instruction:
In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.
question:
stephen , please post if appropriate .
" mafia ! "
- crime is n't a funny business by homer yen ( c ) 1998 on a particular night when i found myself having some free time , i had a chance to either go to sleep early or to see " mafia ! " , a spoof of mafia and crime films such as " the godfather , " " goodfellas " and " casino " .
at 84 minutes in length , i thought that i could enjoy a few laughs before getting a good nights sleep .
but by my account , i think that my laff - o - meter only registered a few grins , one giggle , and maybe one chortle .
i suppose that you could justify your time as homage to the venerable hollywood star , lloyd bridges , who just recently passed away and whose last performance was in this film .
" mafia !
" chronicles vincenzo cortino 's ( lloyd bridges ) life . separated from his family when he was young , he escapes to america and tries to live an honest life .
but as fate would have it , vincenzo grows up to be a powerful and klutzy crime lord .
following in his footsteps are his two sons , joey ( billy burke ) and anthony ( jay mohr ) .
like all siblings in powerful crime families , they squabble over power , the future of the family , fortune , and women .
" mafia !
" is co - written by jim abrahams , who also contributed to some gut - busting funny spoofs such as " airplane " and " the naked gun .
"
but these previous movies were funny because the jokes seemed more universally understood and there was more of a manic silliness at work .
as i write this , i also wonder how many people have actually seen the movies on which this spoof is based .
crime movies in general contain a lot of profanity and violence .
it 's a tough genre to parody .
i was kind of hoping that they could somehow spoof the profanity used in all of those crime movies , maybe by having all of the tough crime lords say " please " as they decide which sector to take over , but this opportunity was never explored .
there were one or two moments that made me smile such as the scene where vincenzo is dancing with his newly we d daughter - in - law .
a gunman shoots him several times .
the impact of the bullets cause him to make these wild contortions that force the wedding band to change music styles to keep up with him , from the samba to disco to the macarena .
i think that i just gave away the best part of the film .
oh well , that just means that you can go to sleep a little earlier .
answer:
N


question:
based on the novel set in 1914 by joseph conrad , victory spins a tale of a pair of lovers , heyst ( william dafoe ) and alma ( irene jacob ) , who seek refuge on heyst 's isolated island .
however , their idyllic world begins to crumble upon the arrival of mr jones ( sam neil ) , martin ricardo ( rufus sewell ) and their servant , pedro ( graziano marcelli ) , who have come to steal heyst 's rumoured plunder .
while the novel is largely complex in characterization , the film sadly transposes conrad 's characters into lacklustre leads , the most disappointing being heyst himself .
conrad 's heyst adheres religiously to his late father 's ways of detachment and isolation .
his ascetic lifestyle is thrown into question when he meets alma , a helpless orchestra girl who charms him with her voice .
the struggle to embrace the arrival of alma into his solitude , however , is lost in mark peploe 's ( director and writer ) diluted version of heyst . without properly establishing the crucial details of heyst 's character , all that is left of conrad 's main character is a very shallow treatment of his internal conflict between detachment and human involvement .
on the one hand , actualizing the subtext is a mammoth task ( though not impossible ) , but on the other hand , dafoe 's flat acting can not be excused as an attempt at stoicism .
in the end , we are supposed to witness heyst renounce his philosophy and finally come to an understanding of what it is to love another .
the final transformation , while perceptible , lacks the cathartic revelation which is undeniable in conrad 's novel .
its absence in the film is unforgivable .
the film seems more concerned about moving the plot along when so much has yet to be said about the relationship between the two complete strangers .
alma is supposed to have overcome great emotional barriers in the relationship , namely heyst 's underlying philosophy of detachment , which heyst himself grapples with .
the struggle against heyst 's ignorance of true human involvement accounts for much of the greatness of alma 's love for him .
jacob , fair - skinned , gentle and yet passionate , handles the role with precision , detailing nuances where possible .
unfortunately , she is let down by a superficial script .
the couple 's relationship develops too hastily , leaving all subtlety effaced and replaced with a blatant show - and - tell approach .
all we know of the characters are mostly explained by their lines alone .
this is unsatisfactory when so much of the turmoil experienced by the two stem from their buried thoughts and emotions .
the sketchy handling of their relationship stands out as sorely as dafoe 's american accent ( an inappropriate one since heyst spent most of his life in london ) .
the other characters such as schomberg ( jean yanne ) , the owner of a hotel , and mr jones ( sam neill ) , also fall short of conrad 's meticulous characterization .
while schomberg should have been more menacing and vindictive , mr jones should have been portrayed as something more of an enigma .
sam neil 's caricature of a slightly stout , effeminate and soft - spoken gentleman - at - large nullifies the effect intended by conrad who describes mr jones as " an insolent spectre on leave from hades , endowed with skin and bones and a subtle power of terror " .
poor characterization aside
, kudos goes to rufus sewell for his excellent portrayal of ricardo , secretary to mr jones , a reckless ruffian capable of murder .
sewell , with his cockney accent and large expressive green eyes , becomes the true terror of the unholy trinity , masterminding deceitful plans behind jones ' back .
at the same time , we are entertained by the foolhardiness of his plans .
despite the authentic setting and marvellous cinematography by bruno de keyzer ,
very few images are left behind for us to savour after the film has ended
. sourabaya and its surrounding islands and volcanoes may have their charm , but mean nothing once the film fails to capture the essence of an epic , which is what victory deserves to be .
the delicately inter - woven complexities in the love story are lost to an inadequate production .
at the end of the film , we are told that perhaps alma 's victory was in teaching heyst how to love .
a hollow victory indeed .
the flying inkpot 's rating system :
* wait for the video .
*
* a little creaky , but still better than staying at home with gotcha !
*
* * pretty good , bring a friend .
*
*
* * amazing , potent stuff .
*
*
*
* * perfection . see it twice .
answer:
N


question:
synopsis : in " sooner than you think " america , the future of law enforcement resides in blade squad , a ragtag group of culturally diverse rollerblading cops with jetpacks strapped on their backs .
a dangerous criminal , however , attempts to destroy blade squad after his brother dies while being chased by them .
comments : so , what do an ex - gangbanger turned insubordinate traffic cop , a former prostitute with a substance abuse problem , and a junkie turned dennis rodman wannabe turned cop who crashed four police cruisers all have in common ?
why , they 're all members of blade squad , an elite new crimefighting unit wearing black uniforms , rollerblades , and jetpacks !
they also carry video cameras so they can communicate with one another
a la
the marines in james cameron 's aliens .
yes , it 's blade squad , the fox network 's wednesday night movie of the week .
this " movie , " marking its dubious world premiere today , curiously has a number of guest stars .
"
how can a movie have guest stars ?
"
you may ask .
well , blade squad is not really a movie so to speak but a 2 hour pilot for a possible tv series packaged as a movie .
blade squad is dumb .
blade squad is loud .
blade squad is obnoxious .
blade squad will probably be a ratings hit and spawn a long - lived tv series .
why not ?
after all , television has given its audience crimefighters with talking cars ( " knight rider " ) , fast helicopters ( " airwolf " ) , and super fast motorcycles ( " street hawk " ) , and viewers have eaten it up in the past .
so , why not crimefighters with jet - powered roller blades ?
to be honest , as a made - for - tv presentation , blade squad is at least watchable .
the film has a relatively large cast of characters , a surprisingly intelligible albeit predictable script , and enough action sequences to keep one half - interested .
i 'd imagine adolescent males , probably the target audience of this turkey , would get a kick out of it .
i tried to keep that in mind when i watched blade squad .
i can remember liking " airwolf " and " street hawk " when i was 10 or 11 .
and , although this is n't saying much , blade squad is leaps and bounds better than the last fox network movie i had the displeasure of wasting time on : the insipidly awful generation x ( a huge disappointment considering the comic book 's terrific two - year beginning ) .
but , i digress .
despite its limited appeal , blade squad has a lot of kinks to work out if the movie is to become a tv series .
one , it suffers from mtv syndrome : a lot of quick shots and weird angles continuously jar the viewer 's senses while a near nonstop generic rock soundtrack blares incessantly in the background .
oh yeah ,
dylan 's " knockin ' on heaven 's door " and bowie 's
" i 'm afraid of americans " are used here ,
in rather poor taste .
two , blade squad needs a new crew for the sound .
the substandard sound editing irritated me to no end .
characters ' dialogue , at times , sounded choppy and unintelligible .
during one important scene , a song played loudly in the background . when a character spoke , the song 's volume dropped but did not disappear . as soon as that character finished speaking , the song 's volume immediately returned to its original level until the next character spoke .
this sounds trivial , i 'm sure , but it distracted me immensely .
finally , this is commercial television .
foul language is not allowed , typically , on commercial television .
thus , do n't use foul language in a made - for - tv production because that foul language has to be censored in some manner .
in an early scene of the film , for example , the lead good guy and bad guy have a minor confrontation in the streets .
when the good guy spouts out a bad word , a driver conveniently honks his car 's horn off - screen to muffle the word out .
in a " seinfeld " episode , this technique proved funny ; here ,
it seemed goofy and cut the dramatic tension considerably .
perhaps future writers , if a show is spun out of the movie , could take a cue from marvel comics ' 2099 series of comics .
make up a bunch of new bad words for the future .
this way , you do n't need a bunch of honking horns or other silly devices to cover up foul language .
compared to the usual crap broadcast tv networks have to offer in terms of movies , blade squad is a suitable exercise in camp .
when compared to , say , a movie studio film , blade squad has a lot in common with a term which shares its initials : bs .
( review written august 12 , 1998 )
answer:

N