In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.
One example is below.
Q: 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 )
A: N
Rationale: The phrases used in the review convey a negative sentiment (e.g. "presents it in a very bad package").
Q: please do n't mind this windbag letting off a bit of steam .
.. i just want to warn all of y' all not to waste your hard - earned $ $ $ on anaconda .
it 's not even worth a 99-cent video rental .
do n't listen to ebert on this one ( he has no clue what he 's talking about ! )
btw i accompanied my friend to this one because she was * required * to watch it on assignment ( she reviews movies for a local paper ) .
now i 'll actually back up my huffing and puffing .
here goes : movie : anaconda rydain 's bottom line : wait for it to come on usa up all night .
even then , i doubt it 's worth the price of jolt ( to help you stay up that late ! )
why do i hate anaconda ?
let me count the ways .
..
first of all , this movie gets way too many snake facts wrong .
as an ophiophile ( snake lover ) , i can tell you that a ) anacondas would never reach a length of 40 feet , b ) they 're scared of people , c ) cases of snakes eating adult humans are extremely rare because human shoulders are too wide to fit in a snake 's mouth , and constrictor snakes do n't kill what they ca n't eat , d ) people can outrun snakes with no trouble , especially heavy ones like anacondas , e ) if an anaconda did eat a human , it would need at least 6 months of sitting on its butt to digest the huge meal , therefore it could n't run around gobbling up everybody else in the cast , and f ) snakes have no vocal cords , so they ca n't make funny squealing noises .
whew .
i was prepared to suspend reality if the movie would have been worth it .
unfortunately , anaconda was about as suspenseful and exciting as watching paint peel .
my friend and i even successfully predicted who would live at the end .
anybody can tell the bad guy is going to die eventually .
that was a pity because his character was one of the few reasons
my friend and i did n't give up and fall asleep .
he was the most likable character in the movie .
who would n't enjoy somebody who looks like a deranged walt whitman ?
anaconda did have its cute moments : arguments between ice cube 's character and the british guy , for instance .
however , those small flashes of wit were not worth the other hour and twenty - eight minutes of boring schlock .
the writers had - and blew - a multitude of opportunities to insert funny lines .
i was quite disappointed with a scene where a young guy tells a young lady that the jungle makes him horny .
did she retort with a clever , ego - withering comeback ?
of course not !
"
i 'm trying to work !
" gee
, that 's even dumber than the crap comebacks
i come up with .
she could have told him to go find a knothole or something .
.. ; p
but i will admit , there was just one scene where i was surprised at the outcome ( hint : it involves the evil guy and miss crap comebacks ) .
as for the plot , i 'm still trying to find one .
this movie was basically an excuse to get a boatload of people into dangerous territory where they could get snarfed by ridiculous , computer - generated anacondas with the eyes and fangs of vipers and the faster - than - gravity downward acceleration of a harrier jet .
( harrier snake ? ) not to mention instant digestion so they could go snarf countless other victims .
the writers tried to throw in some sort of plot twist ( should i call it a plot knot because it made no sense ? ) in which the sick guy 's g - friend kisses the evil dude and suddenly everybody hates said evil dude and starts trying to kill him .
that was about as clear and understandable as mission : impossible .
( if someone could explain that movie to me , i 'd be most grateful !
all the old - guy double agents looked the same ! ! )
i was n't inspired by the acting , save for the evil dude .
i ca n't blame the actors , though .
it 's not their fault they had a cruddy script to work with .
this concludes rydain 's diatribe on a shameless exploitation ( and perpetuation ! ) of public fear of snakes .
comments , flames , anyone ?
-rydain the atomic cheese , fresh from chernobyl dairies !
A:
N