TASK DEFINITION: In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.
PROBLEM: a friend invites you to a movie .
this film would evade the explosions and special effects of standard summer fare , and be grounded in reality .
the plot is as follows : after a terrifying incident , a mother and her independent daughter separate from the father and move away from the city .
they need fresh air to get some perspective , maybe to start over .
romance begins to brew , however , as one of the locals , played by an international superstar in rugged clothing , sparks things up , ( especially at a country - western slow dance ) .
it stars a rising young starlet , helms a good cast , and is directed by one of the better actor - turned - directors in hollywood .
you accept .
you jump at the opportunity to see , what you believe to be ,
_ the horse whisperer _ .
but , poor moviegoer , you have been conned
. alas , you find yourself watching , incredulously , _ hope floats _ .
oh , woe .
your hope has sunk .
why was this movie made ?
why was it released ?
it is a travesty on nearly every level , and has the authority to sink the careers of nearly everyone involved .
at the hands of a better script , the film could have been a gem .
but it is clueless as to what it is about , and only succeeds in transferring same cluelessness to us poor viewers .
_ hope floats _ stars sandra bullock as birdy , who , after discovering her husband has been cheating on her with her best friend ( on national television no less ) , takes her daughter and drives back to her home , helmed by a countryish bumpkin eccentric played by gena rowlands , ( she decorates with stuffed wildlife ) .
birdy 's nephew , travis ( played by _ leave it to beaver _ 's cameron finley ) , is under her custody , and in one of the film 's many failed in - jokes , is always seen wearing a different halloween costume .
what is the point of this ?
does it make any sense ?
is it supposed to be funny ?
the point of the film is to show that the family is eccentric , but i was convinced that the grandma should have been locked up for endangering the mental welfare of a child .
all of this undercuts the plot , of which there is none .
there are only many scenes that are supposed to register emotion .
there 's the scene where birdy , who used to be the prom queen , is humbled by approaching a peer she once mocked , for a job .
there 's the scene where birdy dances with her father , in the hospital for alzheimer 's .
and then there 's the sentimental scenes with justin , played by harry connick jr .
, who is taking a liking to her again , showing her a beautiful pad that he built from scratch .
and during each of these scenes , i was sidetracked by my earlier question .
what sort of eccentric grandmother go through such great pains as to provide a dog costume , a kermit costume , a cowboy costume ( with whip ) , and a full furred barney costume for her grandson to wear during dinner ?
what sort of warped ramifications would this lead for the rest of his life ?
outside of this , there are other sure signs of screenwriters block .
when the daughter stands up to the bully at school .
when birdy almost loses her job .
when the family pulls in a goofy lip - synch to cheer someone up .
when someone dies .
when the daughter cries , ( no , wails ) in exasperation that her father is not coming back .
in a movie like this , you notice the strings being pushed , and you sit there , comatose , hoping it will end . who can survive such a debacle ?
i worry for bullock 's career , which has been running on auto - pilot for the last few years .
she has an attitude , a solid perkiness , and can drive a bus -- but she ca n't handle the emotional scenes , much less hold a southern accent .
harry connick , jr .
is worse -- stick with singing , or get some acting lessons , please !
gena rowlands is the best part of the film .
but she 's such a good actress , that it staggers the mind that she 's weighed down by such lukewarm material here
.
it would be a severe tragedy if the recurring star of john cassavettes ' great films is known for this film .
two notes to forest whittaker : ( 1 ) cut the slow - motion sequences .
there are twelve times where you undercut your own direction by such a failed trick .
have you done so
, you could have shaved off ten - minutes of this almost unbearable debacle .
( 2 ) you 've had to know something was wrong if your cinematographer 's filter makes the candlelight appear like little " x " s .
you 're not a bad director , but you ca n't change a terrible script
.
there 's a recurring scene where birdy , working at the neighborhood fotomat , finds the machine go wrong , and image after destroyed , warped , dark image appear .
think about it .
a succession of destroyed images may have been more entertaining than this movie .

SOLUTION: N

PROBLEM: ugh .
that about sums this movie up .
just , ugh .
the original godzilla movies are somewhat of a cult classic , and when reviewing the previous films , each film had a certain degree of intelligence .
and that was the reason they found such an enviable cult following ; in spite of bad special effects , horrible dubbing , and a man in a lizard suit , they maintained a certain degree of . . .
how to put this ? . . .
dignity ?
not quite the word i 'm looking for .
you understand , right ?
and in 50 years , godzilla has maintained that degree of ' whatever ' . leave it to america to screw the whole thing up .
> from the ' geniuses ' that brought us " independece day " , arguably the worst sci - fi movie of all time , to ruin whatever reputation godzilla had .
while they do bring us eye - popping special effects that will amaze you ,
they lost what was at the center of all the original godzilla movies -- a storyline .
summing up the movie is simple .
heck , i can do it in one sentence : giant lizard attacks a giant city and a bunch of nobodies stop it .
simple as that .
matthew broderick
stumbles over his lines , and it 's hard to picture hank azaria in any role besides his classic dog - walking character on the television show " mad about you " .
the dialogue seems to be improvized , almost as if there was no rehearsel done at all .
i can see the scene on the set right now .
"
all right !
we spent all of this money making big special effects , and we 've got ta get this movie out by summer
or it 's going to bomb in our faces .
so , you actors just say what ever comes to the top of your head , all right ?
make up something , m'kay ?
good .
roll film ! !
"
the special effects are enough to keep you interested through one viewing , and some of the cinemtography is well - done ( the scene with the black umbrellas comes to mind ) .
still , an hour into it , you will become antsy , wondering how long they can drag it out . and drag it out they do ! !
i have to laugh .
the slogan for the film is , " size does matter " .
i think they cut this too short .
it should read , " size does matter .
acting does not .
"

SOLUTION: N

PROBLEM: after being hypnotized , a man believes there is a ghost in his house .
the review two low - key summer horror films have become surprise financial successes this year : the blair witch project and the sixth sense .
each has made well over $ 100 million in north america , based on a combination of strong word of mouth and clever advertising .
if a film 's box office take were based primarily on its quality , stir of echoes would join blair and sense in grossing far more money than expected , for it is as scary , if not scarier than the other two .
writer / director david koepp has given artisan entertainment , the folks who distributed blair witch a second creepy hit .
the story gets going after tom witzky ( bacon ) , an average blue - collar dad , gets hypnotized by his wife maggie 's ( erbe ) sister lisa ( douglas ) at a party .
while the hypnosis goes as expected to the party - goers , it triggers something in tom 's head .
things begin to change around him ( blinking red lights let off a strange hum , for example ) , and he fights to stay in control of his own senses .
where these experiences take tom , maggie and their son jake ( cope ) , who tom thinks might have some answers , is down a dark path that will scare and disturb you .
david koepp keeps the action localized ; the majority of the action takes place at tom 's house or just down the street .
by keeping things at home , koepp is able to proceed without having to resort to any clumsy segues ( montages of driving down roads as we move from one city to another etc . ) .
unfortunately , the dread and spookiness of stir of echoes are frequently interrupted by moments of levity .
humour can take the tension away from a scene faster than any shoddy special effect or poor acting .
several tense moments become completely diffused by a few misplaced jokes .
also , there are a couple of plot developments that are left unresolved , though to mention them would be to give too much away .
kevin bacon handles the duel task of playing an everyman and a man losing his sanity admirably .
his total lack of understanding of what is happening to him is believable , as are the reactions from his wife
maggie .
kathryn erbe is given a role meatier and better written than that of most " wife who can no longer handle her husband " parts . while it is still a supporting role , her maggie is moving as she watches
both her husband and her son enter what she calls " a private club that i 'm not invited to " , where they whisper about things all day long .
as jake , zachary cope equals the performance of haley joel osment in the sixth sense , but gets less screen time .
both children manage the same trick , making the audience creeped out by their apparent acceptance of the way things are .
fans of blair and sixth sense will almost surely love stir of echoes .
it combines the dread of blair , a creepy closed - in feel thanks to cinematographer fred murphy and great performances by the whole cast , specifically bacon , to give the fall its first genuine scary film .
if only they had let up on the unneeded funny bits and tweaked the plot a bit more , this could have been one of the year 's best .

SOLUTION:
P