TASK DEFINITION: In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.
PROBLEM: disillusioned and trying to find the spice of life , richard ( leonardo dicaprio ) sets off for thailand .
there he a meets crazed man by the name of daffy ( robert carlyle ) who gives him a map to a beach , a secret utopia , then commits suicide .
richard sets off for this beach with his neighbors from this hotel , ? tienne ( guillaume canet ) and fran ?
oise ( virginie ledoyen ) .
once they get there the three discover a secret society existing on this beach , there richard falls for fran ?
oise .
this covers about half to two thirds of the movie and aside from the romantic element , which is solely a creation of hollywood , seems to hold to the original novel .
the cinematography and general beauty of this part of the movie is breathtaking .
i do n't think anyone can argue that this movie is visually stunning .
but that is were many things go wrong
, darius khondji has totally outdone himself in doing the cinematography .
though the script and the interpretation of the novel are quite lacking .
the plot of the movie moves along at a decent pace for about half of the movie or there abouts .
this is where the movie has some great potential , then the three travelers get the island and there is a turn for the better , yes folks i said better .
now up to about two thirds of this movie its actually pretty good , nothing spectacular aside from the cinematography
but it still has promise .
this is where things start to degenerate to something that becomes almost un - watchable .
there is even a ' video game ' style sequence that borders on the disgusting , it does n't make sense for the movie and just looks dumb in my opinion ( and i am hoping many other peoples ) .
i am hoping that in my little rant i 've made it abundantly clear that the movie is lacking quite seriously in plot and uneven pacing , so if you go see it and you do n't like it because of this do n't blame me .
the character development was not up to par either ; i found the character of richard to be nothing more than a spoiled child .
although there is a feeble attempt to make this whole story profound it fails and richard ( leo 's character ) comes off as a wannabe philosopher .
the character seems to be underdeveloped from the get go and seems to just do things for no apparent reason , granted some people are like this ( myself included ) but i nor anyone i know that is fairly random would ever do things of the sort this character does .
the next point is that some of the really interesting characters are simply not developed enough .
richard is obviously obsessed by fran ?
oise at the early stages of the story , yet there is actually very little development along this story line .
this
i am sure contributes to the movie 's lack of core plot and being unfocused .
now , i shall move onto something a little better about the movie ( for all you cynics out there the movie did have a few good things about it ) .
the cast and acting was passable at the very least , and i think that leonardo dicaprio actually did pretty well in the role of richard .
mind you
i think the rest of the cast that had some which had reasonably sized roles did equally well if not better .
which begs the question why is leonardo paid so much ?
( i think this is a topic all on its own so i wo n't get into it ) .
but i like the fact that there was an international cast used ,
had only and american cast been used i can see this movie being horrible .
the international flavor added a more global feel to the movie that made it that much more bearable .
not to mention the movie is set in thailand and a global cast makes more sense .
when all is said and done i liked the movie for the most part but the gaping inadequacies of the plot are unforgivable .
i would not recommend this movie to anyone , the fact that i liked it has a lot to do with the cinematography and the sheer beauty of the movie not its plot or story .
as it is the story tries to be much too philosophical and fails at its attempt . if you do end up going to see this movie be forewarned about its shortcomings .

SOLUTION: N

PROBLEM: plot : derek zoolander is a male model .
he is also very dumb and impressionable .
for that reason , he is secretly hired and trained ( so secret , that even he does n't know about it ) by an underground fashion syndicate to assassinate the prime minister of malaysia , who wants to abolish child labor in his country .
will zoolander fulfill the dirty deed ?
will zoolander ever grace the world
his new " look " ? is this a funny movie ? find out below . . .
critique : there 's a place in our world for " stupid comedies " .
films which do n't pretend to take themselves seriously , are based on idiotic premises and filled with dumb jokes .
there 's also a time for them and many would argue that this difficult period of our history , might be an ideal circumstance during which to " relax " by watching something so completely frivolous .
well , if you 're in the mood for some seriously mindless entertainment , ben stiller and his cast of many have assembled one of the more original dumb comedies in some time .
of course , comedies as such are usually very subjective and i could see how some will see this film simply as stupid and unfunny , while others will grant them the " stupid " , but consider it funny instead .
i personally enjoyed it for the most part , cracked up loudly during a couple of specific sequences and loved the derek zoolander character and the unrestrained whipping they released upon the fashion industry . snap !
it was also nice to see several real - life models with small roles in the movie , not taking themselves too seriously .
and if you 're the type of person who likes celebrity cameos in films , well , do n't look any further because dozens of famous faces show up here including vince vaughn , billy zane , winona ryder , christian slater , david duchovny , natalie portman and many , many others .
i especially liked andy dick 's complete make - over as the masseuse .
hi - larious !
but with all films of this type , there is bound to be some stuff that simply does n't work .
a few particulars which did n't strike my fancy included the bulimia and " orgy " sequence with christine taylor , the break - dance fighting , and i also never get why they use real countries in plots like this ( why not just " make up " a country , instead of zeroing in on a certain people ? ) .
i also could have done with less of the taylor character in general , since she was n't all that interesting and seemed to slow things down every now and then ( more zoolander , dude ! ) .
but those few missteps were nothing compared to some of the more memorable scenes which definitely did work for me !
i almost pissed myself during the " gas station " disaster , absolutely adored the " walk - off " contest ( with david bowie as the judge , no less ) and appreciated
many of zoolander 's moronic one - liners ( " i was a merman . . . a merman ! ! " ) .
and i dare you to get his " monkey " photo shoot out of your head after seeing this movie
( " you 're a monkey , derek . . .
a monkey !
" ) i also really liked the soundtrack and the pace of the film , both of which zipped and zagged , and established a nice rhythm to it all .
again , it 's to note that this movie is dumb and not for everyone , but my guess is that if you laughed at the trailer , you will likely enjoy many of the quips in the actual picture as well .
if you thought the trailer was dumb , skip this dodo bird and go rent austin powers again or something , a film from which there is an obvious influence here .
blue steel , baby .
. .
yeah ! ! !
where 's joblo coming from ?
austin powers ( 7/10 ) - austin powers 2 ( 7/10 )
- deuce bigalow ( 7/10 )
- dude , where 's my car ( 7/10 ) -
freddy got fingered ( 5/10 ) - jay & silent bob strike back ( 8/10 ) - joe dirt ( 5/10 )
- meet the parents ( 8/10 ) - say it is n't so ( 3/10 )

SOLUTION: P

PROBLEM: in october of 1962 the united states found itself on the brink of nuclear holocaust when u2 spy plane fly - overs of cuba revealed that the soviet union was actively deploying and installing medium range ballistic missiles 90 miles from the us .
president john kennedy ( bruce greenwood ) and
his staff must face this major threat to world peace and stop soviet expansionism in director roger donaldson 's dramatic recreation of the most dangerous crisis in american history in " thirteen days .
"
one of the highlights to come out of made - for - tv movies was a 1974 entry called " missiles of october " that also recreated the historic event that almost embroiled the us , ussr and the world in an all out nuclear showdown .
that teleplay , starring william devane and martin sheen as john and bobby , showed the political tensions of the period that brought to the fore the danger the world faced in those two weeks in 1962 .
now , a quarter of a century after the landmark tv movie , director roger donaldson and producer kevin costner team together again ( the last time was for the taught spy thriller " no way out " ) to re - enact the events of that most dangerous time in america 's and the world 's history .
taken from the viewpoint of special assistant to the president kenneth p .
o'donnell ( costner ) , donaldson and crew recreate
that volatile event , once again , as the country is plunged into what could have been total nuclear war .
as o'donnell gets ready to head to work one october morning , he deals with the usual family crises and problems .
meanwhile , a u2 spy plane photo mission over cuba has produced some startling images - medium range nuclear missiles in the first stage of deployment .
suddenly , ken 's routine day switches into crisis mode as the president and his key advisor bobby begin to muster the considerable forces of the us military to face the soviet threat .
where " thirteen days " differs most from " missiles of october " is , as expected , in the scope of the project .
there is a big difference , budget - wise , between making a television docudrama and one that goes to the big screen .
it shows as the makers of " thirteen days " craft a recreation of the cuban missile crisis that encompasses not only the political intrigue within the white house , it also depicts the events that took place as america girds itself for nuclear confrontation .
the cast , a true ensemble , is led , surprisingly , by bruce greenwood as jfk and not by kevin costner .
costner 's o'donnell represents the family guy thing as the drama of the crisis has its impact on him and his family .
this puts a personal spin on the film as we see both the crisis and america 's preparation for war and the pressure it brings to bear on those in the know .
kenny reassures his wife and kids that all will be okay
and they will be safe , but he knows that , if the crisis comes to a head , his family will be no more .
the meat of " thirteen days " is in the big picture , not the microcosm of family , though .
this is where the film stands out as we see the workings of our government on the highest levels .
the story does not just cover the face - off between the world 's two most powerful countries ; it also depicts the animosity between the president and the military / cia .
the disaster of the bay of pigs invasion the year before left a distrustful taste in the mouths of the generals and admirals who blame the kennedys for not backing the cuban expatriates fighting fidel castro .
the missile crisis becomes a struggle for power as the army / navy / air force want to flex their might and invade cuba , while jfk wants to end the confrontation peaceably but with america 's dignity and world leadership intact .
while the internal battle for power rages in the white house , with air force chief curtis lemay ( kevin conway ) advising the president to bomb cuba into the stone age , our armed forces are set into motion to stop the soviets with a blockade of offensive weapons to cuba .
this is where the political intrigues of high office are replaced by exciting action .
when the first confrontation takes place between a us warship and a soviet freighter , the tension is palpable .
the most involving action sequence takes place late in the game as another u2 is sent up to shoot some snaps of the buildup and the fully prepared soviet forces launch an anti - aircraft attack on the hapless pilot of the spy plane .
this is a sweaty palm sequence to say the least , making you squirm in your seat as you try to help the pilot avoid those missiles .
the ensemble cast places greenwood as the first among equals with like weight given to all the principle players .
greenwood does not play act at being a caricature of jfk , foregoing the typical kennedy boston accent .
instead , he plays the man as a powerful figure who has to maintain the dignity of the office , directing his subordinates but giving them the latitude to make clear all of his options .
kennedy used this decision by committee method to good effect as his senior staff uncovers all the options available to the president .
costner , as ken o'donnell , is really a supporting cast member as a kennedy crony brought on board as a personal political favor .
costner plays o'donnell as if he crammed on old jfk speeches with a forced kennedyesque twang to his speech .
the rest of the players are first rate from start to finish with steven culp looking and sounding just like robert kennedy .
the rest of the familiar players in this drama are uniformly well cast , too .
standing out are michael fairman as the beleaguered us ambassador to the un , adlai stevenson , who was forced to become the challenging voice of the united states in the united nations and i remember the confrontation vividly .
the filmmakers capture the accusations laid down by stevenson with accuracy , using old style video footage to good effect .
dylan baker has the look and feel of the intelligentsia as the brainy secretary of defense robert mcnamara .
kevin conway gives his general lemay
the right " bomb them to hell " attitude .
also notable is christopher lawford as navy pilot william ecker who , with his wingman , takes on the dangerous mission of a low - level photo recon into the heart of cuba , bravely challenging kenny o'donnell 's admonition , " don ' get shot .
" tech credits are superb across the board with an admirable depiction of the us armed forces being placed on a war footing .
it 's an impressive production with the careful use of period aircraft and ships that gives the film a veracity fitting the event .
solid costuming
by isis mussenden is subtle but has the look of the kennedys .
there is the usual array of vintage cars from the period to make things look right .
the special f / x of the u2 sequences are a nice crafting of computer imaging .
the cuban missile crisis is probably the most intense two weeks that the united states has ever faced in its survival as a world leader .
helmer donaldson and his fine crew and cast have given the depiction of this crucial event with the care and attention to details that make this one of the finest docudramas of the year .
i give " thirteen days " an a- .

SOLUTION:
P