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

the first species was a moderately - successful science fiction yarn that diverted audiences with some nifty special effects , a few well- paced action sequences , and frequent views of model - turned - actress natasha henstridge sans clothing .
however , it was definitely not a movie that cried out for a sequel . and , considering the quality of species 2 ,
it 's obvious that mgm should have stopped while they were ahead .
the only thing that distinguishes species 2 is how awful it is .
if you throw away the plot , which is characterized by a blatant disregard for intelligence , logic , coherence , and consistency , species 2 actually has a few things to recommend it to a select audience .
of course , that audience is primarily comprised of teenage boys ( who , at least in theory , should n't be able to get into an " r " -rated film ) and connoisseurs of bad movies .
there 's enough blood , gore , simulated sex , and bare flesh in species 2 to prevent it from ever becoming boring .
this is a grade z exploitation flick that 's ripe for the mystery science theater 3000 treatment .
somewhere , someplace , i recall hearing species 2 described as
" erotic .
"
i would love to know who used with that adjective for this movie , because he ( or she ) has a peculiar notion of eroticism .
sure
, there 's a lot of sex and nudity , but it 's almost always accompanied by the ripping open of a woman 's abdomen as an alien baby
claws
its way free , splattering blood and gore in all directions .
anyone turned on by that is not someone i would care to be sitting next to in a theater .
i suppose the main attraction in species 2 is natasha henstridge ( and , to get the obvious question out of the way -- yes , she does remove her top , but only once , and only briefly ) .
although the character she played in the original species is dead , government scientists still have the dna , and , out of what can only be described as a suicidal impulse , they decide to create another clone .
this creature , dubbed " eve " by its creator , dr .
laura baker ( played by marg helgenberger , reprising her role ) , is genetically engineered to be kinder and more docile .
meanwhile , man has finally set foot on mars .
a team of three , led by patrick ross ( justin lazard ) , has traveled to the red planet , but when they return to earth , they bring something with them .
ross has become a half - human / half - alien hybrid , and he 's soon mating like crazy , collecting the blood - soaked children that are the result of each sex session .
his intention is obviously world domination .
standing in his way is that indomitable soldier of fortune from the first film , preston lennox ( michael madsen ) , and one of patrick 's fellow astronauts , dennis gamble ( mykelti williamson ) .
but when patrick learns about eve , a female of his kind , there 's
no damping his ardor .
i 'm not sure what the budget for species 2 was , but a significant portion of it must have gone into paying handsome salaries to several recognizable actors ( as opposed to being diverted into the special effects ) .
michael madsen and marg helgenberger , both back for a second round ,
are clearly on hand to do as little as they can , grab the money , and run .
ditto for james cromwell , who plays patrick 's father -- " underused " is too kind a word to describe his involvement
( " invisible " would be more like it ) .
george dzundza gets to do a little scenery- chewing as an angry - but - inept general .
meanwhile , justin lazard 's performance as patrick is so flat that he makes natasha henstridge 's limited abilities look good by comparison .
the only one in the whole production with any energy is mykelti williamson , who is cast in the part of the wisecracking black sidekick .
complete with cheesy special effects , bare breasts around every narrative corner
, and dialogue capable of producing howls of laughter , species 2 has been dumped into the marketplace without advance screenings for critics .
director peter medak , a journeyman film maker with a significant list of mediocre movies on his resume , has added another forgettable title , but at least he appears to have had fun doing it , which is more than can be said of anyone trying to take this film with even a scintilla of seriousness .
do i recommend the movie ?
absolutely not
,
but i will admit that species 2 is dopey enough that it did n't try my patience to the degree that some pseudo - intellectual bad movies do .
here 's hoping there 's no species 3 .
N

larry flynt is a self proclaimed smut pedlar and the owner / publisher of the multi - million dollar hustler publications company .
the people vs .
larry flynt is the story of larry flynt 's fight for the freedom to circulate and sell his pornographic magazine , hustler .
based on a true story , the film is almost a documentary in that it 's a very vivid and detailed look at larry flynt 's life .
woody harrelson gives an excellent performance .
he conveys flynt 's peculiarities and his character with depth and focus .
by the end of the film the audience actually finds themselves , somewhat grudgingly , liking larry flynt .
this is some feat given flynt 's apparent lack of any morals or ethics and his extremely smutty and childish behaviour in court .
however , flynt has a number of things going for him , he 's rich , he 's funny , and most importantly , he says exactly what he means .
larry flynt 's wife , althea leasure is played by courtney love .
larry meets althea at one of his clubs , and they fall in love ( a very sexual and open love ) .
both of them indulge in a world of too much sex , and eventually too much drugs .
flynt had been taking an excessive amount of pain killers after being paralysed from the waist down ( which was especially upsetting for him ) by an assassin .
althea had joined him in taking the drugs .
following an operation flynt decides to stop taking drugs , althea does not have any such plans , nor the determination to follow them .
as the film progresses we see her become increasingly frail and sick .
courtney love obviously has a great understanding for althea 's situation , as
she is brilliant in portraying althea in every respect .
it 's extremely sad to watch althea literally wither away .
edward norton plays flynt 's lawyer , alan isaacman .
again , this is a solid performance .
the audience finds it easy to sympathise with isaacman who somehow puts up with flynt 's courtroom antics .
flynt is not only childish in the courtroom , but downright rude to the judges , and lands himself in a lot of trouble ( and even in a mental institution ) because of it .
isaacman is very easy to like , and great at proving ( in quite clever ways )
his points to the court .
milos forman has done a great job in directing
the people vs .
larry flynt .
it is not really an exciting or thrilling film , but instead a highly interesting portrayal of a true story .
due to larry 's character it is also , at times , a very funny film .
however , it is much more than that .
it is about the fight for freedom of speech , anti - censorship , and the right to be able choose for oneself what to see and buy .
an excellent look at flynt , his life , and his story .
keep a look out for the real larry flynt who makes a cameo as judge morrissey .
P

review : ghost dog : the way of the samurai ( 1999 ) cast : forest whitaker , henry silva , cliff gorman , john tormey , gene riffini , victor argo , tricia vessey , isaach de bankole ' , camille
winbush director :
jim jarmusch writer : jim jarmusch rating : good shot ( stars ) languid , yet pointed and focused , ghost dog :
the way of the samurai sublimely savages our cultural fascination with the mafia and the sleek , ultra - cool , cinematic image of the hitman .
juxtaposing the samurai 's honor code of feudal japan against the tradition bound modus operandi of the american / italian mafia , it ceaselessly chips away with a sculptor 's precision at the archaic foundations of both as they lumber , dinosaur - like , to function in the modern era .
director jarmusch gleefully plays the iconoclast , ripping into mafioso precepts with splashes of acidic wit .
using a palate of bleached colors , jarmusch lugubriously maintains a tone of desolation that belies the many sparks of laugh out loud humor punctuating the film .
he does n't cater to audience expectations of hyper - colorized , stylized violence and gunplay where no one dies .
the action is presented in flat , brutal codas .
bullets have permanence .
death has consequences .
the movie rises beyond standard conventions to become a meditation on the concepts of honor and loyalty .
it is an anti - movie , of sorts .
there are few photogenic , empathetic characters for the audience to fall in love with .
this is n't a film that lovingly holds your hand .
there are dark , contemplative moments and the film firmly holds you by the shoulder , just so , asserting itself for all to see .
the fulcrum for the movie 's thematic balancing act is ghost dog , a mafia hitman .
a twist on the stereotypical image of the mob enforcer , ghost dog is a hilarious contradiction in terms .
unlike the sleek , muscular killing machines one is accustomed to , we are given an inner city black man who is overweight and slovenly , replete with chapped , dirty hands and rumpled clothing .
he wears a hooded sweatshirt , which he often pulls over his head , giving him a monk - like appearance .
there are no acrobatic back flips and shiny super guns in his arsenal .
he uses old , worn weapons and simply goes about his tasks in economical , efficient and pleasureless fashion .
ghost dog is a disciple of the old ways of the samurai , distilling the essence of his life through the filter of a book , which he reads daily , hagakure : the way of the samurai .
life consists of simple pleasures for him : ice cream , warm rooftop naps and good books .
ghost dog lives , as it were , by the basic tenet expressed by his book ; one should start each day considering oneself as dead .
living atop an abandoned building , surrounded by his flock of pet carrier pigeons , ghost dog exists in a netherworld lacking creature comforts and friends .
he craves nothing more . as he puts it late in the film , " i 've seen all i want to see .
"
he exists in a spiritual world of the mind , gaining moral sustenance from his readings .
ghost dog was n't always as he is presented .
in several roshomon - like flashbacks , it 's shown how ghost dog was assaulted by racist white males and beaten nearly to death until the timely intervention of a good samaritan , that " samaritan " being a foot soldier in an aging crime family .
ghost dog pledges his life to the service of the man , louie ( tormey ) , as repayment .
after years of loyal service , ghost dog is sent , by louie , to kill " handsome frank " , a made man within louie 's organization who has run away with the crime boss 's daughter , louise ( vessey ) .
ghost dog wordlessly executes his task , witnessed by louise , whom he spares , as she sits watching a betty boop cartoon , clutching a copy of the book , roshomon .
in a bit of synchronicity , louise loans the book to ghost dog .
upset that frank was taken out by someone not from the family , the mob bosses , in turn , put out a hit on ghost dog in a perverse twist of loyalty to their assassinated comrade .
the rest of movie holds the dated value systems of both the mafia and ghost dog up to the light of a new millennium with many acerbic asides as the two come factions come into conflict .
the theme of old cartoons flares up time and again , each time showing cartoon violence that is in sharp counterpoint to the reality of ghost dog 's world .
each time a character is shown watching a cartoon , it 's from the same era , betty boop , felix the cat , etc . , a reflection of days gone by .
near the end , louise is watching a cartoon that 's a departure from the previously shown ones .
it 's a bit of audacity on jarmusch 's part that is nicely effective , despite it 's surrealistic nature .
as ghost dog floats through his world , his life is touched by two people .
one is a sage little girl ( winbush ) who connects with ghost dog through their love of reading .
she comes to symbolize a melding of the old ways and new sensibilities , just as louise ultimately does .
by film 's end , the fact that jamusch is so effective at illustrating the tenuous bond between the two is a testament to his skill as a writer .
the other person in ghost dog 's world is an ice cream ( de bankole ' ) vendor who only speaks french , yet intuitively shares a rapport with ghost dog .
the vendor is the literal stranger in a strange land .
jarmusch , through rapper / composer rza , underscores his film with rap and reggae music , which at first blush seems dichotomous , but its primal rhythms serve to strengthen the fundamental nature of the movie .
ghost dog seems to draw some type of strength from the rap music he listens to as he negotiates the streets in various stolen cars .
( which , in and of itself , presents another paradox about ghost 's dog 's sense of honor . )
the head mafioso is played by henry silva with a stone faced resignation .
of all the cartoonish mobsters , he is the only one who appears self aware of his state in the world .
gorman plays sonny , a lieutenant who respects the old ways , yet has a quirky affinity for rap music , a love comically shown in several impromptu displays .
ruffini seems the truest reflection of the mafia .
he is a husk of a man , assisted by two hearing aids , who barks out advice without truly hearing what he , or others are saying .
whitaker carries the film by using what truly great actor 's use , his face .
ghost dog is reticent to speak , often going for long periods without doing so .
the fact that whitaker can convey such a wide range of emotion through a gesture or look is a remarkable talent .
although the film has a deliberate pace , some of the late night drives and walks taken by ghost dog dragged the momentum down .
truly tragic is how ghost dog misinterprets japanese honor in his final confrontation with the mob .
he reveals himself to be so desperate for spiritual guidance through the hagakure that he fails to truly adapt it to what is real and true in his world .
carried on the shoulders of a remarkable performance by whitaker , ghost dog rises beyond being a characterization or icon , into a figure that garners sympathy , if not a bit of pity .

P