In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.

it was a crazy time in france , what with the french revolution right around the corner .
king louis xv would soon die , and his son would become king louis xvi .
such is the setting for beaumarchais : the scoundrel about the controversial playwright , spy and playboy pierre - augustin caron de beaumarchais .
beaumarchais was the author of the plays , " the barber of seville " and " the marriage of figaro .
"
today people think of them as quaint and harmless operas , but , back in 1773 when the movie takes place , they were so scandalous that beaumarchais was thrown into prison more than once .
the movie beaumarchais : the scoundrel takes a light - hearted approach to its subject , resulting in an inviting motion picture .
one of france 's most expensive productions ever , the movie was a huge hit when it opened there last year .
now in theatrical release in the united states , it eschews the seriousness of most art house films with a romping good story .
the secret of the film 's success , other than the lavishness of sylvie de segonzac 's costumes , has to be the performance by fabrice luchini as beaumarchais .
with his glistening eyes and his infectious smile , he mesmerizes the camera and the audience .
his wry little lips seem always to hint at some unspoken deviousness he is planning .
in a land where court intrigue determines one 's destiny , constant scheming was a way of life for the aristocracy .
as our story starts , we learn that beaumarchais has bought himself a judgeship .
into his court comes a member of the nobility demanding an immediate sword fight .
beaumarchais , who has been having an affair with the man 's wife , makes him wait until the current case on the docket is decided .
that over with , the fight is on .
with luchini 's charisma , it is hard to root for anyone other than him .
audiences may remember him from the marvelous colonel chabert , in which he played the attorney .
although he does not have half of the good looks of his assistant gudin , played by manuel blanc , he dazzles the women and the viewers with his grace and style .
michael epp 's
warm and intimate cinematography provides a nice accompaniment to jean - marc kerdelhue 's lush but realistic looking sets .
jean - claude petit 's music , especially the hauntingly lovely flute solos , make for an enchanting time at the movies .
director jean - claude brisville , who wrote the script along with edouard molinaro , fleshed out a play by sacha guitry which , according to the press notes , was just a series of historic vignettes .
the disorganization of the play still comes through at some points in the movie , but the actors smooth it over with their good - hearted style .
typical of the scenes that come out of nowhere is the one in which a rotund benjamin franklin appears in a large pot of hot water , taking his bath .
one episode has beaumarchais working with a renegade spy who may or may not be a man .
another has beaumarchais using his personal fortune to aid the american revolution .
all of this may sound like a dull historical drama , but it is anything
but .
the story plays more like theater of the absurd than a movie based on historical facts .
the radiantly lovely sandrine kiberlain plays marie - therese , the real love of beaumarchais 's life .
but he is so likable that members of the audience may want to compete with her for him .
still , with his beguiling smile , one can never quite be sure if you should trust him .
the movie , on the other hand , can be trusted to deliver a high old time .
beaumarchais : the scoundrel runs 1 : 41 .
it is in french with english subtitles .
the film is not rated but would be an r for some nudity and sex , and should be fine for most teenagers .
P

at first glance , it appears that the home alone movies are brainless slapstick intended for those with minds of 8-year olds .
that 's true of home alone
2
and i 'd bet money that it 's true of home alone
3 ( opening soon ) .
but home alone
actually has a lot going for it , and the cartoon slapstick does n't get in the way .
the mcalisters , all 15 of them , are going to france for the holidays .
four adults and eleven kids are spending the night together before heading to the airport en masse .
the littlest kid , kevin , is the victim of the older kids ' cruelty .
kevin 's patience runs out when he learns that his plain - cheese pizza has already been eaten , and he 's going to have to starve .
he attacks his big bully brother buzz , who had been teasing him .
the fight disrupts the already - chaotic dinner , spilling milk and soft drinks all over the table , a few cousins , and an uncle .
the knee - jerk reaction is for everyone to blame kevin .
nobody came to his rescue when he was being teased , but they all point their fingers when he fights back .
the ultimate punishment comes from mom ( catherine o'hara ) who sends him up to the spare bedroom in the attic for the night .
on his way up the stairs , he tells her that " families suck " and that he hopes never to see any of his family again .
that night the power goes out , knocking out the alarm clocks , so the mcalisters wake up in a big hurry to get to the airport .
in a surprisingly plausible setup , kevin is mistakenly accounted for , and the family heads off without him .
it 's interesting that , in a subtle way , his parents never noticed him missing because of their deliberate desire to separate themselves from their children .
first they delegate the headcount to an older sibling , and second , they put all the kids in coach while they fly first class .
they 're two - thirds of the way across the atlantic before they realize they are missing a child .
meanwhile , kevin believes that somehow his wish has come true .
he 's finally rid of his family !
life is a dream come true .
he can jump on the beds , watch r - rated movies , eat gobs of ice cream and potato chips , and dig through his big brother 's secret box .
slowly , the novelty wears off and he settles into the mundane .
he grooms himself , he does the laundry , he goes shopping ( " i bought some milk , eggs , and fabric softener " ) .
he also starts to miss his family , not just for their company , but for the security they bring .
the furnace in the basement is a scary monster , the old man next door is a snow - shovel murderer , and two crooks are trying to break into his house .
macaulay culkin is cute but he is n't much of an actor .
still , we can see that kevin 's character grows , thanks to some good direction and editing
.
for example , acting has little to do with the emotional impact of the scene where kevin searches out a seasonal santa at night , just as " santa " is getting in his car .
kevin asks the man to pass on his request - he wants his family back - to the real santa .
he learned how to deal with the furnace .
you turn on the lights and it 's not so scary anymore .
he goes to a church one evening
and there he sees the snow - shovel murderer , who actually turns out to be a nice man .
they talk about their fears and kevin learns that age alone does not make you less afraid .
finally , in the last 20 minutes , kevin confronts his last fear - the bandits , head on ( literally ) .
this last act is full of violent comedic slapstick , and after the movie 's genuine dramatic setup , it is dessert .
it 's a lot of fun , and it does n't overwhelm the rest of the movie
.
on the whole , home alone is a great holiday movie .
john williams ' original score has the sound and feel of holiday music without the disadvantage of being overplayed at the malls , and the christmas setting can put you in the mood for those family gatherings .
but it does have its flaws .
the smallest problem is that culkin does n't act very well .
as i said before , he is cute , but repeated viewings reveal more about how columbus covered himself than about culkin 's insight into his character .
the biggest problem is that during the cartoony coda , the villains threaten kevin 's life about five times .
instead of " i 'm gon na get that kid
" they say " i 'm gon na kill that kid .
"
some might argue that the tone is the same , but i strongly disagree .
mixing comedy with specific and viable threats of murder is a sociopathic faux - pas .
i 'll probably never see home alone 3 , and i wish i had skipped home alone 2 , but i do enjoy home alone almost every year
.
do n't let your impressions of the others detract from the original , which has much more to offer than cartoon slapstick .
P

whew .
this film oozes energy , the kind of breakneck ,
no-
holds - barred , in - your - face risk - taking filmmaking that is seldom seen on screen these days .
like the marginal , motley bunch of post - apocalyptic youths director danny boyle tries to depict , trainspotting veers on the edge of utter mayhem but ultimately retains its footing and control . the result : a movie that is a delightful example of how the medium is the message .
the message : a bunch of losers with loser names , mark renton ( ewan mcgregor ) , spud ( ewan bremner ) , sick boy ( jonny lee miller ) , tommy ( kevin mckidd ) , and begbie ( robert carlyle ) .
bored , aimless and restless , their routine consists of getting drunk at the local pub , grooving to techno or glam - rock at the local disco and getting shots up the arm at the local den and procuring cash through a variety of methods , some ingenious , others plainly dumb and desperate .
not part of the daily dose if obtained , sex is a bonus .
you can find these characters as they are , foul - mouthed , dirty , pathetic , ugly perhaps but definitely interesting , in irvin welsh 's cult novel of the same name .
what makes the film a completely different experience is how director boyle uses every tool at his disposal to make the filmic medium synchronous with the message .
one of the first things you 'll notice is how the camera seems to dart around restlessly .
it 'll truck into a character 's pimple , just as soon as it will dolly out to an establishing shot .
distracted and curious , it 'll maintain a character 's eye - level or drop right to the ground to show the doped - out - eye - view .
you 'll even find characters peering into the camera , their faces smeared across the wide - angle lens .
this film camera is just another one of the guys .
tiptoeing that indistinguishable line between fantasy and reality , boyle employs a healthy dose of surrealism to get the message across .
bored kids daydream and bored kids deprived of a heroin fix have nightmares .
i do n't want to give too much away , but if you cross chuckie from child 's play with some of the wacky fantasies in heavenly creatures , you might have an idea
just how fun or pants - wetting scary the alternate state of consciouness can be .
that said , this film has a good share of drugs - consumed , vomitted , defecated , pissed off , exchanged , bought , sold , injected , smuggled , enjoyed and regretted .
if that is n't your cup of tea , nobody forced you to see the film .
stay at home and rent up close and personal .
and what 's a buzz without tunes .
from pulp to iggy pop ( yes , he 's still alive ) ,
the aural landscape is as engaging as the visual energy permeating
the film .
good and bad vibrations tangle like the conflicting desires and values of the message .
every once in a while , a film comes along with the kind of energetic filmmaking that matches the intensity of its characters it hopes to depict .
trainspotting is that shooting star that burns across a sky littered with static constellations .
dom is a part - time filmmaker who graduated from northwestern university 's radio / tv / film programme not too long ago .
he has laboured on various music videos and short films in and around campus and chicago .
nowhere town , a 26min short film that he shot , co - directed and co - produced recently scooped up the grand jury prize at the charleston international film festival for best student production .
he is currently finishing a couple of small projects .
with his minute amounts of leisure time , dom does nell impersonations .

P