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

[Q]: synopsis : rumored to be about a true person , the story of mulan has circulated in oral tradition for over a thousand years , and has inspired operas , literature , and even coinage .
( since 1984 , china has been issuing annual gold and silver coin sets commemorating famous historical figures ; the 1992 set includes mulan . ) in the ballad of mulan ( written in the 5th or 6th century ) , an imperial edict by the khan ( emperor ) orders men from each family to be drafted into the army to defend china .
a girl 's parents hear sighing , and think that their daughter mulan ( the name means magnolia ) is dreaming of boys , but actually she 's dreading what horrors might befall her old infirm father if he were to be drafted off to battle .
mulan bravely runs away , masquerading as a boy , to serve in the army instead of her father .
ten thousand miles and twelve years of brutal war later , the army finally returns in triumph .
the emperor wants to reward mulan 's valor with a prestigious position in government , but she declines , accepts a horse , and returns home quietly to don her true clothes .
mulan 's old army buddies visit and get the shock of their lives when they find out that mulan is actually a woman .
the disney animated feature mulan is similar to the ballad story , only it adds a modern character for comic relief : mushu the dragon ( eddie murphy ) .
in disney 's mulan , when a fierce army of invading huns threatens to overrun peaceful china the emperor orders one man from each family to be conscripted into the army .
old mr .
fa ( soon - tek
oh ) is handicapped and has no son ; he has only his spirited young daughter mulan ( ming - na wen ) .
fearing for her father 's life , the courageous mulan secretly cuts her hair , disguises herself as a man , and sneaks off to serve in the army in her father 's stead .
meanwhile mushu , the disgraced and demoted guardian dragon of the fa family , has been reduced to the size of a squirrel and the status of incense burner .
( his only duty is to ring a gong . )
mushu hits upon a plan to redeem himself and regain his guardian status by helping the disguised mulan to become a macho male warrior hero .
with the help of mushu , a horse , and a lucky cricket , can army recruit mulan save china and bring honor to the fa family ?
opinion :
east meets west .
i know a chef in santa fe that does this sort of magic ; he combines asian culinary influences from the west coast with latin american from down south and european from the atlantic to concoct new creations that hit just the right combination of flavors .
from their state of the art animation studio in orlando , disney is hoping to work the same kind of east / west magic with mulan .
i mean , what would you say if i told you that a new movie featured tang dynasty art , with donny osmond singing , ming - na wen acting , and eddie murphy playing a chinese dragon that makes pop references to batman and the reverend jessie jackson ?
yet this is the case in the disney 's re - interpretation of the familiar chinese classic .
the end result is spectacular ; mulan is one of disney 's best movies ever .
personally , i 'm also glad to see the detestable american stereotype of the weak - willed subservient asian woman take a beating : mulan is portrayed as a normal , if spirited , compassionate gal capable of taking the initiative .
mulan is more than just eastern graphics and faces combined with westernized pop and disney .
kids of any age will like the family themes , and will understand the good guys versus bad guys thing .
and adolescent and preteen girls can appreciate the romance factor , while the boys admire the battles .
and adults can admire those male / female nuances as well as the interplay between traditional notions of family , honor , and duty with industrial age notions of romantic love , gumption , and questioning .
but even the tiniest details reveal quality .
the movie 's art supervisors spent three weeks in china researching the right look : negative spaces , positive detail , period clothing , and graphic designs typical of the time and place .
computers were used for crowd scenes of up to 30 , 000 people , and a special program called ' attila ' was used for a spectacular sequence involving 2000 attacking huns on horseback . and singers osmond and salonga are at the top of their game .
balance is crucial .
a movie about a chuckling lone dragon played by eddie murphy might not be disney 's cup of tea , but if you use the character as a comic sidekick to balance a determined and spirited heroine , then , pow ! the dream team .
by the same token , a tale about a girl in the army might be a sober exercise in filial piety by itself , but toss the dragon in there
and you 've got enough wahoo individualism for a light hearted disney romp .
it 's rare that a movie can seamlessly combine elements from both east and west , old and young , male and female into a cohesive and entertaining whole , but mulan hits the universal bullseye
.
it 's movie for any age , creed , gender , or color .
[A]: P


[Q]: steve soderbergh 's " sex , lies , and videotape , " which won the grand prize at the cannes film festival in 1989 , arguably began the resurgence of independent films .
made on a shoestring budget of $ 1 . 2 million , with then relatively unknown actors , it is a provocative , thoroughly original drama .
the film mostly focuses on the four central characters , all in their late 20's - early 30 's .
ann ( andie macdowell ) , an unfulfilled housewife , is married to john ( peter gallagher ) , an insensitive lawyer , who , unbeknownst to her , is having an affair with her younger sister , cynthia ( laura san giacomo ) .
complicating matters even worse is graham ( james spader , who won best actor at cannes ) , john 's old college buddy , who comes to stay at their house .
ann is absolutely won over by him , even though she clearly has stated that she has very little interest in sex .
that is the set - up for the last hour of the picture , and since the film is entitled , " sex , lies , and videotape , " it is best to keep the rest of the story developments at bay so that they will come as a genuine surprise .
director steven soderbergh has proven to be a wildly offbeat filmmaker , ranging from the independent , to the mainstream ( 1998 's " out of sight " ) , to the downright kafkaesque ( 1997 's " schizopolis " ) .
he is the type of director who obviously takes a lot of chances , and believes in the work that he does , and , " sex , lies , and videotape , " is probably his most confident , and maybe even best , to date .
the performances are superb from all four leads , but macdowell stands out in what is probably the main character .
she is always a very winning actress , but this is probably her most three - dimensional role that she has had ( with a close second being altman 's 1993 mosaic , " short cuts " ) .
the other parts are perfectly cast as well , from spader 's ominous graham , to gallagher 's self - involved john , to giacomo 's outspoken cynthia .
the final act of the film , especially , comes right out of left field , and turns out to be both shocking and oddly touching , and it would be criminal to give away the film 's secrets .
suffice to say that , through one powerful sequence , ann is able to somewhat come out of her shell , and john learns a valuable lesson about honesty , as well as deception .
the film has one fault , however .
the characters are almost all emotionally cold and isolated from one another , and often unlikable .
if there had been a few extra scenes with gallagher , it probably would have helped , since his relationship with macdowell is n't quite as explored as i would have liked .
"
sex , lies , and videotape , " although minorly flawed , is still easily a brave and adult motion picture that is far more mature and honest about its subject matter than the usual film .
soderbergh clearly knew what he was doing while he was making it , and the final product certainly proves this .
[A]: P


[Q]: ladies and gentlemen , 1997 's independence day is here !
it 's title : starship troopers .
and surprisingly , it is more entertaining than id4 .
i realize that i gave last year 's
sci - fi hit a 4 star rating , but i was under the spell of the powerful first hour .
after subsequent viewings , i feel that independence day really was n't as great as it seemed -- though i still give it a positive review .
starship troopers , on the other hand , has a mocking sense of humor , knowing perfectly well how ridiculous it may seem . as a result , starship troopers is a more exciting , energetic , and lively science fiction film .
in fact , i probably could never get tired of watching this film .
starship troopers is very reminiscient of star wars , another kick - ass space opera which reinvented the sci - fi drama altogether .
while starship troopers is no star wars , it comes quite close , and the easiest assessment would be to call this film : " the ' star wars ' of the 90s .
" am i being to generous to this film ?
perhaps , but when a science fiction film comes along that can mix humor and romance , effectively , into the warring races .
in essence , this is the science fiction equivolence of pulp fiction .
the easiest way to write a review of this film would be to compare it to other science fiction films , and i may have to .
starship troopers is not quite an original film persay , but director paul verhoeven gives the film a " kick - the - aliens'-asses " style .
id4 had this same style , except it was forced , most likely the cause of will smith having a major role .
this new " star wars " has a very simple , basic plot : mankind vs .
an alien species .
the alien species in question here is the bugs , a seemingly advanced civilization of arachnid - type insects .
however , the underlying morals of starship troopers are fleshed out with deadly accuracy .
sometimes the morals are buried by the bloody violence and intense action scenes , but during quiet moments , we realize that starship troopers has something to tell us about our civilization .
more than likely , these morals will be overpowered and quickly forgotten by the time the movie ends .
and they should be .
i doubt verhoeven intended this film to be a thought - provoking film .
this is an " event " film , but surprisingly above average .
it is extremely refreshing to watch a sci - fi war film , and actually root for the human side ( something independence day never achieved ) .
starship troopers begins with a satirical portrayal of those strange " join the army " ads .
mixing a web - based interface , these summations of events are refreshingly original . stating , " would you like to know more ? " , these short news bulletins give the film an immediate sense of humor , and we know we should not take it seriously .
however , we also witness the murder of several troopers in battle , in a gory , yet funny , way .
after witnessing the slaughter , the film jumps back one year , to setup what we just saw .
we are introduced to johnny rico ( casper van dien ) and carmen ibanez ( denise richards ) .
rico flirts with carmen by sending her messages over computer terminals in school classrooms .
however , carmen is n't as interested in rico as she is in becoming a pilot .
however , another classmate , dizzy flores ( dina meyer ) , has her eye on rico .
unfortunately , rico is n't interested in dizzy .
this setup is rather cliched , as is the result of the setup , but it still is fun to watch .
carmen signs up to become a starship trooper , and as a result , rico signs up .
and as a result , dizzy signs up .
everyone is assigned a certain position in the academy : carmen gets the pilot position she wanted , carl jenkins ( neil patrick harris ) , a psychic , gets a position in the training program , and rico is left in the lowest class of the starship troopers : the mobile infantry .
the main story follows rico through his trials and relationships .
in reality , i found myself watching a space version of " melrose place , " but with better special effects .
an hour into the film , the war begins .
a sense of tension grew in the audience
i watched this film with .
the first hour may have been a funny ( sometimes unintentionally ) setup , but we grew to care for the flat characters , because no matter how hard i tried not to like the characters , their gorgeous looks won me over ( call me superficial , if you must ) .
following the training sessions , which had many dramas in themselves ( too many to mention here ) , the troopers are sent to war .
the bugs live on the planet klendathu , a planet which consists of dirt and rock , and pretty much nothing else .
many dramas occur during the war , until finally the troopers realize that their is something behind the bugs ' attacks .
a sort of intelligence which masterminds the defense .
the troopers are ordered to locate the " brain " and capture it .
i hopefully left the plot as vague as possible , because starship troopers is not about plot .
it 's about special effects and gory violence .
director verhoeven , most known for his nudie film showgirls and basic instinct , returns to his sci - fi days , which gave us good films like total recall .
verhoeven likes to push the envelope of the mpaa , but despite all the violence , the comic book feel gives the film a sense of falsehood .
starship troopers is extremely violent , with more gore than this year 's event horizon .
the r rating is well deserved , and hopefully parents will not allow their 12 year old children to see it .
my guess is that verhoeven 's target audience is the 18 to 25 male group .
the film has a testosterone level off the charts , with chiseled men and beautiful women .
despite these superficial elements , starship troopers also creates a world which made star wars so successful .
while watching the film , we never second guess the character 's decisions because they seem perfectly clear .
thankfully , no hero is punching aliens in the face , which gives the flat characters some depth for which we can identify with .
the cast of starship troopers is quite annoying to begin with , but they soon grow on you .
casper van dien has the chiseled facial features and tan skin which will make most girls swoon .
to most guys , he will come across as artificial .
fortunately , van dien is the worst of the cast , despite how hard he tries to come off as a real character .
dina meyer does a much better job of fleshing out her character .
her dizzy is extremely likeable .
denise richards also does a good job , and her scenes are very well done .
jake busey , gary busey 's son , gives a wonderfully funny performance , and provides one of the biggest laughs of the film .
neil patrick harris
( remember , he was doogie howser )
is a little wooden , and slightly out of place with the rest of the cast . however ,
he does give a good performance .
michael ironside gives the best performance of the film as the teacher with one arm .
his performance rises above the rest .
perhaps it is because his character is the most developed , but i think it is just ironside 's presence on screen .
unfortunately , no particular cast member gives a star - making performance , which is too bad because the material here could have made many of the cast members stars
.
director verhoeven is the main star of the film .
his direction is fast and unrelentless .
he never slows down his pace , which makes for a wild ride .
writer edward neumeier adapted the screenplay from the book by robert heinlein .
the writing is usually very funny , and sometimes very corny .
the dialogue is smart but not too smart .
we are n't required to know everything , but some plot holes are left unanswered .
thankfully we are not intended to notice , and we really do n't ( except for one which lingered in my mind for quite a while ) .
amazingly , with all the wars and romance going on , the screenplay manages to include some surprising governmental issues .
in fact , these governmental changes seem fairly plausible , and this adds another layer to the story .
the moral debate of the characters is quite surprising to find in a film of this genre , but what is even more surprising is the amount of humor included into all the carnage .
i have n't laughed this loud , even in some comedies .
oh , and the special effects are first rate .
starship troopers is rated r for graphic sci - fi violence and gore , and for some language and nudity .
believe me when i say this : do n't take young kids to see this film .
it is extremely violent .
in fact , it is probably the most violent film out this year .
however , if you are old enough ( over 17 ) to see it , starship troopers is guaranteed to entertain .
it 's been a long time since i have cheered for the heros , while also cheering for the bad guys .
and still , it is my dream to see a sci - fi film in which the alien race destroys mankind , and take over the world .
now that would be entertaining !
[A]:
P