In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.
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Question: it was with a huge lack of something to do that i decided to watch this on good old upn on sunday afternoon , when the only good things on tv are the second - rate movies they show ( some are good : they showed " total recall " before this one ) . if you know me , i think seagal is probably the most boring action star to ever live .
and this includes keanu reeves .
what do i hate about seagal ?
i hate how he uses one facial expression for every single threatening and non - threatening situation ( the squint ) .
i hate those scenes in every movie where he goes around , bullying people up , saying stupid lines with a brooklyn accent more fake than burt reynold 's hairpiece in " boogie nights .
" i despise how he never gets a bruise
in any of his fights .
i hate how every single plot twist leads to just a melodramatic fight between he and the chief villain .
i hate his non - satirical messages ( in the beginning of this one , he slaps on a quote from arthur miller , which has nothing to do with the film , except it 's about brooklyn where this film takes place ) .
and i hate how he 's so narcissistic that he thinks that he can actually fucking sing
( during the end credits , he has a good old hill billy rock tune sung and penned by him ) .
sure , the guy 's probably a nice guy in person
( i actually found him very non - threatening when he was on letterman not too long ago ) .
but the guy makes worse films than reagan did .
so what 's the plot of this shit - terpiece ?
well .
. .
something about him trying to catch a stupid - ass crook ( william forsythe ) who shot and killed his partner in broad daylight .
i could n't believe how bad this scene was - the guy was conveniently with his family so we get the maximum emotional effect ( ahem ! ) .
and forsythe even said some stupid lines to him before he took off .
i 'm sorry , did anyone ever hear of concealing one 's self ?
so in comes ex - brooklynite seagal , who dedicates his life to catching this guy .
and i just wished he had caught him in the beginning , then ended the film .
but noooo ,
this drags on , as he bullies forsythe 's family members ( including a stupid bar - owner , and none other than gina gershon as his other bar - owner sister ) .
and forsythe more than once threatens his family .
at one point , he actually comes to their house and stalks them like a non - threatening nicholson in " the shining " ( complete with them all hiding in the bathroom , but with an added bonus of one girl conveniently loosing her cool and screaming to give them away ) .
seagal paints himself as a lovable person , with a son , and a fiancee .
he even shows him hanging with his son , checking up on his homework , and then about to take him out for a bit of " catch , " when he 's conveniently called away on assignment .
i dunno about you , but playing " catch " with seagal was one of my childhood nightmares .
he also shows him as that bad - ass he wants to be , with scenes of him bullying crooks around , and taking out people who are stupid enough to attack him even after he 's unarmed a chinese guy swinging bats with a pool cue .
serves them right .
this film , as some of his do , has an interesting supporting cast of actors who are actually talented , but do n't appear to be in this film .
i already mentioned gina gershon ( who 's pretty horrible in this one ) , as well as william forsythe , who over - acts terribly .
i know this guy can act : he was awesome in " raising arizona " as goodman 's partner in crime .
but he 's just awful here .
jerry orbach gives the only credible performance in the film as the police chief who checks up on segal after things have gone down .
why is he the only one who gives a good performance ?
well , because his role is small enough and sporadic enough to not tarnish his credibility .
he seems to be in here just to give it a cool " law and order " feeling ( even if it 's not a " cool " feeling ) .
and in cameos are b - rated erotic - thriller - cinemax - style stars , shannon whirry ( as " terry malloy , " which is more of a bad joke than a clever one ) and athena massey .
oh !
and " er " 's
julliana margiulles has two scenes .
" out for justice " just proves once again that american action films just suck .
i know that there 's such a good thing as good action - he 's called john woo .
but if you 're in the mood for some good old no - brainer , fun - yet - dumb action , do n't bother watching this .
it 's so stupid that it 's boring .

Answer: N


Question: with his last two films - shine and snow falling on cedars - australian director scott hicks has proven his cinematic flashbacks to be some of the best out there , and his latest , hearts in atlantis , is no different .
its structure - beginning and ending in present day with one long flashback in the middle - is similar to the green mile , which is a bit ironic considering both were based on stephen king books .
the parallels do n't end there , either .
atlantis was adapted by william goldman , who had previously penned the big - screen version of misery and is in the process of working on the script for king 's dreamcatcher .
even the film 's content is a bit reminiscent of mile .
in fact , it 's the perfect blend of the feel - good ' 60s nostalgia of stand by me ( also by king ) and mystical power hokum of mile .
king 's atlantis is a book comprised of five related short stories , but the main focus here is on the first ( and longest ) tale , called low men in yellow coats ( the film 's title comes from the second chapter ) .
it 's set in 1960 harwich , connecticut , where 11-year - old bobby garfield ( anton yelchin )
lives in a boarding house run by his cold , self - centered mother elizabeth ( hope davis , joe gould 's secret ) , who seems to care more about her wardrobe than her son .
bobby spends his time with his two closest friends , john sullivan ( will rothhaar ) and tomboy carol gerber ( mika boorem ) , who become something like the kevin , paul and winnie of harwich .
when a new tenant moves into the vacant room , the fatherless bobby finds a male role model in ted brautigan ( anthony hopkins , hannibal ) , a mysterious stranger who is vague enough about his past to make bobby 's mom suspicious enough to at least momentarily turn her head away from the mirror .
ted teaches his young neighbor about the wonders of literature ( after his cheapskate mother gives him a library card for his birthday ) , dispenses prophetic words of wisdom and even pays bobby one dollar a week to read him the local newspaper and keep his eyes peeled for the low men , a group of people chasing ted to exploit his special powers .
i wo n't go into what these powers are , but they 're considerably toned down from the book ( and do n't involve black stuff flying out of ted 's mouth , a la mile ) .
atlantis ' present - day setting which bookends the film is based on the novel 's final chapter , titled heavenly shades of night are falling , and features david morse ( in yet another connection to the green mile ) as a married , middle - aged bobby who learns of the death of both of his childhood friends and returns to the dilapidated boarding house in which he spent his formative years .
atlantis is nowhere near as flashy as hicks ' cedars , which is disappointing but understandable considering the switch from the completely amazing robert richardson to the occasionally amazing piotr sobocinski , the oscar - nominated cinematographer behind krzysztof kieslowski 's red .
the acting is solid from everyone , including hopkins , who never once makes you think of dr .
lecter .
most impressive are youngsters yelchin and boorem , who both had tiny parts in along came a spider .
while i did n't really have much of a problem with goldman 's screenplay , i do need to point out at least one inconsistency .
goldman , for those of you who do n't read premiere , writes what seems like an annual criticism of everybody else 's films , carefully explaining why they all suck , make no sense and insult their audiences , while somehow failing to mention the crap that he 's penned ( like the general 's daughter ) .
it 's mean - spirited but fun to read , mostly on account of nobody else in hollywood having the balls to say anything remotely negative about anybody else in the business ( including michael jackson , o .
j . and robert blake ) .
in atlantis , which is supposed to be told through the eyes of young bobby , one would assume he would have to be in each scene in order to have the memory to which to flash back .
well , he 's not , and it does n't make sense .
1
: 41 - pg-13 for violence and thematic elements

Answer: P


Question: with the success of the surprise hit alien , directed by ridley scott , a sequel was inevitable .
in fact , after watching the first film , a sequel was wanted , particularly by this reviewer .
handing over the director 's chair to recent box office gem james cameron , who had only made two films previous to this one ( pirahna ii , a surprisingly dull film , and terminator , making cameron a household name ) , the alien series got a face - lift of immense proportions .
instead of being a suspense / science fiction film , cameron alters the series and changing it into an action picture .
what results is one of the most terrifying films ever created .
a film like aliens comes along only once in a while
, and when it does , audiences are usually unprepared for it .
i never saw this movie in theaters , but i wish i could have .
the terror and fright must have been unimaginable , most likely with audiences members literally shrieking in fear .
aliens is an action film unlike any i have ever seen .
with a science fiction plot , cameron gives aliens added testosterone , pumping up the action and fire power from the original film .
in fact , aliens is one of those few sequels which tops the original .
perhaps what makes the alien series so impressive is the hero -- or heroine , as the case may be .
never have we had a more sympathetic hero in an action film , and never have i seen such an impressive acting job done by the main character .
sigourney weaver is possibly the only actress who could play this character and make her realistic enough for us to care about .
placing a woman in these situations would sometimes seem unusual , but because of weaver 's presence , a woman is the only suitable hero .
aliens begins 57 years after alien ended .
lieutenant ellen ripley ( weaver ) is discovered in hypersleep on the nostromo and is awakened .
she explains how she is the only survivor of her past encounter with the aliens , but " the company " is doubtful .
they explain that a colony of families is flourishing on the same planet from which she just left .
despite stern warnings from ripley , the company remains rigid and wo n't call the families back .
however , when the company loses contact with the colony , ripley 's story seems much more feasible .
one of the company 's directors , carter burke ( paul reiser ) , wants to gather a team to travel to the planet .
this team includes a buff private vasquez ( jenette goldstein ) , a questionable corporal hicks ( michael biehn ) , and a loyal android bishop ( lance henriksen ) .
burke tags along with ripley as they fly to the planet in order to locate the members of the colony .
arriving on the planet , the team finds most of the human life extinguished in a cocoon - type environment .
the only survivor is 12 year old rebecca " newt " jorden ( carrie henn ) .
ripley finds this a chance to be the mother she never had the opportunity to become , and she becomes newt 's surrogate mother .
ripley and newt are the only ones who knows what has happened , and soon , all hell breaks loose .
aliens
not only multiplies the thrills and suspense from scott 's version , it also multiplies the number of aliens in general .
alien focused on one alien in particular which systematically killed each crew member , except ripley , who managed to jettison the alien out of the nostromo .
aliens focuses on an entire race of these aliens , and as a result , the chills are incredibly heightened .
then again , this is james cameron , the guy who has given us true lies and terminator 2 : judgment day .
he is the best action director
out there ( topping renny harlin , who directed cliffhanger ) , and only he could create something as terrifying as this film .
it seems that every alien film seems to have some memorable scene or scenes , and aliens has the motherload .
with perhaps one of the most astonishing endings ever created for an action film , aliens climax never seems to hit until the viewer is nearly pushed to extreme exhaustion .
i ca n't recall another film ever to sustain this level of intensity throughout , never dropping for a moment .
just when you think the movie is over , something else will occur , and it starts right back up again .
with a seemingly endless conclusion , aliens ends with one of the greatest moments in film history .
this scene is usually the one remembered most from the film , as lieutenant ripley steps into one of the lifting machines to fight the alien queen . using flawless special effects , the climax is exhausting , leaving any audience member drained from extreme anxiety .
of course , for a film of this genre to work properly , the technical aspects must be realistic enough for us to believe what we see .
aliens is completely realistic , even a decade after its initial release .
the special effects are wonderfully seamless , with a terrifying alien to go with them .
one of the most overlooked aspects of this film is the music , composed by cameron - regular james horner .
horner has created a terrific score , receiving an oscar nomination for his work .
not only that , horner has also created one of the best scores for any action film , or science fiction film ever
( and that includes 2001 : a space odyssey , which was mainly a compilation of well - known composers ) .
in fact , the climax music is also some of the most recognized of film music .
the production design is incredible , which also happened to snag a nomination from the academy .
dark corridors lit by red lights are very impressive , but more impressive is the amount of terror which arises from well - lit locations .
normally a film will be very dark in order to scare a viewer ; aliens uses lights to scare the viewer .
then , of course , is the cinematography , which uses point of view shots , along with video feeds in order to build suspense .
some of the scariest scenes involve the perspective of ripley .
surprisingly , the acting is not only above average for this genre , but
some of the best . sigourney weaver received an oscar nomination for her portrayal of ripley , incorporating the right amount of sympathy into her hard - edged persona .
weaver
soars above the rest in this film , but she is supposed to .
carrie henn gives an above average performance for a child , developing a three - dimensional character from her quiet attitude .
lance henriksen is terrific as bishop , showing that androids do n't always have to be flat characters .
jenette goldstein shows a fair amount of enthusiasm with her role , and steals several scenes of her own ( though her personality becomes slightly annoying when she is n't fighting ) .
michael biehn gives a very nice performance in the most obligatory role of the film .
however , biehn does a good job , making it seem original again .
paul reiser may seem like an odd choice to play the sleazy corporate director , but reiser manages to pull it off quite well
( however , i still see him as paul on tv 's " mad about you " ) .
a very good cast ( which also includes bill paxton and william hope ) highlights this action film , making it stand out from others .
aliens is rightfully rated r for violence , gore , language , and terror .
aliens is sort of the redefining moment of the science fiction genre , as alien was more of a suspense / horror film .
aliens pumps up the stakes , and cameron directs it with professional quality . cameron certainly knows how to make a good action film , but here he proves how he can create some truly horrific moments on screen .
technically astonishing , aliens '
only flaw is small characters who are only there to get killed .
aside from this , you probably wo n't experience anything like aliens for quite a while .

Answer:
P