TASK DEFINITION: In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.
PROBLEM: billed as a " feminist sex fantasy " , this spirited , imaginative and thoroughly engaging film by the award - winning canadian director cynthia roberts , is destined for extreme reactions .
camille paglia enthusiasts will no doubt champion this heart - felt tale of the title character bubbles galore ( nina hartley ) , a porn - actress - turned - porn - producer who faces an uphill battle in her quest for sexual and economic independence .
however , those in the andrea dworkin camp , will no doubt loathe the film 's decidedly pro - porn stance .
political considerations aside , however , this is a delightful lesbian love story as the film takes us on a whirlwind tour of bubbles ' romantic entanglements with a naive and virginal young porn starlet dory drawers ( shauny sexton ) .
in the backdrop , however is bubbles ' loyal assistant vivian klitorsky ( tracy wright ) who pines longingly for the affections of her bubbly boss .
this femme - butch - femme triangle is what provides the film with considerable humanity * and * sensuality .
in addition to the romantic aspects of the story , bubbles is being stalked and terrorized by her ex - boyfriend godfrey montana ( daniel macivor ) , a slimy porn mogul who wishes to make her life as miserable as he can possibly make it .
when his plans to sabotage her latest film fall through , he snaps and psychotically decides to kill her .
these proceedings are presided over by a most heavenly presence .
god herself - yes , in the world of this film , god , is most definitely a " her " - and a chorus of undulating , scantily - clad angels , have their most watchful and lustful eyes on the events as they unfold ,
adding a lovely fantasy element to this frothy concoction .
this bright , colourful and deliriously sexy film is chock - full of great performances . making her dramatic debut , after appearing in over 300 triple x adult films , porn star nina hartley takes command of her role with considerable assurance and a screen presence which puts many other contemporary ' straight ' actresses to shame .
hartley has overwhelming star power , and one wonders why other non - triple - x producers have n't used her bountiful talents .
it is also interesting to note that hartley appears in the recent release of " boogie nights " , a film which takes a far more traditional doom - and - gloom approach to the porn industry . making a cameo appearance in the role of god , former porn actress annie sprinkle ,
a true artist in her own right - gives the entire film an earthy , sensual glow and certainly solidifies and , by her very appearance
, downright justifies the themes of the movie .
the other performances are equally solid .
daniel macivor appropriately chews up the scenery as the villainous godfrey and tracy wright lends able support with her complex role .
shauny sexton , an erotic dancer and pin - up model , makes an impressive screen debut .
overall , bubbles galore is a film which wears its politics on its sleeve and very proudly indeed .
at one point , the title character declares that " instead of trying to save women from the sex trade , we should be working to ensure that the sex trade is a safe place for women to work " .
the direction by cynthia roberts is daring and subversive .
roberts is not afraid to plunge the otherwise straight - ahead and simple narrative into extended and extremely avant - garde montage sequences .
the love scenes between the women are especially beautiful .
the musical score by nicholas stirling blends cool jazz and lounge stylings , while the skilful cinematography by harald bachmann terrifically captures a blend of garish 70 's porn and psychedelia .
amazingly , this film appears to have received a good deal of its funding from a variety of canadian government cultural agencies .
this speaks volumes towards the importance of state funding for culture , as one can not imagine such an entertaining , original and vital film being made in a traditional setting where conformity and formula rule the day .
bubbles galore seems to be making the film festival rounds and does not , at present , appear to have any traditional distribution in place , so keep your eye on the alternative film listings for this one .
it 's funny , sexy and subversive .
and it should n't be missed .

SOLUTION: P

PROBLEM: i do n't expect much from eddie murphy these days .
for the past four years , the gods of cinema -- or the expansive payrolls of studio conglomerates -- have allowed him to make one bad movie after another .
such films as metro , doctor dolittle , holy man , life , and bowfinger have reduced a once great comedic persona to a living and breathing washed - up hack performing as a studio puppet for 20th century fox and universal pictures .
the biggest shame to fall on his shoulders is his newest film , nutty professor ii : the klumps .
the klumps once again revisits the life of sherman klump , an overweight university science professor looking for love in all the wrong places .
sherman has just invented a new " youth drink " that enables man or beast to become younger for a short period of time .
janet jackson is the love interest who chooses the lovable sherman for a soul mate rather than excel at her career as a university professor ( and for the most ridiculous reasons ) .
with love on his mind , sherman is determined to rid himself of his alter ego , buddy love from the first professor , who still resides with vigor inside his psyche and causes sherman to act like a bad imitation of vince vaughn from swingers .
with some convoluted mumbo - jumbo about dna extraction , sherman extracts the " buddy love " link in his dna and smartly deposits buddy into a handy - dandy lab beaker .
but one night , the beaker is knocked over and buddy love is regenerated . . .
because every movie like this needs an unnecessary villain to thwart the good guy .
then the klump family , all played by eddie murphy , step in for some comedic relief involving old people having sex , flabby breasts , a slew of fart and dick jokes , and enough fat people jokes that i lost count after the first thirty minutes .
and did i mention the part where larry miller gets anally raped by an overgrown hamster ?
the movie finally dissolves into a really bad hallmark family special about realizing who you are and what you can be in this world -- with enough soft lighting and people on the verge of tears in every scene .
pure and simple ,
the klumps is a failure .
its script was handled by not one but five screenwriters , and it really shows during the awkward transitions between scenes .
any sense of story and plot were lost in the rewrite process .
it 's more discerning to learn that chris weitz and paul weitz , the team behind one of the funniest films of the last decade , american pie , have their names stamped to this trash .
hey guys - quick
note - keep this movie off of your resumes .
the characterization of sherman 's family , the klumps , is one of the most ignorant stereotypes of a black family i have ever seen in cinema .
everyone member of the family is a large person who wipes the bins clean at a local buffet restaurant like pigs at a trough .
the grandma is an oversexed fiend who constantly talks of ways to pleasure her man and her sagging breasts .
the father is gruff , is fired from a blue - collar job , is sexually inadequate , and can not communicate with his family about his feelings .
the mother is ignorant of all the negativity around her and seems to hold no opinion about anything or anyone .
the brother is silent and brooding and resembles the ice cube gangster character from boyz in the hood .
sherman himself is terribly insecure and never conveys anything for the audience to become attached to .
but the main problem with the film is its inability to create any type of convincing conversational or situational comedy .
the family scenes from the first nutty professor worked so well because their conversations were short and direct .
and you got the feeling that these crass people could n't act like this all the time .
the sequel does the reverse and drives the negatives of the klumps right in to the hilt , making the first five minutes of their interaction enjoyable and the last 55 or so unbearable and pathetic .
after a while , their conversations just become a barrage of frustrated anger tinged with indecency and overworked premises that end up drawing energy away from any type of empathy one might feel for the central themes of the story .
its also a damn shame that the makeup magic of rick baker -- who worked on the original nutty professor and won an academy award for his work on an american werewolf in london -- and amazing digital special effects that enabled murphy to interact with himself in such beautiful motions are built around such a lame story line .
even the best effects ca n't seem to save the most pathetic of movies these days .
now that i think about it ,
the worst thing about this film has to be all the money that it will make .
people will be lined up around the block for it .
the studios will concoct the a sequel for release in the summer of 2002 .
eddie murphy will be signed up to take not just one role or five roles , but he 'll play every character in the movie .
i just ca n't wait to see eddie murphy in a love scene with himself .

SOLUTION: N

PROBLEM: i know there were times during this movie that i laughed pretty hard .
the problem is
, i ca n't remember them as i write this review .
that 's not a good sign .
in booty call , jamie foxx is bunz , a character whom i ca n't really describe , because i do n't know that much about him .
i only know that he likes to shoot dice on the sidewalk , and that he does n't like relationships ,
just " booty calls " at three in the morning ( no questions , no commitment ) .
bunz has a best friend named rushon ( tommy davidson ) , who seems to be bunz 's direct opposite : on the straight and narrow , and currently in a long - term commitment ( a whole seven weeks ,
wow ! ) .
rushon wants to finally sleep with his girlfriend , nikki ( tamala jones ) , but for a reason which is not totally explained , it 's going to happen after a double date with bunz and nikki 's friend lysterine ( vivica a . fox ) , who have never met .
to make a long story short , the two couples pair off and spend the rest of the evening having their attempts to do the deed spoiled by nikki 's obsession with safe sex .
first she wants condoms , so bunz and rushon go out and get them .
oh , no , they have to be latex , not lambskin .
back to the store .
now they 've got to get dental dams , or there 'll be no foreplay .
why are both couples stopped each time
nikki makes a demand ?
nikki phones lysterine , who lives across the hall , and tells her she 'd better be making these demands , too .
talk about coitus interruptus .
booty call is a film that does not know whether it wants to be a regular comedy or one of those over - the - top comedies .
the difference between the two is that in the latter , things constantly happen which are so far removed from reality .
in this category , for example , you have ace ventura :
private eye on the mild side , and airplane !
at the extreme .
there are times during booty call where the film steps out of its shell and tries for this status , but then too often quickly retreats to the safety of convention .
it is disappointing , and even worse , distracting .
there are also instances where the screenplay by takashi bufford and bootsie parker ( are those real names ? ) does not live up to its potential , as jokes are left unexploited or even ruined by bad writing
.
for instance , there is a scene where our main characters are in a chinese restaurant .
bunz goes up to an asian gangster and speaks to him in fluent cantonese , much to everyone 's surprise .
however , when asked how he learned the language , he goes into this explanation of how he started picking up words from late - night kung - fu films , and soon gained mastery .
this negated the ludicrousness of the entire scene .
if , on the other hand , when asked how he learned to speak chinese , bunz simply replied with , " kung - fu movies , " and then moved on , the joke would have been much more effective .
this is because it would have been totally unbelievable , but funny because we know it is unbelievable .
by explaining the point and trying to make the ridiculous plausible , the film is not giving its viewers enough credit .
the inconsistency and uncertain believability unfortunately also raise other questions .
why are two such disparate people like bunz and rushon best friends ?
why do rushon and nikki fix up bunz and lysterine ?
if nikki is so obsessed with safe sex , why does n't she have some condoms at her own apartment ?
these questions are not answered by the screenplay , but are overlooked for the sole reason of moving the plot forward .
a very noticeable quality of booty call is the prevalence of unnecessary foul language .
some movies use a lot of swear words , but use them under very justifiable circumstances , as when they are employed consistent with a character 's pattern of speech .
other films , such as the recent jackie brown , use them in ways that almost parody themselves .
booty call just sticks them in to get laughs , and it does n't work .
they stick out like sore thumbs because there is almost no reason to use them .
half of the scenes seem to occur for no reason .
the chinese restaurant , a holdup at a convenience store , and a trip to the hospital seem to have nothing to do with the story , and are in there for filler .
this is surprising , considering that the film is less than eighty minutes long .
it 's too bad that the core of the film is n't much better , since it is comprised of sometimes funny , but forgettable dialog .
i refer you to the first paragraph of this review .

SOLUTION:
N