TASK DEFINITION: In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.
PROBLEM: steven spielberg 's " amistad , " which is based on the true story of a group of africans who revolted on board a slave ship , then were captured and taken to america where a legal dispute ensued over who " owned " them , is concerned with several different aspects of this story .
first , the film addresses the issue of the inherent evils of slavery .
second , it deals with the historical involvement of several american politicians in the case , including president martin van buren and former president john quincy adams ( anthony hopkins ) .
last , and most importantly , it examines the cultural confusion experienced by the africans who were forced into slavery and the damage done to their native culture in africa by the slave trade .
" amistad " succeeds at least partly with all three of these elements .
i have to admit that i was a little skeptical as to how much i could really get out of another " anti - slavery " movie .
having seen several other movies and documentaries about slavery , i doubted that there was much i did n't already know about it .
fortunately , i turned out to be wrong .
for one thing , spielberg 's camera never once gets near a southern plantation and instead sticks to the slave ships and the slave traders ' operations in africa , so " amistad " was dealing with a different part of the history of slavery from the very beginning .
and some of the images here are , in fact , much more harrowing than what we usually see in movies about slavery .
one scene in the middle , in which the crew of a slave ship dispose of some of their " excess " slaves by throwing them overboard to drown , has to be one of the most disturbing film images of the year .
spielberg digs farther into the evils of slavery than i was expecting he would , and in fact he probably goes about as far as a movie director can without getting an nc-17 rating .
the stark suffering of the africans is contrasted sharply with the shallow luxury of the politicians , such as president van buren and queen isabella of spain , whose naval officers were involved in the legal dispute and who was only a small child at the time .
exposing politicians as narrow - minded , opportunistic hypocrites is fairly standard stuff , of course , but spielberg and writer david franzoni
do it well enough that it still comes off as something more than just a simple exercise in audience manipulation .
the film also examines the contentious nature of the slavery issue at the time , such that john quincy adams ( and probably other politicians like him ) , who clearly disapproved of the practice , was reluctant to get involved in the case until it was appealed all the way to the supreme court .
the biggest success of " amistad " is probably the characterization of cinque ( djimon hounsou ) , who emerges as the de facto leader of the kidnapped africans and struggles to communicate with baldwin ( matthew mcconaughey ) , the lawyer who represents them in court .
through cinque , we are given a window into the native culture , as he and the displaced africans try to explain to the prison guards what they need for a proper burial of a dead tribe member , or find an illustrated version of the bible and try to understand the story of jesus christ .
cinque sees the dispute with a clarity and simplicity that , again , contrasts with the technicalities and mechanics of the legal process and of the political squabbles .
"
what kind of country is this , where laws ' almost ' work ?
"
he asks baldwin in bewilderment , when he learns that the case must be re - tried before the supreme court .
spielberg 's direction tends a little bit towards the manipulative side at times , such as when he adds a heavy orchestral swell to cinque 's angry outburst in the court room .
still , there is n't enough of this for it to be a serious problem .
the main flaw in this film , which prevents it from earning four stars , is that it seems like spielberg and franzoni ca n't quite handle all of these issues at the same time , so instead they settle for addressing each one separately and simply editing the results into the same movie .
this summer 's contact , for example , dealt with several issues at once , but each of them was somehow present in almost every scene and , most importantly , all of them were resolved at once .
" amistad " tries to pull it all together in the end with a speech from adams , but it somehow feels a little forced , and in any case the speech itself , which lasts almost fifteen minutes , wears out its welcome about halfway through .
perhaps the best way to describe it is this :
" amistad " is three four star films edited into one .
almost every individual scene works , but the final product is lacking the necessary focus and coherence , and thus is less than the sum of its parts .
however , i ca n't honestly say how it could have been done differently , and in any case the story comes through with enough raw emotional power that it is still a very good film , and thus
i recommend it to anyone who can handle the disturbing imagery .

SOLUTION: P

PROBLEM: razor blade smile running as part of the vancouver international film festival played october 2nd and 4th , 1998 .
official release : halloween reviewed by vince yim
` you think you know all about vampires . . .
believe me . . .
you know f
* ck all . '
with these words , we are brought into the world of a sultry vampire seductress by the name of lilith silver ( played by eileen daly ) .
made into an immortal a century and a half ago by the sinister ethan blake , she continues to alleviate boredom with her state of being .
so , what 's an undead girl to do , except squeeze into the tightest fitting clothes possible , get out her guns , seduce a few guys , and kill a few people for money and blood ?
with that out of the way , let me say this .
this film is bad .
this film is really , really bad .
yet somehow , it is strangely enjoyable .
with all the elements of a direct to video horror flick ?
buxom babes , gore , cheesy dialogue , and bad acting ?
any casual film viewer would be more inclined to spend their money on renting innocent blood or going to see blade .
still , it is considered to be one of the finest british vampire film .
agreed , it might be , but is far from being the best vampire flick ever . period .
razor blade smile has some rather high production values , shown by the nice overall tone to the film .
the film is also a bit of a departure from popular vampire lore , with a vampire that can go out in broad daylight without disintegrating , does n't sleep in a coffin ( but leaves one next to her computer ) , and sees religion as the ` opium of the peoples ' ( hence , immunity to crosses ) .
but aside from that , it does n't stray too far away from horror film conventions .
that is , unless that is intentional .
razor blade smile literally goes for the throat , then pumps the wound full of processed cheese .
you ca n't help but laugh when a female vampire gets decapitated and her severed head goes flying into a puddle .
you 'll laugh even harder at the hideously contrived situations ( to distract two female guards , lilith tosses a cellular phone towards them and dials the number ) .
you 'll laugh the hardest when a murder witness recants the tale and suddenly starts sobbing uncontrollably .
and then , there 's the sudden twist ending ( i have enough heart not to give it away ) .
the film refuses to take itself seriously , which is a good thing , as by the time lilith zips up her skin - tight body suit and then unzips it just to show the right amount of cleavage , you 've most likely forgotten the main point of the story .
but in case you really care , she 's been assigned to kill a bunch of people who belong to the so - called illuminati , and she 's leaving a huge mess behind for the police to find . as much as my criticisms , this movie works best as a guilty pleasure or as a film that you watch with your friends and within groups .
almost destined for cult - status , the film 's campy , cheesy overtones
actually work towards the film .
while this may not necessarily be the film you 'd want to be seen watching by yourself , it makes for a fun time at the movies .

SOLUTION: P

PROBLEM: > from the man who presented us with henry : the portrait of a serial killer ( 6 . 5/10 ) comes a wild tale set within the elite and white trash of florida 's south coast .
plot : guidance counselor ( dillon ) is accused of raping one of his students .
she happens to be the daughter of one of the wealthiest women in florida .
the counselor is brought to court on the charges , as another white trash girl ( campbell ) , also joins the rape finger - pointing club .
as the story unfolds , we find that many things are n't exactly as they seem ( that 's as much as i could say without ruining anything ) .
critique : good little flick that slows down at certain points , and runs a tad long , but generates enough twists and turns to keep most people interested throughout .
mind you
, i could see many people not liking it because it takes " one too many " twists and turns ,
but hey , i happen to like that kind of thing .
and besides , the twists and turns in this movie managed to remain within the realm of believability ( or scathingly close to ) , and even " explained " many of its turns with a showcase of missed scenes during the credit crawl at the end of the film ( do not leave the theatre before you see the credits .
.. it really does clear up some stuff ! ! ) .
other than that
, the acting was good , with campbell transforming her
"
good girl stereotypical " role into a pot - smoking , goth - looking white trash chick out for a good time .
denise richards ( from starship troopers ( 7/10 ) fame ) solidifies herself as hollywood 's jelly - donut pinup girl of the moment , and proves that all breast implants need n't lead to lawsuits .
bacon is solid , and so is dillon ( while continuing to prove his inability to age to the whole wide wondering world ! ! ) .
sprinkle the story with a bunch o ' shots of alligators peeking through the swamp waters , bacon showing the world the size of his ding - dong ( do we really need to see this ? ? ) , a couple of lesbian kissing scenes , and a menage - a - trois ,
and you 've got yourself a decent time at the movie theatre .
on the down side , the soundtrack was not as prominent ( or slick ) as i thought it would be , and theresa russell ( real name : theresa paup ) seems to have lost her way in every which way possible .
.. .
ooooh , i
almost forgot bill murray 's exquisite role as the down - trodden lawyer who agrees to defend dillon in court .
murray actually added that extra little spice of humour that allowed this film to affirm its position as a quirky little noirish tale of sex , greed and mystery .
little known facts : neve campbell specified a non - nudity clause in her contract ( she 's also born in guelph , ontario .
.. go hoser ! )
director john mcnaughton says he deleted a scene that would have shown matt dillon and kevin bacon showering together , as it was gratuitous .
kevin bacon plays in a band with his brother , called the bacon brothers , is married to actress kyra sedgwick , and has a game based on him called " six degrees of kevin bacon " .

SOLUTION:
P