TASK DEFINITION: In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.
PROBLEM: billed as a " feminist sex fantasy " , this spirited , imaginative and thoroughly engaging film by the award - winning canadian director cynthia roberts , is destined for extreme reactions .
camille paglia enthusiasts will no doubt champion this heart - felt tale of the title character bubbles galore ( nina hartley ) , a porn - actress - turned - porn - producer who faces an uphill battle in her quest for sexual and economic independence .
however , those in the andrea dworkin camp , will no doubt loathe the film 's decidedly pro - porn stance .
political considerations aside , however , this is a delightful lesbian love story as the film takes us on a whirlwind tour of bubbles ' romantic entanglements with a naive and virginal young porn starlet dory drawers ( shauny sexton ) .
in the backdrop , however is bubbles ' loyal assistant vivian klitorsky ( tracy wright ) who pines longingly for the affections of her bubbly boss .
this femme - butch - femme triangle is what provides the film with considerable humanity * and * sensuality .
in addition to the romantic aspects of the story , bubbles is being stalked and terrorized by her ex - boyfriend godfrey montana ( daniel macivor ) , a slimy porn mogul who wishes to make her life as miserable as he can possibly make it .
when his plans to sabotage her latest film fall through , he snaps and psychotically decides to kill her .
these proceedings are presided over by a most heavenly presence .
god herself - yes , in the world of this film , god , is most definitely a " her " - and a chorus of undulating , scantily - clad angels , have their most watchful and lustful eyes on the events as they unfold ,
adding a lovely fantasy element to this frothy concoction .
this bright , colourful and deliriously sexy film is chock - full of great performances . making her dramatic debut , after appearing in over 300 triple x adult films , porn star nina hartley takes command of her role with considerable assurance and a screen presence which puts many other contemporary ' straight ' actresses to shame .
hartley has overwhelming star power , and one wonders why other non - triple - x producers have n't used her bountiful talents .
it is also interesting to note that hartley appears in the recent release of " boogie nights " , a film which takes a far more traditional doom - and - gloom approach to the porn industry . making a cameo appearance in the role of god , former porn actress annie sprinkle ,
a true artist in her own right - gives the entire film an earthy , sensual glow and certainly solidifies and , by her very appearance
, downright justifies the themes of the movie .
the other performances are equally solid .
daniel macivor appropriately chews up the scenery as the villainous godfrey and tracy wright lends able support with her complex role .
shauny sexton , an erotic dancer and pin - up model , makes an impressive screen debut .
overall , bubbles galore is a film which wears its politics on its sleeve and very proudly indeed .
at one point , the title character declares that " instead of trying to save women from the sex trade , we should be working to ensure that the sex trade is a safe place for women to work " .
the direction by cynthia roberts is daring and subversive .
roberts is not afraid to plunge the otherwise straight - ahead and simple narrative into extended and extremely avant - garde montage sequences .
the love scenes between the women are especially beautiful .
the musical score by nicholas stirling blends cool jazz and lounge stylings , while the skilful cinematography by harald bachmann terrifically captures a blend of garish 70 's porn and psychedelia .
amazingly , this film appears to have received a good deal of its funding from a variety of canadian government cultural agencies .
this speaks volumes towards the importance of state funding for culture , as one can not imagine such an entertaining , original and vital film being made in a traditional setting where conformity and formula rule the day .
bubbles galore seems to be making the film festival rounds and does not , at present , appear to have any traditional distribution in place , so keep your eye on the alternative film listings for this one .
it 's funny , sexy and subversive .
and it should n't be missed .

SOLUTION: P

PROBLEM: jay and silent bob strike back can rightfully be subtitled
" kevin smith 's greatest hits " for the film is comprised of numerous references and characters from smith 's earlier works including , clerks , mall rats .
chasing amy and dogma .
so , be advised : bone up on that cinematic quartet in order to achieve the maximum enjoyment from smith 's latest outing .
kevin smith must be a very likable person because several good sports took a ton of kidding in this feature , most notably miramax , the studio whose subsidiary , dimension films , is jay and silent bob 's distributor .
others deserving accolades include ben affleck , matt damon , directors gus van zant and wes craven and the mighty george lucas .
this is a laugh - filled , foul - mouthed road film with jay ( jason mewes ) and silent bob ( smith ) hitching to hollywood to sabotage miramax 's production of bluntman and chronic , comic book characters based on the two jersey slackers .
jay 's convoluted reasoning is that if the film is shut down , people on the internet will stop insulting him and bob , even though it is not him and bob the people are dissing , but rather their comic book counterparts .
no matter , the duo begin their long trek hitching rides across the country .
but first they get some tips from a veteran hitchhiker , played by george carlin , who tells them to follow " the book " - the rules of the road .
of course jay 's interpretation immediately gets the duo in trouble with a friendly nun ( carrie fisher ) who offers them a ride .
jay and silent bob contains enough laughs that the movie 's weaker aspects - which include a lame subplot about a girl gang of diamond thieves as well as a buffoonish federal park ranger played by will ferrell - can be easily tolerated .
really , how can you not laugh at a film in which our heroes are picked up by the mystery van , and jay has a pot - induced hallucination concerning velma and daphne .
the movie 's highlight , though , is near the finale .
in hollywood , jay and silent bob sneak onto the miramax lot where they crash the set and are mistaken for extras of the latest affleck - damon picture , good will hunting 2 : hunting season . here
we are privy to a hilarious conversation between affleck and damon in which the two put down each other 's careers and film choices .
and the laughs continue to grow .
next up is jason
( american pie ) biggs and james ( dawson 's creek ) van der beek , the actors chosen to portray bluntman and chronic .
the pair mistake jay and silent bob for their stunt doubles .
finally , comes a star wars homage featuring one of the stars of that legendary feature .
this bit will leave you howling .
smith 's obvious affection for pop culture icons is evident in the way he shoots these scenes and handles his performers .
he allows them to play it all tongue - in - cheek .
their fun comes through the screen to the audience .
it is too bad that this is jay and silent bob 's swan song .
the characters have grown since their supporting role debuts in clerks .
but smith realizes that times have changed , and he does n't want his creations to overstay their welcome .
so smith has provided them with just the right kind of exit , saving the best for last .
goodbye jay and silent bob .
at least you 're going out with a blast .

SOLUTION: P

PROBLEM: john cusack is the kind of actor who seems to effortlessly slide into his respective film roles .
so effortlessly that people tend to forget he 's there , much in the way people rarely recall many of the great character actors ( anyone who can put the name james rebhorn with that actor 's face is invited to treat themselves to a product from one of my sponsors ) .
example
: the other day my mother asked me ( the expert , of course ) if there were any movies out worth seeing , never mind that our tastes could n't be more divergent--- i 'll never forget the day she recommended that i go see a night at the roxbury for god sakes , and to be fair
she was mightily pissed at me for telling her that go !
was a lot of fun ( which it is ) , so i did n't see this as anything more than a futile attempt at conversation .
i muttered , with a little trepidation , that she might enjoy high fidelity .
she responded with her usual query , " whose in that one ?
" this is a question whose answer that seems to immediately conjure up the kind of movie you went to see .
if the reply is julia roberts you probably assume it was something wispy and light , a sylvester stallone movie and you picture a bloodbath with few words and much involuntary bicep flexing , and a woody allen movie means hyper articulate white people ( usually of the jewish faith ) fretting about in some upper east side palace .
anyway , when i answered " john cusack " , she replied with a rather stunned " who ? " , as if it was unreasonable for her to know whom i was referring to .
now i know for a fact that my mother has seen several cusack movies , most recently being john malkovich and pushing tin , but i suppose it 's understandable that she would not recognize the name , after all , for most , names are tougher than faces .
i showed her a picture of cusack 's mug in the paper hoping for an " oh - him ,
yes he 's quite good
" instead i got
a " no - i do n't know him " .
at this point i was way beyond frustration into a realm of nose hair yanking anger ( yes , filmic ignorance is all it takes to get me into the nose hair pulling zone ) ,
till i realized something : i doubt that much of america would recognize cusack 's relatively bland visage , or even the name which is rather bland compared to the coolness of a brad pitt or tom cruise , one - syllable names that glide off the tongue with the velocity of a speeding car .
cu - sack .
cu - sack - no ,
not quite as cool .
i 'm sure that twenty years from now cusack will forever be referred to as " the guy from ( add in the cusack film of your choice ) " .
he 's not a brand name , and his movies usually are n't big moneymakers , but in his own unassuming way he 's kind of a genius .
with his pleasant , common man looks , and charming semi - articulate blatherings he has become one of the most likeable romantic leading men of the 90 's .
from the sure thing to say anything cusack has merged the talents of early tom hanks and early jack lemmon .
despite the fact that nearly every character he plays is a variation of the character before it ( the schlumpy every man ) , he 's a constantly enjoyable screen persona , like albert brooks or woody allen .
and he knows how to chose scripts , while the stephan baldwin 's and val kilmer 's seem to put them selves in everything
( the former actually had the insight to follow up oscar winner usual suspects with a pauly shore vehicle , and judging from his latest projects it looks like he still has yet to fire his agent ) , cusack generally picks rewarding projects ( save for the unwatchable hot pursuit , a 1988 film also featuring a young ben stiller ) .
high fidelity is his second collaboration with hit or miss english director stephan fears ( the grifters , the hi - lo country ) , and it 's a hit
.
it was also co - written by cusack , and some of his collaborators on the terrific comedy , grosse point blank .
it 's not quite as entertaining or as funny as that film , but as it progresses in its meandering fashion , the movie cast something of a spell over me
.
high fidelity begins as a hipster ode to the non - committal rob , a vinyl record store owner , who opens the film by breaking down the fourth wall with much abandon and educating us in his " top 5 break ups list " .
this is something cusack does the entire film a la ferris bueller 's day off .
at first the talking - directly - into - the - camera - schtick had me vaguely annoyed , mostly because it reminded me so much of the film body shots which used a similar conceit , but
it began to grow on me due almost entirely to cusack 's witty delivery .
he 's the kind of guy we do n't mind talking directly to us .
gradually the film settles into a shampoo - like tragi - comic character study , of a guy who must confront himself and his personal failures in order to figure out the true person he is ( yes it 's all very existential ) .
though that plot - line is mostly enjoyable , the thing i liked the most about the film is how much pleasure it offers in introducing us to minor characters , all of whom ( now this is really something ) are terrific enough to warrant their own films .
the best of which is jack black ( of the very funny show tenacious d , a program that sadly went the way of bruce willis ' hair ? ? ?
unfortunately that annoying smirk remains ) , an ardent record store employee who bullies customers into buying exactly what he wants them to buy .
he 's the kind of guy
i 'm sure we 've all met before , a blowhard who thinks he 's always right and will do anything in his power ( be it yell , argue , insult ) to hoist his opinion onto others .
but i like this guy , because of how black plays him .
the actor is portly with a round baby face and crazy eyes , but despite his size he leaps to and fro like a manic speed freak ( which might be a bit of a redundant description , seeing as how all the speed freaks i know are manic ) .
he 's the kind of supporting character who would be impossibly annoying comic relief in most other films .
( look at what that hack jan de bont did to poor phillip seymour hoffman in twister ) .
but fears and black never let that happen .
the character , for all his shucking and jiving is steeped in reality .
he 's over the top , but in a way we can all probably relate to .
catherine zeta - jones , in her brief role , gives a vivid portrayal of a women completely enamored with her own " charm " .
tim robbins registers in an even tinier part as a new age - type , a character played entirely for cartoon yuks , but
still manages to work its desired comic effect .
the one exception in the acting department is a bit of a doozy , the main love interest played by danish actress iben hjejle ( mifune ) , who completely obliterates any trace of a danish accent , replacing it with a stilted american phonation .
i give her kudos for attempting such a contradictory role , but instead of being likeable , she comes across as rather robotic , and as such it 's hard to see why cusack 's character would be so obsessed with her especially when he has a beautiful , intelligent writer ( natasha gregson wagner ) potentially waiting in the wings .
this reminded me of say anything , where the charming cusack was paired with the charmless ione skye , and in midnight in the garden of good and evil where the poor bastard had to put up with alison eastwood ( whose unbelievably more wooden then father , clint for those " special people " whose wheels turn a little slower ) .
in fact cusack is rarely paired up with a personality that matches his , though i 'd bet that if laura and natasha switched roles , the result would be more effective .
high fidelity works almost entirely on the strength of its characters and performances .
fears ' direction is somewhat stilted , and the script is sometimes a little too ( and this is a word i 'm beginning to hate to use
but alas i must ) quirky for its own good
( i think i 'll blame that on scott rosenberg , who judging from what he did with beautiful girls , con air , and things to do in denver while your dead , has his fingerprints all over the most irritating bits of this movie ) .
but cusack really does deserve an award , for being so damn ? ? ?
cusackian .
i 'm afraid that his talents are so understated that he may have to wait till his hip needs replacing to be offered such an award worthy of his considerable talent .
his character , rob ( whose sort of like an older , more bitter lloyd from say anything ) is funny and tragic without being pathetic , and that cusack can do all this , and still not imprint himself onto the minds of most audiences , is something of an achievement .

SOLUTION:
P