instruction:
In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.
question:
` bats ' is an insulting slap across the face for any dedicated horror movie fan .
to pull something like this off , you need to have a sense of wit and style , with a heavy dosage of humor to back up the process if the fright factor ever declines .
something like the underground worm thriller ` tremors '
had just the perfect mixture of these elements , and in return , the film was tremendous fun .
with the notable exception of a wisecracking supporting player , ` bats ' mainly plays it 's premise for straight - arrow horror .
judging
by the ridiculous premise
, this was not exactly a wise move .
the movie attempts to capture the essence of alfred hitchcock 's ` the birds ' , but fails miserably .
done right , it could have been adequately amusing halloween cinema .
unfortunately , ` bats ' is a prime example of a formula movie done terribly , terribly wrong .
the only thing amusing about this festering pile of guano is in how intelligible the filmmakers anticipate their core audience to be .
i will recite the following paragraph in a manner that will reach the audience of individuals to whom ` bats ' is aimed toward .
those guys in hollywood have made a movie about bats .
these bats are not very nice , because they eat a lot of people .
boy , are these bats ugly .
they are infected with this bogus virus that makes them super - duper smart .
they 've got big claws and red eyes and they are not very friendly at all .
a whole bunch of people in texas get killed , so a sheriff guy and a scientist lady are brought in to kill the bats .
they have big guns and other cool things to fight them with , but the bats are pretty smart , so it 's sorta hard to do .
the bats swoop down and they shoot at them to make they go away for good .
but no , ` bats ' is probably too violent for pre - schoolers .
the film , directed by louis morneau , should have ventured straight into video stores .
on the small screen , perhaps more fun could have been derived with lower expectations . but sitting through this crapper on the big screen is almost awkward ; although at a few moments it becomes a guilty pleasure , the film is poorly written , poorly acted and executed with glaring ineptitude .
even the bats themselves are cheesy , and the attack sequences too rushed and jittery
to be properly enjoyed .
the sheriff in the story is emmett kimsey ( lou diamond phillips ) , who embodies every pathetic stereotype a small - town authority figure
usually portrays ( he chomps on a cigar , struts contentedly in his boots , etc . .. ) .
the scientist is dr .
sheila casper ( dina meyer ) , who specializes in flying mammals and is classified as ` the best in her field ' .
meyer uses a lot of technical terms designed to make the movie seem more intellectually capable , but everything about dr .
casper is recycled beyond recognition .
her memories of how she became hooked on the topic of bats sounds suspiciously like oceanographic student matt hooper 's tale of how he became infatuated with sharks in ` jaws ' .
everything revolving around ` bats ' is tired drivel , which desperately requires some directorial style or acting capabilities to spruce it up .
the supporting cast could have been constructed out of straw , with voices dubbed in later .
in fact , that may have worked out better in the end .
take one glance at casper 's bat - loathing sidekick jimmy ( leon ) , and you 'll have immediate deja vu
- he 's the exact same humorous buddy caricature from every other movie , constructed specifically for timed comic relief .
unfortunately , none of his comic interludes are funny .
in the role of deranged mad scientist dr .
mccabe , the reliable bob gunton gets cornered with the most hideously idiotic character in the bunch .
mccabe ` accidentally ' released two experimental test subjects , and the virus spread to other bats .
the entire town of gallup , texas is under attack from an enormous swarm of the creatures , but gunton appears to be inconspicuously contemplating something else .
something like : ` when is the damn movie going to be over
? ?
i just want my money . '
the bats are ugly , i must say .
there 's the occasional moment where they look moderately convincing , but mainly , the swarm is represented in cheesy digital imagery .
only bits of the bloody action even hint at the campy fun the film could have been , but by the absurdly stupid climax , it 's way too late in the game for a decent recovery .
characters experiment in slaughtering the bats with gunfire .
let 's explore the logic there : is this really a very efficient way to decrease the bat population ? ?
you could empty an entire clip at the flying winged serpents and not even wound one , and after that there are only 18 , 000 more of them .
this kind of behavior represents the regular level of intelligence behind ` bats ' .
answer:
N


question:
why do so many children 's films treat their target audience with utter contempt ? too many of those who write or direct for children 's movies assume that the kids just ca n't handle serious , thoughtful discussions on meaningful issues .
"
the iron giant , " which was directed and co - written by brad bird , late of such animated series as " the simpsons " and " king of the hill , " assumes that not only can children handle such discussions , but that they can do so while being entertained at the same time .
"
the iron giant " holds absolutely no contempt for the young people in the audience , making it a film that 's enjoyable for both children and adults alike
.
hogarth hughes ( voice of eli marienthal ) is a spirited young lad who lives with his hard - working single mother , annie ( jennifer aniston ) , in a small town in maine .
after staying up late and watching scary movies on a night his mother is away , hogarth treks out into the forest to investigate what has stolen his antenna and ruined his tv reception .
he comes across a giant robot ( vin diesel ) from space that eats metal for food .
after saving the robot , nicknamed the iron giant , from electric shock , hogarth befriends the creature and takes him in as a pet of sorts .
because of damage he suffered upon landing , the giant has forgotten what his original mission was , so he just follows hogarth around like a lost puppy .
realizing he ca n't just keep the giant in a barn all the time , and that the giant needs food , he takes him to a junkyard owned by dean ( harry connick jr . ) , an eccentric artist who assembles sculptures out of scrap iron in his spare time .
it soon becomes apparent that dean and hogarth ca n't keep the giant a secret forever , because a government spook named kent mansley ( christopher mcdonald ) has been brought in to investigate mysterious sightings in the surrounding forest area and considers the giant a threat to national security .
he suspects hogarth knows something about the giant , and takes up residence in hogarth 's house as a lodger .
meanwhile , the giant begins to exhibit ominous behavior that suggests he was built to be a weapon of some kind .
"
the iron giant " is exactly what family films ought to be , because it doesn ' t talk down to its audience .
the story is simple , very simple , about an alien being that drops out of the sky and befriends a young boy .
it 's very similar to the spielberg classic " e .
t . , ' and such comparisons are actually deserved in the case of " the iron giant .
"
the film holds many of the better elements of spielberg 's film , such as the ability to be sentimental without turning sappy .
the film delivers several serious messages , the most important of which is one 's ability to choose one 's own fate .
hogarth teaches the giant to go against his programming and become what he wants to be : a hero .
the final sequence is touching and appropriate , though i wo n't give it away , i will say that very few will be disappointed .
the animation , while not up to disney standards ( what could be , after " tarzan " ? ) , is good enough to make you forget you 're watching a cartoon .
the giant is computer - animated , while the human characters are all hand - drawn the old - fashioned way .
the characters ' faces are done quite well , drawn realistically enough to make the personalities credible , but the features are exaggerated so as to allow for the cartoonish expressions that provide for comic relief .
fine voice work is turned in by young eli marienthal as hogarth , and jennifer aniston is surprisingly convincing as his waitress mother .
harry connick jr .
does a nice characterization as dean , and i really enjoyed the voice work of john mahoney ( of tv 's " frasier " ) as an army general called in by agent mansley .
unlike several cartoon features , each character is actually a developed personality , rather than a stereotype , and is actually integral to the plot , rather than being a superfluous comic - relief sidekick ( a clich ?
disney still has n't ditched ) .
dean , for example , could have been a stereotypical beatnik ( his character profile seems to suggest that ) , but he is presented as a character with real emotions , thoughts , and motivations .
even the heavy , agent mansley , is not a villain who does bad things simply because he wants to , but out of his own fear and paranoia .
a lesser animated feature would have drawn up paper - thin stereotypes and figure the kids wo n't mind , but " the iron giant " has clearly put a little work into making the characters real , and it pays off .
the film is n't only around to deliver heavy - handed messages , though .
it 's also very funny , and the humor is of the kind that both children and adults will enjoy .
the scenes in which hogarth teaches the giant to do certain things , such as dive into a pool , are handled well , and director brad bird clearly has a sense of comic timing , having worked on " the simpsons " for many years .
a sequence where hogarth and mansley attempt to " outlast " one another by trying to stay awake is very nicely timed , and also extremely clever .
the film even takes some jabs at america 's nuclear paranoia during the early stages of the cold war , satirizing the lame safety films shown to grade school students that tell them to " duck and cover " in the event of a nuclear attack .
"
the iron giant " has much more of a satirical edge to it than most family films , and the edgy humor is actually quite refreshing .
instead of seeing people get bonked on the head , we get well - timed , clever gags that seem to have required some imagination to come up with
.
when you get right down to it , " the iron giant " is no more than the story of a boy and his robot .
the story is so straightforward , so quaint , that it ultimately becomes charming .
though i enjoy the complex plotting of film noir as much as the next person , when it comes to family entertainment , simple is the way to go .
it 's akin to one of those bedtime stories your father told that had you hanging on his every word , but it 's not the story that sets the film above others of its kind ,
but rather the elements that go into the story , namely real characters and thoughtful dialogue , which " the iron giant " has in spades .
answer:
P


question:
after the huge success of " the exorcist " in 1973 a sequel was inevitable , and sadly like most horror fims that make money , the filmmakers decided to make a ridiculous sequel , that makes absolutely no sense at all , and to me was extremely pointless , wasting linda blair and max von sydow completely .
needless , dumb sequel flopped in the box office , and never gained much success though it is voted as one of the worst sequels of all time , to which i agree with .
to start the " story " it is four years later , and regan is being tormented by memories of what used to be , now a priest played by richard burton , is trying to figure out why this demon tried to possess regan , and now the demon somehow wants to possess her again
( maybe she was good or something ) .
now they must try to stop this demon from taking over regan 's body , before it is too late .
some of the bad things exorcist
ii has in it is : linda blair
, she had no need to revive her character , and she is really terrible in this film , she brings it down to a lull , and in places it seems like it just stops in its place , and does n't go anywhere .
louise fletcher is alright for what it 's worth , but she could have done a lot better than this .
the direction by john boorman , is that of a confused , stylish nature that i really could n't figure out .
in fact , i had no idea what was going on in this film ,
the script was jumbled , the plot was jumbled , and the ending is just laugh out loud hilariosly bad . for those exorcist fans who have n't seen this one , i recommend renting it .
i actually gave this one a high rating , if it were any worse it would have deserved zero pumpkins , i went easy on it however because of the fact that it has a bit of good direction , but nothing else !
i
m not saying i like the film now , so do nt start going anywhere .
bad , bad , bad movie .
answer:

N