instruction:
In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.
question:
an astonishingly difficult movie to watch , the last temptation of christ may be scorsese 's most important film , and yet his most impossibly abstract as well .
scorsese presents the life of jesus christ
, through nikos kazantzakis ' novel , which details the life of christ from approximately 20 until the day of crucifixtion .
jesus of nazareth ( dafoe ) is a carpenter , who opens the film making crosses , so that he can escape the fate he is subjected to , his destiny on earth .
yet , he soon learns his evil ways for aiding in the deaths of others , and subjects himself to a desert in exile , in hopes that he can reach god .
before leaving , he asks for forgiveness from mary magdelene ( barbara hershey ) , a prostitute who is also a childhood friend of jesus .
after going to the desert , christ learns his true purpose in life , and what he must do .
aided by judas ( keitel ) , he sets off on teaching the world his message .
along the way , he meets john the baptist , the rest of the prophets , and tries to teach the world his message .
christ is also confronted by internal demons and self - doubt , as he tries to find his true purpose throughout the entire film .
during the story , judas is the closese ally of jesus : his betrayal , argues the film , was not out of hate , but out of love , in order to allow christ to die .
he is eventually captured , and crucified as per the bibile .
however , as he is about to die on the cross , he is saved by a girl , who brings him to his marriage with mary magdelene .
the girl is a guardian angel who is from god , and who has saved him from his death .
jesus goes on to live a life as a man , as a carpenter , and does not die on the cross .
on his deathbed , in the final moments of his life , he is visited by the prophets , and by judas , who denounces his master for " not keeping his end of the bargain .
"
judas reveals the angel to truly be the devil , and the life jesus had lived to be the ultimate selfish act .
jesus escapes from his deathbed , and asks his father for forgiveness , for succumbing to his last temptation .
visually and aurally , the film is absolutely breathtaking .
no other director has even come close to realizing jerusalem during the time of christ 's life to the screen .
peter gabriel contributes a score than is simply astonishing , with pulsing rhythms that capture the viewer .
the performances are simply exquisite , with dafoe leading the way with a mesmerizing turn as jesus .
keitel , although his accent is a problem , is passionately brilliant , fighting through language to bring the character to life .
the visuals are also amazing .
scorsese frames his movie in a harsh tone , leaving the impression that jesus truly is a man who is having human frailties .
the film , though , has many trouble spots .
paul schrader 's script is one .
schrader uses modern - day new york english to tell the story , along with new york words , new york mannerisms , and new york slang speech .
the film also does not focus on the godly aspects of christ .
there is no underlying message behind the man 's words .
the film fails to capture the glory and splendor of christ .
had it faithfully explored that aspect , than the dichotomy of jesus ' soul , his frailties and doubt mixed with his unmistakable glory , would have been simply spectacular .
the message of christ is confused between love and violence , and the film merely tells us jesus is great , instead of showing us his greatness .
the film is also overlong .
it just drags in the middle , with nothing truly happening .
christ is a confused figure , in the sense that the audience does n't know who he really is .
schrader forgets to give jesus a message , to show that he truly is the messiah , to give him the divinity .
without that , he is a rambling prophet , who the audience themselves do not believe .
there are several moments of accidental hilarity , and most of them occur when jesus is attempting to preach .
there are moments of brief awe and power , followed by moments of confused hilarity .
that said , the controversial temptation sequence is something to behold .
it is a step in an unexpected direction , one that leaves the audience puzzled , until the arrival of the disciples .
it is a simply breathtaking scene , with jesus about to die as a mortal .
it is truly one of scorsese 's finest moments .
it is unfortunate that scorsese could n't make a film about christ as powerful as that one scene .
answer:
P


question:
way of the gun is brimming with surprises , some good , most bad .
one of the good ones is ryan phillippe 's surprisingly halfway decent performance .
after the actor gained much attention by posing and preening through teen swill like i know what you did last summer , he hinted at a bit growth in last year 's cruel intentions with his amusingly contemptuous john malkovich meets james spader performance , though his acting in that film faltered around the third act mark , precisely when the screenplay made his character grow a heart ( presumably to appeal to his training bra wearing fans ) and start bellyaching about how he 'd fallen for his " target " .
it was a dramatic shift that neither phillippe nor the film 's director could negotiate .
but he seems to be trying and that should n't be overlooked ( or probably over praised ) seeing as how , at this point , he really is n't required to do much but look pretty .
here , phillippe has procured a five day growth of beard , his hair askew and his affect altered to sound something like james cagney in all his " look here , see " glory .
it 's tough to believe a pretty boy like phillippe as a hard ass , but his performance actually helps with the illusion .
unlike ben affleck 's puppy dog approach in reindeer games , phillippe is believable and not too bad at that .
as for the plot , well , that 's one of the bad surprises ; phillippe and the great benicio del torro play two moronic ( and not even remotely likeable ) criminals ( introduced to us in the parking lot of a rave where they stupidly pick a fight with about twenty people ) who hatch a scheme to kidnap a surrogate mother ( juliette lewis ) after overhearing that she 's carrying the baby of painter ( scott wilson ) , a very well connected wealthy man .
the kidnapping devolves into a laborious shoot out where much damage is done and many are killed .
but the anti - heroes escape with the woman while an aging hit man ( james caan ) and two scheming bodyguards ( taye diggs and nicky katt ) remain in pursuit .
directed by christopher mcquarrie , the screenwriter who won an oscar for his work on usual suspects , an overrated piece of crime noir in many circles ( this one included ) , way of the gun is a hodgepodge of crime thriller motifs that just oozes eye rolling familiarity .
unlike phillipe , mcquarrie does n't seem to be growing at all ; he fills his flick with a sprawling labyrinth of plot all snatched from movies
i know i 've seen before and worse , it feels like it .
the film lacks even a fresh approach ( like what soderbergh did out of sight or the limey ) to its clich ?
s , all of which are spewed before us in a picture that tries so desperately to be hip and gritty without bothering to notice how common it is
.
it features characters living by a code they seemed to have picked up in sam peckinpah 101 rather than any thing resembling life .
even attempts at emotional weight feel strained like in preposterous scene where enemies james caan and benicio del torro stop in their tracks to have a cup of coffee and pontificate on life , philosophy , etc .
i did n't like the bit much when it first appeared in heat ,
here , it 's even more self consciously " dramatic " .
usual suspects , which also featured a bunch of low lives that seemed to live by a code they learned from the movies , worked to some degree because of that astonishing twist ending .
nowadays an astonishing twist per ending is de rigeur , never mind if it deems all that transpired before it completely inconsequential .
thus , nearly every character in way comes with at least one dirty little secret ( most amateurishly projected before they appear ) and it too has an ironic little twist at the end ( nothing earth shattering , like in the usual suspects ) but i admit , i did n't see it coming , and i smiled .
however most of the movie feels exactly like the interrogation scenes between palminteri and spacey in usual suspects : a lot of faux huffing and puffing with no rhythm or reason .
or substance .
it 's just as overplotted as suspects , and often dull as any overplotted movie without interesting characters , a distinctive style , or a good script would be .
even the good stuff , most of which involves james caan ( doing a fine job ) , feels odd and out of place in a movie that thinks lines like " karma is only justice with out the satisfaction " are clever .
at one point caan laments " need is the ultimate monkey " a line so inexplicable he might as well have said " love is like hippo ass " .
i 've seen porno with better dialogue .
and some with better plot lines too .
but rarely has porn offered up such a talented cast ( i mean , can you even compare james caan to ron jeremy ) .
caan slips into this role with seeming ease , he could do this kind of soft - spoken tough guy in a coma , but he manages to give his character depth and weariness .
benicio del torro is always welcome , though here he plays it fairly straight ( rather than another oddball character creation like the ones the actor gave us in usual suspects and excess baggage ) , adopting a brad pitt - esque quizzical pout to go along with his heavy swaggering .
speaking of pitt , his ex , juliette lewis , is a weak link , either shouting her lines with ear shattering shrillness , or waddling about like a silly goose .
nicky katt was brilliant in a brief role in the limey , here his role is just as brief only
he seems wasted ; he 's only kept around for his cold presence .
taye diggs has a similar function , cool as ever , but never a character , though the guy has one helluva death scene .
for the most part way is incessantly talky with no reason to give a hippo 's ass about any thing that transpires since its characters are never more than simplistic pawns .
it 's vaguely tarantino - ish , but in a bad truth and consequences nm way , with phillippe , in one scene , leaping into a stupid rant about " faggots " migrating to los angeles .
you know the routine .
the final shoot out is pure bargain basement john woo ( who himself seems to be doing bargain basement john woo ) with interchangeable bad guys lining up to be shot at .
but those gun shots sure crack like thunder .
just the other day i was watching an old dirty harry movie on cable and was stunned to hear the weak elephant grunt - like sound that emanated from harry 's fetishized smith and wesson .
oh how far we 've come .
answer:
N


question:
krippendorf 's tribe is a formula comedy .
done poorly , formulaic comedies might seem to signify the downfall of american cinema .
however , every now and then , one emerges , like krippendorf 's tribe , that actually works .
professor james krippendorf ( richard dreyfuss ) , the renowned anthropologist , is in trouble .
his university gave him a hefty grant to discover a lost tribe in new guinea .
however , he found .
. .
nothing .
his wife has recently died , and he has spent the remainder of the grant money in raising his three kids : shelly ( natasha lyonne ) , mickey ( gregory smith ) and edmund ( carl michael lidner ) .
tonight , he is expected to lecture on his newfound tribe .
rather than break the news ( and face the consequences of misusing his funds ) , he invents a tribe : the shelmikedmu ( named after his kids ) .
however , one lie begets another as he is not only required to deliver filmed proof of the shelmikedmu , but his research becomes a popular phenomenon .
soon , professor krippendorf is caught up in an elaborate ruse in which he films mockumentary footage starring his children as the shelmikedmu tribal members .
his efforts are hampered by the boasts of an over - eager colleague , veronica micelli ( jenna elfman ) , and the intense scrutiny of a rival anthropologist , ruth allen ( lily tomlin ) .
krippendorf 's tribe does seem to require a little suspension of disbelief .
no one seems to question the way his field documentaries seem to be shot with multiple cameras , or that his newly discovered tribesmen have startlingly blue eyes .
luckily , as the film builds momentum , that suspension of disbelief is easy to come by .
though there 's some mild humor in the krippendorf family trying to pass themselves off as a lost tribe , the real humor of the film is in how james gets trapped in his ever increasing snowball of lies .
the double meanings to many of the shelmikedmu appearances are enjoyable , and the comic timing required for some of the film 's latter scenes is superb .
richard dreyfuss is terrific
as the hapless professor who soon loses control of his own imaginary tribe .
jenna elfman 's position as a romantic lead seems a bit forced at times , but she plays the part with extreme affability .
even the kids , who in films like this tend to be a bit on the precocious side , are endearing and humorous .
yes , the film does veer occasionally into some rather lowbrow humor , but it has the best excuse of all :
it 's funny .
it may not go down as an all - time classic , but it certainly delivers what you expect from a comedy : plenty of laughs .
answer:

P