TASK DEFINITION: In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.
PROBLEM: " crazy / beautiful " suffers from the damned - if - you - do , damned - if - you - don't syndrome .
after a spate of flighty , cookie - cutter teen films , the romantic drama addresses alcoholism and parental loss along with its love story .
but rather than applaud the production , early reviews have dismissed it as an overblown " afterschool special .
"
even worse , in the wake of federal trade commission hearings that blasted the industry for marketing violent and sexual movies to young people , the studio got a case of the heebie - jeebies and forced director john stockwell to re - shoot scenes and cut footage to " tone things down .
" needless to say , the filmmaker was frustrated .
"
we were trying to make a cautionary tale , " he told newsweek , " and we could n't show the behavior we were trying to caution people away from . " regardless , the film works , thanks to exceptional performances from its lead players and a script determined to transcend stereotypes .
" crazy / beautiful " is quality fare , good enough that i half - expected the summer movie crap police to walk into the press screening and confiscate the print for " failure to incorporate explosions and poop jokes .
" set in pacific palisades , calif .
, the story follows the burgeoning relationship between two teens .
every morning and evening , carlos nunez ( jay hernandez ) takes a two - hour bus ride in order to attend pacific high school .
an honor student and star athlete , carlos is responsible , modest and focused as he works on securing a place in the naval academy .
all is well until he meets nicole oakley ( kirsten dunst ) , the daughter of a rich congressman ( bruce davison ) .
nicole is a drunk apparently hell - bent on self - destruction .
carlos is smart enough to recognize the danger in getting involved with her , but he is only human
and she has the greatest smile .
plus , as her father notes , she has a real knack for drawing others into her downward spiral .
as with " save the last dance , " " crazy / beautiful " ( god , how i hate lower - case titles ) takes situations that look stale on paper and makes them seem fresh .
while noting the racial and social differences between the kids , the screenplay dances around most of the clich ?
s
( there are still several mtv moments , though ) .
the filmmakers make a point to give characters that crucial extra bit of shading that turns them into individuals instead of stereotypes and the actors take it from there .
cute - as - a - button dunst forces the viewer to share the pain beneath nicole 's behavior .
she is credible enough that when dad urges carlos to get away from her before she drags him down , i hoped the boy would listen .
as carlos , hernandez is a revelation . hunky without looking like the product of a hollywood design team , the young man can really act ; we will see a lot of this guy in the future . aside from its title , the biggest problem with " crazy / beautiful " is its ending , which wraps everything up too fast and too tidy .
after carefully presenting credible characters and situations , the conclusion feels rushed and lazy .
still , this is the kind of film that deserves accolades from critics instead of cheap shots .
"
afterschool special " my ass ?
" crazy / beautiful
" is the real deal .

SOLUTION: P

PROBLEM: it may seem weird to begin a film about glam rock with a sequence that includes a spaceship , a green ovular pin , and the birth of oscar wilde , but if one really strains , they can see that perhaps maybe these connections are not half off .
wilde 's philosophy was that everyone should be true to their own human nature , and the result of his following this philosophy was that he was imprisoned , loosing his family and his career .
the glam rock movement in the early 70s in england had a similar take and came to a similar demise .
the main difference was by placing makeup on their face and acting out on their deepest fantasies and inquiries about life ( mostly dealing with androgony and sexuality ) , they became less and less like themselves and more and more like everyone else .
and that 's why the movement seemed to end as soon as it began .
it 's been said that todd haynes ' " velvet goldmine , " the film that chronicles what it was like to be a part of the movement , not only from those who experienced it but by those who created it , steals a lot from " citizen kane , " and that 's true .
in the film , a british journalist in the 80s , arthur stuart ( christian bale ) , is asked to go back and find out what happened to 70s glam rock star brian slade , a fictitious rock star , who faked his own death on stage , bringing the end not only to his career but to the entire glam rock movement .
structure - wise
, this totally steals from " kane , " not only from the set - up ( he interviews three people , and the story is a result of their flashbacks ) , but in other things , like the beginning ( death , then newsreel ) , and smaller details , like the bitter ex - friend in a wheelchair and the bitter ex - wife as a washed - up lounge singer , found in a bar after hours .
this is no " kane , " and it really does n't aspire to be : it does n't attempt to be the deep outlook of something gone like " kane " did , and it does n't really uncover anything poignant about humanity .
instead , it uses the flashbacks as a form of contrast between the magic that was the glam rock era and the boredom that was life after glam rock for those who were participants .
the 80s scenes are dry and deliriously melancholy , equipped with a performance by bale that is perhaps appropriately dull and unengaging .
but the 70s scenes are engaging , though , not to mention addictively campy .
they radiate with gorgeous cinematography
that nicely accentuates all the vibrant colors of the era , and a feel that 's so eerily lighthearted that when combined with the then - footage , they become not only a symbol of decadence , but of times when everything seemed so simple .
instead of creating the world the way it was , haynes paints their own world as if it were a narcotic fairy tale : the glam rock movement was full of so much freedom and liberation that after you 've experienced it , everything else seems so mundane .
there 's no outside world to speak of , secluding these people inside a protective globe that will eventually crack .
haynes focuses his story on the tale of blade and the other fictitious rock hero , curt wild , and their relationship that created , molded , and then brought down the movement , reducing everyone else who contributed to it as merely that - contributors .
blade - played with reserve by the pouty jonathan
rhys meyers - and wild - played with anarchic wildness by ewan mcgregor - are little more than thinly disguised recreations of david bowie and iggy pop , respectively , complete with the creation of a ziggy stardust persona named maxwell demon and the confirmation that the two rock stars may have
very well not only have been one - time partners in music , but also partners in bed .
through discussions with slade 's ex - manager cecil ( michael feast ) , ex - wife mandy ( toni collette , reinventing herself as an american blonde dish who fakes a british accent when with slade ) , and finally ex - partner wild , journalist stuart begins to remember his own experiences in the era , like his discovery of his rebelliousness cum conformity , including the moment when he began questioning his own sexuality ( when he opens up his first slade record , he finds a naked and green slade lying on a crimson blanket ) , and finally running away from home to be part of the london scene , finally resulting in leading a boring job in america .
haynes demonstrates that he 's quite the visual auteur , molding scenes that are like long heald breaths , such as a seemingly long sequence juxtaposing a slade / wild concert of them performing a brian eno cover , " baby 's on fire , " with scenes from a decadent drug party ; and the film 's most wow - inspiring sequence , the first concert scene of wild with his band , the ratttz , where mcgregor lets loose so much anarchic steam that his wild iggy - esuqe movements ( including stripping naked ) and screams that the film captures that perfect moment when one discovers a major talent , and another ( slade ) discovers his idle .
even the brief music videos , spoofs of bowie 's , have a rare visual flair that 's pure camp , and which would cause ken russell to drool .
the best sequence , though , may be the beginning , following the prelude , a sequence which acts as the middle ground for both the actual being of the movement and the post - movement era .
in it , stuart and his mates are going to the infamous slade concert where he fakes his own death , where he kills off his alter ego maxwell demon in what appears to be a real assasination , which brought about the end of the era in one swift fake bullet .
with brian eno 's famous " needle in the camel 's eye " playing in the background , the scene has a detached exhileration - the song does n't seem to be played in quite the same way the other songs are .
it has a distance that 's hard to put a finger on , and it seems to represent that all this is coming to a quick and sad ending , and when one sees slade in the dressing room before the show , docked in a silver frock with wings and blue hair , depressingly staring into the mirror , it comes off as a none - too - obvious prophecy of the finale in the beginning of the film .
this movie 's not so much about plot , but more about the way it is presented , making this one of those films which is classified as being " style over substance , " a statement which prompts many critics to line up for attack .
however , for the most part , the engaging part of this film is not the story but rather the way in which haynes creates this world , by using his sets , costumes , cinematography , and especially the music to play as characters in his film .
the music is especially notable .
the soundtrack , which is wall to wall , consists of old school glam rock tunes by the likes of brian eno , t - rex , and roxy music , as well as covers by slade 's band ( with vocals by thom yorke , and occasionally rhys meyers himself ) , and even newer music by shudder to think that sounds uncannily bowie - like .
the cast is rather impressive , but no one really walks away with the film , and no performances are extremely good .
although eddie izzard , as slade 's manager ( who challenges slade 's first manager to an arm - wrestling match to see who gets control of his career ) and michael feast as the first and tragic manager come off greatly , and collette and mcgregor have their moments , rhys meyers and bale are noticably sub - par , neither putting a lot of effort into their respective roles .
some of it is at fault with the actual construction of the film by haynes .
rhys meyers ' brian slade remains merely a metaphor for the glam rock era , dying when he turned into a retro - garbo , resorting to a life of salinger - ism , and found in the mid-70s to be lying around , sniffing coke off the ass of a party girl .
in fact , no one in this film is really seen as a person , rather than just as a symbol or composite of a type who thrived during the era .
bale 's character is an especially tough sell : bitter and depressed by flashbacks to his young adulthood , he 's not an extremely personal character , and his cliched experiences ( being hounded by the record store guys for buying a record put out by a " poof " ) never help us communicate with him .
nevertheless , rhys meyers and mcgregor have the excuses that their characters are not really characters but rather the results of an era that has left them , and others , bitter , part of which helps the film work , since this is a major piece of eye candy .
at the prime of the movie , they at least look the role of fashionable leaders - slade with his perpetually - changing , androgonys persona , and wild with his topless and unpredictable image , which clash and fuse into an unstable union .
their story - of how slade was so influenced by wild that he adapted it into a similar who - cares attitude crossed with camp - is engaging , without the personal background .
the story of stuart , though , is a tougher sell because he 's the everyman , and when you ca n't totally identify with the everyman , your story 's in slight trouble .
as a cultural rock piece , " velvet goldmine " is rather good , but it is merely good .
it never totally takes off , although it has moments where it absolutely flies
,
but then comes back down .
it 's really nothing more than
a bunch of really great moments , surrounded by material that could really be much better .
the beginning is captivating but slow , the middle is fantastic , and the ending is not only shallow but worse than that
, it drags ( the final half hour not only does it not bring the story to any real conclusion , it could probably stop at any point ) .
and did anyone really figure out what the mystery is that arthur unearths ?
it almost seems like there was no point in the entire investigation other than to unearth the past , which is commendable but
not totally so .
still , it does what the oliver stone pic " the doors " did n't do right , becoming very insightful to what happened , using the visual style to hit most of the right notes of contrast between what made the era so great to those who lived during it and
why after living through such an era that everything else seems half - assed ( i suppose the message is : " live life , but after you 've lived it , what else is the point when you 'll be forced to live with regretful memories ? " ) .
the really superb achievement of this film is that during its flashbacks , it successfully creates for the audience what it must have felt like to be in that era , but with the added perk of knowing the result of all that goes down .

SOLUTION: P

PROBLEM: like the wonderful 1990 drama , " awakenings , " starring robin williams and robert de niro , " at first sight , " directed by irwin winkler , is inspired by a true story documented by physicfirst sight , " directed by irwin winkler , is inspired by a true story documented by physician oliver sacks .
since " awakenings " was so very good , and made my top ten list the year it was released , " at first sight " is not quite as strong since it is not directed with as sure a hand as penny marshall , but is still an intelligent and vibrantly - acted drama .
the film begins as amy ( mira sorvino ) , a stressed - out new york architect , decides to take some time off and travel upstate to the country .
at the hotel she is staying at , she makes a massage appointment and after a long , soothing session which ends with her crying as a release of emotions , she strikes up a conversation with the handsome masseur virgil ( val kilmer ) , only to find out later that he is actually blind .
amy does n't really care if he has a handicap or not , and begins to spend time with him more and more until they finally start to fall in love .
once she has returned to new york , amy begins to research on virgil 's certain type of retinal blindness , which he has had since three years of age , and out of a stroke of luck , comes into contact with a doctor ( bruce davison ) who believes he can repair virgil 's sight , even though there have only been thirty similar cases in history .
at first reluctant , virgil finally travels with amy to nyc and agrees to the surgery , much to the hesitance of his overbearing , but loving older sister ( kelly mcgillis ) .
ultimately , the surgery is a success , but problems arise since virgil can not relate to what he sees , since he has never visually seen anything before , only touched objects .
he moves into amy 's apartment
and she is eager to stand by him , but virgil 's maladjustment begins to put a strain on their relationship .
on the basis of the overall story , " at first sight " is indeed a film that has been done many times before , and owes a great deal to its predecessor , " awakenings .
"
what will happen throughout the film can also be easily telegraphed in advance .
however , what helps " at first sight " rise above this predictability is in the mature and intelligent relationship that develops between virgil and amy .
usually , romantic pictures are of the shameless puppy - dog sort ( the recent tom hanks / meg ryan - starrer " you 've got mail " immediately pops to mind ) , but with this film , i grew to care more about the characters and their plight .
the film starts off noticably well
as amy travels up
north and first meets virgil .
the massaging sequences were strangely erotic , maybe even more so than the later actual " love scenes , " and as their romantic involvement quickly developed , the film was both entertaining and sweet , and there was clearly a lot of chemistry between the two .
these joyous moments early on balanced out well with the later scenes in which their relationship is seriously tested due to a contrast in the life styles that they have always known , with virgil completely used to being blind and having a comforting , peaceful life in the country to amy 's eventful life in the " big city .
" the other major compliment that must be given to the film are the nearly flawless performances across the board .
val kilmer , usually cast in the " macho " type of role , was always believable as a blind person , and playing his character was probably a little more tricky than it appears .
it was up to kilmer to not come off as someone to pity , but to sympathize with , and he pulled it off .
mira sorvino , who made a spectacular debuting splash in 1995 's hilarious woody allen comedy , " mighty aphrodite ,
" for which she won a well - deserved oscar as a kind - hearted , but ditzy hooker , is a standout here .
although she has made some mediocre film choices since then ( 1997 's " mimic , " 1998 's " the replacement killers " ) ,
she always has managed to come out unscathed , and it is with " at first sight " that she finally has another juicy role to play .
in a truthful climactic scene set in amy 's apartment between she and virgil , sorvino proves to be one of the most gifted young actresses around today , and has a flare for both comedic and dramatic pieces .
kelly mcgillis , who could have easily come off as the " bad , " one - dimensional sister
, instead is also given an unexpectedly multifaceted character to play as a woman who may be overly protective but simply cares for her brother .
finally , nathan lane , who is usually a little too over - the - top , is appropriately restrained as a vision therapist .
the one misstep of " at first sight " is in its treatment of the medical procedure done on virgil .
very little is ever said or discussed concerning it , and when the surgery occurs , it is so briefly glimpsed at that it is impossible to see what is being done to his eyes .
perhaps the reason this aspect of the film was not more in - depth was that the makers were afraid it would gross out audiences , but i would personally take realism , even if it is graphic , any day over simply giving the explanation of the surgery the cold shoulder . in " awakenings , " the patients and illness were far more satisfyingly portrayed . because of how strong the screenplay , written by steve levitt , is in the way it deals with the main relationship , and because of the fabulous performances from kilmer and sorvino , the film 's few problems can be swept over to the side .
the adult way that the romance is depicted by director irwin winkler is , no doubt , in respect to the real - life couple that the film was inspired by , who are still together after many years ( even though the setting of the film was changed to new york ) .
since january is usually the time of year that is known as the dumping ground from bad movies , " at first sight " comes as a refreshing and sophisticated change of pace .

SOLUTION:
P