In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.
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Question: martin scorsese 's films used to intimidate me .
because of his reputation , i felt obligated to appreciate them as deep film art rather than as great flicks .
as much as i enjoyed them
, i usually felt like i missed something .
i learned from scorsese 's casino that whatever techniques he uses are merely there to enhance the story .
no mystical interpretation is required to appreciate his movies .
for example , in casino he uses subtitles when robert deniro and joe pesci are using code words with each other .
there was no meaning more exotic than that subtitles were the most succinct way for him to tell the audience what was really going on .
or toward the end , when he uses three quick dissolves to compress a scene of a car backing away from a building .
again , the simple , mundane explanation is that it helped the pacing .
i do n't mean to say that his techniques are not creative or good - looking .
but he simply uses the best tool for the job .
it should n't have surprised me , then , that kundun , a film about a mystical religion , actually turned out to be quite straightforward .
the movie follows the life of the 14th dalai lama , the spiritual and political leader of tibet .
the movie 's title is another name for the dalai lama which means " ocean of wisdom .
"
his story is told in strict chronological order and there are only a few cinematic visions to embellish the literal story .
( one of which makes an interesting statement : pay attention to the film 's opening shot and watch where it is repeated . )
we first glimpse the dalai lama when he is two years old .
his curiosity and self - assuredness capture the attention of a monk wandering in search of the new lama .
a test is arranged to see if this boy really is the reincarnation of the 13 dalai lamas who have gone before .
several items belonging to the previous dalai lama are laid before the boy alongside some other items .
the child is asked if he recognizes any of the items as his own .
the boy picks correctly , proving that he is the new , and the old , dalai lama .
scorsese and long - time editor thelma schoonmaker were kind enough to allow the possibility that the child was taking his cues from the monk .
before selecting an item , he would look at the monk , perhaps for some sort of confirmation .
sometimes he picked right the first time , and sometimes he made a second choice .
either way , whether through reincarnation or quick human perception , the tibetans were assured of choosing a boy who could be a wise , perceptive leader .
> from this point on , the boy is raised as the reincarnation of the lama 's spirit and the future leader of a nation .
it is a great weight to put on the mind of a child .
in the u. s. it might be grounds for a call to social services .
but the young lama accepts his destiny without any apparent emotional damage .
neither the great power nor the awesome responsibility keeps him from becoming a genuinely likeable , well - rounded person .
certain patterns take shape over the years .
for example , the dalai lama is fascinated by technology .
radios , clocks , and telescopes are some of his favorite toys .
when he is old enough to accept his leadership , he makes plans to modernize isolated tibet .
he also has a soft spot for creatures who are suffering or in pain , including herd animals .
it 's nearly a running gag that he will buy sheep to keep them from being herded to slaughter .
but the most ominous constant throughout his life is the presence and threat of tibet 's gigantic neighbor , china .
tibet and its leaders prove correct in fearing china , as , first the propaganda , then the political pressure , and finally the armies , come across their common border .
the chinese invasion is so successful that the lama 's life is in danger if he stays .
the movie ends when , after much agonizing , the dalai lama leaves tibet for india .
the story does n't lead up to a cinematic climax as strongly as most feature films do .
it just does n't fit that mold . if it were forced into such a shape it would have been a completely different movie ( perhaps more like seven years in tibet , which is good in its own right ) .
the pacing of kundun is more calm and level than that .
the structure of the film is made to fit the characters and events , not vice - versa .
perhaps because the pace is slower , we have more time to notice the beautiful art , vestments , and architecture of tibet .
a mandala , ( tibetan sand painting ) with beautiful , vibrant colors is shown throughout the movie .
the robes and hats of state are bright red and gold .
the bricks are a rich reddish brown , not unlike the skin tone of the tibetans .
even the touchstone pictures logo before the movie ( which is usually light blue ) is the red and gold of tibet .
philip glass composed the music for kundun ,
and he was the perfect choice .
for those who do n't know of glass , his music is like a tibetan mandala .
his building blocks are lots of small notes , tiny grains of music , which are first grouped , then repeated in patterns .
these patterns create interesting textures which are themselves part of a larger composition .
people wo n't be flocking to kundun for
it 's great ending , or talking about its outstanding plot , but it does have a lot to offer : an interesting lifetime , exotic sights , rich cinematography , and innovative music .
it gives interesting insight into tibetan buddhism and takes a warm look at the dalai lama as a person .
on top of it all is the cinematic mastery of martin scorsese , who gives the film a strong , beautiful , consistent look .

Answer: P


Question: the reunion film is not an original idea in any way , shape , or form .
it 's been done throughout film history over and over again , and has become one of the many sub - genres , like the prep school sub - genre , the angst - filled teen sub - genre , and the slasher sub - genre .
what makes " peter 's friends
" so remarkable is not how it does n't follow the rules of this sub - genre , but how it follows it so well , and creates characters that i would n't mind hanging with .
what are the rules of the reunion sub - genre ?
well .
. .
. 1 .
you need a group of friends , most of them married or at least dating , and sometimes even married or dating eachother .
2 .
you need to have them brought back together over some sort of a crisis .
3 .
they are not to have spoken together much since they split apart .
4 .
the reunion has to come in intervals divisible by 10 . 5 .
they all have to be slightly to highly neurotic .
6 .
the reunion has to bring them together , seperate them with little crises , then bring them back together because , after all , they 're friends .
7 .
there has to be some sex or at least some making out either between the friends or with other people that are there or were invited .
8 .
eightly , they 're all unhappy or marginally so .
9 .
there 's some sort of sexual tension amongst some of them that 's built up over the years .
10 .
the friends are all wildly successful in the world of entertainment and the arts , sometimes internationally so .
11 .
the film is filled with nostalgic radio hits from the time when they were friends , sometimes causing them to get together in dance / song .
since it follows these rules so closely , it will probably be ( and has been ) coined off as just a " british ' big chill . '
" and in some ways it is .
both follow the rules , as i said , and both feature lots of bitching , big confessionals , and broken relationships .
but while " the big chill " was , at least to me , a tad too whiny and unsatisfying , " peter 's friends " hits its mark , making this film funny , dramatic , and poignant .
the friends of peter 's were all in the same theatre group back in ' 82 , performig wildly outrageous british acts for people far too stuck up to enjoy them
( the opening scene has them all dancing in tux tops and tutus ) .
after peter 's ( stephen fry ) wealthy father ( richard briers , hardly on screen enough to register , but oh well ) dies , leaving a giant mansion to him , he has to decide whether or not to keep it .
not sure what to do with it immeadiately , he decides to throw a giant reunion party , inviting back all his old chums .
of course , all or most of his chums follow the tenth rule .
andrew ( kenneth branagh , also directing here ) is an actor who 's unhappily married to a tv star , carol ( co - writer rita rudner ) .
maggie ( emma thompson )
is a successfuly publisher of self - help books , but looks like she needs them more than her customers , as she is lonely and unhappy .
roger and mary ( hugh laurie and imelda staunton , who were also married in " sense and sensibility " ) are married , and are the most successful creators of jingles in the uk , but have suffered a tragedy as one of their newly born twins has recently died .
and sarah ( alphonsia emmanuel ) is as promiscuous as ever , having a new boyfriend as of two weeks named brian ( tony slattery ) who 's married and wants a divorce because of her , giving her doubts .
as for peter , things seem okay . . .
the film features lots of inner - friend jokes , and even some old theatre anecdotes ( which i at least find a lot of fun in , as i 've done lots of theatre myself ) .
and there are big confessions , brawls between the friends , and by the end , almost everyone is unhappy , even though some have resolved their problems long before the end ( which i kinda dug ) .
the final twist would seem forced an anti - climactic , but for some reason , i felt the same way the rest of the friends did .
maybe it 's because the people in this film are so likable that i just wanted to join their clique .
that 's really what makes " peter 's friends
" so lovable
: the way you just want to hang with a group of friends who can be so dysfuntional sometimes , but when someone 's in crisis , can come together wonderfully for one another .
it 's when you have a giant crisis like this and people want to selflessly help you out instead of subtely pushing you away
that makes you realize you have true friends , and these people are true friends .
not to mention kenneth branagh is able to make the film seem nostalgic for the 80s
( a decade i grew up in , unfortunately ) without taking us outside of the 90s .
there are some 80s classics and anti - classics like tears for fears " everybody wants to rule the world , " but unfortunately no stupid / fun 80s songs ( i think if i ever did an 80s reunion film , i 'd put some crap go gos song on , or at least some good old " come on eileen " ) , but this is the british 80s we 're talking about .
oh well .
but anyway , the direction is pretty good , although nothing amazing .
branagh 's forte is really making shakespeare fresh and magical , but at least he 's very good with making a less ambiguous film like this .
the writing is good from rita rudner and martin bregman , with lots of good one - liners , and even some really bad but good puns ( to mock the fact that andrew lives in l .
a .
, peter , while cutting some logs , asks him is he has wood in l .
a . , and andrew says ,
" no ,
but we have hollywood
" - punishment like that ) .
the actors , as in most speaking movies , are better than their material , though , with some stand - out performances to the six friends , as well as the outsiders like slattery , rudner , and phyllida law as the old housekeeper of the peter 's mansion .
a little note should be made about hugh laurie 's performance , as he looks like he took some massive doses of prozac before doing this - i mean , i 've never seen him actually act this dramatically .
"
peter 's friends " is a really enjoyable film which makes people like me pine for some sort of future reunion , although i do n't know what kind i 'll have ( like most people , i do n't look forward to my high school reunion ) .
because of the way these friends are still able to maintain the same amount of care they have for one another and after such a long period of seperation , i just look forward to the day when i can have friends like that .

Answer: P


Question: when people are talking about good old times , they actually want to make some bad times look better .
nice example of such behaviour is contemporary attitude of popular media towards the 1970s .
for new generations , superseventies are the lost golden age of chic fashion , cult tv shows and sexual freedom unchecked by aids .
for people who actually had to live in that period , it was the gloomy decade , marked by lost ideals of 1968 , rampant inflation and unemployment , international terrorism , fuel crisis and loss of faith in almost anything that previous generation stood for .
feelings of despair and nihilism found its reflections in many films of that era .
martin scorsese 's taxi driver , which symbolises both the glory and despair of the seventies , is most celebrated of them all .
the movie 's protagonist is travis bickle ( robert de niro ) , 26-year old former marine who takes the job of taxi driver in new york city because he ca n't sleep at nights .
the job gets him exposed to the dark side of apocalyptic megalopolis , and travis gradually gets alienated from the rest of world .
the only bright spot in his life is betsy ( cybil sheperd ) , attractive woman working in senator palantine 's presidential campaign .
their date ends as humiliating fiasco because travis makes fatal mistake by inviting her to porno movie theatre .
losing his only link to better side of the world , travis gradually descends into psychosis , becoming convinced that his mission in life is to battle scum on the street .
he purchases a formidable arsenal of guns and begins physical preparations for the inevitable conflict .
that conflict finally comes when he takes personal interest in iris ( jodie foster ) , 12-year old prostitute who temporarily took refuge in his taxi .
as many great movies that got cult status through the years , taxi driver became the object of many interpretations .
for some critics and scholars it is an exploration of universal subjects that date back to dostoyevski - loss of moral compass in a bleak reality of dirty , overpopulated industrial cities ; the story could have been set in 19th century same as in our times .
for others , the movie uses raskolnikov - like figure in order to portray burning problems of 1970s america - its apparent inability to deal with the consequences of rapid social changes that occurred in previous decade .
brilliant performance of robert de niro in role of a lifetime can give arguments for both sides .
his travis bickle has a lot in common with most of the average viewers of today - many of us share his feelings of isolation , loneliness and outrage towards crime , drugs , prostitution and senseless street violence .
his pathetic attempts to establish some kind of human connection with the people around him , sometimes in most unusual circumstances - like with secret service agents , pimps or job interviewers - make him a person too goofy to be the hero , and too pathetic to be the classic villain .
however , most of the average viewers are sensible enough to recognise the tin line that separate concerned citizens or troubled souls from fanatical madmen .
but despite anything , average viewer at the end actually cheers for travis - his crusade against " scum " is something that average person wants , but does n't have a stomach / lack of brains to do it .
while de niro 's travis might come in and out of particular times and places , other persons that appear in the film ( mostly played by the character actors ) give it distinctively 1970s feel .
wizzard ( played by peter boyle ) presents the only link with america 's better past ; but only because he is the oldest taxi driver in company and therefore everybody assumes that he " knows stuff " .
his obvious inadequacy in giving advice to troubled travis illustrates the inability of pre-1960s generations to find answers to the problems of gloomy decade .
other characters , on the other hand , show the bad side of new age .
matthew " sport
" ( keitel , who befriended real - life pimps in other to prepare for his role of a lifetime ) is dressed like a hippie ; iris found excuse for her escape to the world of drugs and child prostitution in a ideology of counterculture .
porno movies , that should be the element of new times of sexual freedom , are too much even for supposedly " liberated " betsy .
even the politicians , like senator palantine , are lost in post - vietnam and post - watergate mess ; his broad and senseless " messages " that cover the lack of any serious program ca n't fool even such idiots like travis .
the past is gone , the present is bad , and even the future seems bleak , and the feeling of pessimism ca n't be washed away even by ironic happy end .
travis and his world found themselves in a desperate situation , and martin scorsese uses the best of his cinematic skills in order to spill the gloom of schrader 's screenplay into the silver screen .
new york city in the night is portrayed as a hell on earth , and the red light and steam coming out of sewers give it surreal , almost stygian atmosphere .
another important element of the atmosphere is score of great bernard herrman , whose efficient use of jazz elements gives some melancholy that softens the brutality of motion picture .
one of the greatest ironies of taxi driver is the fact that the movie was , same as his protagonist , famous for the wrong reason .
instead of receiving cult status because of his artistic merits , for many years it was tabloid - fodder because of hinckley and his real - life re - enactment of events in the movie .
now , more than two decades later , when some other " life imitating art " incidents get more attention , we can finally enjoy taxi driver in all its artistic glory .

Answer:
P