TASK DEFINITION: In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.
PROBLEM: long ago , films were constructed of strong dialogue , original characters , memorable plot points , and solid acting .
one of the best examples that hollywood now completely ignore these qualities is found in the new film where the heart is .
this opus about the power of love and the redemption of family follows the tragic , and i mean tragic , life of novalee nation ( natalie portman ) .
hitting the road with her hick , guitar - playing boyfriend in a rusted - out gm , novalee dreams of the blue skies of bakersfield and sipping chocolate milk beneath a plastic umbrella with her unborn baby , due in a month .
stopping off at a nearby wal - mart for a quick rest , novalee 's boyfriend decides to take off and leaves her there .
novalee then decides to secretly hole up in the wal - mart ( because she 's not the brightest bulb in the stagelights ) .
a wacky librarian ( keith david ) comes to her rescue when she goes into labor one night while she is camped in the outdoors section of the store .
then the she moves in with a family , befriends everyone in town -- including ashley judd 's character ( who has five kids and still can work part - time as a nurse )
-- fights off religious freaks , survives a tornado , breaks the heart of the wacky librarian that saved her , receives an inheritance , builds a martha stewart - esque house , becomes an award - winning photographer , and manages to always look like she stepped out of a cosmo shoot , all while not once doing anything with her kid .
this film is terrible .
the directing is awful : it seems director matt williams had an index card with six angles written on it and used every one of them , over and over and over again .
we get pathetic and ugly acting by natalie portman , who can do good work .
a disjointed pacing of key scenes and a time structure so confusing that it would throw steve prefontaine off .
a subplot that actually validates the actions of the boyfriend who abandoned novalee in the wal - mart parking lot .
an embarrassing display of emotions by the characters , making the audience ill .
taking two great comedic screenwriters , babaloo mandel and lowell ganz , and forcing them to write drama on par with oprah 's book club .
altogether , it has the feeling of being trapped at home , watching a very bad television mini - series and wishing it to end , only the remote is broken .
however , the main problem with the film is that it never answers the most poignant question brought up : where is the heart ?
no one ever seems to find it in this piece of junk .

SOLUTION: N

PROBLEM: probably the most popular and praised film of all time , turned out to be a primitive and predictable costume drama with a dose of social criticism .
everyone knows about the greatest and most famous shipping disaster of all time .
and the actual catastrophe is masterfully crafted by director james cameron , combining visual -and sound effects , he re - creates the frightening atmosphere of the sinking ship in the middle of nowhere .
i liked very much
the emotional and brutal contrast between the first and the third classes .
while their cabin is slowly filling up with water , a mother is telling her children a fairytail -- " .
.
and they lived happily ever after . .
"
.
and then the ship goes down
and the few survivors are left alone under the stars and the chilling air .
however , the actual disaster is happening almost at the end of the movie , while the first two hours are just beautiful sets and bad dialogues .
in the present day , the rms titanic is explored by brock lovett ( bill paxton ) , a treasure seeker looking for the coeur de la mer diamond , lost during the sinking .
somewhere inside the ship , lovett 's crew discover a sketchbook of an artist long dead .
here , in the shape of a nude young lady , is a window into the distant age of 1912 .
lovett is extremely surprised when he get 's a phone call from rose dawson , claiming that she is a model .
she is immediately helicoptered onto the vessel , and she gets the first glimpse of the fated ship in 80 years .
as the memories come flooding back , she once again becomes rose dewitt buketer ( kate winslet ) , the fianc ?
e of wealthy cal hockley ( billy zane ) and daughter of ruth dewitt bukater ( frances fisher ) .
on board there are rich and poor , everyone trust in the ship 's designer ( jonathan hyde ) and her master , captain e .
j .
smith ( bernard hill ) .
on board the ship , rose , unhappy and restless meets jack ( leonardo dicaprio ) - a young american artist , poor , brave and attractive .
a love story slowly emerges and the two lovers must not only experience the difference between the social classes , but also face the greatest power on earth - death .
cameron could as well have called his picture " the never ending love " or " love at first sight " , as he concentrates all his energy on the young couple , and not on the disaster itself .
the plot is anything but original and the dialogues sometimes resemble a television soap - opera .
the director does n't even try to overcome his empty script . because of its primitive and predictable plot , titanic is totally depending on the visuals that truly are breathtaking .
russel carpenter 's rich , majestic and incredibly detailed cinematography is certainly award - worthy .
everything from art direction to visual and sound effects are a top notch .
but it does n't help much when the costumes are more convincing than the actors who wear them .
the actors are not to blame , because their characters are more like caricatures , in other words - fake .
jack is a man with many talents : he is a talented artist , handsome , brave , honest , strong , funny . . .
you name it .
he does n't have any dark side , he does n't make any mistakes , that for a second would make him human .
jack is perfect , but he is - poor .
on the other hand we have cal .
he is a bastard that treats rose as an odalisque and not as his wife - to - be .
he lacks everything jack possesses , but he is -- rich .
this childish contrast between the social classes is one of those things that makes titanic nothing more than a mediocre picture .
cameron knows precisely what we want to see .
his film therefore contains certain minimums to draw an audience - attractive actors , a " tragic love story " , beautiful visuals ( including expensive special effects ) , a dose of social criticism , a fascinating historical event ( we love true stories ) and last , but not least - an incredible media support , which proclaimed an average picture the " greatest film of all time " .
on the outside titanic looks perfect , but behind that sparkling curtain of incredible visuals - is emptiness - nothing to think about .
the main weakness of this film , which ironically became its success , is simplicity .
cameron enables our basic and if you wish - primitive emotions : love , hate , fear and helplessness .
everyone understands the power of love and the threat to our beautiful couple is likewise imaginable - a sinking ship .
titanic is a typical hollywood production , totally and completely dependent on visual perfection to hide its primitive plot .
it 's a good picture , but absolutely not a masterpiece .
it 's among hundreds and thousands good films released every year , not better or worse than the average american film .

SOLUTION: P

PROBLEM: quentin tarantino seems to have a knack for giving his stars big careers .
after his pulp fiction , many actors began receiving many offers for jobs .
john travolta made his come - back and is now one of today 's most bankable stars .
bruce willis proved his acting chops and is now considered an actual actor .
jackie brown , on the other hand , boasts quite a well known cast , except for the main lead : pam grier .
most likely you have heard of her and seen her in films , but she 's never really had a breakthrough performance ( her first film was in the roger ebert - written beyond the valley of the dolls ) .
that is , until now .
jackie brown is a highly anticipated feature film from quentin tarantino , whose last film was the huge hit pulp fiction .
after mediocre acting jobs , tarantino returns to what made his name a household one : directing and writing .
jackie brown is the result , and it is fantastic entertainment . despite excellent direction from tarantino ,
the cast steals the film , giving one good performance after another .
pam grier gives a stunning performance as jackie brown , and she is supported by an incredible mix of talent --
samuel l .
jackson , bridget fonda , michael keaton , robert de niro , and robert forster .
more than likely , you will see a few of these names in the oscar pool come oscar nominations .
describing a quentin tarantino film is very difficult , as you really ca n't say much or you spoil it for everyone else .
i will tread lightly .
jackie brown opens with an impressive shot of jackie brown ( grier ) in a blue outfit walking through the airport .
the camera tracks along with her , and ends up revealing her occupation .
we are also introduced to ordell robbie ( jackson ) , who sells illegal guns to interested buyers . .
.
for a hefty price .
ms .
brown carries the money from buyer to ordell in order to keep the cops away .
however , an fbi agent ( keaton ) and a local l .
a . cop ( michael bowen ) are out to find ordell and catch him while taking the money .
they try to reach him through beaumont livingston ( chris tucker ) , one of ordell 's buyers , but he mysteriously ends up dead .
they try again through brown , but she is hesitant to admit to any wrong - doing .
but after unknowingly carrying some drugs for one of ordell 's friends ( fonda ) , she is caught and sent to jail .
ordell pays her bail through a bail bond agent , max cherry ( forster ) , and then wants to find out what she told the cops .
after she claims to have said nothing , she reveals the fact that she will tell them about ordell in order to stay out of prison .
ordell does n't like this , but they both come up with a scheme to throw the feds and cops off their track .
this scheme seems to be going as planned , but unexpected occurances may or may not foul up their goal .
revealing more would spoil the fun of jackie brown , and that 's the biggest reason to go see a tarantino film .
tarantino seems to have a fascination with hitmen and unusual predicaments ( and slang terms ) , but they are always done very well and believably .
his hitmen are normally cruel , but pleasant , in that nasty sort of way .
they talk like normal people , except for when doing business , and they are rude to their girlfriends .
of course , this is a tarantino film , and you know you can expect some awkward situations to arise .
and perhaps the biggest flaw with jackie brown is the slow middle section in which the pace begins to drop .
of course , tarantino fixes this by moving onto the climax of the film , adding a lot of his reservoir dogs - style storytelling to it .
things are told from one person 's perspective , and then from another , and then from another , each time learning more and more .
this all leads up to a very interesting conclusion , which decides who is on whose side .
on the technical side of jackie brown , quentin tarantino directs it with the same style as he did with his 1994 film .
however , this time around it is n't as nearly as impressive or original .
the writing , on the other hand , is quite good , although i do find tarantino 's use of slang terms offensive .
the story jumps back and forth in time as in pulp fiction , but it 's much more easy to understand .
his previous film needed a second viewing in order to understand the time differentiation , but jackie brown is very simply to follow , especially considering that the time is given during the " leaps " in time .
perhaps this is a result of the screenplay being written from the novel " rum punch " by elmore leonard .
the dialogue is pretty much intelligent , and all the characters are fully realized .
the cinematography is very well done by guillermo navarro ( who has worked with tarantino on previous films ) and the editing is very good
.
and as with pulp fiction , the music is a highlight , bringing back memorable songs from the 70s and 80s .
the acting side of jackie brown is unforgettable .
the performances are incredibly rich , with hidden meaning behind every characters ' actions .
nothing is quite as it seems , and you ca n't really tell which side one person is on .
the real treat , of course , is pam grier who gives an astonishing performance as jackie brown .
her poor living conditions are superceded by her superior wits , which play an important role in the film .
watching grieg , i could tell what was going through her mind , even if i did n't know what she was thinking .
her face portrays a lot of emotion that you can tell when she is sad , happy , or in deep thought .
bridget fonda gives a very good performance
as a druggie couch potato .
i did n't even realize it was fonda until i saw her name in the final credits ( her performance actually reminded me of heather graham 's in boogie nights ) .
michael keaton comes across very well , as does michael bowen .
chris tucker has a small , but effective performance .
samuel l .
jackson is very good , but it seems to me that he was replaying his jules winnfield character from pulp fiction ( although much less cynical ) .
but no matter . . .
jackson is very strong in his role .
robert de niro is actually a little annoying at times , but
overall he does a good job
as one of ordell 's perspective clients and friends .
robert forster gives one of the best performances in the film , as he has one of the most developed characters .
he is present throughout most of the film , and he holds his own against jackson and grier .
jackie brown is rated r for language , sex , violence , drug use , and some offensive remarks .
as a film by itself , jackie brown is a terrific piece of entertainment , with a complex plot to draw viewers in .
however , one can not help but compare it to tarantino 's pulp fiction , and expect great results .
when compared , it comes up short , but not that short .
it 's a worthy effort , with terrific acting and some impressive writing from elmore leonard and tarantino .
perhaps the best thing about jackie brown is the discovery of pam grier as a major hollywood actress .
i ca n't remember seeing her in anything ( except for a small role in mars attacks ! ) , but hopefully she will get many more roles from this one . expect to see her name floating around the oscar nominations ( and hopefully she will even be able to nab one ) .

SOLUTION:
P