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: john carpenter makes b - movies .
always has ( " halloween , " " escape from new york , " " the thing " ) and , by the looks of it ( " they live , " " escape from l . a . , " " vampires " ) , always will .
carpenter 's latest horror opus with a science fiction bent ( or science fiction outing with a schlock horror bent ) is the aptly - titled " john carpenter 's ghosts of mars " ( in case , i suppose , you went looking for someone else 's " ghosts of mars " ) .
like all those films prefixed by the very possessive " john carpenter 's , " " ghosts of mars " is an unashamed b - movie punctuated by a b - movie plot , b - movie actors , and b - movie special effects .
in category one , above , we have a storyline that borders on idiotic
( and , at times , chaotic ) .
dormant martians ( i .
e . , swirling red gases ) awakened by meddling humans
possess the souls of hapless mining colonists rendering them testy marilyn manson lookalikes .
all this explained ( in flashback ) to some grand pooh - bah counsel by martian police official melanie ballard ( natasha henstridge , from the sub- " species " films ) , the only returnee on a silly - looking train .
officer ballard went in to bring back incarcerated felon james " desolation " williams ; what she found was not a pretty picture .
in the second category we have ms .
henstridge , her blonde hair pulled back tightly and awkwardly into a ponytail , ice cube ( as the appropriately - named " desolation " ) , pam grier ( briefly , oddly -- who wanted to work with whom i wonder ? ) , and a host of extras
all assuming that the story and special effects were going to carry this film and therefore they did n't need to try too hard
.
in category number three we have , in addition to those swirling red gases and the silly - looking train , a couple of bird's - eye - view shots of a sprawling martian metropolis ( reddish also ) .
state - of - the - art special effects have never been a carpenter trademark and once again the writer / director ( who seems to have no problem finding work , however ) does n't waste any of the film 's budget in that department .
"
ghosts of mars " is lock , laughing stock , and barrel
all your standard carpenter fare : dingy interiors , cluttered exteriors , inane dialogue , lots of leather , scarred , crazed - looking aliens , and lots and lots of weaponry .
the film often and always explodes into warfare without warning -- spontaneously , stupidly .
carpenter might like to think he 's made a western here
but it 's a western without any real heroes , villains , or border conflicts .
it 's just the shootouts minus a hissing snake plissken .
i never thought i 'd miss the guy
but i do .
it 's not
* all
* the same , however .
dubbed the " one - note wonder " for his minimalist music soundtracks , carpenter seems to have graduated from simplistic ( yet effective ) scoring by highlighting his action with loud , screeching guitar work .
fortunately this drowns out a lot of the dialogue .
the final exchange between henstridge and , er , cube though is both audible * and * priceless .
mars has proven an infertile breeding ground for hollywood in the last year or so , what with the stillborn " mission to mars " and " red planet " ( with val kilmer ) .
" ghosts of mars " sadly adds to those disappointing returns ( in its opening weekend it was overshadowed by a bunch of sequels , among them " american pie 2 " and " rush hour 2 " ) .
the irony is that the mars in carpenter 's film feels sadly absent .
there are occasional references to the red planet , of course , but the film might as well have been set in perth amboys than on earth 's closest neighbor .
two things keep " john carpenter 's ghosts of mars " from getting a huge slap upside the head .
1 . henstridge keeps her top on ( miraculously ) , and 2 .
the film does n't pretend to be anything it 's not .
what that means , however , is that fans of superior , intelligent , grade a sci - fi / horror are singularly out of luck .

Answer: N


Question: it is with hesitance that i call " apocalypse now " a masterpiece .
certainly , it had the pedigree to be one of the greatest films ever made , with a director known for producing masterpieces with ease , and some of the finest actors of the 1970 's .
the plot , an adaptation of joseph conrad 's " heart of darkness " , was set in vietnam , and the timing of the film was supposed to be brilliant , coming on the heels of the end of the war .
" apocalypse " certainly has its moments , some of which are the finest in film history .
the plot is fairly simple .
captain willard ( sheen ) , is a troubled soldier who came back to hanoi for a 2nd tour of duty .
his mission is simple : take a boat up to cambodian territory , and destroy the command of renegade colonel kurtz ( brando ) " with extreme prejudice " .
along the way , willard runs into a series of adventures , including one with lt .
col .
kilgore ( duvall ) , and a strange encounter with playboy bunnies .
willard ' s four person crew finally make it to kurtz ' compound , where he discovers kurtz has set himself up as a god among the natives .
willard 's experiences with kurtz take up the last half - hour , with a confrontation and eventual ending .
the movie is visually breathtaking .
the battle scenes are exquisitely done , and the score is brilliant , setting a murky mood of darkness that is first - rate .
the collage of disturbing images that coppola presents is at times both astonishing and sickening .
the vast amount of detail poured into every war scene is stunning , and there are many episodes that are deeply powerful which resonate through the entire movie .
the journey to kurtz ' camp is quite a ride , with psychosis setting in on almost every character .
the most interesting one is kilgore , the lt .
col .
who cares more about the surf than about the mission .
it is at times revolting , psychotic , and incredible , and
it is one hell of a movie .
the scenes are bold , inventive , and powerful , and the acting is stunning , especially be sheen , duvall , and fishburne .
the narration is exquisite , as is the mystery of kurtz .
coppola sets about a hallucinatory ride through vietnam , kind of like " saving private ryan " on lsd .
the film is jarring in its implications , and psychotic in its execution .
the problems come when the film slows down .
one of the major scenes in the film , where the boat arrives at the final army checkpoint before they start their search for kurtz , is a colossal mess .
the dialogue is confusing , the lighting is atrocious , and the scene drags on for 10 terrible minutes of film .
the true problems happen after the crew does come into the kurtz compound .
the film slows down to a drag .
sheen seems forever captured by a madman , played by brando is a lazy performance that is not deserving of the accolades it received .
brando is in the film for no more than 15 minutes , but is bathed in shadows the entire time , making the last half hour of the film visually pathetic .
the scenes are poorly done , the dialogue is muffled , and the whole mess is utterly confusing beyond all belief .
sheen seems to adore this man , but why the viewers are never told .
the entire journey is supposed to be a prelude for a stunning entrance of this god - like kurtz , but the scenes fall way short of expectations .
granted , it has its moments , which are brutally horrific , but the general feeling is one of confusion .
brando mumbles his lines in a incoherent stir , and my feeling was that this could never be a great man , this could never be a man who inspires hundreds to follow him , so why do they do it ?
there are moments of brilliance , but the visual confusion dilutes the power of the scene .
there are too many questions left unanswered with the character of kurtz to have a satisfying ending .
the finest scene at the end is sheen 's escape , and his entrace into the temple .
his rise out of the water , with the smoke coming off of his slicked head , is a brilliant 30 seconds of film .
yet , you can not shake the feeling that there is so much more this film could have done .
the psychotic ride is unforgettable at times , and indeed the film on the whole is very good .
it is a stunningly flawed expression of film , for it addresses major issues , such as man 's mental stamina during bouts of war .
but one still can not shake the feeling that this film could have so much more powerful , had the character of kurtz been more explored , and had sheen truly succumbed to the fate that the viewer thought he was destined for .
there is too much good material in here not to be called a masterpiece , but it could have been so much more rewarding .

Answer: P


Question: the happy bastard 's quick movie review me tarzan . . .
you happy viewer .
for a minute there , i thought i was going to be groaning over the release of disney 's latest , another adaptation of a legend from the past .
( remember the pathetic pocahontas ? yikes ! )
but guess what- disney , a company that 's been on a roll lately with animated films
, strikes again with another wonderful tale that pleases the eyes as well as the inner kid in you .
the story is pretty basic- tarzan is left orphaned and a female gorilla who 's lost her young adopts him into her group . as he matures into a much older man , tarzan still wonders just why he 's so much different from the clan , and then arrives a hunter , a professor , and the professor 's lovely daughter , jane- who meets tarzan rather quickly after getting in trouble with a group of feisty babboons .
from there , tarzan faces tough choices-
should he stay with the ones that he grew up with or go join his own kind in england ?
the voicework here is pretty top - level .
tony goldwyn is very convincing as the ape man ; minnie driver adds a delectable touch to the already - beautiful jane ; nigel hawthorne makes for a pretty nasty hunter voice ; rosie o ' donnell keeps the laughs rolling as tarzan 's best ape friend terk ; and wayne " newman " knight has his moments as a panicky elephant .
the movie is superb throughout , mixing a great script with incredible computer - assisted visuals .
when tarzan tree - surfs ( a twist that was added on top of the same ol' vine swinging- and a great one , i might add ) , the camera twists and turns , allowing the trees all around to come to life vividly .
i could n't believe my eyes- disney has come a long way since starting in a ballroom for beauty and the beast .
and the music 's not half bad , either .
fortunately , there 's no ridiculous singing characters here , just a great set of songs by phil collins that perfectly fit the mood .
there 's some great action sequences here as well , including a wonderfully done chase between tarzan , jane , and the aforementioned babboons .
but , of course , it 's not all action-
there 's a message here as well that has to do with family .
this is easily one of disney 's best animated films of the decade
and it 's one i ca n't wait to put in my home library .
. .
that is , if my vcr still works in the year 2000 .

Answer:
P