In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.
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Question: uncompromising french director robert bresson 's " lancelot of the lake " achieves the exact opposite effect of sir thomas malory 's " morte darthur .
" instead of enshrining the legend of king arthur and his knights of the round table , it dethrones them by revealing arthur as a weak , ineffectual leader and the knights as a group of jealous , bickering men who failed to live up to the legends prescribed to them .
chivalry has no place in " lancelot of the lake , " except as that of a dying ideal .
bresson begins his tale as the knights of the round table are returning , decimated , after failing merlin 's command to retrieve the holy grail , the mystical cup that was filled with christ 's blood .
bresson immediately gives us his impression of the essential meaning of the grail quest : bloodshed and failure .
the opening sequence is a series of clumsy , disjointed fights amongst anonymous knights -- a head is hacked off , a stomach is impaled , a skull is split open , skeletal remains hang from trees , and
burning bodies smolder in the ruins of a flaming house .
since the film starts with camelot in near - ruin , and takes only an hour and a half to arrive at its inevitable conclusion , it does n't carry the grand , tragic resonance of other arthurian films .
we never get to see camelot at the peak of its power , therefore there is no real downfall to witness .
but , then again , it is not the name of camelot that is evoked in the title of the film .
rather , it is lancelot , and bresson is more interested in the internal battle within his heart , than the external downfall of a kingdom .
lancelot has always been a tragic figure in the arthurian tales , and bresson uses him as the central figure to explore the battle between the spirit and the flesh .
the greatest of all knights , he was flawed only in his love for arthur 's wife , queen guinevere , and it was that illicit affair that eventually caused the downfall of camelot .
even when lancelot attempts to end the affair with guinevere ( laura duke condominas ) , he only finds himself falling back into her arms against his better judgment .
he knows it means the destruction of the idealized kingdom , but he is powerless in his passion .
when sir mordred ( patrick bernhard ) accuses lancelot of the affair , other knights , including sir gawain ( humbert balsan ) spring to lancelot 's defense .
it is this battle within the knights that is the eventual undoing of the round table ; the flesh wins out over the spirit , and the consequences are dire .
bresson is an intensely personal filmmaker most interested in the interiors of men 's hearts and minds .
" lancelot of the lake " is filled with his particular trademarks : a stripped - down , minimalist style , flat , expressionless dialogue , and a grand use of natural sounds in place of music .
he uses background music only twice in the film , during an opening narration segment and during the opening credits .
the music here is a heavy drumbeat and accompanying bagpipes , but the rest of the film is scored with natural sounds that punctuate the film 's thematic elements : the incessant clanking and creaking of heavy armor , the neighing of horses , the rhythm of hooves beating down dirt roads , and the natural chirping and whispering of the forest .
like most of his other films , bresson employed nonprofessional actors who recite the dialogue in emotionless , flat voices .
all the actors he used in " lancelot of the lake " had never acted before , and with the exception of patrick bernhard , they never acted again .
never once do they raise their voices or put any emphasis on a given word .
instead of using vocal inflection , bresson strove to create emotion through images .
in some ways , this technique works ; in other ways , it does n't .
the final montage of arthur 's men battling each other is quite marvelous , and the final image of the knights in shining armor reduced to a literal scrap - pile sums up the entire film in one moment .
however , other times bresson 's uncompromising methods are distracting and questionable .
for instance , during an important jousting contest , bresson films the majority of the action so that the only things visible are the horses ' legs .
he does this repeatedly , opening each shot with the same few notes from a bagpipe and the raising of a different flag .
while there might be symbolic value in this , the resulting experience of watching it can be bothersome .
nevertheless , " lancelot of the lake " is a fascinating cinematic experience boldly made by a master filmmaker .
bresson 's style may not be for everyone , but one has to respect his strength as an artist .
by re - evaluating the arthurian legends and making them his own
, he turns " lancelot of the lake " into something rare in modern cinema : a truly personal film .

Answer: P


Question: apparently , when crap calls , jim carrey answers .
here he is , mugging it up in countless unfunny ways for the fifth time , his second go - around in the role of pet detective ace ventura .
that means more talking ass - cracks , penis jokes and cries of " al - l - l - l - l - l - l - l - l - l - lrighty then .
"
it all adds up to a sequel that makes the original resemble schindler 's list in terms of dramatic merit , or lack of .
granted , there are a few laughs amid the constant barrage of pre - school humor , but anyone who appreciates good comedy will bang their head against the wall ten times for every minor chuckle .
it 's a painful experience for anyone with a brain .
ace is distraught after accidentally dropping a racoon into a canyon ( in a parody of the opening scene of sylvester stallone 's cliffhanger , jim carrey being the only person who can make stallone look like a college professor in terms of intellect , or lack of ) and decides to retire to the mountains of tibet to gain a higher level of consciousness ( or , in his case , a level of consciousness ) .
but he is pulled out of retirement to the tune of $ 20 , 000 to retrieve a sacred white bat for an african tribe .
why africa ?
so carrey can disguise himself nude inside a fake rhino and later climb out the rear end as a tourist family watches ( " look , the rhino 's about to give birth ! " ) .
if that seems like hee - haw humor to you , by all means , see the movie .
if not , claim your place in human civilization with the rest of us .
obviously , there are quite a few nonmembers of civilization who made this movie , like the first ace ventura film ( i use the word " film " only because it was filmed ,
not because there 's any level of artistic merit . ) , a huge success .
in fact , carrey only has a career because of the decline of intelligence in our culture .
you may say to me , " but andrew , look at jerry lewis .
he was born with a negative i .
q . and look how popular he was thirty years ago .
"
maybe , but i still say jerry lewis is a notch or two up on the comedic ladder because he never actually did an impression in a movie of a rabid bulldog biting off a man 's testicles . . .
lewis at least had the dignity to save that performance for when company came over .

Answer: N


Question: warning : anyone offended by blatant , leering machismo had better avoid this film . or lots of blood & guts , men against men and mano - et - mano stuff .
in other words , it 's a walter hill film !
with a john milius script !
i always picture these guys getting together and producing a movie between arm - wrestling matches .
these films always contain male characters i have a very hard time identifying with ,
probably due to the likelihood that any meeting between them and me would result in my arm being ripped off
and then my subsequent death by beating with said limb .
and we got tough guys galore , here ; drug - running banditos by the dozens , all dirty and sweaty and pretty ill - tempered , overall ; a secret task force of army commandos who are in the area to cover - up ( supposedly )
any connection between the government and the drug runners ; and lots of shit - kicking texas dirt farmers who 'd as soon shoot you between the eyes as look at you .
in particular , we got nick nolte as one hard - ass texas ranger , powers boothe as the drug kingpin , michael ironsides as the leader of the secret army , and rip torn as the local sheriff .
torn is the sympathetic figure of the group ; he smiles before shooting anyone .
as to women .
. .
well , i 've never seen jane fonda or meryl streep in a walter hill film , and at this rate , i doubt i ever will .
women exist here to look good , comfort the man , and get argued over .
gosh !
just like the old days . . . frankly , this is a pretty good movie , if you can accept the premise and can take the macho stuff .
the cinematography is excellent ,
the cast of characters is broad and has texture , the script is quite good , and the film lets you keep up with what 's happening yourself , without spelling it out to you .
i appreciate a film that makes me have to think to keep up .
finally , there 's lots of sam
peckinpah slow - motion shoot - ups .

Answer:
P