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

[Q]: one night , during a torrential downpour that flooded the streets , we went to see -- what else -- hard rain .
"
so , are we all going to die ?
"
the sheriff ( randy quaid ) asks in the story 's opening line as he evacuates his flooded town .
the answer is pretty much yes , but not nearly soon enough . and to add insult to injury , the supposedly dead , regretfully , often turn out not to be so . populating this bad tv - movie - of - the - week material are a host of talented actors .
one can only hope they were rewarded handsomely for acting in this hopelessly muddled picture .
besides the obvious hardships of acting most scenes while dog paddling in the water , they will all receive black marks on their records for appearing in this dismal movie .
graham yost 's script serves up one cliche after another for the actors , who thankfully managed to mumble quite a few of the lines .
director mikael salomon 's staging is so confusing that you may have trouble figuring out what is happening .
the befuddled presentation is exacerbated by peter menzies , jr .
's dark and ugly cinematography .
the plot concerns an armored car that gets stuck in the raging water .
onboard are guards tom and his uncle charlie .
christian slater , who is much better in his tender roles as in untamed heart , plays tom .
edward asner drops by briefly to take on the role of the soon to be dead charlie .
coming to their " rescue " is a gang headed by jim , played on autopilot by the great actor morgan freeman .
he views the loot , three million dollars worth , as his retirement plan .
the entire movie is one big watery chase with the sheriff and his posse tracking jim and his gang , who are in turn after tom .
along the way , tom picks up a love interest in the person of a crucifix - weapon wielding woman named karen , played in a totally wasted performance by minnie driver .
the action sequences are repetitive and without much interest .
they do feature lots of explosions and gunfire to keep you awake .
christopher young 's emotionless score
for the film has a single trait , ear - shattering loudness .
the plot holes are as big as the ones in the dam that breaks , submerging the town .
the characters have an infinite number of bullets and rarely do they have to bother reloading their guns .
the weapons and the ammunition spend most of the time under water or being rained on but always fire perfectly .
when one of the bad guys drops a gun into the water , it stays in the same place until much later when tom swims to get it , even though the swift water is so strong it is uprooting large trees .
counting these improbabilities is one of the more enjoyable ways to spend your time as you wait for the characters to kill each other .
the show has a single , but unprintable , good line .
betty white plays an incessantly bossy wife , and , when her hen - pecked husband finally told her off , our audience roared with laughter .
the show concludes with a sickening set of twists .
the best that can be said of the picture is that it is merely stupefyingly awful as opposed to laughably bad .
hard rain runs 1 : 37 .
it is rated r for violence and would be fine for teenagers .
( the two families behind us shockingly had a half - dozen preschoolers among them . )
[A]: N


[Q]: on re - watching italian writer / director dario argento 's much lauded murder mystery tenebrae , i was struck more than anything else by how many sins he commits as a storyteller and manages to get away with .
in emphasising style over matters of plot argento is somewhat notorious in cult film circles , but some aficionados still praise tenebrae as the greatest of his " giallo " murder mysteries .
while it 's certainly not perfect , repeated viewings reveal it to be nonetheless a densely plotted and terrifically stylish thriller .
the story follows a promotional visit to rome by famous american mystery novelist peter neal ( anthony franciosa ) where he discovers that a serial killer is on the loose inspired by his latest book " tenebrae " .
with the police on his back for leads , he decides to take a personal interest in the case and he soon becomes drawn into a mystery where all is not as it seems .
the film benefits enormously from a fine central performance by franciosa .
he brings grace , charm and a deceptive benigness to his character which provides an interesting foil to both the violence of the books he writes and the unfolding real - life horror around him .
the film is awash with a fascinating psychosexual tension .
argento peels back the facade of showbiz and jetset lifestyles to reveal an amoral , ambivalent , shadowy world where desire in all its forms has become a dangerous business .
tenebrae is perhaps the most multi - layered of argento 's scripts to date and there is much bubbling underneath the surface here .
it may take at least two or three viewings to appreciate all the psychological themes at play .
in that respect it strongly recalls his previous giallo deep red / profondo rosso ( the full - length italian language version ) and fans will enjoy spotting the recurring themes .
needless to say for argento fans , there is no denying the director 's brilliance as a stylist .
many of the action and murder sequences are directed with his characteristic finesse and feature plenty of intriguing camerawork .
they are all the more impressive for the fact that in this film argento creates mood by filling his scenes with light , rather than the dark shadows and deep rich colours of earlier works like deep red and suspiria .
instead , tenebrae 's set design and lighting paints a sleek , clinical , chilly vision of a vaguely futuristic urban world .
and the soundtrack 's mix of electronic atmospheres and gothic rock by frequent argento collaborators goblin is the perfect accompaniment .
so tenebrae has much to recommend it , no question .
still , constantly nagging at the back of this viewers mind is several lumps in the narrative .
some critics argue that logic does n't matter in argento films , but damnit , it matters in all films to the point where viewers do n't deserve to feel cheated .
by the way , if you do n't want to know the solution to the mystery then skip the next three paragraphs .
about an hour into tenebrae the story takes an unexpected twist which , properly handled , could have proved ingenious .
we witness the murder of the serial killer himself by a man who , we later discover , is none other than the author peter neal .
he is insane , apparently .
the murders then continue for the remainder of the film as neal decides it 's time to settle some personal business involving his neurotic wife .
he is finally revealed to us as this " second killer " in the film 's bloody climax .
but argento muffs the twist , both technically and narratively .
you see , we are supposed to be tricked into thinking that during this scene peter neal is actually an innocent witness who was crouching in the bushes nearby the whole time and spying on the killer 's house .
but thanks to poor editing , its had to believe neal could have murdered the killer anyway .
bad cutting puts the timing way out .
in other words , he 's almost in two places at once .
during this crucial scene we are also thrown a ridiculous red herring .
by the film 's end you realise that for the sake of an alibi neal must have self - inflicted a nasty injury in this earlier scene to make it look like he was attacked by a fleeing assailant .
the injury ?
he banged himself on the head with a bloody great rock !
thus , the revelation of the " hero " as a killer ( and anti - hero ) in the final scenes may still prove shocking , but its all somewhat implausible by the time the end credits have rolled .
helpfully , in the end we do learn that the bizarre flashbacks of personal humiliation and murder that have permeated the film belonged to neal all along .
but there too is a problem , as the explanations offered for his motivations are psychologically fuzzy to say the least .
the story owes us a better understanding of franciosa 's mind , his concealed madness and his sudden murderous rampage .
tenebrae is also marred by annoying little inconsistencies .
for instance , a teenage boy and girl leave a hotel room and minutes
later we see the girl riding off on the back of a motorbike .
we would assume the rider is the same boy , but it turns out to be some male character we are n't even introduced too !
that 's careless filmmaking , pure and simple .
why , you may ask , do i go on about the story 's flaws ?
because when it comes to visuals and set pieces , argento is one of the most exciting filmmakers in the world .
take one of the extended scenes in tenebrae .
an upset girl wandering the streets at night needlessly taunts a guard dog to the point where - almost unbelievably - it jumps a high fence and chases her across town .
finally , as she desperately seeks escape from this crazed canine , she accidentally stumbles on the serial killer 's lair .
it 's an absolutely masterful sequence , tense and exciting , and communicating a wealth of information through visuals alone .
and that 's exactly the kind of thing that makes the flaws so frustrating .
too often , it seems , argento 's films as a whole are less than the sum of their impressive parts .
mind you , if you love murder mysteries then tenebrae is still worth a look .
and if you 're a fan of argento 's unique style of giallo thriller then it 's essential .
see the uncut widescreen version if you can and drink in some of the wonderful cinematography by luciano tovoli .
it 's a stylish , great - looking and quirky film despite the problem narrative .
a shame , because it does n't have to be that way .
take argento 's more recent stendhal syndrome ( 1992 ) , where with the aid of co - writer franco ferrini he fashioned a solid storyline without sacrificing any of his surreal weirdness or visual panache .
proof that he can do it , if he tries . . .
[A]: P


[Q]: this is the movie not the perfume .
a slow moving , stylish psychological thriller in imitation of hitchcock 's vertigo .
it is adapted from an original story by brian de palma and paul schrader , and is directed by de palma and scripted by schrader .
set in new orleans , 1959 , it shows the wealthy michael courtland ( cliff robertson ) sitting on top of the world , celebrating his tenth wedding anniversary with a party in his mansion , as his lovely wife elizabeth ( genevi ?
ve bujold ) and young daughter amy ( blackman ) ,
both look up to him beaming with joy .
his real - estate development partner bob la salle ( john lithgow ) proposes a toast to him and to their prosperous business , while his high society friends give him their best wishes . upon retiring for the night , his daughter and wife are kidnapped in their bedroom
and he is left with a ransom note to deliver $ 500 , 000 tomorrow or they will be killed .
inspector brie ( stanley reyes ) comes up with a plan to put in phony money and a transmitter in the briefcase exchange , as that will lead them to the kidnappers .
but the kidnappers burst out of the house surrounded by the police , taking the two victims with them and in the pursuing police chase , the kidnapper 's car explodes and goes over the bridge , where none of the bodies were found .
grieving the loss of his wife and child , the guilt - ridden michael builds them a tomb on the expensive land they were to develop .
sixteen years later he goes with his partner bob on a vacation and he revisits florence , italy , where he met his wife .
when he goes to the church where they met , he sees a young girl who looks exactly like his wife .
her name is sandra portinari ( genevi ?
ve bujold )
and she 's working there restoring art that is decaying .
he falls instantly in love with her and does n't heed bob 's warnings that she might be a gold digger and decides to take her back to new orleans and marry her .
sandra becomes his second chance to prove his love , as he thinks he can finally put the past behind him .
the surprises to come were n't really all that surprising , as the beauty in the storytelling is almost exclusively in the understated acting by the soul stricken cliff robertson , the emotionally impactful performance by genevi ?
ve bujold , and the competent acting of john lithgow .
it plays too much like a rehash of the master 's work , to break any new ground , yet
it is still thrilling in its own way .
[A]:
P