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

[EX Q]: gothic murder - mystery yarns are not a new conceit .
in fact , they 've been around in books and on film for many , many years .
without the proper handling , they come off as old - fashioned , bland , and outdated .
"
the gift , " directed by sam raimi , is a tried - and - true effort that surprises very little , and includes everything from a wide array of suspects and red herrings , to mansions in the deep south with moss trees out front , to the eventual discovery of a waterlogged corpse found in a nearby pond .
it 's fairly obvious who the killer is ;
in fact , i predicted who it would be before the movie began and was correct in my preliminary suspicions .
the film ultimately should n't work , but it does , thanks to a sparkling cast that fills each character with so many memorable nuances , the most fun to be had is in simply watching the people interact with each other
.
annie wilson ( cate blanchett ) is a recently widowed mother of three sons who makes her living giving psychic readings to the residents of her backwater southern hometown .
some of her mainstay clients include valerie barksdale ( hilary swank ) , who is severely abused by her husband donnie ( keanu reeves ) , and buddy cole ( giovanni ribisi ) , an unstable mechanic who is confused by the nightmares he 's been having about a mysterious blue diamond that is somehow linked to his father .
for annie , she does not give the readings merely for money , but uses it as a way of seeking solace in finding the good in everyone 's future .
her late grandmother ( rosemary harris ) told her as a child that it was a gift she was given , and she should always remember that .
when annie 's eldest son is involved in a fight at school , she meets the nice - guy school principal , wayne collins ( greg kinnear ) , whom she finds herself attracted to .
but wayne is engaged to the wealthy jessica king ( katie holmes ) , whom annie immediately gets a negative vibe about .
at a party with her best friend linda ( kim dickens ) , annie stumbles upon jessica in a compromising position with lawyer david duncan ( gary cole ) .
soon after , jessica has disappeared , leaving everyone in a frenzy over what could have possibly happened to her , and annie starts to have nightmares and apparitions linking jessica with the vicious redneck donnie barksdale , and the pond behind his home .
"
the gift " may be cliched on a sheer storytelling level , but the performances and tight direction from raimi ( who has redeemed himself for his embarrassing last film , 1999 's " for love of the game " ) lift the picture up several notches .
slowly enveloping the viewer into the many intriguing characters and their individual plights , the disappearance of jessica at the 30-minute mark divulges the movie 's true intentions and transforms the proceedings into a taut , at times frightening , horror - mystery .
at the center of the film is the exceptional cate blanchett ( 1999 's " the talented mr .
ripley " ) , who turns annie wilson from what could have been little more than a run - of - the - mill protagonist into a very exact , down - to - earth , realistic person with valid troubles and a caring attitude towards those around her .
blanchett takes the unextraordinary material and runs with it , giving the entire film a truly classy aura that it otherwise might not have had .
we follow her at every turn because she is so mesmerizing , both as a character and an actress .
blanchett is n't the only bright performer , as she is ably supported by one of the best casts of the year .
in her first role following her oscar win for 1999 's " boys do n't cry , " hilary swank is excellent as the confused valerie , who seeks guidance from annie , but is too scared to take her biggest advice of all : to leave the grossly abusive donnie .
as donnie , keanu reeves ( 2000 's " the watcher " ) makes an utterly convincing backwoods meanie , so much so that it is difficult to believe he is an actor at all
.
for the often - criticized reeves , whose acting abilities have never been the best , this is the biggest compliment he could possibly get , and it is also one of the better performances he has given .
giovanni ribisi ( 2000 's " the boiler room " ) is heartbreaking as a mentally slow young man who sees annie as his only friend , and wants her to do nothing but help him understand why he is being plagued by bad dreams about his dad .
in the small , but pivotal role of the sleazy jessica king , katie holmes ( 2000 's " wonder boys " ) has turned in yet another stunning supporting turn .
her promiscuous role of jessica is one she has never played before , and
she is radiant in her few scenes .
finally , kim dickens ( 2000 's " hollow man " ) makes her usual strong impression as annie 's spicy best friend , linda .
the other notable aspect of " the gift " is its moody atmosphere that lays such a thickly foreboding air over every scene it 's almost suffocating .
thanks to cleverly construed editing by arthur coburn and bob murawski , and the successful use of different eerie sounds effects and a very good music score by christopher young , the movie not only achieves a scary undercurrent , but one that is filled with dread . helped along by a strong screenplay by billy bob thornton and tom epperson , which makes the most of its setting and delightful cast , " the gift " is
that rarest of thrillers that actually thrills , and offers up a fair share of chills , too .
it may not be groundbreakingly original , but it sure is an entertaining ride for the duration of its running time .
[EX A]: P

[EX Q]: pitch black is a sheep in wolf 's clothing .
it is full of darkness , danger and violence and if you buy into the marketing hype , an unsettling and scary film going experience .
do n't be fooled .
pitch black is a morality play masquerading as a scare - fest .
it starts off with blistering intensity .
a cargo spaceship crash lands on a planet apparently leeched of life by the scorching heat of three suns .
among the survivors is fry ( mitchell ) , the ship 's pilot , who spends the film wrestling with the fact that she tried to jettison the other passengers in her effort to land the craft safely .
there is imam ( david ) , an islamic leader whose faith in his god is tested repeatedly throughout the film .
there is a law enforcement officer in the form of johns ( hauser ) , who attacks every situation with square jawed authoritarian zeal .
and there is riddick ( diesel ) , a menacing , muscle - bound convicted murderer who 's being brought back to justice by johns .
the group quickly sizes up the situation and each other .
confident in their assessment of matters , a plan is set in motion to escape their hellish environment .
those plans are shredded by the appearance of one of the planet 's wildlife , a predatory , sometimes winged , species that enjoys the taste of blood and flesh .
fortunately , the creatures are light sensitive and are forced to live in networks of catacombs under the planet 's surface .
unfortunately , the group has managed to land on the planet moments before an eclipse is about to occur , taking away their one protection from the monsters .
the group 's savior comes in the form of johns , whose decisive leadership looks to deliver them from purgatory .
or does it ?
pitch black deviates from the standard sci - fi fare by avoiding some of the stock " escape the boogieman " conflicts the genre typically serves up .
just as the planet gave a false facade of lifelessness , first appearances given by the survivors proves to be just as false .
the excitement of the film comes not from the danger posed by the creatures , but rather from watching the shifting allegiances and emotional growth of the characters as the planet serves as a deus ex machina of sorts to catalyze emotional growth .
a recurrent theme runs throughout the movie of faith , whether it be religious or in a person , and how that powers their motivations .
i found it telling that an accidental death occurs early on due to the misperception of a self professed atheist .
conversely , imam constantly contributes any good fortune to allah .
one by one , his perceived heaven sent blessings are taken away and crushed .
imam is forced to reassess his faith .
another character expresses belief in god , along with a life long hate .
yet another character makes a decision that echoes the sentiments of christ about selflessness and has lasting repercussions for several of group .
it is a fascinating character study hiding under the guise of a scare flick .
special mention should be made of vin diesel , who intriguingly conveys feral menace combined with a truly mesmerizing presence .
his character could have easily slipped into a parody of the baddass killing machine , but twohy and diesel add surprising depth to riddick .
they can be excused for the two or three shwarzenegger - like catch phrases that growl their way out of diesel 's mouth .
the movie has its flaws that can be nitpicked .
the creatures do look derivative of the ones in alien .
the dialogue is n't the freshest at times , reminiscent of a bad comic book .
yes , the appearance of riddick 's vision skills are more than a little timely considering the situation .
these trappings are on the periphery of the story twohy is really trying to tell .
twohy may have lured you in under the pretense of scaring you with film fabricated boogieman , but he shows the real boogieman to be the prejudices and beliefs we use to direct decisions in our lives .
[EX A]: P

[EX Q]: richard linklater 's " slacker , " made in 1991 for a budget of only $ 23 , 000 , immerses itself in the twentysomething , college - town culture of austin , texas .
most of these characters are either unemployed or work jobs that are apparently too menial to be worth mentioning .
their lifestyle is a sort of passive resistance to the idea that people should go out and actively pursue a career after graduation ; they seem content to sit around spouting off about the inadequacy of american democracy , the pervasiveness of slave morality , the subtle messages in pop culture , and such .
ask them what they 've been doing lately , and they 'll more likely than not reply , " oh , you know , just hanging out .
" linklater uses an interesting technique to examine these characters : the camera follows one person for a few minutes , then someone else walks by and the camera follows that person , who walks into a diner just as another person is walking out the door . . . .
it 's certainly a lot of fun listening to these characters talk
: some of them are clearly very intelligent and have some genuinely insightful ideas , some of them are just plain weird , and some of them think their ideas are a lot more profound than they really are .
the opening monologue , delivered by linklater himself to a taxi driver , tosses around ideas about alternate realities that nicely set up the meandering structure of the film .
other characters along the way offer observations about everything from dating relationships to the history of anarchist philosophy , while groups of pseudo - intellectuals kick around ideas about the nobility of sitting around and doing nothing or the subtle bribery - based morality in " scooby - doo .
" for the most part , however ,
the best moments are the ones involving the slightly unhinged types .
near the beginning , a paranoid man follows a pedestrian for several blocks , warning him about government conspiracies involving everything from global warming to secret colonization of mars .
another man seems to be collecting televisions , keeping at least fifteen sets running at the same time and playing tapes of a graduate student who recorded himself having a nervous breakdown and destroying the camera .
and in
a scene that drew a big laugh from everyone present when i saw the film , a man tries to achieve closure after a failed relationship by reciting poetry on a bridge and then throwing a typewriter into the creek below .
the only problem with " slacker " is that it starts to run out of steam towards the end .
since linklater only spends a few minutes with each character , the introduction of the new characters gets repetitive after a while .
there are only so many times you can hear , " hey , what 's going on ?
" " not much , what are you up to ? "
" nothing really , just hanging around , " before it gets on your nerves ; the film might well have benefited from a slightly slower pace and a little bit more characterization .
and the dialogue in the second half of the film is by and large not quite as interesting as that in the first half ; a jfk buff , for example , seems like a pale imitation of the previous conspiracy theorist , and many of the characters just generally are n't as weird or unique . instead of depicting a city populated by mostly normal people and then showing us the strangeness that we might not have noticed at first , linklater shows us the oddballs first , then stops and reminds us that ordinary people live there too .
" slacker " is a good film and a wonderfully offbeat and entertaining comedy , whatever its flaws , and its status as a cult classic is well - deserved
.
i just ca n't help but think it might have been even better if linklater had slowed down a little bit and filmed these scenes in reverse order .
[EX A]:
P