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

[Q]: by the time dennis quaid , the ostensible star of switchback , makes his first appearance at about the 22-minute mark , you may find yourself wondering why he bothered .
after all , writer / director jeb stuart has already set up a fairly promising pair of parallel story lines .
the first finds amarillo , texas sheriff buck olmstead ( r . lee ermey ) facing a hotly - contested election battle just as a brutal double homicide is discovered at a motel in his jurisdiction .
as olmstead begins his investigation , we also meet the two men who come to be our prime suspects .
lane dixon ( jared leto ) is an enigmatic young hitchhiker ; bob goodall ( danny glover ) is the jovial motorist who offers lane a ride from texas to his utah destination .
all the necessary conflicts seem to be in place -- the internal struggle of olmstead over the clash between good politics and good police work , and the external struggle as one of the two travelers eventually becomes villain to the other 's protagonist .
but then quaid shows up as grimly determined fbi agent frank lacrosse .
lacrosse is certain that the amarillo murders are the work of a serial killer he has been tracking for nearly two years .
he 's not supposed to be tracking him any more -- according to the bureau , they 've got their man -- but lacrosse has a very important reason for believing otherwise .
two months earlier , lacrosse 's own son was kidnapped by the killer , and the boy has yet to turn up anywhere .
lacrosse knows his killer 's work , and he knows that the man is still out there somewhere trying to continue their game .
it would n't be fair to reduce everything that 's wrong with switchback to quaid 's presence , but it 's a pretty good place to start .
there 's a reason lacrosse feels like an intruder in the narrative instead of its vital center :
as a dramatic actor , dennis quaid possesses exactly one facial expression and one vocal intonation .
we can tell lacrosse is determined because his face is a perpetual tight - jawed , sourpuss pucker ; we can tell he 's grim because every word comes out in an eastwood - esque rasp .
a more flexible performer might have given weight to the character , pulling the audience into his haunted intensity , making switchback _ his _ film .
quaid
merely looks annoyed and slightly constipated .
it 's tough to become emotionally invested in a character 's turmoil when it looks like all he really needs is a big bowl of bran flakes .
even without quaid , it does n't appear that switchback would have stayed on course .
the early scenes between leto and glover have a lively energy , building our curiosity over which man -- the taciturn kid or his gregarious benefactor -- is the real threat .
unfortunately , stuart tips his hand far too early in the game , both through the pitch of the individual performances and the facts he chooses to reveal .
once the mystery of the killer 's identity is dispatched , the interaction between leto and glover becomes stale and predictable
.
in fact , " stale and predictable " describes the direction that switchback takes in general , falling back on far - too - common hollywood devices like cats jumping out of nowhere , a climactic fistfight on board a freight train , and edgy law enforcement agents .
it 's too bad stuart was n't willing to spend more time with sheriff olmstead , far and away the most interesting and appealing character in the film .
played with atypical restraint by r .
lee ermey
, he 's a wonderful , unconventional hero who seems genuinely comfortable accepting the consequences of acting on his convictions .
a film focusing on the olmstead would have signaled a film - maker willing to take a few risks with his casting and story - telling .
instead , stuart places his trust in a " name " star who ca n't carry the material .
maybe next time he 'll throw away that one crucial page in the script , the one where the grimly determined fbi agent wanders onto the scene to muck up a perfectly good story .
[A]: N


[Q]: just in time for halloween and christmas , the reissue of the nightmare before christmas could n't be more appropriate .
with all of the attention thrown to " family films " in recent years , namely those starring pocket monsters and nickelodeon characters , it 's high time
we raised the intellectual level of children 's fare as well as the animation achievements of the movie studios .
with that in mind , it was refreshing to revisit an animation classic on the big screen that still retains the originality and freshness
it had seven years ago .
nightmare is the story of one man 's quest to discover his true purpose in life -- to look beyond the accolades of his peers , the achievements of his years , and the praise of his ego .
jack skellington , the pumpkin king of halloweentown , is the main dude behind the halloween holiday for kids everywhere .
but during his reign as pumpkin king , jack has somehow lost his understanding of his place in the world and the magic he creates with his halloween holiday .
after the completion of one particular halloween season , jack walks with a heavy heart and ends up discovering in the woods outside halloweentown a grove of trees with doors to all of the other holidays in the world .
imagine his surprise to discover christmastown , a far more impressive and uplifting holiday than halloween , surrounded by happy elves making toys , and with good cheer all around .
upon his return to halloweentown , jack decides to combine halloween and christmas together by kidnapping " sandy claws , " employing all the residents of halloweentown to build toys for children .
he then aims to take over the role as primary joy - provider and gift - bearer to the children of the world , in the hopes of rediscovering the zest for life he once had .
alas , the co - mingling of halloween and christmas creates disastrous results involving shrunken heads , psychotic wooden ducks , a sleigh pulled by a phantom dog with a lighted nose , and a large , sinister , singing bag named oogie boogie tim burton -- the man behind such great films as ed wood , beetlejuice , pee - wee 's big adventure , and edward scissorhands -- is the creative force behind nightmare .
originally , burton authored a poem that became the basis of the storyline , and he was jointly involved in the production design of the film ( though many mistakenly assume he directed the picture ) .
the stamp of burton is clearly everywhere in the film -- with bold colors , imaginative character design , and it 's simple yet compelling story .
the direction of harry selick , who also directed james and the giant peach , is strong , offering intimate views of the strange collection of characters .
also memorable are the songs in the film , written by former oingo boingo lead singer danny elfman , the next john williams of film composing .
the nightmare before christmas is intended for both the kid and adult in everyone .
it 's not just child 's play for the holidays ; it 's a movie about how to be truly happy in a tough world , saying that all you need to do is just be exactly who you are , without compromise .
what better message is there for christmas ?
[A]: P


[Q]: some of my friends who went to live in usa complain about one thing - that country is very different from the one depicted in hollywood movies .
that is especially true for those who end up somewhere in that unexplored land between los angeles and new york where they find , to their big surprise , that the majority of people vote republican , go to church every sunday and usually do n't tolerate liberal attitudes that are taken for granted in an average american film .
such rude awakening , however , can happen in another direction - conservative people are sometimes forced to discover unpleasant truths about world they live in .
something like that happens to jake van dorn ( george c . scott ) , successful grand rapids businessman who shares strong calvinist convictions with the rest of his community .
one day his daughter kristen ( ilah davis )
disappears from calvinist youth convention in california .
van dorn is worried because he does n't believe that his daughter would run from home .
however , the truth delivered by private investigator andy mast ( peter boyle ) is
even harder - kristen is spotted in cheap pornographic film .
infuriated van dorn is unsatisfied with the way mast 's investigation is going , so he goes to los angeles to search for kristen himself .
unfortunately , he lacks experience and the quest , that brought him to the utter depths of sex underworld , is fruitless .
things change when he devises cunning plan and , while doing it , stumbles on sympathetic prostitute and part time porno actress nicky ( season hubley ) .
almost two decades after its release , hardcore is mostly forgotten by critics and film scholars .
it is a real shame , because very few movies in today 's hollywood would dare tackle controversial issues that writer and director paul schrader explored in his second directorial attempt .
in late 1970s , it was totally different situation - films were expected to have mature , serious themes for the mature audience .
for schrader this film was nice opportunity to expand the subplot of his previous work , taxi driver - one that deals with the great generational divide that tormented the american society in 1970s .
on one side we have an old america that sticks to the puritan ideals of hard work and strict morals that made that country great .
but that america is obviously unable to cope with the new challenges brought by the social turmoil in 1960s and , instead of facing them , prefers to live in rural , conservative cocoons .
the new america , on the other hand , fares no better - ideals of the so - called " sexual revolution " , same as all other " revolutions " of the swinging sixties , degraded into exploitation and depravity .
instead of being " liberated " , baby boomers are stuck with their own inability to cope with the newly discovered freedoms .
schrader very cleverly brings the idea that those two americas , actually , are n't so far away - nice example is a brilliant scene in which van dorn , already described as an authoritarian and paternalistic capitalist , meets sleazy porno producer ; the latter one also turns out to be authoritarian , paternalistic and very dedicated to this job .
the difference between the two is simply in the line of work .
many contemporary critics actually accused schrader of promoting conservative agenda .
on the surface , it may look that way - audience is forced to sympathise with van dorn and his quest .
in the first scenes , he is portrayed as nice family man who actually does n't deserve to experience parent 's worst nightmare .
the scene in the porno cinema that reveals kristen 's fate is extremely cruel ; pain and humiliation , brought by oscar - winning actor george c . scott , is of such intensity , that the audience feels sorry for him and simply must support his agenda .
van dorn is perhaps flawed , and the subtle hints lead to the unflattering truth at the end ; but the viewers simply know that his cause is just , and that prodigal daughter must be better off with her loving father than with the sleazy pornographers that only want to exploit her body .
on the other hand , schrader , who grew up in an environment very much like van dorn 's ( his own parents would n't allow him to watch movies until he was 18 ) , knows better and tries to bring another side of coin .
even the people connected with sex underworld can show redeeming qualities - like nicky , who actually tries to improve her life , and sleazy detective who develops something like a conscience at the end .
unfortunately , schrader fails to erase the impact of the shocking scene at the beginning , and his attempt to reconcile the opposing sides of america seems lost in somewhat clich ?
d finale .
the script is slightly flawed , and schrader as director does n't show too much originality - his style seems too influenced by techniques that scorsese used in taxi driver .
apart from the scenes in grand rapids , those two films even look alike .
but the content might be more than interesting for today 's viewer , especially those inspired by the current 70s revival . until boogie nights , no hollywood mainstream movie ever dared to explore the phenomenon of pornography in 1970s .
hardcore , on the other hand , might serve as precious document , because it depicts sex film industry in the period often regarded as the golden age by connoisseurs - before the advent of video , when many of the porno filmmakers could afford to think of themselves as artists .
the view of such age and the industry is very unflattering , though , but for the film whose main character takes time to explain calvinist doctrines to the audience , that should n't be too surprising .
anyway , despite some flaws , hardcore remains very interesting and powerful piece of cinema .
[A]:
P