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: my filmcritic . com colleague norm schrager nailed session 9 , brad anderson 's throwback to spooky horror films from the 70 's .
it worked as an eerie homage without being self - referential or smugly postmodern .
genre aficionados will acknowledge the similarities in tone to stanley kubrick 's the shining and george romero 's dawn of the dead without being taken out of the engrossing narrative ( i .
e . , a psychologically addled waste management team clears out an abandoned lunatic asylum ; unspeakable dread ensues ) .
in a double - whammy for 2001 , anderson shoots and ( mostly ) scores again with his eclectic riff on time - travel episodes from the twilight zone , appropriately titled happy accidents .
much like session 9 , the cards are played very close to the vest here .
is boyish , eccentric " sam deed from dubuque , iowa " a futuristic voyager from the year 2470 or just your run - of - the - mill psychologically disturbed nutcase let loose on the present - day streets of nyc ?
as played by wonderful character actor vincent d'onofrio ( full metal jacket ) , it 's up in the air whether or not we should accept his detailed monologues about life after the polar ice caps have melted .
the question proves to be moot , at least for a time .
even if the whole thing proves to be a creative delusion , one agrees with the character judgment passed down on him by his new girlfriend , ruby ( marisa tomei ) : " he 's a freak , but he sure tells a good story !
"
neurotic ruby thinks she may have found true love after a series of nightmarish dating disasters ( the junkie , the fetishist , the artist , the frenchman , etc . ) , but is n't quite sure how to handle " sam deed " when he starts explaining the barcode on his arm , his elaborately constructed fake identity , his pathological fear of dogs , his ability to speak five different languages , and his mission to change a crucial moment in time that may have ramifications on time 's alternate realities .
( do n't ask . )
it 's all a bit much to take in .
ruby 's close friend gretchen ( cuz ya ca n't have a love story without the token friend , though nadia dajani invests the thankless role with warmth )
chalks it up as a sexy role - playing game , but her cautious therapist ( holland taylor ) warns her that co - dependency is rearing its ugly head again
and she 's in over her head with yet another doomed relationship .
who ya gon na believe ?
despite her winning an academy award , marisa tomei has always struck me as an annoying and unwelcome screen presence , one that undermines the pleasure of watching happy accidents .
her brassy new yawk attitude never really meshes with her desperate desire to appear " cute " to her adoring fans . being loud and flashing a ( disingenuous ) smile does not necessarily equal " substantial and sexy .
"
it takes more than a crack team of hair and wardrobe people to imbue her with personality .
then there 's that damned voice , which strains to be oh - so - adorable .
look , this stuff is purely subjective .
some people feel this way about richard gere , others can not bear to watch robin williams ' hyperactive schtick .
for my money , it 's m .
tomei with a bullet .
happy accidents is a romantic comedy filtered through twelve monkeys ( or , more appropriately , chris marker 's la jetee , especially with those still framed " memory " photographs anderson employs as a stylistic device throughout ) .
modern manhattan is filmed with an otherworldly , vaguely alien eye with a color scheme oddly reminiscent of logan 's run .
as the stranger in a strange land , d'onofrio walks slightly out - of - step , wonderfully affable but often inscrutable with his wayward expressions and bemused detachment .
this is science fiction told mainly via the power of suggestion ( though it often falls into the sci - fi trap of having entirely too much forced exposition -- we want deeds , not words ! )
at least twenty minutes too long , happy accidents eventually gets around to a race - against - time scenario that puts " sam deed " to the ultimate test .
no movie can live in ambiguity forever , but anderson seems terminally unable to provide satisfactory conclusions to his otherwise well structured recent narratives .
( let 's pretend the loathsome and predictable next stop wonderland never happened , shall we ? )
there are also some slow , repetitive stretches as ruby and sam go over the same arguments again and again over whether or not he 's crazy .
the premise is strong enough to sustain interest , but it 's enough to throw a nod in the general direction of rod serling for wrapping up his ideas in half - hour time slots , commercials included .

Answer: P


Question: when casting the key part of the voice of moses , most people 's first candidate would probably not be the controversial actor val kilmer ( the saint and the island of dr .
moreau ) , but he was dreamworks 's choice in their first traditionally animated movie , the prince of egypt .
the selection of kilmer proved to be a wise one , but the biggest risk dreamworks took was n't in the casting department .
the radical departure was that they decided to use the medium of animation to make a biblical epic , a la cecil b .
demille , to move our hearts and minds rather than to tickle our funny bones .
in the press kit producer penney cox says that they wanted to make a film for adults based on sophisticated themes but one that did not exclude children .
animated movies for adults that are appropriate for kids and that are not comedies , now
that is something fresh
.
let me admit up - front that i was quite skeptical as to whether dreamworks could pull it off .
dreamworks 's antz seemed to be a movie not quite appropriate for any age group .
the prince of egypt may be harder to market than antz , but it is much more satisfying .
like antz and unlike the more modest casting of pixar 's a bug 's life , the prince of egpyt has half of hollywood doing the voices .
danny glover is the voice of jethro , jeff goldblum of aaron , steve martin of hotep , helen mirren of the queen , michelle pfeiffer of tzipporah , martin short of huy and patrick stewart of seti .
you can figure out for yourself who does the voice of god .
the movie , which is weakest in the story department , is a cliff 's notes version of demille 's the ten commandments .
the script by kelly asbury and lorna cook has an obsession with touching briefly on every classic event in moses 's life .
demille took over three and a half hours in order to do it justice .
at less than half of that , the prince of egypt rushes through so much material that it does n't establish sufficient depth for us to bond with the characters .
we meet moses when the queen finds him floating in his little basket .
we watch him grow up and become best bud and a chariot racing partner to ramses ( ralph fiennes ) , the future pharaoh .
moses is a free spirit and a practical joker until he finds out his true identity as a jew .
( " all i 've ever known to be true is a lie , " moses complains . )
after finding out his real identity , he sees for the first time the oppression of the jewish slaves that are all around him .
after leaving egypt , moses comes back to ask ramses to let moses 's people go .
this leads to the classic scene of the parting of the red sea , which is one of many places where computers were used to enhance the traditionally hand - drawn animation of the most of the production .
it is the absolutely stunning visuals that make the movie so compelling .
drawn with a rich palette of luxurious roses , blues and golds , the picture looks sumptuous from its first frame to its last .
the construction of the temple is shown in blowing dust , and other scenes are shot with the glow of a rising sun .
the most original visual sequence in the film occurs during a dream moses
has .
done with an explicit two - dimensional look , the colorful images painted on the temple walls come to life to tell their own animated story .
even though it has its weaknesses , the prince of egypt is a noble attempt to carve out a new genre -- serious animated movies for adults that are acceptable for the entire family .
this awe - inspiring movie deserves to be seen .
the prince of egypt runs about 1 : 30 .
it is rated pg for thematic elements and would be fine for the whole family .
how old a kid would need to be to be interested depends on the child , but those over 8 will probably like it .

Answer: P


Question: i wish i could say that there is something more to the new star wars installment than what you see in the commercials , but there is n't .
george lucas is an expert at crafting triumphant , special effects - bound flicks and he has done it again .
this is the first star wars film i 've seen on the big screen , so , of course , the impact was much greater than when i watched the three original episodes on video .
what is compelling about the phantom menace is not its disposable story , but its amazing visuals .
basically , the film 's plot is centered around trade disputes between two planets .
qui - gon ( liam neeson ) and his young apprentice obi - wan kenobi ( ewan mcgregor ) set out with the animated jar - jar binks to fix the mess that may result in war .
when their ship breaks down and they are stranded , they find a young boy , anakin skywalker ( jake lloyd ) and his slave mother .
qui - gon strongly believes that anakin is destined for jedi greatness and immediately takes him under his wing .
anakin participates in a heart - pounding podrace , one of the highlights of the film , to get the equipment needed to fix qui - gon 's ship .
however , most everyone is doubtful about entrusting the future to some unknown slave boy .
meanwhile , queen amadala ( natalie portman ) is frustrated and at wit 's end , being na ?
ve and young and having so much responsibility on her shoulders .
there are hardly any emotional scenes in the film- even when we discover that anakin will be leaving his slave mother behind to begin jedi training , the frenzied excitement of the whole film wears down the poignancy to the size of a crumb .
this does not prove that the phantom menace is poorly made for it is brilliantly made .
in all the star wars films , human emotions that we , the audience , can identify with are usually nil , but the films are for pure enjoyment , not for uplifting purposes . despite the fun of watching the movie , the phantom menace is not without flaws .
for starters , we have the ill - conceived , moronic character jar - jar binks who should be considered a threat to star wars galactic society and to the audience .
what a klutz !
george lucas clumsily tried to create a fun character that would be as memorable as , say , yoda , r2-d2 , or c3-po , but , alas , his efforts were in vain .
secondly ( this may be good or bad , depending on your point of view ) , the movie 's atmosphere is so different from the familiar comic - book feel of the previous three star wars installments .
this is due , perhaps , to the utter complexity to this movie 's plot and the higher level of sophistication of the visual effects used here .
the movie seems to be reaching for epic proportions .
i ca n't say much about the acting , though acting has never been what you saw star wars movies for anyway .
however , there is absolutely no pizzazz to the performances- they are straightforward and , at times , stale .
natalie portman has a great presence , but her turn as queen amadala makes the queen a stoic , unfeeling ?
enigma .
there is nothing we can hold onto in her performance to make us believe the trade predicament is anything of importance .
jake lloyd is the only actor here who has an ounce of evident spunk .
despite the inevitable faults , there is so much to enjoy about the movie .
the heightened excitement of the final sequences does n't quite surpass the famous the empire strikes back climactic scenes , but they are amazing and edge - of - your - seat fun in their own rite .
the film is a treasure to look at .
the visual effects are astonishing 99 .
8 % of the time- the awe - inspiring , mouth - opening , eye - popping sight of the underwater city is nothing short of production design and special effects genius .
not since 1997 's the fifth element has there been a film as drenched in visual treats as this one .
the production design is reminiscent of the fifth element , the previous star wars movies , kubrick 's 2001 , maybe even of fritz lang 's classic silent metropolis .
however , all the sets are so original .
the original star wars movies ca n't even match the grandeur of this film 's visuals and that is a sheer pleasure for the viewer-
it gives us hope of even greater things for the upcoming episode .
the costumes are remarkable and have jean - paul gaultier written all over them . whether its queen amadala 's gigantic wardrobe complete with gold - embroidery and feathers , or the jedis ' simple brown uniforms , the costume designer has fused talent with outrageousness .
the costumes are one of the true delights of watching the movie .
as for john williams ' score , i do n't think he 's done one as complex or powerful since ?
i ca n't even remember .
it is as epic as his schindler 's list score and as thrilling and zestful as jaws .
it includes the bare bones of his music from the previous three films , but williams has added on , made the music much more intense and moving .
what with the overwhelming hoopla that circled this movie , one might come in with high expectations and be disappointed .
there is very little to hate in the film : it 's a very accomplished and skillfully made flick .
it is the best " fun " film and the best big - budget film out today , most definitely .

Answer:
P