Part 1. Definition
In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.
Part 2. Example
plot : two teen couples go to a church party , drink and then drive .
they get into an accident .
one of the guys dies , but his girlfriend continues to see him in her life , and has nightmares .
what 's the deal ?
watch the movie and " sorta " find out . . .
critique : a mind - fuck movie for the teen generation that touches on a very cool idea , but presents it in a very bad package .
which is what makes this review an even harder one to write , since i generally applaud films which attempt to break the mold , mess with your head and such ( lost highway & memento ) , but there are good and bad ways of making all types of films , and these folks just did n't snag this one correctly
.
they seem to have taken this pretty neat concept , but executed it terribly .
so what are the problems with the movie ?
well , its main problem is that it 's simply too jumbled
.
it starts off " normal " but then downshifts into this " fantasy " world in which you , as an audience member ,
have no idea what 's going on
.
there are dreams , there are characters coming back from the dead , there are others who look like the dead , there are strange apparitions , there are disappearances , there are a looooot of chase scenes , there are tons of weird things that happen , and most of it is simply not explained .
now i personally do n't mind trying to unravel a film every now and then , but when all it does is give me the same clue over and over again , i get kind of fed up after a while , which is this film 's biggest problem .
it 's obviously got this big secret to hide , but it seems to want to hide it completely until its final five minutes .
and do they make things entertaining , thrilling or even engaging , in the meantime ?
not really .
the sad part is that the arrow and i both dig on flicks like this , so we actually figured most of it out by the half - way point , so all of the strangeness after that did start to make a little bit of sense , but it still did n't the make the film all that more entertaining .
i guess the bottom line with movies like this is that you should always make sure that the audience is " into it " even before they are given the secret password to enter your world of understanding .
i mean , showing melissa sagemiller running away from visions for about 20 minutes throughout the movie is just plain lazy ! !
okay , we get it .
. .
there are people chasing her and we do n't know who they are .
do we really need to see it over and over again ?
how about giving us different scenes offering further insight into all of the strangeness going down in the movie ?
apparently , the studio took this film away from its director and chopped it up themselves , and it shows .
there might 've been a pretty decent teen mind - fuck movie in here somewhere , but i guess " the suits " decided that turning it into a music video with little edge , would make more sense .
the actors are pretty good for the most part , although wes bentley just seemed to be playing the exact same character that he did in american beauty , only in a new neighborhood .
but my biggest kudos go out to sagemiller , who holds her own throughout the entire film , and actually has you feeling her character 's unraveling .
overall , the film does n't stick
because it does n't entertain , it 's confusing , it rarely excites and
it feels pretty redundant for most of its runtime , despite a pretty cool ending and explanation to all of the craziness that came before it .
oh ,
and by the way , this is not a horror or teen slasher flick . . .
it 's just packaged to look that way because someone is apparently assuming that the genre is still hot with the kids .
it also wrapped production two years ago and has been sitting on the shelves ever since .
whatever . .
. skip it !
where 's joblo coming from ?
a nightmare of elm street 3 ( 7/10 ) - blair witch 2 ( 7/10 ) - the crow ( 9/10 ) - the crow : salvation ( 4/10 )
- lost highway ( 10/10 ) - memento ( 10/10 ) - the others ( 9/10 ) - stir of echoes ( 8/10 )
Answer: N
Explanation: The phrases used in the review convey a negative sentiment (e.g. "presents it in a very bad package").
Part 3. Exercise
those of you who frequently read my reviews are not likely to be surprised by the fact that i have not read victor hugo 's novel les miserables .
i do n't know if a lot of people have , though i imagine many are familiar with the popular musical based on the novel .
i have n't even seen that . going into this film , i had almost no knowledge of the story or its characters ( i even expected the film to be a musical ) .
walking away from it , i 'm kind of glad i had no prior experience with the material .
writer / director bille august 's film version is a straightforward , beautifully told film .
liam neeson stars as the miserable jean valjean ; in the beginning , he has just been released from a 19-year prison sentence .
he is allowed to stay in a convent by a kindly priest despite his rude and destructive behavior .
the priest 's words of wisdom influence him , and he makes a vow to change himself .
nine years later , we are informed that he is now the mayor of a town called vigo ; nobody knows his real name , and that he is wanted for skipping his parole nine years ago .
conflicts arise when inspector javert ( geoffrey rush ) is assigned to vigo .
valjean remembers javert as one of the prison guards who constantly beat him , and javert remembers jean to be a convict .
javert is hell - bent on upholding the law , and he does everything in his power to bring jean to justice .
along the way , valjean meets and falls in love with a peasant woman , fantine ( uma thurman ) , and vows to take care of her daughter , cosette ( played later by claire danes ) .
les miserables is visually a solid and often striking picture .
the production design by anna asp is authentic and vast , and the sets do n't look like sets ( they look like real towns and villages ) ; gabriella pescucci 's costumes are noticeably spectacular .
basil poledouris ' soundtrack is thick and usually well - placed ( though it does get a bit heavy at times ) .
many scenes in the film have a memorable photographic quality , such as the climax , which takes place next to a dark river in the grey obscurity of early evening .
augusts keeps the story simple ( which i hear is a good thing , since the novel is so complex ) and easy to follow .
he manages to develop the main characters and most of the subplots adequately .
i was also impressed that he did n't go overboard with flash and style , which is something so many directors seem to be doing to classic stories these days ( such as baz luhrmann 's vicious tragedy william shakespeare 's romeo + juliet ) .
this film feels solid and whole , and each scene has a certain amount of importance and vigor that keeps the audience interested .
liam neeson is terrific in the main role ; neeson is the kind of actor who does solemn desperation extremely well , and valjean is certainly a man who clearly fits that adjective .
thurman , in her small role , is very good , and proves that she has a lot of range and can perform in a very non - glamorous role such as this one .
rush is absolutely incredible as javert ; i do n't remember ever feeling so strongly about a villain as i do here ; he adds depth and complexity with subtle glances and nuances , and effortlessly makes each of his scenes intense .
i ca n't be as charitable for danes , however ; though i know she is a talented actress , here she tends to overact when it might have been better to underplay the character a bit .
les miserables is , as i 've said , a solid , intelligent motion picture .
my only complaint is that it feels a bit too easy , and perhaps too staged .
each scene is grand and huge , and exploding with poledouris ' score , but i did n't always want them to be .
for the most part , les miserables is not a subtle or deep picture .
it 's a good movie , and tells its story well , but august tends to hand - feed us themes and scenes that would have worked better
had they been more subtle .
however , in a film this exciting and well - produced , a few minor flaws are easily overlooked .
Answer:
P