TASK DEFINITION: In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.
PROBLEM: " psycho meets the exorcist with no holds barred " .
a blurb like that sounds like desperate publicity for some low budget , third rate rip - off .
but no , this tacky plug comes from the poster for suspiria , perhaps italian horror director dario argento 's most consistently successful film .
what impresses most in re - watching this surrealistic , supernatural thriller is that argento 's directorial flair and stylish visuals are matched by a near - fully coherent narrative .
screenplays have always been his achilles heel ; confusing subplots , gaping holes , totally illogical incidents and reactions .
no question : argento has always been a better director than a writer .
fortunately , he gets the plotting pretty well right with suspiria , taking his cue from a book by thomas de quincey called " suspiria de profundis " .
the film 's storyline suffers from no major lapses in logic , provided one can accept the premise of a ballet school being a front for a coven of witches .
jessica harper plays an american who travels to germany to further her studies in dance .
arriving at the school late at night in driving rain , she sees a girl leave and run into the storm in a clearly distressed state .
what happens next - and i do n't make the comparison lightly - is a murder sequence that for intensity , shock value and sheer directorial flair ranks alongside alfred hitchcock 's infamous shower scene in psycho .
it 's quite possibly a homage to hitchcock , but with its baroque sets , graphic gore and brilliantly chaotic musical accompaniment by the gothic rock group goblin , this stunning sequence remains very much argento 's own .
though nothing else quite equals the intensity of suspiria 's opening 15 minutes , the film continues to be never anything less than engrossing as harper begins her own investigations and slowly comes to realise this is no ordinary ballet school .
we meet an assortment of slightly sinister characters , most notably the head ballet teacher played by alida valli in another one of those delicious sour - old - matriarch - from - hell roles she does so well .
several more violent murders ensue , including a startling scene in a deserted square where a blind man is . . .
well , i would n't want to spoil things now , would i ?
and the film 's climax , staged amid secret corridors and hidden rooms , has a gothic ghoulishness
that 's most impressive .
the english language versions of most argento movies usually suffer trimming , and not just for the violence - deep red and phenomena , for example , have been appallingly hacked about .
fortunately , the cuts to suspiria ( about 7 minutes in this version ) have not adversely affected the film .
the dubbing of the italian actors into english is quite competently done , too , excepting one appalling and unintentionally hilarious effort with a conversation between harper and a professor about the history of witchcraft in the region .
and the soundtrack ?
it is interesting to imagine what power the film would have lost if it had been scored by someone else .
as it stands , the use of goblin 's music in suspiria is outstanding .
apparently , argento played the soundtrack on location while filming so the actors could hear the music as they acted out their parts .
a stereo video player adds greatly to the viewer 's overall experience .
even better , see suspiria in a cinema , where you 'll get the added bonus of widescreen .
and the colours !
deep reds , eerie blues , a superb use of shadow and contrast .
the cinematography of luciano tovoli , whose more recent credits include reversal of fortune and single white female , is uniformly superb .
a nod also must go to production designer giuseppe bassan for his wonderful baroque interiors .
these kinds of settings are crucial to the atmosphere of argento 's more surreal excursions , the other most notable example being inferno ( 1980 ) on which bassan also worked .
suspiria is the film that broke dario argento into the major league of european directors , and it is fully deserving of its cult status .
the gore is at times a little excessive and overstated - that 's always been one of argento 's shortcomings - but overall
this is a fascinating , compelling example of italian horror .

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

PROBLEM: synopsis : a small town thug convinces a dimwitted high - school student to spy on his girlfriend , who is babysitting three unruly kids for their alcoholic parents on a friday night .
while this is going on , the thug , the father , the boyfriend , and a kid reaching the onset of puberty all have fantasies about the babysitter .
comments : to say this movie is bad would be quite an understatement .
i 'm not sure what writer and director ferland was hoping to accomplish with the babysitter .
suspense ?
family drama ?
humor ?
erotica ?
elements of each of these genres exist in the film , yet
it fails to successfully achieve any of them .
instead , the babysitter is a dull , lifeless movie which manages to bore and ultimately irritate its viewers .
i suppose this film could have been watchable if it were n't for the fact that the characters are universally unappealing
.
alicia silverstone is completely wasted playing jennifer , the babysitter .
her character has absolutely no depth at all , and her sole purpose in the movie is to be the object of the other characters ' fantasies .
everyone else in the film seems to be in a competition to see who can stoop to the lowest level by the time the film ends .
the parents are alcoholics who become increasingly obnoxious as the movie proceeds .
the father ( played by j .
t .
walsh ) fantasizes about the babysitter ; the mother fantasizes about her husband 's best friend .
none of these fantasy sequences , trust me , are things that need to be seen , but we see them anyway , complete with cheesy , make - out saxophone music .
the thug , in the meantime , proves that he 's evil through his annoying habit of smashing half - empty beer bottles all of a sudden and for no apparent reason .
the most absurd character , however , is the babysitter 's boyfriend who seems catatonically brain - dead .
the thug , in a manipulative , iago - like manner ( though he does n't really need to try hard ) , manages to talk the boyfriend into binge - drinking , smoking grass , running away from cops , and playing peeping tom on his own girlfriend in a matter of minutes .
incredible !
( of course , the boyfriend 's original plan for the evening was , try not to laugh , to sit in an empty diner and read catcher in the rye by j . d . salinger . ) if the goal of the babysitter was to be suspenseful , then it fails .
there are surprisingly few tense moments in this film , and nearly all of them come at the final minute .
by that time , however , the audience is so tired of the inane characters that no one truthfully cares what happens to any of them .
no suspense occurs in the dream sequences either because every single one of them is obviously a dream sequence from its inception .
if the goal of the babysitter was to be humorous , then it also fails .
i found nothing even remotely funny about the boozing parents who seemed , at times , to be played for laughs .
if the goal of the babysitter was to be dramatic , then , once again , it fails .
the characters are one - dimensional and uninteresting .
finally , if the goal of the babysitter was to be titillating ( the type of film destined to be played ad infinitum on hbo at 2 in the morning ) , then
it fails as well .
the dream sequences are n't erotic ; they are too brief and , outside of one very short scene , contain no nudity .
i ca n't completely trash this movie .
the first 10 minutes or so vaguely resemble an interesting film , and the conclusion sports a halfway decent fistfight .
the other 79 minutes , though , are a drag .
silverstone 's character , at the end of the movie , turns to her boyfriend and asks " what were you thinking ?
"
i asked myself the same question , having spent 99 cents renting this turkey .

SOLUTION:
N