TASK DEFINITION: In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.
PROBLEM: mugshot ( director / writer / cinematographer / editor : matt mahurin
; cast : belinda becker ( stella ) , michael williams ( rumor ) , robert knepper ( joe / chris ) , robert walker ( random ) , willie lassic ( young brother of rumor ) , maxine joiner ( rumor 's mother ) ; runtime : 87 ; mortal films ; 1995 ) reviewed by dennis schwartz a bleak indie film about a stolen identity .
there 's not much more to this visually stylish film than what meets the eye , as it relies on shock to tell its story of a prolonged vicious mugging .
it falls into the category of being a pretentious art - house film , leaving a bitter taste in one 's mouth as it stereotypes its characters and unintentionally further inflames the racial issues .
it tries to make a heavy - handed point about disenfranchised black youths trapped by their environment , with their only way out being crime .
but the story is so filled with violence and its nyc setting looks like hell , that it 's hard to enjoy this film and to follow what the logic in the story is supposed to mean .
the relationship between the black mugger and his white victim is a cloudy one , which the film never determines what it wants to say about it .
matt mahurin is virtual one - man crew in putting this film together ( director / writer /cinematographer / editor ) , who is a still photographer in his day job .
the film works best as a visually challenging piece , as each shot looks like a photograph carefully telling the story unfolding .
a white photographer ( robert knepper ) is mugged by a black gang while he 's on a freelance assignment to take a photo shoot of harlem at night .
he becomes a victim of amnesia and his head is bloodied as he 's left in a deserted harlem building , as the gang leaves him for dead ; but , one of the muggers , rumor ( michael williams ) , comes back and pretends to help him .
he 's a would - be photographer , who keeps a scrapbook entitled mugshots in the project apartment he shares with his mother and younger brother .
keeping his victim in the dark about who he is by calling him joe and not telling him what 's happening , he becomes the photographer for a few days .
he enters the photographer 's stylish greenwich village apartment and steals his expensive camera , and decides to hold the mugging vic for ransom when he finds out he has a black girlfriend , stella ( belinda becker ) .
she 's the only one in the film who could act .
the film is stuck with a clumsy dialogue and an overuse of symbolism , as it ends with nothing more to tell after the shock and the violent situation it created except to beat it into the ground .
it could only be commended for how appealing the film looks , as if it 's a scrapbook of still photos put together to celebrate a mugging .

SOLUTION: N

PROBLEM: synopsis : lifelong friends rafe ( affleck ) and danny ( hartnett )
join the us air force and are stationed at pearl harbor , hawaii .
rafe goes to england to fight alongside british pilots and is seemingly killed in action .
danny falls in love with rafe 's girlfriend , evelyn ( beckinsale ) , but rafe survives and returns to confront his former friend .
meanwhile , the japanese sneak attack is imminent . . .
review : " pearl harbor " is a perfect example of movies as product rather than as art .
it is little more than a crassly - calculated attempt to woo the masses , enticing them with big stars , big effects , and a big setting -- but no heart .
it is difficult to criticise the actors , because they do everything the movie demands of them . sadly ,
this amounts to barely more than reciting dialogue of such sheer banality that it makes one eager to see the script randall wallace wrote with his right hand at the same time as he was writing " pearl harbor " with his left .
the plot here is pure cliche , and the wartime setting simply a convenient backdrop .
there is no genuine exploration of what pearl harbor meant to the united states , and no insight into its vital role in inciting that country to join world war ii . instead , there is just an assembly - line love triangle , some empty patriotic rhetoric , and a laughable attempt to placate japanese viewers via the inclusion of some reticent imperial commanders ( when one intones , " i fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant " , i nearly fell out of my seat ) .
to the movie 's credit , it does include a fantastic portrayal of the attack itself , an exciting and dizzying hour which plunges viewers into the war .
if only the remaining two hours had been crafted with such skill , perhaps this memorial day non - event would have been worth watching .

SOLUTION: N

PROBLEM: note : some may consider portions of the following text to be spoilers . be forewarned .
i was incredulous when i first heard that mgm was planning a sequel to their 1995 science - fiction flick species .
squandering an intriguing premise , the original film turned out to be a dreadful mess , widely disliked by both audiences and critics alike -- and nonetheless still somehow succeeded in becoming a financial success , raking in over $ 60 million domestic during the competitive summer season despite a distinct lack of star power in its cast ( ben kingsley 's a splendid actor , but
a marquee name he ai n't ) .
miraculously dodging the bullet with the first film , i doubted that they 'd dare tempt fate and go for another round .
so here comes species ii , with a new creative team ( director peter medak and screenwriter chris brancato step in for roger donaldson and dennis feldman , respectively ) that fails to improve the series one iota -- like its predecessor , species ii fails to capitalize on a potentially promising kernel and instead runs the gamut from ridiculously silly to unmitigatedly stupid .
the film follows the exploits of a young man , patrick ross ( justin lazard ) , whose sole focus is on cruising along the streets in order to pick up women , loitering in strip clubs , and generally trying to bed as many different ladies as he possibly can .
in other words , patrick is like a lot of guys ; these activities could describe the everyday routines of a huge percentage of men his age , but there 's a catch -- he 's an astronaut who recently returned from a seemingly successful mission to mars , and who 's now infected with alien dna .
patrick 's overriding compulsion : to mate and sire countless numbers of gooey little alien offspring .
and when he becomes aware of eve ( natasha henstridge ) , a half - human , half - alien clone of the monster from the first film being studied in a government lab , patrick 's primary focus turns to her -- " if these two were to mate , the resulting pure strain of offspring would be unstoppable " warns dr .
laura baker ( marg helgenberger , gamely reprising her role ) with admirable conviction .
species ii opens with the mars mission , and the space scenes are remarkably unconvincing and hokey - looking , even splicing back to dated , grainy footage of actual spacecraft activities -- they really skimped on production values this time around .
however , this all looks positively inspired when compared to the first appearance of the evil alien goo which ultimately infests patrick ; watching as it slinks around the command module of the spaceship , any question as to whether or not this is a cheesy b - movie is quickly answered .
mr .
brancato 's original screenplay is filled with outrageous lines which often leaves the audience in stitches .
like the first film ( and perhaps in homage to it ) , there 's a real penchant for dialogue which underlines the obvious .
last time around featured the hootworthy line uttered by forest whitaker 's psychic empath character upon entering a bloodsoaked room -- " something bad happened here .
"
this time , laura gets to stand over a fresh , shredded corpse with its entails ripped out and mutter " this is awful .
"
and she 's not even empathic !
and when a psychotically horny patrick accosts a supermarket shopper and drags her kicking and screaming behind the building in a woefully - paced suspense sequence , eve , who 's telepathically linked to her alien / human - hybrid counterpart
( whatever ) , helpfully tells our alien - hunting protagonists , " he 's going to rape her .
" while species ii is often unintentionally hilarious , at least it occasionally demonstrates a sense of humour of its own .
there 's an amusing , tongue - in - cheek bit of product placement ( which does n't really make much sense , but i appreciated the sentiment ) , as well as some supermarket - related hijinx ( " he 's in aisle 1 !
" informs eve ) .
if the film maintained this sort of light - hearted tone , it would have been much more charming and enjoyable to watch , but , to its detriment , it instead takes its silly plot far too seriously and barrels along to a bloody , effects - ladened anticlimactic conclusion .
much of the film fails to make a whole lot of sense , and there are such gaping plot holes that it 's terribly difficult to contain any suspension of disbelief .
the implausibilities are endless : what about the toxic bomb in eve 's brain ?
why are the guards armed with guns when they already know firearms are ineffectual ?
my favourite was the slow - motion sequence in the film where eve , sporting superhuman strength , is shown tossing aside guards who are attempting to contain her with what look like body blocks .
this is the sort of movie which leaves you holding your head in amazed disbelief , incredulous that it 's being foisted upon the public .
returning headlines michael madsen ( who reprises tough guy press lennox ) and ms .
helgenberger do what they can with this goofy screenplay ,
but there 's realistically only so much one can do with this script as a basis .
mykelti williamson ( portraying astronaut dennis gamble )
churns out an all - too - familiar spin on a generic brash - mouthed character , and fine character actors george dzundza ( playing colonel burgess and looking ridiculous in the process ) and james cromwell ( patrick 's neglectful father , senator ross ) are utterly wasted in the film .
mr .
lazard gives his character an appropriately shifty - eyed look , while returning vixen ms .
henstridge is actually given the opportunity to act in one scene ( and acquits herself nicely ) , but is mostly relegated to reprising her familiar role of parading about in skimpy clothing ( or none at all ) .
ms .
henstridge recently commented on how some female audiences have expressed appreciation for her character in the first entry of the species series , claiming that " she 's so empowered .
"
a lethal half - alien in heat who dispatches of her sexual partners in grotesque fashion
-- now * that 's
* what i call empowerment .

SOLUTION:
N