TASK DEFINITION: In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.
PROBLEM: jonathan demme 's _ beloved _ , based on the book toni morrison , is a study in skillful literary adaptation .
on the one hand , the film manages to recreate key moments from the novel , evoking morrison 's pragmatic narrative style without using her authorial voice .
on the other hand , beloved omits the some of the finer details of the book , favoring an ambiguously defined back story upon which to build the story 's main events .
this choice is a smartly made one , for it creates an open space in which the story 's wide range of emotions can gestate and grow
.
indeed , the impact of the film is so protracted that much of it can not be felt until long after the end credits have rolled .
_ beloved _ takes place in the second half of the 19th century , during the so - called reconstruction era after the civil war .
for newly - freed slaves , it is a time of confusion and turmoil .
oprah winfrey is sethe , a slave who escaped a kentucky plantation and took her children to an ohio farmhouse , where she hoped the terror would end .
what she did not know was that it would follow her there , and remain with her long after the physical threat had vanished .
_ beloved _ ultimately tells the story of sethe 's search for forgiveness , one long - hampered by an unforgettable sin .
the film starts off on a dreary day ten years after sethe 's escape , as a violent , unseen energy rocks her dilapidated farmhouse .
invisible hands terrorize her family , flinging objects across rooms , shaking tables , rattling floorboards .
sethe 's sons run away , perhaps for good , leaving sethe and her daughter denver to fend for themselves .
demme 's matter - of - fact handling of this supernatural element is just one of _ beloved _ 's intriguing aspects .
all of the characters take for granted that ghosts are real .
when paul d ( danny glover ) -- a former slave who escaped kentucky along with sethe -- arrives at the house eight years later and is confronted with the ghost 's hellish visions , he does n't run in terror .
instead , he asks who the ghost is .
as in morrison 's novel , demme quickly establishes that the horror of the story will not come from the fact of the ghost itself , but from the terrifying past in which the ghost was created .
sethe is the one being haunted , but the ghost in the house is the least of her fears .
in fact , the ghost is one of the reasons she chooses to stay .
the story takes an bizarre turn with the appearance of beloved ( thandie newton ) , a young black - clad woman who appears on sethe 's front lawn , leaned christ - like against a tree stump .
sethe and denver immediately take to the rasping woman and try to nurse her to health .
they know not who she is , but that does n't matter .
only paul d is suspicious of the stranger .
little does the family know that beloved will bring about many changes , and force sethe to release a guilt she has held onto so urgently for eighteen years .
winfrey is arguably beloved 's greatest asset .
she inhabits the role of sethe
so convincingly it is hard to believe this is the same woman who shines brightly on a tv talk show .
lisa gay hamilton does an impressive job in the emotionally demanding role
as the younger sethe , whose appalling actions make her the disturbed woman we see eighteen years later .
danny glover is affable
as the sympathetic paul d , as is kimberly elise as denver , sethe 's wanderlusting daughter .
as sethe 's sage - like mother - in - law old baby suggs , beah richards
authoritatively commands every scene in which she appears .
the film 's least palatable choice of casting is unfortunately that of the role of beloved herself .
thandie newton plays the glassy - eyed girl with a demented fervor which is endearing at first , but which becomes off - putting and unintentionally laughable by the end .
departing from the honed aesthetic he used in such films as _ the silence of the lambs
_ and _ melvin & howard
_
, director demme has used a bit of dramatic overstatement to get across the vivid descriptions in morrison 's novel .
totemic camera shots and color - saturated scenery are decidedly uncommon in demme 's films , but the few he uses here work to the film 's benefit .
_ beloved _ 's most memorable scenes are those of baby suggs ' gatherings in a forest clearing , where the bright yellow - greens of nature entrance the viewer as much as suggs ' words do .
for the most part , though , demme maintains his trademark directorial neutrality .
this , combined with morrison 's equally frugal method of storytelling , may make _ beloved _ somewhat of a challenge to watch , even to those familiar with the book .
though the film compliments the book extraordinarily well
, it falls short in allowing the sort of accessibility one usually expects from a film .
nothing is spoon - fed to the viewer .
morrison 's novel is just as enigmatic , but unlike a movie , a book can be put down to allow the various undercurrents and themes to churn and absorb .
the movie begins like _ poltergeist _ , and ends like _ the color purple _ , with shades of _ the scarlet letter _ and _ little women
_ somewhere in the middle .
taken as a whole
, beloved is a disquieting , one - of - a - kind experience , one to be viewed with guards down and spirits in abeyance .

SOLUTION: P

PROBLEM: you know something , christmas is not about presents .
it 's about over - hyped holiday films with lots of merchandising and product tie - ins . at least that would seem to be the message of " the grinch , " which has been advertised since last christmas and whose logo is currently plastered all over stores .
hollywood expects us to ignore this cynical greed as the movie scolds us about losing the true spirit of the season .
you know the plot : there 's this evil furry green guy called the grinch ( jim carrey ) who lives on a mountain overlooking whoville .
down below all the who s are preparing for their whobilation , but the grinch is determined to steal their christmas .
the movie is , of course , a live - action version of the beloved children 's book , which was previously adapted into a 1966 tv special by looney tunes animator chuck jones .
it 's rare that a big budget hollywood release is shamed by a thirty - year - old half - hour cartoon , but that 's the case when jones ' version is compared to ron howard 's .
the tv grinch hit all the right notes : boris karloff 's soft , deep narration ; thurl ravenscroft singing " mr . grinch " ; max the dog weighed down by the gigantic antler tied to his head ; and the grinch 's wide
, toothless grin .
by contrast , the movie hits one sour note after another .
first
, there are the numerous bad choices that jeffrey price and peter seaman made in padding out the short book into a 105-minute movie .
young wide - eyed cindy lou who ( taylor momsen ) is depressed about the misplaced priorities of her parents ( bill irwin and molly shannon ) during the holiday season .
she begins to sympathize with the grinch , who turns out to be surprisingly sympathetic .
cindy lou discovers that the grinch turned tearfully away from whoville in grammar school when he was publicly humiliated while expressing his love for the prettiest girl in the class , martha may whovier ( played as an adult by christine baranski ) .
are we expected to like the grinch , hate the who s , and want him to steal christmas ?
the grinch is n't even the villain here ; that role is filled by the corrupt mayor of whoville ( jeffrey tambor ) who was the grinch 's rival for martha 's affection .
not only are the characters needlessly complex ,
but the once - simple plot becomes so convoluted that the actual theft of christmas seems like an afterthought .
the casting choices are n't any better than the screenwriting decisions .
jim carrey seems woefully miscast .
while his face is so supple that the rubber make - up seems superfluous , carrey brings nothing else to the role .
his accent keeps changing ; i assume he was shooting for karloff ,
but he ends up sounding like a weird slurry of richard nixon , sean connery , and cartman from " south park .
" not knowing what else to do during his many scenes alone in the grinch 's home , carrey falls back on his stand - up comedy and clowns around ace ventura - style .
needless to say , his wise - cracking antics do n't quite fit the character of the grinch , who is an embittered loner filled with hate .
little taylor momsen brings little to role of cindy lou except big eyes and a cute smile .
she would have been fine if cindy lou was limited to her original purpose in the seuss story ( finding " santa " in her living room stealing the tree ) .
however , the expanded script makes cindy as important as the grinch , and momsen is not up to the challenge .
bottom line : when you 're stealing christmas ( movies ) , leave this one behind .

SOLUTION: N

PROBLEM: after the simple looking little spacecraft lands in a automobile wrecking yard , out steps a steel - gray , human - like creature with aquamarine eyes and clad in a muscular suit .
spencer , the boy who observes this , having seen his fill of science fiction flicks , figures this thing must be a robot from outer space .
with the exception of disney and a few others , most studios view children 's films as a way to ship a cheap and unimaginative product and thereby make a quick profit .
star kid stands out as that rare kids ' film that is undoubtedly low - budget but is also highly imaginative .
remember , the robot ?
it was n't one at all but rather a " phase one assault cyborsuit .
"
the cyborsuit is actually a prototype combat enhancer developed by the trelkins and jettisoned for latter retrieval when they are under attack from the invading broodwarriors .
the significant twist in the story is that spencer gets to go inside the cyborsuit , and the cyborsuit , nicknamed cy , has plenty of spunk .
cy keeps questioning the kid about everything including words like " cool .
" upon hearing that " command , " cy starts rapidly decreasing the temperature in the cyborsuit until spencer screams for him to stop .
and when cy speaks , we see spencer 's view , the backside of cy 's lips and eyes .
as 12-year - old spencer , joseph mazzello from the jurassic park film series gives a remarkably good performance as a wimpy and initially tongue - tied kid .
even when enclosed in his powerful new cyborsuit , he has his fears but he learns to overcome them .
"
if you run away , things do n't get better , whether it 's bullies , spiders , or girls , " his science teacher advises him after he has difficulties dealing with all three .
turbo ( joey simmrin ) , the school 's chubby bully , beats up on him , spiders frighten him , and , most embarrassing of all , he ca n't speak when in the presence of his would - be girlfriend .
with his cyborsuit on , he learns some bravery that transcends his time inside cy .
spencer lives with his dad and his older teenage sister stacey , played by a smart - mouthed ashlee levitch , who looks like a younger sarah jessica parker .
stacey derides her brother , whom she barely tolerates , by referring to him only as " the fungus .
"
this whole setup for spencer 's downtrodden and delightfully funny life makes his acquisition of some superhuman powers a source of mirth and empowerment .
the beauty of mazzello 's performance is that you can vicariously experience his fear and share in his enjoyment when he goes after the bully to teach him a lesson he 'll not soon forget .
the ensuing mayhem has some of the home alone antics , but the slapstick is kept tightly under control by writer and director manny coto so that one never feels embarrassed to be laughing .
the romantic angle is handled ever so delicately . when cy wishes to know if spencer wants to mate with the object of his desire , michelle ( lauren eckstrom ) , his eyes open wide in revulsion .
" mate with her ! " spencer exclaims .
" pllllleeeeease , i just like her
that 's all .
"
the show has many funny twists .
in one , cy sees a man in a barney - like costume and begins firing at him , thinking he is an alien life - form .
soon things get way out of hand , and cy and spencer have to beat a hasty retreat .
as proof positive of the show 's class , it actually contains tasteful bathroom humor
-- thought that was an oxymoron in a kids ' picture , did n't you ?
cy can not allow spencer to leave the cyborsuit , and what happens when he needs to urinate becomes both sweet and hilarious .
the director 's staging of this sequence is one of the film 's more charming moments .
oh , and eating is pretty funny too .
spencer , whose idol is the comic book character " midknight warrior , " gets to face the challenge of a lifetime when a broodwarrior comes to capture the cyborsuit .
spencer 's valiant battle gives him a chance to find his mettle .
and the action sequences in the battle
manage to be quite respectable for a kids ' show full of inventiveness and lacking the usual repetition .
for a family movie mixing humor , fantasy , and action , star kid delivers .
although it 's probably not the sort of movie you 'd want to see without kids , with them
you 'll have a magical time with a relatively straightforward but well developed story
.
you 'll be rooting for and laughing with spencer and his buddy cy all the way through .
star kid runs 1 : 41 .
it is rated pg for fantasy combat .
although the basically cartoonish broodwarrior might scare the littlest kids , i saw none of this in evidence in our packed screening , so i would say the show is fine for kids five and up , and possibly the younger ones .
my son jeffrey , age 8 , got really excited about the picture .
he called it " an especially good movie " and gave it
*
* * * .
when i asked him to tell me his favorite characters , he mentioned almost everyone in it from the boy to the cyborsuit to the bully .

SOLUTION:
P