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

Q: what makes reindeer games even more disappointing than just a predictable , lifeless action flick is the cast and crew who signed onto the project .
most of the people involved in reindeer games just came off terrible slumps with excellent comeback performances in their most recent films .
john frankenheimer , who made the unforgettable cold war drama the manchurian candidate way back in the early 60 's , recently showed critics and fans alike that he still had some magic left in his directorial skills when he created the brilliant car chase scenes in ronin .
screenwriter ehren kruger gave a remarkable first impression when he wrote the script for the underrated arlington rd .
ben affleck displayed his comedic talents in dogma and boiler room , and even on saturday night live directly after the horrible forces of nature and 200 cigarettes .
even charlize theron , who i was convinced could n't act , did a decent job in cider house rules .
when all of these bright stars come together , one would assume that the movie will have great potential to be entertaining .
after coming out of the theater showing reindeer games , disbelief was my first reaction ?
then frustration .
the movie could have premiered on cinemax at two in the morning starring an all - rookie cast and still would have been equally lacking in entertaining .
the acting is so pitiful and the script so dull
, i may have to rethink some of my opinions on how talented these actors actually are .
it seemed like everyone was restricted to just the script and not given a fair amount of improvisational rights .
we have all seen ben affleck have some fun on the set , it is so apparent in a number of scenes in good will hunting when he exchanges jokes with his friends at a bar .
the actors in that movie were having fun and , from that , the audience had fun .
reindeer games is the complete opposite ; the actors do n't seem to want to be their characters ( even danny trejo , who will do practically anything , does n't look like he is enjoying himself ) , causing the audience to quickly lose interest .
evidence of public disapproval was noted when a woman behind me yelled " boy this movie is horrible ! " and when there were scattered giggles during the most dramatic moments .
the story follows a man , rudy ( ben affleck ) , who is leaving prison in a few days along with his best friend and cellmate nick ( james frain ) .
nick has been exchanging love letters with a beautiful woman , ashley ( charlize theron ) , and can not wait to leave prison and meet her in person .
when nick is killed in a prison riot , rudy decides to pretend to be nick and take ashley out on a date for the christmas holidays .
unfortunately ashley 's brother , gabriel ( gary sinise ) interferes with their relationship .
thinking rudy is nick , he kidnaps rudy and threatens to kill him unless he helps rob a casino , which nick use to work at as a security guard .
now rudy must pretend to be nick so he can protect ashley from her brother gabriel .
confused ?
the movie only gets more complex as it goes on , until it gets way , way too complex at its climax .
but reindeer games makes its first serious mistake during the first half an hour .
the hero commits a greedy , selfish act when he decides to pretend he is his dead cellmate in order to date ashley .
some hero .
the point of a hero is to do the morally correct thing , a person for the audience to relate to or admire .
when rudy lies and cheats his way into trouble , instead of gathering support from me for him to ultimately succeed in getting the bad guys , i felt more like he was getting what he deserved and even wanted to see him fail at times .
the most irritating part of the film
( besides the fact that this is a christmas movie released in february ) is the number of chances the bad guys get to kill rudy but fail or delay for some idiotic reason .
the routine in which the bad guy must explain his genius plan to the hero before attempting to kill him with some elaborate machine is getting so tired
nowadays , especially when i eagerly want to see the hero dead .
the only saving grace keeping this movie from receiving zero stars is an amusing but pointless cameo from isaac hayes as a prisoner upset with his food .
why he was in this movie for such a pointless role
beats me .
why any of these people had anything at all to do with this movie
beats me .

A: N
****
Q: once again , the battle is dreamworks versus disney : earlier this year , the mammoth companies fought to the death with their end - of - the - world asteroid flicks , deep impact and armageddon .
here we are now , just a few months later , and they 're at it again with dueling bug movies , antz and a bug 's life .
what i find so astonishing is that both pairs of movies are so inherently similar in both story and execution .
i mean , come on
-- what were the chances of two studios both deciding to bring out computer - animated films about bugs ?
as was the case with the meteor movies , disney has come out on top : though antz is a likable movie , a bug 's life is far superior .
in fact , this movie made me realize what was wrong with antz
: i became immersed in the world of a bug 's life , while antz just made me scrutinize everything .
but it 's not really fair to base an entire review on a comparison .
a bug 's life is a remarkable film in its own right , and deserves to be seen apart from any other computer - animated film about bugs .
in fact , it 's one of the best films this year : it 's smart , subtle , and funny , but it 's also perfect family entertainment and relentlessly entertaining .
i have n't had such a good time at the movies in months .
it tells the story of an ant named flick ( voice by dave foley ) ; he 's a nice guy , but he 's also a troublemaker .
the ants spend all season putting together the offering , a big pile of food that they provide for the grasshoppers .
just before the grasshoppers come , flick accidentally knocks over the offering , and ruins everything for the entire colony : the grasshopper 's leader , hopper ( kevin spacey ) , is enraged , and tells them that the ants need twice the food by the end of summer , or they 're all dead .
flick , feeling responsible for this , sets off to look for help -- he realizes that the only way to be rid of the grasshoppers is to fight them .
he heads to the city ( the city being a house a few miles away ) , where he finds a colorful bunch of circus bugs : a ladybug ( denis leary , who is spectacular ) , a black widow ( bonnie hunt ) , a caterpillar ( joe ranft ) , a butterfly ( madeline kahn ) , a rhinoceros beetle ( michael mcshane ) , and a stick ( david hyde - pierce , also giving a hilarious performance ) .
flick does n't know they 're actors , and they do n't know that flick needs them to kill a bunch of grasshoppers , so they return to the colony with flick and find themselves in an unusual position .
the most obvious element of a bug 's life is the quality of animation .
created by pixar ,
the same people who brought us toy story , a bug 's life has some of the most amazing visuals i 've ever seen .
the bugs seem to inhabit a three - dimensional space , and occasionally there will be a shot that is indistinguishable from live action .
this is a lush , colorful world , full of life and imagination : the way the animators insert the things all of us see in our daily lives ( matches , bottlecaps , tin cans , etc . ) and make them active objects in the bugs ' world is innovative .
the film is also mercilessly exciting , particularly in a superbly - staged scene involving our heroes ' escape from a bird ( a little bird never seemed so huge and threatening ) .
but the makers of a bug 's life know where the importance lies : story and characters .
flick , with solid voice work from foley , is a great guy to lead the story .
but the real treat comes with the circus bugs ; they 're such a likable group of characters -- the standouts are the stick ( hyde - pierce is so good ) , francis the ladybug , and the big fat caterpillar .
all of these bugs have more than a token personality , which makes the suspenseful scenes work because we care about the bugs , and it also keeps the tear - jerking scenes from seeming obligatory .
in my review of antz , i said that the film is a clever cop - out because it presents a bunch of little humans reacting to an ant - like existence .
in concept , a bug 's life is basically the same movie , except that i was never given enough time to find things that i did n't like about it .
with such strong work in both animation and script , a bug 's life is nothing but
a joy to sit through .
it really is too bad that it had to come out so close to that other bug movie , but a bug 's life is so good that i 'm sure it will find its audience .
after a slew of endlessly violent and cynical movies , it 's downright refreshing to sit through an innocent picture like this and laugh without feeling guilty .

A: P
****
Q: i have a soft spot in my heart for pure , amoral sleaze .
i liked showgirls ( there , i said it ) .
i typically enjoy myself when sitting through that eszterhaz , sex - filled cinematic tabloid - ish trash .
wild things is the best sleazy film i 've ever seen
.
it 's filled with great performances , graphic sex , three - way sex , rape charges , double - crosses , plot twists , genitalia of all genders , graphic violence , death , witty humor , and , best of all , denise richards . criticizing this film for being disgusting , raucous , and just plain wrong is as fundamentally pointless as criticizing citizen kane for being disturbing , or titanic for being lofty and epic .
wild things is a film that succeeds in its endeavors , but i do n't just admire it for this -- i admire it for being so entertaining and such a fun time at the movies .
i must admit up - front , however , that i am directly in the center of the age group to which this film has been engineered to appeal .
i imagine that this shows .
it 's hard to give a plot summary without giving away pieces that should n't be known .
i thought i had the whole thing worked out from the trailer , but i was wrong ; there are a lot of turns here .
i 'll just say that the film takes place in blue bay , a rich little town in florida .
in blue bay lives sam lombardo ( matt dillon ) , a teacher who is accused of rape by two of his students , kelly van ryan ( denise richards ) , and suzie toller ( neve campbell ) .
kelly 's mother , sandra ( theresa russell ) , immediately presses charges .
all of this happens fairly early in the film .
and right up until this point , i had the whole film predicted .
i was wrong , though , and every time i was proven wrong , i was shocked .
wild things is n't even remotely plausible , but it is so fun to see where the story takes us that the implausibility of every scene is meaningless , and often invited , just for kicks .
i remember first seeing the preview for wild things before the replacement killers .
i 'd give the preview four stars .
it made me want to see the movie so much that i 've been waiting for it anxiously ever since .
over the past few weeks though , i started to realize that there was no way the film could live up to the preview ( see independence day ) ; thankfully , i was proven wrong .
the preview for this film is one that needs to be studied by marketing analysts of every distribution company : not only does it make us want to see the film , but it does n't give away any of the secrets .
but i 'm not here to talk about the preview .
i 'm here to talk about denise richards .
now , i found her mildly interesting in starship troopers , but in wild things she appeals to such a base instinct that
every scene she 's in demands attention in a way that almost no other performer can .
of course , this might have something to do with her oceanic eyes . . . and flawless body . . .
but i thought she did a great job acting
, too ( stop laughing ) .
no , richards is truly a find -- she is talented , and always convincing in this film .
this mixed in with her insane physical appeal makes her a vital asset to any film she may grace in the future .
the other actors are good , too .
dillon is as suave as ever
( it 's nice to see him bouncing back from albino alligator and in & out ) .
bacon does a good job acting
all determined and stuff as a sex crimes officer .
neve campbell gives the most layered performance of all of them , though i wo n't pretend that any of these characters are deep and complex .
for a plot like this to work , all of these people have to be insane and basically contrived .
that 's okay , because director john mcnaughton knows that he 's making a self - consciously wicked film .
each scene -- even the three - way sex scene -- is observed with hilarity by mcnaughton , and the result is a sleaze - fest that 's too smart to resist .
there is n't an inconsistent moment in wild things : every bit of it is alluring garbage ,
so trashy
it 's funny , and so entertaining
it 's painful .
i loved it .

A:
P
****