the result is some sort of cabin fever .
cannibalism is more like a sick game for them .
since they find no pleasure in living , they find some excitement in killing and dying .
it 's like " who 's going to die first ?
" the unchangeable icy landscape , where birds do not sing and even wind does n't move the leaves on the trees , resembles kubrick 's " the shining " .
it 's hard to not get mad here !
one of the scary aspects of the film is a strange connection that the viewer establishes with the characters , and starts to understand them , although they have turned into half crazed killers .
music is another factor that strengthens the atmosphere .
a strange musical score , composed by michael nyman ( the piano ) and damon albarn , that often seems out of place , and in complete contrast to the image , somehow reflects the characters ' twisted reactions on the world and their situation .
the director herself stated that it was " ok to laugh " during the picture .
and i must admit that it is often very funny , in a strange way ( such as the wonderful quote : " . .
it 's lonely being a cannibal .
you do n't get that many friends . . .
"
or when colqhoun is quoting ben franklin , saying " eat to live .
do n't live to eat . " ) .
but mostly it is frightening and shocking as it goes deeper into the minds of these strange men and we witness their psychological change .
every actor does a great job . especially robert carlyle as the sinister and intelligent cannibal , and guy pearce as the moral and honest soldier , nagged by his undeserved honor .
this strange couple resemble lestat and lois in neil jordan 's ' interview with the vampire ' .
actually there are many amusing parallels and connections to vampire movies , since the topics are so alike .
" ravenous " starts wonderfully and continues to shock and scare until it gets to the finale , where it looses focus and gets too primitive and rather boring .
however these little failures do n't diminish the impression .
this is a bizarre dark comedy about the human mind and its change in different situations .
it is a scary fable about the monster that lurks in everyone 's soul , a dark side which we 're all trying to hide -- but it 's there -- always .
it is one of the most frightening and successful horror films since " the shining " .
" . . i said no food .
i did n't say there was nothing to eat . . .
"
- colqhoun , ravenous

SOLUTION:
P