TASK DEFINITION: In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.
PROBLEM: stendhal 's syndrome : a condition where , in the presence of art , a person becomes engulfed in a painting and hallucinates and may afterwards suffer symptoms such as depression , suicidal behaviour and personality disorder .
grim stuff , to be sure , but the subject of a remarkable film from italy 's master of the horror thriller dario argento . boasting an unforgettable soundtrack from the grandfather of film music ennio morricone
, the stendhal syndrome is a quite magnificent return to form for argento .
it follows his disappointing american debut trauma ( 1992 ) , the patchy opera ( 1987 ) and several mediocre films he produced for young italian director michele soavi in the late 1980 's .
based on the novel by graziella magherini , the film stars argento 's daughter asia as young roman police inspector anna manni in pursuit of a brutal rapist - killer .
visiting florence to follow up several leads , she is lured by the killer alfredo ( thomas kretschmann ) to an art gallery , a favourite haunt where he hopes to identify exactly who is on his tail .
at the gallery anna is overwhelmed by a painting and faints .
posing as a bystander , alfredo briefly comes to her aid and having now identified his pursuer , a strange game of cat and mouse begins .
a gripping story evolves , and a coherent one , too , which may surprise those familiar with argento 's often lumpy narratives .
the stendhal syndrome is not a simple cop - hunting - killer scenario .
it is a disturbing and often compelling study of the central character 's psychological disintegration .
the script explores its psycho - sexual themes with intelligence and candour , perhaps too much so for more sensitive viewers .
but as dark as its themes are , the stendhal syndrome emerges as one of the most artful and effective european thrillers of the last ten years .
argento is once again working in his native italy , and he fully exploits the opportunities to use art and architecture for both symbolic statements and as departure points for several brilliant hallucinogenic sequences . effects whiz sergio stivaletti serves his director well here , and the cinematography by giuseppe rotunno is consistently excellent .
the film 's opening 20 minutes segues between hallucination , flashback and real - time with tremendous style .
proof that , at his most inspired , argento remains one of the world 's most exhilarating filmmakers .
the cast is generally good , though marred at times by dubbing into english that renders speech all but emotionless .
asia argento 's performance is by turns risky , awkward and fascinating .
it 's a difficult role , and given her relative inexperience on screen
she deserves applause for her efforts .
thomas kretschmann is chillingly effective as alfredo , and marco leonardi ( of cinema paradiso , and possibly the most gorgeous looking man in italy ) does okay as anna 's work colleague and increasingly confused love interest .
but perhaps the stendhal syndrome 's single most striking element is ennio morricone 's soundtrack .
active since the 1960 's
, morricone has scored over 100 films in his career and this must rate as one of his finest efforts .
it 's mostly a variation on the one theme : a slow circular melody for strings and wordless female vocal possessed with an extraordinary , haunting beauty that lingers long afterwards .
it 's been three decades since argento and morricone worked together .
this is a long welcome reunion .
if the film has a fault , it is that the last half hour drags a little and the film does n't quite reach a completely satisfying climax .
but by the closing scenes , the stendhal syndrome has already offered us enough to qualify as one of the very best films of dario argento 's career .
* note : see the uncut print from japanese laserdisc if you can .
dubs of this version are available from various video dealers on the world wide web .

SOLUTION: P

PROBLEM: when i originally saw the trailer for " analyze this " a few months ago , i must admit ,
i thought it looked kind of lame .
and then when the commercials started popping up a week or two ago , i thought it looked outright bad
.
but then when " analyze this " finally opened a few days ago , an odd thing happened .
it got great reviews .
critics were proclaiming it " hilarious " and a " dead - on parody of mob movies " .
well , with praise like that , i figured , it must be good
and so i headed off to the theater .
you know that expression that says always trust your gut instincts ?
well , turns out that expression is more valid than i ever gave it credit for .
" analyze this " is slow , unfunny , and badly acted .
do n't get me wrong , i think that deniro is one of the top ten greatest actors of the century , but he is just out of his league here .
i think the problem is he did n't quite know how to approach this material .
he plays his character , mob boss paull vitti , somewhere in between the realm of comedy and drama . if he had played the character straight , along the lines of leslie nielson in the " naked gun " series , he probably would have been a lot more successful .
as it is , though , he plays the character completely serious at some moments , and for laughs at others .
this does n't work .
it creates an uneven character that never breaks out of the deniro mold ; you always know it 's him . and the movie is badly paced , too .
it never takes off .
it just crawls from one scene to another without any forward momentum .
i think the blame for this should be placed on the script .
it 's obvious the writer had a good idea for a movie , mob boss faces breakdown and needs the services of a psychiatrist , but once this is established , the movie does n't really go anywhere .
the formula of the film seems to be this : billy crystal says no to deniro , deniro forces him , and much wackiness ensues .
this formula of sorts is repeated several times throughout the movie .
i 've said it before and i 'll say it again : the only thing that matters to me in a comedy is whether or not it 's funny .
if " analyze this " had been funny , the pacing and bad acting would n't have bothered me .
i would have been too busy laughing to notice .
but as it is , i only chuckled a few times .
the only really funny scene is a dead - on parody of " the godfather " .
sadly , though , i do n't think anyone in the audience i saw it with realized it was a parody , because i was the only one laughing .
but my sense of humour , i have come to realize , is vastly different from the general population .
i loathed " there 's something about mary " , yet loved " baseketball " .
now , if you want a movie that * i * think is funny , go out and see " office space " .
it 's full of genuine laughs and wo n't leave you glancing at your watch every 10 minutes , as " analyze this " did .

SOLUTION: N

PROBLEM: men in black is an explosive mix of science fiction , action , and comedy that hits the target in every possible way .
although another alien movie , men in black succeeds in every way
that independence day did n't , and towers above many other movies of its type .
the brilliant acting , especially by tommy lee jones as agent kay , is also as good as it gets .
director barry sonnenfeld , who was behind the camera for the addams family movies and get shorty , has crafted a masterpiece .
the story behind men in black is just as interesting as you would want it to be .
the men in black , or mib , are a top - secret governmental agency that is not known to exist .
the mib are responsible for " saving the world from the scum of the universe " .
a though job , indeed .
the film opens with a truckload of illegal aliens ( the human kind ) being transported across the mexico border and into the united states .
presumably , these " aliens " are all migrant workers .
that is , until the mib show up and begin interrogating them .
agent kay selects a particular suspicious worker and takes him away from the other local authorities to discover that he is not an illegal human alien , but a real extra - terrestrial alien .
when the alien makes a run for it , agent kay is forced to eliminate the alien with one of the mib 's very unique weapons , and after one of the local law enforcement officers witnesses this bizarre occurrence , agent kay is forced to use another very unique device on them .
the device , described as " out of state " , eliminates the memory of anyone it is used on .
>
from here , we are introduced to james edwards , played very well by will smith .
edwards , a police officer , is chasing a fleeing criminal .
the criminal gives a very good chase , and at one point when edwards confronts him , the criminal pulls out a very different looking weapon that disintegrated when it hit the ground .
edwards continues to chase the very athletic criminal to the top of a building , where the criminal informs edwards that he must let him go , because someone is after him .
edwards does n't take this seriously , but when the criminal shows very non - human characteristics and leaps off the building , he begins to wonder .
back at the police station , agent kay shows up to ask edwards a few questions .
he informs edwards that is was , in fact , a non - human that he was chasing , and that the gun he pulled out was definitely not man - made .
he has edwards identify the gun , and asks edwards to come to the mib headquarters the following day .
edwards arrives and finds that he is involved in a recruiting process , along with various other men who seem a bit more qualified than he .
after goofing up for half of the time , edwards puts on a show at the firing range , and agent kay notes the reason why he feels edwards should be the man to join the mib
: he chased down the " criminal " on foot , which is something that no one is supposed to be able to do .
in the meantime , an upstate new york farm has a very close encounter .
edgar ( vincent d'onofrio )
, owner of the farm , investigates a strange crash landing and is attacked by the inhabitant of the flying object , which presumes to jump inside edgar and use his body as a human transport .
the " bug " , as he is called , is an intergalactic terrorist who has come to earth to attempt to kill two ambassadors .
and it up to the mib , with newly recruited agent jay ( formerly james edwards ) to exterminate the bug and save the planet from intergalactic war .
men in black delightfully combines fast - paced action with often hilarious comedy , which is usually from will smith , although tommy lee jones opens up his comedic personality in this film .
the special effects are also very well done and are not the entire source of the plot , as in another big alien film from the past summer .
screenwriter ed solomon , writer of super mario bros .
and the upcoming x - men film , has surely struck gold with this story .
all ages will enjoy men in black .
it is an extremely fun film that you will want to see again .
although it runs a very quick and speedy 96 minutes , the entire film from beginning to end is a non - stop adventure .
the ending of the film , which ties up a few loose ends for one of the main characters , is also very well done
.
a sequel is already being planned , so there is more to look forward to !

SOLUTION:
P