In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.
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Question: on re - watching italian writer / director dario argento 's much lauded murder mystery tenebrae , i was struck more than anything else by how many sins he commits as a storyteller and manages to get away with .
in emphasising style over matters of plot argento is somewhat notorious in cult film circles , but some aficionados still praise tenebrae as the greatest of his " giallo " murder mysteries .
while it 's certainly not perfect , repeated viewings reveal it to be nonetheless a densely plotted and terrifically stylish thriller .
the story follows a promotional visit to rome by famous american mystery novelist peter neal ( anthony franciosa ) where he discovers that a serial killer is on the loose inspired by his latest book " tenebrae " .
with the police on his back for leads , he decides to take a personal interest in the case and he soon becomes drawn into a mystery where all is not as it seems .
the film benefits enormously from a fine central performance by franciosa .
he brings grace , charm and a deceptive benigness to his character which provides an interesting foil to both the violence of the books he writes and the unfolding real - life horror around him .
the film is awash with a fascinating psychosexual tension .
argento peels back the facade of showbiz and jetset lifestyles to reveal an amoral , ambivalent , shadowy world where desire in all its forms has become a dangerous business .
tenebrae is perhaps the most multi - layered of argento 's scripts to date and there is much bubbling underneath the surface here .
it may take at least two or three viewings to appreciate all the psychological themes at play .
in that respect it strongly recalls his previous giallo deep red / profondo rosso ( the full - length italian language version ) and fans will enjoy spotting the recurring themes .
needless to say for argento fans , there is no denying the director 's brilliance as a stylist .
many of the action and murder sequences are directed with his characteristic finesse and feature plenty of intriguing camerawork .
they are all the more impressive for the fact that in this film argento creates mood by filling his scenes with light , rather than the dark shadows and deep rich colours of earlier works like deep red and suspiria .
instead , tenebrae 's set design and lighting paints a sleek , clinical , chilly vision of a vaguely futuristic urban world .
and the soundtrack 's mix of electronic atmospheres and gothic rock by frequent argento collaborators goblin is the perfect accompaniment .
so tenebrae has much to recommend it , no question .
still , constantly nagging at the back of this viewers mind is several lumps in the narrative .
some critics argue that logic does n't matter in argento films , but damnit , it matters in all films to the point where viewers do n't deserve to feel cheated .
by the way , if you do n't want to know the solution to the mystery then skip the next three paragraphs .
about an hour into tenebrae the story takes an unexpected twist which , properly handled , could have proved ingenious .
we witness the murder of the serial killer himself by a man who , we later discover , is none other than the author peter neal .
he is insane , apparently .
the murders then continue for the remainder of the film as neal decides it 's time to settle some personal business involving his neurotic wife .
he is finally revealed to us as this " second killer " in the film 's bloody climax .
but argento muffs the twist , both technically and narratively .
you see , we are supposed to be tricked into thinking that during this scene peter neal is actually an innocent witness who was crouching in the bushes nearby the whole time and spying on the killer 's house .
but thanks to poor editing , its had to believe neal could have murdered the killer anyway .
bad cutting puts the timing way out .
in other words , he 's almost in two places at once .
during this crucial scene we are also thrown a ridiculous red herring .
by the film 's end you realise that for the sake of an alibi neal must have self - inflicted a nasty injury in this earlier scene to make it look like he was attacked by a fleeing assailant .
the injury ?
he banged himself on the head with a bloody great rock !
thus , the revelation of the " hero " as a killer ( and anti - hero ) in the final scenes may still prove shocking , but its all somewhat implausible by the time the end credits have rolled .
helpfully , in the end we do learn that the bizarre flashbacks of personal humiliation and murder that have permeated the film belonged to neal all along .
but there too is a problem , as the explanations offered for his motivations are psychologically fuzzy to say the least .
the story owes us a better understanding of franciosa 's mind , his concealed madness and his sudden murderous rampage .
tenebrae is also marred by annoying little inconsistencies .
for instance , a teenage boy and girl leave a hotel room and minutes
later we see the girl riding off on the back of a motorbike .
we would assume the rider is the same boy , but it turns out to be some male character we are n't even introduced too !
that 's careless filmmaking , pure and simple .
why , you may ask , do i go on about the story 's flaws ?
because when it comes to visuals and set pieces , argento is one of the most exciting filmmakers in the world .
take one of the extended scenes in tenebrae .
an upset girl wandering the streets at night needlessly taunts a guard dog to the point where - almost unbelievably - it jumps a high fence and chases her across town .
finally , as she desperately seeks escape from this crazed canine , she accidentally stumbles on the serial killer 's lair .
it 's an absolutely masterful sequence , tense and exciting , and communicating a wealth of information through visuals alone .
and that 's exactly the kind of thing that makes the flaws so frustrating .
too often , it seems , argento 's films as a whole are less than the sum of their impressive parts .
mind you , if you love murder mysteries then tenebrae is still worth a look .
and if you 're a fan of argento 's unique style of giallo thriller then it 's essential .
see the uncut widescreen version if you can and drink in some of the wonderful cinematography by luciano tovoli .
it 's a stylish , great - looking and quirky film despite the problem narrative .
a shame , because it does n't have to be that way .
take argento 's more recent stendhal syndrome ( 1992 ) , where with the aid of co - writer franco ferrini he fashioned a solid storyline without sacrificing any of his surreal weirdness or visual panache .
proof that he can do it , if he tries . . .

Answer: P


Question: the opening crawl tells us that the galaxy is in turmoil over the taxation of trade routes , and the greedy trade federation has used it 's armada of powerful space battleships to blockade the planet naboo .
we soon find that the federation plans to invade the planet with an enormous army of warrior robots and force naboo 's ruler , the young queen amidala ( natalie portman ) to sign a treaty giving the federation control .
however , the galactic republic has sent jedi knights qui - gon jinn ( liam neeson ) and obi - wan kenobi ( ewan mcgregor )
as emissaries to the federation in order to negotiate for the ending of the blockade .
no sooner do they arrive than the federation leaders are instructed via holographic transmission by a mysterious cloaked figure to destroy the jedi , and the first battle begins .
it seems that for me and thousands of people like me , the love for george lucas 's trilogy of star wars movies has only grown over time .
we 're the fans , not the freaks .
we wo n't go dressing up like darth vader ( although you have to admit those imperial uniforms are pretty darn cool ) , and we wo n't incorporate lines from the script in our everyday conversations ( not all the time , anyway ) , but if someone wants to challenge us to a little trivia contest , we 're throwing down .
all right , stop looking at me like that .
we have been faithfully and patiently waiting . waiting for this movie ever since the end credits of return of the jedi started to roll .
you see , the trilogy is not just a set of movies , but a religion of sorts to we , the faithful disciples , and the phantom menace is tantamount to the second coming of the messiah .
unfortunately , it is not our savior .
for weeks beforehand , i was going around telling people that this movie had better be damned good - stupendously good - miraculously good .
anything less
and it 'll be the biggest disappointment of the century .
i did n't want the doomsaying prophecy to come true , really i did n't , but this film nevertheless fails to reach the pinnacles of filmmaking .
character development is virtually nonexistent .
with the possible exception of qui - gon , most of the film 's characters seem left with nothing to do but go through the motions .
none seem very affected by their experiences , and few even show any passion at all .
contrast this with the horribly irritating comic relief we are nearly continuously subjected to in the form of jar jar binks , a creature belonging to a race which lives in underwater cities on naboo , in precarious symbiosis with the land dwellers led by amidala .
jar jar 's life is saved by qui - gon early in the film , and travels with our heroes for the sole reason of making us laugh ( or
supposedly so ) .
his speech mannerisms are so " cute - ified " that i could n't understand a third of what he was saying , and the slapstick he performed was just distracting .
his head gets caught in an electronic field , his foot gets caught in the stirrup of some large beast , he describes being in trouble as " deep doo doo , " and even manages to step in some of the same while walking around in mos eisley spaceport .
therein lies a key difference between this film and one of its predecessors .
in star wars , we had obi - wan telling us mos eisley was a " wretched hive of scum and villainy .
" in the phantom menace , we get doo doo .
the films of the trilogy took me away from my everyday life and immersed me in a story " a long time ago in a galaxy far , far away . . . .
"
this film , on the other hand , constantly reminds me that it 's only a movie by including situations and phrases that are so uniquely modern american that they seem incredibly out of place and serve to jerk the viewer from the experience .
perhaps the most blatant offense occurs during a scene where young anakin skywalker enters into a pod racing competition ( it 's kind of like chariot racing with large engines instead of horses ) , and there are a couple of commentators in a press box delivering indy 500-like play by play .
i liked the pod race ; it was really exciting and ratcheted the tension , but when the heck did lucas think up the idea of putting in the sportscasters ?
the race would have been even more exciting without the distraction .
this aspect , coupled with the emphasis on humor simply baffled me .
i suppose one may say that lucas was trying to appeal to the younger viewer , but would more intelligent scenes and dialog hurt this appeal at all ?
did n't millions of youngsters still go back to see the original star wars in 1977 over and over again ?
did n't the action figures still sell like hotcakes ?
of course they did , and it 's only poor judgment that allows the most - eagerly awaited film in history to be marred by pandering to children who would still have enjoyed a film with more appeal for adults .
one aspect that will appeal broadly , however , is the use of special effects .
the people at lucas 's industrial light and magic , the world 's premiere effects house , outdid themselves in providing seamless integration of computer - generated images and real - life footage .
some of the scenes have to be seen to be believed , especially the shots of a land battle between the federation 's robot army and jar jar 's countrymen .
the space battles are also impressive , although improved over past efforts by only subtle margins to the casual observer .
this , however , is a testament to the work which ilm produced two decades ago and still holds up well today .
john williams is back , of course , providing a score for the film as only he can .
his music is pervasive throughout , as rousing and as dramatic as ever , always serving to punctuate scenes noticeably and appropriately .
since this film is supposed to be the first installment in a nine - episode story ( star wars , the empire strikes back and return of the jedi being episodes four , five and six , respectively ) , the phantom menace has the daunting task of setting up the origins of several characters we know already , in addition to those with whom we unfamiliar .
as a result , attention to history and characterization was spread a little thin .
it would have been nice to get more in depth with yoda and obi - wan , for example , but given the fact that there were several new characters to cover , it is understandable that some of the development has been left for the next two films .
one of the new characters is darth maul , hailed as the new villain with as much hype as marketing forces could muster prior to this film 's release .
in spite of the hype , darth maul is a character which almost did n't have to be in the film , his role is so insignificant .
he has maybe three spoken lines ( believe it or not , a second actor voices the character ) and the rest of the time just scowls and looks mean .
with that working against him , he never has a chance at being interesting and instead ends up an utter disappointment .
lucas seems to have wanted to develop the spiritual nature of the star wars universe , something which has been prominent throughout .
however , he does so largely by paralleling the star wars spirituality with the bible , offering an easy out for story - writing and once again bringing the viewer back to planet earth with a real - life connection .
oddly , while trying to capitalize on spirituality , lucas at the same time introduces the fact that mastery of the force is dependent upon having little force - loving parasites in your body 's cells .
this only serves to de - mystify the workings of the force a few notches by offering a scientific connection .
do n't let me mislead you too far .
the phantom menace , by most standards , is a good film .
it contains a lot of visual treats , sets the stage for an epic story , gives us a bit of excitement here and there , and even allows us to revisit some of our old friends .
it 's just that when held up to it 's predecessors ( and to not do so would be unrealistic ) , this film simply pales .

Answer: P


Question: the film starts out with a creepy opening sequence to which has the now classic and creepy score by writer / director / producer john carpenter who in my mind is a brilliant director , he really is .
he wrote this film , he directed this film , he produced this film and he made the excessively creepy score to this film .
i think he is and always will be famous for this classic which after 21 years has not lost it 's popularity
or it 's ability to scare the wits out of people .
i think i have seen ' halloween ' over 100 times and each time i find something new and brilliant , and each time i am scared even though i know what is going to happen
.
i own three different versions of the film : a vhs regular version that came with a limited edition 20th anniversary t - shirt , a boxed edition vhs in a hardcover case digitally re - mastered with the original theatrical widescreen presentation , in a nifty plastic picture decorated box with a numbered snow - globe .
in other words
i am completely and utterly obsessed with the film .
it has changed horror movies forever and spawned six sequels with only 2 , 4 , and 7 being truly good .
it also spawned several cheap imitations of the film that were offensive in some ways to a true halloween fan .
since i heard about halloween being released on dvd in a limited edition of 30 , 000 copies , i knew i had to buy one no matter what !
i did and man
to me
it 's the best dvd ever manufactured with the brilliance of the film
.
no words can describe the dvd .
in ' halloween ' michael myers is a evil person whom killed his sister in cold blood 16 years ago in 1963 .
now in 1978 grown up and in a mental hospital michael myers escapes to go back to his hometown of haddonfield , illinois , followed by his past doctor sam loomis .
the person michael is targeting is laurie strode who is played by jamie lee curtis in her film debut .
why is he stalking her ? check out halloween
ii
it explains it all .
on this unholy night on october 31 , 1978 laurie strode and her two friends are going to have the time of their lives , which is trying to stay alive .
the whole film is filled with terrifying moments most coming from just seeing michael myers walk .
nick castle who played the shape in the first movie did an incredible job , and no other person in any other halloween flick can do what he did .
what john carpenter did in 1978 is made a ground - breaking new film , with scares , wit , and style .
the movie is flawless if not perfect .
no other movie or sequel has lived up to this one , and in my opinion never will .
'
halloween ' will be like ' psycho ' and
still be extremely popular even almost 40 years later
.
i just hope someday ' halloween ' will be released in a new dolby soundtrack with the 4 extra scenes on the dvd edition .
' halloween ' is n't just another slice - and - dice horror flick ,
it 's an intelligent , horrifying and best film experience ever made .
see ' halloween ' and be scared . . . .
then watch it again ! reviewed by brandon herring october 7 , 1999 .

Answer:
P