TASK DEFINITION: In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.
PROBLEM: jonathan demme 's _ beloved _ , based on the book toni morrison , is a study in skillful literary adaptation .
on the one hand , the film manages to recreate key moments from the novel , evoking morrison 's pragmatic narrative style without using her authorial voice .
on the other hand , beloved omits the some of the finer details of the book , favoring an ambiguously defined back story upon which to build the story 's main events .
this choice is a smartly made one , for it creates an open space in which the story 's wide range of emotions can gestate and grow
.
indeed , the impact of the film is so protracted that much of it can not be felt until long after the end credits have rolled .
_ beloved _ takes place in the second half of the 19th century , during the so - called reconstruction era after the civil war .
for newly - freed slaves , it is a time of confusion and turmoil .
oprah winfrey is sethe , a slave who escaped a kentucky plantation and took her children to an ohio farmhouse , where she hoped the terror would end .
what she did not know was that it would follow her there , and remain with her long after the physical threat had vanished .
_ beloved _ ultimately tells the story of sethe 's search for forgiveness , one long - hampered by an unforgettable sin .
the film starts off on a dreary day ten years after sethe 's escape , as a violent , unseen energy rocks her dilapidated farmhouse .
invisible hands terrorize her family , flinging objects across rooms , shaking tables , rattling floorboards .
sethe 's sons run away , perhaps for good , leaving sethe and her daughter denver to fend for themselves .
demme 's matter - of - fact handling of this supernatural element is just one of _ beloved _ 's intriguing aspects .
all of the characters take for granted that ghosts are real .
when paul d ( danny glover ) -- a former slave who escaped kentucky along with sethe -- arrives at the house eight years later and is confronted with the ghost 's hellish visions , he does n't run in terror .
instead , he asks who the ghost is .
as in morrison 's novel , demme quickly establishes that the horror of the story will not come from the fact of the ghost itself , but from the terrifying past in which the ghost was created .
sethe is the one being haunted , but the ghost in the house is the least of her fears .
in fact , the ghost is one of the reasons she chooses to stay .
the story takes an bizarre turn with the appearance of beloved ( thandie newton ) , a young black - clad woman who appears on sethe 's front lawn , leaned christ - like against a tree stump .
sethe and denver immediately take to the rasping woman and try to nurse her to health .
they know not who she is , but that does n't matter .
only paul d is suspicious of the stranger .
little does the family know that beloved will bring about many changes , and force sethe to release a guilt she has held onto so urgently for eighteen years .
winfrey is arguably beloved 's greatest asset .
she inhabits the role of sethe
so convincingly it is hard to believe this is the same woman who shines brightly on a tv talk show .
lisa gay hamilton does an impressive job in the emotionally demanding role
as the younger sethe , whose appalling actions make her the disturbed woman we see eighteen years later .
danny glover is affable
as the sympathetic paul d , as is kimberly elise as denver , sethe 's wanderlusting daughter .
as sethe 's sage - like mother - in - law old baby suggs , beah richards
authoritatively commands every scene in which she appears .
the film 's least palatable choice of casting is unfortunately that of the role of beloved herself .
thandie newton plays the glassy - eyed girl with a demented fervor which is endearing at first , but which becomes off - putting and unintentionally laughable by the end .
departing from the honed aesthetic he used in such films as _ the silence of the lambs
_ and _ melvin & howard
_
, director demme has used a bit of dramatic overstatement to get across the vivid descriptions in morrison 's novel .
totemic camera shots and color - saturated scenery are decidedly uncommon in demme 's films , but the few he uses here work to the film 's benefit .
_ beloved _ 's most memorable scenes are those of baby suggs ' gatherings in a forest clearing , where the bright yellow - greens of nature entrance the viewer as much as suggs ' words do .
for the most part , though , demme maintains his trademark directorial neutrality .
this , combined with morrison 's equally frugal method of storytelling , may make _ beloved _ somewhat of a challenge to watch , even to those familiar with the book .
though the film compliments the book extraordinarily well
, it falls short in allowing the sort of accessibility one usually expects from a film .
nothing is spoon - fed to the viewer .
morrison 's novel is just as enigmatic , but unlike a movie , a book can be put down to allow the various undercurrents and themes to churn and absorb .
the movie begins like _ poltergeist _ , and ends like _ the color purple _ , with shades of _ the scarlet letter _ and _ little women
_ somewhere in the middle .
taken as a whole
, beloved is a disquieting , one - of - a - kind experience , one to be viewed with guards down and spirits in abeyance .

SOLUTION: P

PROBLEM: depending on who you ask , the original sin was either the eating of the apple , the act of disobedience against god , or the act of betrayal .
but in case you did n't know this , do n't bother remembering it . . .
the words " original sin " never come up in the movie of the same name , let alone the concept of it .
the closest the film even gets to catholicism is in its narrative ( the story is told by angelina jolie to her priest while on death row in cuba , circa 1900 ) .
regardless of its senseless title , original sin does actually have a plot ( albeit
one of the most mangled acts of screenwriting
since the art of war , based on the book waltz across darkness ) .
boy ( antionio banderas ) places personal ad sometime around 1900 , searching for a wife .
since this is a century ago , we narrowly dodge a remake of green card , only to find that the girl ( jolie ) faked her photo and is actually beautiful .
skipping a few moderately useless sex scenes ( getting the question out of the way , yes , we get to see angelina jolie 's breasts again ) , the girl turns out to be a con artist , swindles boy for his money , and heads for the hills .
original sin then briefly tries to be a thriller .
we see boy go whore - chasing , saying he wants to find girl and kill her .
but as soon as boy actually finds girl , instead of following what might have been
a promising ( or at least not completely fucking boring ) thriller , the film degenerates into the worst dissection of the virgin / whore complex since milk money .
girl toys with the idea of reforming her con - girl past , all the while avoiding the " other man , " a lover that keeps making her start these scams in the first place . add insult to injury with some of the worst stylistic choices in cinematic history ( literally half of the film is either in slow motion or uses a strobe effect ) , and acting roughly the caliber of a b . b . gun , and original sin is one of the most torturous films of the summer , definitely front running to make my bottom ten of the year .
do n't even bother with original sin , but if you do go , be honest with yourself and admit its pure sex appeal .
just keep in mind that although this film may not be the most original on the block , it 's much worse than a sin .
this is sacrilege .

SOLUTION: N

PROBLEM: usually when a blockbuster comes out , it 's loaded with effects , stars , bad scripts , and plenty of action .
mystery men may contain an all - star cast , and efects , but the clever script and characters are what really works , which is rare to see this year .
the film is based upon the comic book series " the flaming carrot " by bob burden , in which 3 wanna be super heroes try and fight crime , only to be out done by the real hero of champion city , captain amazing
( greg kinnear ) .
things go a little haywire , when the sinister casanova frankenstein ( geoffrey rush ) is released into the city , where he captures captain amazing , and plans to wreak havoc upon champion city .
well , the trio decide to take matters in their own hands , by saving the city , but first they need some assitance .
this is where the film takes a turn for the better .
in the beggining , there were only 3 wanna be heroes .
" blue raja ( hank azaria ) , " mr . furious ( ben stiller ) and " the shoveller ( william h. macy ) .
sure they were enterataining , but their acts grew old fast .
that is until they aquire " invisible boy " ( kel mitchell ) , and " the bowler " ( janeane garafalo ) and " mr . splein " ( paul reubens ) ,
2 of which rescue the film from becoming a disastorous mess .
thankfully , the original 3 heroes become amusing , with some support of reuben and garfalo on screen .
the whole premise is rather ridiculous , but packs a few punches to keep interest . for one , the film is considerably clever .
it literally pokes fun at super hero films , like batman and robin , superman etc .
in fact , many scenes are similar to batman and robin , including the opening sequence ,
only altered in a humorous and superior way .
a part of the cleverness comes from the cast .
sometimes a film with such talent is overblown ,
but the acting is what keeps it alive here .
while azaria and macy were enteratining , 2 characters really stood out .
one was paul reuben .
no matter how disgusting or revolting " mr . splein " may be , you still ca n't help but laugh .
it ' so incredibly moronic
, it 's just a riot watching reuben relieve himself of bodily functions .
janeane garafalo also was an interesting character .
she seemed to be the most outgoing and convincing character on screem , due to her enthusiasm , that kept the film flowing .
men is worth seeing alone , for those 2 troubled heroes .
on the downside , a few of the heroes and especially the villain never really lift off .
kel mitchell and geoffrey rush , were both utterly useless .
their parts were so limited , they 'd be lucky at all to be on screen for more than 20 minutes .
ben stiller too was wasted , mostly because of his unlikeable power and dialogue .
none of these characters get a rise out of anybody , but happily they are lost in the charming flow of the film . as far as the budget goes , it was wisely spent on the cast , not the effects .
while the set designs and action all look nice
, i 'm glad there was a seperate aspect , that the film focused on , and for that i applaud .
slow at times , and rather pointless , mystery men still delivers .
it forgets about money making , because it 's not likely to make a bundle like it 's proceeders , and that 's what works .
stupid ?
maybe , but for once i 'm not disappointed .
no one expected an intelligent film , but you get a film that s wit captures your attention and makes you forget this miserable year .

SOLUTION:
P