instruction:
In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.
question:
"
some houses are born bad , " goes the haunting 's tag line , to which i must add , " some movies , too .
"
nothing short of hiring a new cast , a more literate screenwriter , and a new director could have saved this tragically misguided adaptation of jackson 's meritorious novel .
the haunting is late entry summer dreck too slick to be creepy , and its seemingly endless stream of digital trickery and spooky ooky sound effects do n't frighten so much as numb the audience into submission
- the film is like a rube goldberg contraption rigged to shout " boo .
" fragile nell ( taylor ) , bisexual theo ( zeta - jones ) , and smiley luke ( wilson ) are three insomniacs who gather at the reputedly possessed hill house for an extended study on sleep disorders , hosted by professor marrow ( neeson ) .
marrow 's secretly gathering data on their respective paranoid responses to his recount of hill house 's bleak history .
he 's not prepared for the very real apparitions that terrorize the crew , nell especially , who has some ancestral connection to the manor 's previous inhabitants .
taylor is thoroughly insufferable in her first big - budget lead .
for starters , her consistently dour expression sucks the life out of even the early scenes , when we 're introduced to the mansion and all its fun - house trappings .
her character is supposed to be depressed , having tended to an unloving mother for too many years , but taylor plays nell as supernaturally lame , alternately grouchy , mopey , wiggy and pathetic , and i kept wondering why the other characters did n't just ditch this bitch
.
as for the obscenely photogenic zeta - jones , she breezes through her scenes with a wink and a smile and takes the scenery with her .
unfortunately , she 's saddled with some of the most unlikely dialogue the screenplay has to offer .
theo 's assessment of the house ?
"
i love it !
sort of charles foster kane meets the munsters .
" who on earth would say that in place of " citizen kane meets the munsters " ?
( furthermore , would you gladly spend a single night in a house befitting that description ? )
both actresses fare better than neeson , who looks embarrassed to be a part of this ensemble ( and for good reason ) , and his character is the most bland .
as luke puts it , dr .
marrow pulls the old " academic bait and switch " on his subjects , but he breaks down and confesses to this the second he 's accused .
later , he risks his life by climbing a crumbling stairwell to save nell ( it 's amusing to hear neeson shout " nell " repeatedly , given his starring role in the 1994 jodie foster vehicle of the same name ) .
why was this nice , helpful , and redemptive researcher so absent of ethics at the start ?
the haunting was well designed by eugenio zanetti .
his sets are obsessively detailed , and even before the cgi kicks in , they seem alive , never quite still .
i do have one beef with this aspect of the production :
the real life mansion used in exterior shots , nottinghamshire 's harlaxton manor , is so vast that one has trouble believing that nell and company , no matter how much running away they do from ghosts and goblins , always finish up in locations that were established in act one , as if all the action has been confined to one wing of hill house .
eighty million dollars was spent on the haunting , and despite a powerhouse box office debut ,
i doubt it will recoup its costs ( including marketing ) domestically .
thank jan de bont for that : proving for the third time that speed was a fluke , in that it was actually enjoyable , de bont has served up another ride , sans thrill .
his images , well - lit though they are , have an unmistakable been there - done that quality
; in fact , whole sequences , not to mention the cloaked , airy ghoul who owns the climax , feel lifted from a much smarter and infinitely more enjoyable spectacle from three summers back , peter jackson 's the frighteners .
i do n't mean to suggest de bont is a plagiarist , i mean to suggest that he 's a hack , having found no new ways to give us chills .
answer:
N


question:
plot : good ol' texan kid suddenly gets to play first - string quarterback on his high school team 's football team , in a town where football is considered religion .
the coach is just about the biggest a - hole you 'd ever want to meet , who will do practically anything to win .
the good ol' texan boy does not approve of said man 's methods .
critique :
a fun football movie .
this film was obviously geared towards the teen market , with mtv behind its production , a big tv star actor in the lead role , rockin ' hip music galore , and plenty of t&a .
having said that , i enjoyed the look and feel of the movie
, thought james van der beek gave a solid performance , loved the slick sounds , and yup , loved that t&a !
i actually thought this was a comedy going in , but overall , it plays more towards the dramatic , than a comedy .
i also enjoyed jon voight 's performance as the stubborn dick coach , as well as many of the other character players on the team .
this is not a classic film by any stretch of the imagination , but it might teach some kids the hard lessons behind the " fun " game of football , or just allow them to have a good time for about an hour and forty - five minutes in the movie theatre ( or in the comfort of their own home , depending on where you watch this stuff . )
all in all , i would definitely watch this movie if you like football , play football or want your kid to succeed in high school football .
you could also watch it if you like teen flicks with a lot of cute guys and girls running around doing their stuff .
and did i mention the t&a ? : ) little known facts about this film and its stars : james van der beek actually started acting after a concussion stopped him from playing football in real life .
he is the oldest of three children , and his father is a cellular phone salesman while his mom runs a gymnastics studio .
he 's born in connecticut and received $ 200 , 000 for his role in this film .
actor scott caan , who plays football player " tweeder " in this film , is the son of famed actor james caan in real life .
that 's right
, he 's sonny 's son !
actress amy smart , who plays van der beek 's girlfriend in this movie , also played the main star 's girl in the 1999 film outside providence ( 6 . 5/10 ) .
screenwriter w .
peter iliff also had a part in writing the screenplays for the 1992 harrison ford film , patriot games , and the keanu reeves surfing flick , point break .
director brian robbins might be best remembered as the " cool dude " from the tv series " head of the class " .
his name was eric mandrian and he generally wore a long , black trench coat on the show .
the book mox ( james van der beek ) is reading on the sidelines in this movie , hidden inside the team 's playbook , is " slaughterhouse - five " by kurt vonnegut , jr .
the high school fight song played at the pep rally is the texas a&m war hymn .
answer:
P


question:
a wonderful little movie that is really interested in its characters and in its theme .
the scene of " second best " is laid in wales .
james ( chris cleary miles ) is a 10-year - old boy who must live in a home because his father ( keith allen ) is in prison and his mother committed suicide .
james is a mentally unbalanced child .
he ca n't forget what happened in the past , and he dreams of living a happy life with his beloved father .
in the home he feels sadly and lonely .
one day , a social worker ( alan cumming ) tells him of a person who wants to adopt him .
this person is graham holt ( william hurt ) .
graham manages a post office and shop in a village .
he is a single and has n't any real friends .
his mother is dead , and his father is ill and will die .
graham feels that he has been a disappointment to his parents .
there has never been real love between his parents and him .
graham 's monotonous life would get a new sense if he could adopt james .
but graham has not only to convince the institutions , but must also win the love of james .
james and graham have to open theirselves .
they must get to know each other and learn to understand and trust the other person .
james and graham aid each other to cope with their problems .
but will their relationship really have a future ?
" second best " is based on a novel by david cook who also wrote the screenplay .
the film was directed by chris menges who had made his directing debut with the very good anti - apartheid drama " a world apart " ( 1987/88 ) .
and maybe , " second best " is even a greater picture .
this precise , richly detailed , sensitively and convincingly directed study about a special adoption treats its theme with great seriousness .
the breathtakingly intense film shows the necessity of human contact and communication .
william hurt delivers an outstanding performance as graham holt .
and chris cleary miles is remarkably convincing in the role of the boy .
the supporting cast is also fine ( especially jane horrocks as debbie , a social worker who is charged to examine graham 's living circumstances ) . " second best " is an underestimated masterpiece .
it 's a pity that films like this one are made so seldom
.
i eagerly await menges ' next directorial work , " the lost son " , which will star daniel auteuil .
answer:

P