TASK DEFINITION: In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.
PROBLEM: plot : a young man who loves heavy metal music and especially the band steel dragon , to whom he 's devoted a tribute band in which he sings , gets launched into stardom when the real group get rid of their lead singer and call on him to take his place .
critique : i 'm a sucker for movies like this .
a young man with a humble background and lofty dreams , works hard , devotes the time , the energy and the patience , and ultimately hits it big - time .
in the case of this film , our boy loves a certain heavy metal band and as luck would have it ( yup , luck always finds its way into these types of equations , although generally tied very closely to hard work ) , they need a new singer .
his entry and adaptation to the whole " rock ' n roll " lifestyle fills the rest of the film and is really fun to watch .
although i will preface this by saying that one thing that would definitely enhance your appreciation for this film is your own love ( or past love ) of heavy metal music and the whole scene around it .
metal was one of my first loves as a teen and even though the genre of music is n't that prominent anymore , i still check out my motley crue , twisted sister and anthrax cds every now and again .
that 's not to say that you wo n't like this film if you do n't like the music , but the music and live performances from the band , play a big part in the movie , and i for one , had a blast watching and listening to it all .
but the even greater draw in this film is the standout performance given here by mark wahlberg .
wow , hand this fella some major props , as he totally becomes this heavy metal geek / god ( incidentally , metal god was the film 's original title , and a much better one if you ask me ) .
he is this movie and
i was quite taken by his character pretty much the whole way through .
he came off like a regular guy with extremely passionate goals and work ethic , who was willing to do anything in order to fulfill his dreams .
aniston was also surprisingly good as the girlfriend ( and the romance angle between them was sweet ) , but she did n't pull me in hard enough during their emotional scenes .
i was also impressed by some of the " real " musicians who played in the film ( zakk wylde from ozzy osbourne , jeff pilson from dokken , stephan jenkins from third eye blind , blas elias from slaughter ) , but actor dominic west as kirk cuddy made the biggest impression among the band members .
it 's to note that this film was based on a real - life tale of a young man who used to sing in a judas priest cover band and then went on to become their actual singer ( their original singer also admitted to being gay , as in this film ) .
just for the record , i 'm certainly not recommending this film for its originality or surprise elements , since most of this stuff has already been covered in some way or another in other movies , but because it 's a fun , uplifting , well - paced movie with a solid central showing by wahlberg and energetic live performances .
oh yeah ,
and for those who dig the " heavier " side of music , the soundtrack also rocks ! !
you see . . .
dreams can come true .
. .
where 's joblo coming from ? almost famous ( 8/10 ) - blow ( 8/10 ) - boogie nights ( 9/10 ) - detroit rock city ( 8/10 ) - girlfight ( 6/10 ) - goodfellas ( 10/10 )

SOLUTION: P

PROBLEM: " dangerous beauty " is a really nothing more than a grandiose soap opera set in venice circa 1583 .
it is beautifully filmed , wonderfully acted , and certainly nothing short of entertaining
,
but it lacks any true fundamental seriousness .
dealing with themes of forbidden love , religious intolerance , subordination of women , sexual freedom , and the roles of pleasure and sin in a high - cultured society , it still feels like brightly lit fluff .
the director , marshall herskovitz , does n't want to follow the dark and dangerous trail this story could lead down , so he opts for a more genial , livelier , and relatively shallow interpretation .
the film takes place during the renaissance , a time when venice was the pleasure capital of europe .
at this time , venice was its own republic , and it thrived on being the central juncture of east - west commerce .
the film is told almost entirely through the viewpoint of the aristocracy and the bourgeoisie of venice , so we rarely get to see how the rest of the society lived .
however , there is an abundance of detail concerning the lives and livelihoods of the upper classes , their hedonistic lifestyles and constant merriment .
the story centers on veronica franco ( catherine mccormack ) , a lower class woman who falls in love with marco venier ( rufus sewell ) , the son of wealthy aristocratic parents ( jeroen krabb ? and joanna cassidy ) .
unfortunately , the culture of that time period did not view marriage as an act of love -- rather , it was more like a business transaction , where rich families married their sons and daughters to each other in order to secure power , wealth , and ensure that outsiders could n't get in .
veronica , despite her charm and good looks , is certainly an outsider .
after a short love affair , marco breaks her heart with the news that he can not marry her . however , because she is beautiful and intelligent , veronica has a chance to enter marco 's world , albeit not as his wife .
she decides to become a courtesan -- a class of women who were as well - educated as they were ravishing , and sold their sexuality to wealthy men for the privilege of wining and dining with the elite .
a courtesan was not a mere prostitute ; they were afforded a special place in society , and they were greatly revered , respected , and often envied .
at one point , a character mentions that some rulers obtain more political advice from their courtesans than from their lieutenants .
veronica goes through the transformation with the help of her mother , paola ( jacqueline bisset ) , who was once a famed courtesan herself .
once she enters the lifestyle , veronica finds that it suits her quite well .
she is allowed to read all the books she wants , she is given the opportunity to publish her poetry , and she has the richest and most powerful men in the republic throwing themselves at her feet , including the awestruck marco .
their relationship develops into a playful bantering , with veronica utilizing her newfound power by constantly rejecting marco 's advances .
in many ways , their relationship is sad because marco is married to a women he is unable to love , and veronica is consumed by multiple relationships with men she is unwilling to love .
" love the love , not the man , " as her mother told her . " dangerous beauty , " which was based on a factual book by margaret rosenthal ,
flows along as smoothly and serenely
as the grand canal running through the heart of venice .
it has multiple plot lines -- including veronica 's adversarial relationship with a court poet ( oliver platt ) , her role in obtaining france 's military assistance in venice 's battle against the turks , and even the dreaded shadow of the plague and the encroachment of the spanish inquisition -- yet it is never confusing or overbearing .
much of the film 's success is due to the glowing performance by catherine mccormack in the lead role .
known chiefly for the small part she played as the lover whose murder raised mel gibson 's ire in " braveheart " ( 1995 )
, mccormack shows the true gifts and inarguable talent of a leading lady .
she has the kind of exquisite classical beauty that would be treasured in a courtesan ; her character is intelligent , witty , and both sensual and vulnerable , all of which mccormack easily transmits with a single flash of her eyes .
the rest of the roles are also filled well , including rufus sewell whose performance here and earlier this month in " dark city " have assured him a solid place in hollywood .
he has the same kind of unusual good looks and charm of ray liotta , and he seems perfectly at home in period dramas .
oliver platt plays a variation of the comic relief role that he has come to inhabit like a second skin , although the film deals his character a cheap blow at the end by having him improbably join the inquisition and turn into the bad guy .
platt is a good actor , but he 's just too hard to hate .
jacqueline bisset proves that she is every bit as stirring as she ever was , and even fred ward turns up in a small , but moving performance as marco 's uncle .
" dangerous beauty " is marshall herskovitz 's sophomore directorial effort , after the overlooked 1993 film " jack the bear .
" partnered with edward zwick , herskovitz has spent most of his time as a producer on television ( " thirtysomething , " " my so - called life " ) and in the movies ( " legends of the fall " ) .
his directing style can be best described as transparent -- it never gets in the way of the story , yet it has no discernible flourish or particular distinctions .
he could have approached the film in any number of ways , including overdosing on the sexual aspect , which he wisely avoids .
" dangerous beauty " contains just enough bare flesh and ribald sex to make it appropriately erotic , but not so much that it seems exploitative .
herskovitz is also aided by a strong supporting crew , including the luscious photography by bojan bazelli , whose previous efforts include the highly - stylized thriller " kalifornia " ( 1993 ) and abel ferrara 's dark sci - fi film " body snatchers " ( 1994 ) .
bazelli captures the film in strong , bold colors , and be brings sixteenth - century venice to life in wide , panoramic shots that are often enhanced with digital imagery .
however , the real details are found in the production design by norman garwood ( " brazil , " " the princess bride " ) and the costumes by gabriella pescucci ( " the age of innocence " ) .
the only problem with " dangerous beauty " is that it does n't stick with you .
it 's a good story well - told with interesting characters , but it 's easy to shrug off once you 've left the theater .
the only sequence that has the chance to be truly indelible is veronica being pulled in front of the hypocrisy of the inquisition and threatened with the death penalty for her transgressions , but it never quite comes off because it 's simply too melodramatic and conventional .
herskovitz tries with all his might to make it a nailbiter , but somehow its outcome is a foregone conclusion , and like the rest of the film , it carries no real weight , despite the potential severity of the subject matter .

SOLUTION: P

PROBLEM: there 's only one presidential election every four years , but it seems like every few months we get another presidential conspiracy movie painted as _ the _ thriller of the year .
in 1997 , we 've had absolute power , air force one , shadow conspiracy and murder at 1600 .
this one is about as lame duck as old gerald ford , trying to bring us a complex plot of cover - up and intrigue but copping out over and over again with rehashes of action flick standbys .
here 's what happens this time .
it 's night at the white house .
a secretary is having sex with some unidentified guy with a cute butt .
the next day she 's dead and hotshot detective wesley snipes is called in .
how do we know he 's a hotshot ?
we 've seen the traditional action flick opener -- the clever hostage negotiation scene .
it 's not so clever
this time , consisting of snipes disarming a suicidal ex - government employee holding a gun to his head in the middle of the street .
snipes is off to the white house , where he finds the secret service head ( the shiny bald head of daniel benzali ) wo n't cooperate with him at all .
in fact , if not for the intervention of national security adviser alan alda , snipes would n't have been allowed in the white house at all .
alda helps snipes out further , assigning a sexy secret service agent ( diane lane ) to act as his liaison .
.. a very dangerous liaison .
well , not really , i just wanted to say that .
almost immediately , a suspect is found , an eccentric night janitor seen flirting with the deceased on one of the security videos .
snipes does n't buy it , and launches into an independent investigation of his own , one that reveals planted evidence and romantic involvement by the president 's son .
snipes ' partner , an always- wisecracking dennis miller , calls him up every once in awhile with more news and lane , who at first does n't believe snipes , eventually and predictably comes around , and risks her ass to break into social security storage and break out some classified information .
for the first hour or so , murder at 1600 looks like it could be going somewhere interesting .
sure , we have to sit through the lame opening sequence and plenty more lame scenes after that , but the whole murder in the white house thing makes for an interesting premise that is never quite delivered upon .
snipes and lane do n't make for a bad action team , but with nothing to work with , they 're just cogs in the bad movie machine .
dennis miller might as well not even be in the movie ; they waste his talents more in murder at 1600 than they did in bordello of blood , and that 's saying a lot .
when you get to the last half - hour , the movie has descended metaphorically and literally into a wet sewer , busting out the old break - into - the - building underground climax .
and when they finally reveal who killed the woman and why , you 'll wish you never sat through this movie at all .
the " 1600 " in the movie 's title does n't represent an address , it represents the number of satisfied customers worldwide .
serving the world for nearly 1/25th of a century !

SOLUTION:
N