TASK DEFINITION: In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.
PROBLEM: usually when one is debating who the modern queen of the romantic comedy is they will bring up names like julia roberts or sandra bullock .
others will mention meg ryan .
but for me , it 's not even close .
janeane garofalo is not only the queen of the romantic comedy , she is the best comic actress in hollywood
right now .
and it 's a good thing she 's starring in the matchmaker , because without her presence the movie would be bland , unfunny , and dull .
garofalo stars as marcy tizard , a top aide to boston senator john mcglory , who is suffering in the polls .
in an attempt to capture the irish vote , he sends marcy on a mission to a small irish town called ballinagra in search of other mcglory 's that never moved to america .
unfortunately for marcy , her visit coincides with the town 's annual matchmaking festival .
things get off to a rocky start for marcy though .
she has no hotel reservations ( for no rational reason ) and the tiny confined room ( tired old cliche ' )
she has to stay in
has a visitor in her bathtub .
his name is sean , and marcy finds him repugnant at first , so you can obviously tell where this is headed .
the movie runs into a few roadblocks .
for instance , the story is very thin .
none of the characters ( except the old local matchmaker ) are nearly as interesting as garofalo .
some of the characters , like the political aide played by denis leary , have wandered in from a completely different movie .
i think the director realized this and decided to throw in numerous shots of the beautiful irish scenery , and
several close - ups of garofalo 's winning smile .
the strange thing is that it works .
garofalo 's charm and the irish scenery could carry the thinnest of stories , and it carries this one .

SOLUTION: P

PROBLEM: billed as a " feminist sex fantasy " , this spirited , imaginative and thoroughly engaging film by the award - winning canadian director cynthia roberts , is destined for extreme reactions .
camille paglia enthusiasts will no doubt champion this heart - felt tale of the title character bubbles galore ( nina hartley ) , a porn - actress - turned - porn - producer who faces an uphill battle in her quest for sexual and economic independence .
however , those in the andrea dworkin camp , will no doubt loathe the film 's decidedly pro - porn stance .
political considerations aside , however , this is a delightful lesbian love story as the film takes us on a whirlwind tour of bubbles ' romantic entanglements with a naive and virginal young porn starlet dory drawers ( shauny sexton ) .
in the backdrop , however is bubbles ' loyal assistant vivian klitorsky ( tracy wright ) who pines longingly for the affections of her bubbly boss .
this femme - butch - femme triangle is what provides the film with considerable humanity * and * sensuality .
in addition to the romantic aspects of the story , bubbles is being stalked and terrorized by her ex - boyfriend godfrey montana ( daniel macivor ) , a slimy porn mogul who wishes to make her life as miserable as he can possibly make it .
when his plans to sabotage her latest film fall through , he snaps and psychotically decides to kill her .
these proceedings are presided over by a most heavenly presence .
god herself - yes , in the world of this film , god , is most definitely a " her " - and a chorus of undulating , scantily - clad angels , have their most watchful and lustful eyes on the events as they unfold ,
adding a lovely fantasy element to this frothy concoction .
this bright , colourful and deliriously sexy film is chock - full of great performances . making her dramatic debut , after appearing in over 300 triple x adult films , porn star nina hartley takes command of her role with considerable assurance and a screen presence which puts many other contemporary ' straight ' actresses to shame .
hartley has overwhelming star power , and one wonders why other non - triple - x producers have n't used her bountiful talents .
it is also interesting to note that hartley appears in the recent release of " boogie nights " , a film which takes a far more traditional doom - and - gloom approach to the porn industry . making a cameo appearance in the role of god , former porn actress annie sprinkle ,
a true artist in her own right - gives the entire film an earthy , sensual glow and certainly solidifies and , by her very appearance
, downright justifies the themes of the movie .
the other performances are equally solid .
daniel macivor appropriately chews up the scenery as the villainous godfrey and tracy wright lends able support with her complex role .
shauny sexton , an erotic dancer and pin - up model , makes an impressive screen debut .
overall , bubbles galore is a film which wears its politics on its sleeve and very proudly indeed .
at one point , the title character declares that " instead of trying to save women from the sex trade , we should be working to ensure that the sex trade is a safe place for women to work " .
the direction by cynthia roberts is daring and subversive .
roberts is not afraid to plunge the otherwise straight - ahead and simple narrative into extended and extremely avant - garde montage sequences .
the love scenes between the women are especially beautiful .
the musical score by nicholas stirling blends cool jazz and lounge stylings , while the skilful cinematography by harald bachmann terrifically captures a blend of garish 70 's porn and psychedelia .
amazingly , this film appears to have received a good deal of its funding from a variety of canadian government cultural agencies .
this speaks volumes towards the importance of state funding for culture , as one can not imagine such an entertaining , original and vital film being made in a traditional setting where conformity and formula rule the day .
bubbles galore seems to be making the film festival rounds and does not , at present , appear to have any traditional distribution in place , so keep your eye on the alternative film listings for this one .
it 's funny , sexy and subversive .
and it should n't be missed .

SOLUTION: P

PROBLEM: you 've got to think twice before you go see a movie with a title like maximum risk .
the title is generic .
it 's meaningless .
and i ca n't believe it 's good business .
when you pick up the phone and dial 777-film , how in the world are you supposed to remember that the new jean - claude van damme movie , the one that looked kind of cool in the trailers and is directed by some chinese hot shot , is called , geez , maximum risk ? yuck .
the movie itself deserves your attention .
for sweet bloody thrills , this one beats the summer blockbuster competition hands - down .
only mission : impossible came close to delivering as skillful a thriller , and i 'll give maximum risk the edge simply because it 's not as slick as the tom cruise picture , and therefore more gratifying in its execution .
much to my surprise , van damme continues to develop as a pleasant , unpretentious action hero .
his track record is n't as solid as schwarzenegger 's , but he 's a hell of a lot more adventurous than arnold .
in 1993 , van damme worked with hong kong 's premier hardcore action director , john woo , on a fairly lame movie called hard target .
( if you can find a bootleg copy , woo 's radically different director 's cut is much better than what was eventually released . )
this follow - up is directed by ringo lam ( city on fire , full contact ) , whose hong kong films are distinguished action pictures that have consistently played second fiddle to woo 's more operatic offerings .
the surprise here is that maximum risk is a more effective hollywood action flick than either hard target or woo 's subsequent broken arrow .
here 's the rundown .
van damme plays a french cop named alain moreau who is shaken when a policeman friend ( jean - hugues anglade ) finds a corpse that 's alain 's exact double .
turns out alain was separated at birth from his twin brother , michael , who has been killed by some russian heavies ( and some strangely american looking cops ) .
alain does some investigating .
he finds that michael had booked a flight to new york city , and received a message from someone there named alex bohemia .
assuming michael 's identity , alain flies to new york and gets tangled up with michael 's girlfriend ( natasha henstridge ) , the fbi , and the russian mob in little odessa .
that 's as much as you need to know .
the story is adequate , but not overly involving -- and the major plot points are basically explained to you twice , just in case you go out for popcorn at the wrong moment .
there 's a love story , too , but i did n't find it terribly convincing , partly because ex - model henstridge is too high - strung in her high - profile debut
( she had precious few lines as the alien ice queen in species ) .
she 's great to look at , and she can certainly read a line , but what she does here ca n't really be described as " acting .
" of course , " acting " is n't really what she was hired for ( i lost track of whether her shirt comes off more often than van damme 's ) .
the movie is exceptionally violent , bordering on gratuity .
( keep that in mind when planning your date . )
the stunts are spectacular , and the fact that you can spot van damme 's stand - in makes his work no less impressive .
there 's only so much you can do with a car wreck , but this movie makes crisp , effective use of pile - ups in a handful of frenzied destruction derbies .
and lam has a surprising , innovative sense of exactly where the camera should go to catch any bit of action .
the main difference between lam and woo , i believe , is that while woo relies on sheer spectacle to gas up his action show pieces , lam has figured out more about using cinematic space and double - barreled points of view to make things run .
do n't get me wrong -- when chow yun - fat soars through space pumping bullets out of two pistols and chewing on a toothpick with glass and confetti littering the air around him in woo 's hard - boiled , it 's an amazing moment .
but it 's a moment that 's hard to reproduce in hollywood .
( for one thing , hollywood does n't yet have chow yun - fat ! )
while woo 's hollywood movies look like the work of a talented upstart , maximum risk is a surprisingly confident picture .
the very first shot of the film is an awkward overhead view of a chase through the streets of a european city , but lam 's use of odd camera angles becomes more efficient later on .
the film editing is a particularly savvy complement to lam 's shooting style , accentuating rather than amplifying the action .
the performances could have used some fine tuning ( in particular , there 's an annoying , overwritten manhattan cab driver in the early scenes who should have been toned down or jettisoned completely ) , and the movie does n't always overcome the limitations of its genre .
the story is a little mundane , although there are some effective moments involving van damme 's unrequited feelings toward the brother he never knew he had .
but it 's not often that hollywood cranks out a truly satisfying action picture
,
and it 's doubly surprising that this one should come with a mere whisper of publicity .
van damme fans should treat themselves to what may well be the man 's best movie , and international action buffs will no doubt savor this flavorful hong kong / hollywood hybrid .

SOLUTION:
P