TASK DEFINITION: In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.
PROBLEM: dr . alan grant ( sam neill , " jurassic park " ) is becoming disillusioned .
paleontology is no longer the sexy science it once was since the ingen corporation cloned his subject matter .
his lectures bring people interested in his adventures on isla nubla rather than his research and funding dollars are drying up .
when the kirbys ( william
h. macy , " fargo " ; tea leoni , " the family man " ) ask him to be their guide for an anniversary flyover of isla sorna ( the notorious site b of " the lost world " )
he 's disdainful , but once they wave their checkbook , he reconsiders .
however the kirbys have n't given dr .
grant their real agenda in " jurassic park iii .
"
of course , we , the audience , have been tipped off , given that the film begins by showing us eric ( trevor morgan , " the patriot " ) , a young boy , and ben ( mark harelik , " election " ) going for a paragliding adventure off that same island that goes awry ( and looks like cheesy rear projection ) .
grant 's established back home with a new right hand man , billy brennan ( alessandro nivola ,
" love 's labour 's lost " ) on site at a dig in montana sorely lacking funds .
he also pays a visit to old flame dr .
ellie sattler ( laura dern , " jurassic park " ) , now married to another with a young son who calls grant ' the dinosaur man ' apparently for the sole purpose of dredging her up again for the film 's poorly imagined finale .
grant takes billy along on the kirbys trip , which is really an illegal gambit to save their son , that young paraglider .
the couple are n't millionaires , making grant 's check bogus , and they 're separated as well
( eric was with amanda 's new boyfriend , not that that makes much sense ) , meaning we 're in for some gooey family dynamics while waiting for the dino dining .
the kirbys hired hands ( and obvious bait ) are a threesome led by mr .
udesky ( michael jeter , " the gift " ) .
( did n't anyone consider that casting michael jeter and william h. macy together and not having them be related was a little odd ? )
as directed by joe johnston ( " october sky , " " jumanji " ) ( spielberg only produced this one ) from a risible script by peter buchman and the " election " team of alexander payne & jim taylor , " jurassic park iii " is nothing more than a quickie monster flick with a couple of new dinos ( a spinosauraus , which goes head to head with the t - rex , and pteranodons ) .
the plot , as it were , is a series of coincidences combined with extreme leaps of faith and a trifecta of stupid cell phone tricks .
the effects are no longer new , and , as shot by television cinematographer shelly johnson , rather murky looking at times .
film editing by robert dalva ( " october sky " ) was presumably done by machete , to keep this down to a 90 minute run time .
i know of no other reason to explain the ridiculous ending which features the survivors confronting a pack of raptors , then being saved by the most ludicrous of logic jumps within a few minutes . '
original ' music by don davis just repeats john williams ' original themes .
while neill and young morgan attempt to inject some humor and humanity into the proceedings , the rest of the cast are plodding unexceptional .
" jurassic park iii " will probably provide some quick entertainment for those who go into it knowing what to expect , the same crowd who maybe liked " the lost world : jurassic park .
"

SOLUTION: N

PROBLEM: if beavis and butthead had a favorite movie , from dusk till dawn would probably be it . scripted by quentin tarantino and directed by robert rodriguez ( desperado ) , the movie panders to the very worst in sex and violence -- and is incredibly fun to watch .
it starts off as a pulp fiction - type crime story , with criminal brothers george clooney and tarantino robbing a convenience store .
because this is a tarantino movie , however , it 's not just a case of pull the gun and take the loot , it 's a case of a hole being shot through someone 's hand , a man on fire jumping out behind the counter and the entire store blowing up as they drive away .
the opening scene sets the tone for the rest of the movie -- everything overdone and nothing as it seems .
clooney and tarantino bring a hostage to the motel and then hijack an rv with a family in it .
harvey keitel plays the backslidden ex - preacher and juliette lewis his daughter , whom registered sex - pervert tarantino eyes endlessly .
you know you 're mentally unbalanced when you find lewis the least bit attractive , although she 's not nearly as obnoxious as usual in from dusk till dawn .
the first half of the movie has the criminals and hostages trying to get to and through the mexico border , clooney 's strategy involving hiding in the rv shower while lewis is on the toilet .
it does its trick ; the border guard takes one look at lewis relieving herself and immediately goes blind , never noticing clooney or tarantino .
once they get to mexico , it 's time to wait at the rendezvous point ,
a topless bar called titty twister where we 're once again reminded tarantino wrote the movie as he drinks champagne off the foot of a stripper .
finally , after about ten minutes of intercut boob shots and clooney forcing keitel and lewis to drink with him , the stripper turns into a vampire .
soon half the people in the bar are vampires and the other half fall or fight back .
that 's right
, we 've come all this way to see a vampire movie .
but like everything else , tarantino takes this age - old genre and twists it to his own ends to produce over - the - top entertainment .
so we get holy water condom balloons , heads rolling , quadruple impalement on an overturned table and keitel getting bitten by a vampire and announcing he only has a few minutes left before he becomes " a lap dog of satan .
"
the from dusk till dawn dialogue is 100 % tarantino , hovering between absurd and disgusting ( as when they 're entering the nightclub and cheech marin announces the main attractions of the titty twister ) , but always entertaining , and is a huge reason the movie is so much fun to watch instead of being one more second - rate gorefest .
clooney , keitel and especially tarantino are so over - the - top with their delivery that the dialogue is that much more hilarious , ensuring not one second of from dusk till dawn is taken the least bit seriously .
stuff like this would be terrible in any other movie , but tarantino and rodriguez know exactly what to do to entertain people , even if there 's absolutely no message or meaning to from dusk till dawn .
pulp fiction had the vulgarity and violence for a reason , but this movie just throws it out for cheap entertainment .
from dusk till dawn is n't the classic of modern cinema that pf is , but is does prove you can do a good job making a really bad movie .

SOLUTION: P

PROBLEM: jack nicholson has a funny way of playing characters with very few redeeming qualities , but whom you end up liking anyway .
in as good as it gets , the character in question is melvin udall , a successful novelist with obsessive - compulsive disorder who seems bent on having as little contact with people around him as possible , except when he feels like being a royal pain in the you - know - where .
he 's mean .
i mean really mean .
the opening scene shows him shoving a little dog down the trash chute of his manhattan condominium .
every day , melvin eats at the same cafe , sits at the same table , and gets served by the same waitress .
you can tell that this is his favorite place to be a vicious nuisance , when his waitress carol ( helen hunt ) tells him he can just go sit in another section , and all the other waitresses just cringe .
one day , melvin makes a comment that goes to far , and carol , genuinely hurt , comes down on him like a ton of bricks .
at that point we find that she is not only the only person who can put up with him as a matter of course , but is also the only person who can get to him , too .
another person who often crosses melvin 's sights is simon ( greg kinnear ) , an artist who lives on melvin 's floor .
aside from the fact that he lives near the terror of the city , simon has the added benefit of being gay , making him a prime target .
simon 's friend frank ( cuba gooding , jr . ) , also gay , does not fare much better .
when simon walks in on a pair of men robbing his apartment , he is brutally beaten and sent to the hospital , and frank , who has grown tired of seeing his friend take the verbal abuse dished out by his neighbor , intimidates melvin into watching after simon 's dog while he convalesces .
this is the same dog melvin had earlier shoved down the garbage .
an interesting thing happens when melvin takes this dog in : melvin gets to like the dog , and the two develop an attachment which is the catalyst to melvin 's softening up to the world around him .
it does n't happen overnight , but throughout the film , he bites his tongue here , cares a little there , and most miraculously , falls in love .
one of the best elements of this film is watching melvin try to express feelings which are not the usual negative ones he so often shares with others .
he 's traveling terra incognita here , and it shows .
good performances are turned in by all principal players in this film , especially by nicholson and hunt .
they play well off of each other and have a genuine chemistry which makes it a pleasure to watch them on screen .
greg kinnear , who is becoming known for his supporting film roles , is also very good at playing the vulnerable simon .
he gives a short monologue about what it means for him to be an artist , and delivers it with such inspiration and conviction that you actually get to feel some of what he feels .
cuba gooding jr .
performs with a hyped - up level of energy which contrasts nicely with that of kinnear , and comes through with a near constant comic performance .
the screenplay , by mark andrus and james l . brooks , is clever , touching , and funny .
the best part about it , however , is that it is filled with characters we care about because they are actually interesting
.
melvin is a man we ca n't quite figure out , but whose mannerisms and quirky qualities capture our attention .
carol is a working woman living with her mother , trying to take care of a child with a debilitating respiratory problem .
simon is a man who is a success in his circle of peers , but who is still not accepted by much of society .
combined with the talent of the actors , these characters make the film .
the one noticeable area where the film is lacking , however , is the absence of cuba gooding , jr .
through the second half .
his character makes an exit which is supposed to be temporary , but the film ends before his return , leaving his relationship with simon and melvin unresolved .
i would have liked to have seen more of his character in general , in addition to a part in the film 's conclusion .
there 's one actor , who will probably not be recognized by any awards , but who contributes greatly to many of the movie 's best scenes and who deserves mention .
this is that little dog .
he plays such a pivotal role to melvin 's character development , actually serves to forward the plot , and has some absolutely scene - stealing moments , that it is hard to believe he is simply an animal .
award or no , however , when
even the dog puts in a good performance , you know you 've got an outstanding movie .

SOLUTION:
P