TASK DEFINITION: In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.
PROBLEM: pitch black is a sheep in wolf 's clothing .
it is full of darkness , danger and violence and if you buy into the marketing hype , an unsettling and scary film going experience .
do n't be fooled .
pitch black is a morality play masquerading as a scare - fest .
it starts off with blistering intensity .
a cargo spaceship crash lands on a planet apparently leeched of life by the scorching heat of three suns .
among the survivors is fry ( mitchell ) , the ship 's pilot , who spends the film wrestling with the fact that she tried to jettison the other passengers in her effort to land the craft safely .
there is imam ( david ) , an islamic leader whose faith in his god is tested repeatedly throughout the film .
there is a law enforcement officer in the form of johns ( hauser ) , who attacks every situation with square jawed authoritarian zeal .
and there is riddick ( diesel ) , a menacing , muscle - bound convicted murderer who 's being brought back to justice by johns .
the group quickly sizes up the situation and each other .
confident in their assessment of matters , a plan is set in motion to escape their hellish environment .
those plans are shredded by the appearance of one of the planet 's wildlife , a predatory , sometimes winged , species that enjoys the taste of blood and flesh .
fortunately , the creatures are light sensitive and are forced to live in networks of catacombs under the planet 's surface .
unfortunately , the group has managed to land on the planet moments before an eclipse is about to occur , taking away their one protection from the monsters .
the group 's savior comes in the form of johns , whose decisive leadership looks to deliver them from purgatory .
or does it ?
pitch black deviates from the standard sci - fi fare by avoiding some of the stock " escape the boogieman " conflicts the genre typically serves up .
just as the planet gave a false facade of lifelessness , first appearances given by the survivors proves to be just as false .
the excitement of the film comes not from the danger posed by the creatures , but rather from watching the shifting allegiances and emotional growth of the characters as the planet serves as a deus ex machina of sorts to catalyze emotional growth .
a recurrent theme runs throughout the movie of faith , whether it be religious or in a person , and how that powers their motivations .
i found it telling that an accidental death occurs early on due to the misperception of a self professed atheist .
conversely , imam constantly contributes any good fortune to allah .
one by one , his perceived heaven sent blessings are taken away and crushed .
imam is forced to reassess his faith .
another character expresses belief in god , along with a life long hate .
yet another character makes a decision that echoes the sentiments of christ about selflessness and has lasting repercussions for several of group .
it is a fascinating character study hiding under the guise of a scare flick .
special mention should be made of vin diesel , who intriguingly conveys feral menace combined with a truly mesmerizing presence .
his character could have easily slipped into a parody of the baddass killing machine , but twohy and diesel add surprising depth to riddick .
they can be excused for the two or three shwarzenegger - like catch phrases that growl their way out of diesel 's mouth .
the movie has its flaws that can be nitpicked .
the creatures do look derivative of the ones in alien .
the dialogue is n't the freshest at times , reminiscent of a bad comic book .
yes , the appearance of riddick 's vision skills are more than a little timely considering the situation .
these trappings are on the periphery of the story twohy is really trying to tell .
twohy may have lured you in under the pretense of scaring you with film fabricated boogieman , but he shows the real boogieman to be the prejudices and beliefs we use to direct decisions in our lives .

SOLUTION: P

PROBLEM: " spice world " is just one long promotional film for the british girl band the spice girls .
sure there 's a hint of humor in there every once in a while .
actually , there 's a couple of pretty good jabs at the spice girls .
but overall , who cares ? not me .
if you do n't know by now , the spice girls sing songs of love and friendship and responsibility and girl power , yet dress like streetwalkers from a lower middle class neighborhood .
in " spice world " they ride around in their big tour bus , whining about having to do photo shoots and give interviews .
amazingly , all the talk they do about keeping commitments and upholding responsibilities only really applies to fun things , things they want to do , not things they are required to do to keep earning money .
and they keep babbling about " girl power " when they should really be talking about " cleavage power " .
i mean , if all it takes is girl power , then why are they
only one thread away from bursting out of their skimpy outfits ?
the film is pg , but really with only some very minor dialogue changes and scene extentions , you 'd have yourself one raunchy adult film .
by the way , there 's something in the opening credits which says " based on an idea by the spice girls " .
wow , they got idea credit !
i certainly wish that was a new trend in hollywood . . .
giving credit for simply having the thought " say girls , let 's make a movie !
"
the supporting cast fares well .
roger moore ( the real james bond ) mockingly plays the cliche - spewing " chief " of the spice girls , and darn it all , he 's fun to watch .
mark mckenney also is good as a screenwriter trying to pitch film ideas to the band 's manager ( richard e . grant ) .
one question though : george wendt ?
you 'd think that " spice world " would envoke one of two reactions in people .
if you like the spice girls , you 'll like them even more afterwards .
and if you ca n't stand them ( like me ) , then " spice world " will really make you sick .
oddly , the audience i saw the film with , roughly 50 twelve year - old girls , sat in silence for the entire film .
well , not the two who sat directly behind me .
they kept muttering " this is stupid " over and over again .
maybe there is hope for humanity after all .
[ pg ]

SOLUTION: N

PROBLEM: " houston .
we have a serious problem .
" after making " mission : impossible " , brian de palma has a lot to live up to .
by making an epic science fiction and inviting great cast and talented crew , he hopes to reach the modern audience .
and the possibilities are certainly there , but the result is a great disaster .
starting in a near future , with a prologue copied from " apollo 13 " , de palma slowly builds up his " story " .
the human race has already set foot on mars .
a research expedition has vanished without trace on the red planet and another one has been sent to find out what happened .
this is basically the whole plot .
so it 's hard to imagine that it can be stretched to 2 hours .
but de palma manages to do that .
it is not a very good achievement .
as we follow this expedition to mars and watch them slowly float in space , the hardest thing to do is stay awake .
the film 's major problem is that it tries to seem more clever than it is .
david mamet 's dialogue , while trying to seem natural , is distant and simply fake .
de palma and mamet wanted to combine action with a thought provoking plot .
the result is more like an unsuccessful mutation of kubrick 's " 2001 : a space odyssey " , " apollo 13 " and " godzilla " .
to make time pass , the creators have inserted several " refreshing " scientific details , that would not convince a half - crazed frog .
it consists of multiple copies and direct ripp - offs from several great science fiction films and stories .
when it finally presents an almost original idea ,
it falls flat because of its uncovered stupidity .
i ca n't even call this film predictable , since
no one with a healthy imagination can come up with something like this .
sometimes it gets so cheesy , that you 'll start laughing when you 're supposed to cry and cry when you 're supposed to laugh .
you 'll see enormous sandstorms , hear mysterious sounds and , last but not least , on this " constantly surprising " tour you 'll see -- an alien .
it 's really hard to find comparisons to such an experience , and i know that i 've never said that before ( i thought i never would ) , but " lost in space " is actually better .
that 's an achievement in itself !
director brian de palma has stroke gold with " untouchables " that became an instant american classic .
it is for this film that he will be remembered , while all his other failures will be forgotten .
he 'll live to fight another day !
i send the actors my condolences , since they truly do try to transform into their undeveloped and dull characters .
and both the cinematography , production design and art direction are very decent .
it is because of the achievement of 254 people , that i rate this film 2/10 .
unfortunately their hard work was in vain . if you have problems with insomnia , i recommend you this film .
if you 're not asleep within the first half hour , consult your doctor .

SOLUTION:
N