Detailed Instructions: In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.
See one example below:
Problem: 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 )
Solution: N
Explanation: The phrases used in the review convey a negative sentiment (e.g. "presents it in a very bad package").

Problem: with the success of the surprise hit alien , directed by ridley scott , a sequel was inevitable .
in fact , after watching the first film , a sequel was wanted , particularly by this reviewer .
handing over the director 's chair to recent box office gem james cameron , who had only made two films previous to this one ( pirahna ii , a surprisingly dull film , and terminator , making cameron a household name ) , the alien series got a face - lift of immense proportions .
instead of being a suspense / science fiction film , cameron alters the series and changing it into an action picture .
what results is one of the most terrifying films ever created .
a film like aliens comes along only once in a while
, and when it does , audiences are usually unprepared for it .
i never saw this movie in theaters , but i wish i could have .
the terror and fright must have been unimaginable , most likely with audiences members literally shrieking in fear .
aliens is an action film unlike any i have ever seen .
with a science fiction plot , cameron gives aliens added testosterone , pumping up the action and fire power from the original film .
in fact , aliens is one of those few sequels which tops the original .
perhaps what makes the alien series so impressive is the hero -- or heroine , as the case may be .
never have we had a more sympathetic hero in an action film , and never have i seen such an impressive acting job done by the main character .
sigourney weaver is possibly the only actress who could play this character and make her realistic enough for us to care about .
placing a woman in these situations would sometimes seem unusual , but because of weaver 's presence , a woman is the only suitable hero .
aliens begins 57 years after alien ended .
lieutenant ellen ripley ( weaver ) is discovered in hypersleep on the nostromo and is awakened .
she explains how she is the only survivor of her past encounter with the aliens , but " the company " is doubtful .
they explain that a colony of families is flourishing on the same planet from which she just left .
despite stern warnings from ripley , the company remains rigid and wo n't call the families back .
however , when the company loses contact with the colony , ripley 's story seems much more feasible .
one of the company 's directors , carter burke ( paul reiser ) , wants to gather a team to travel to the planet .
this team includes a buff private vasquez ( jenette goldstein ) , a questionable corporal hicks ( michael biehn ) , and a loyal android bishop ( lance henriksen ) .
burke tags along with ripley as they fly to the planet in order to locate the members of the colony .
arriving on the planet , the team finds most of the human life extinguished in a cocoon - type environment .
the only survivor is 12 year old rebecca " newt " jorden ( carrie henn ) .
ripley finds this a chance to be the mother she never had the opportunity to become , and she becomes newt 's surrogate mother .
ripley and newt are the only ones who knows what has happened , and soon , all hell breaks loose .
aliens
not only multiplies the thrills and suspense from scott 's version , it also multiplies the number of aliens in general .
alien focused on one alien in particular which systematically killed each crew member , except ripley , who managed to jettison the alien out of the nostromo .
aliens focuses on an entire race of these aliens , and as a result , the chills are incredibly heightened .
then again , this is james cameron , the guy who has given us true lies and terminator 2 : judgment day .
he is the best action director
out there ( topping renny harlin , who directed cliffhanger ) , and only he could create something as terrifying as this film .
it seems that every alien film seems to have some memorable scene or scenes , and aliens has the motherload .
with perhaps one of the most astonishing endings ever created for an action film , aliens climax never seems to hit until the viewer is nearly pushed to extreme exhaustion .
i ca n't recall another film ever to sustain this level of intensity throughout , never dropping for a moment .
just when you think the movie is over , something else will occur , and it starts right back up again .
with a seemingly endless conclusion , aliens ends with one of the greatest moments in film history .
this scene is usually the one remembered most from the film , as lieutenant ripley steps into one of the lifting machines to fight the alien queen . using flawless special effects , the climax is exhausting , leaving any audience member drained from extreme anxiety .
of course , for a film of this genre to work properly , the technical aspects must be realistic enough for us to believe what we see .
aliens is completely realistic , even a decade after its initial release .
the special effects are wonderfully seamless , with a terrifying alien to go with them .
one of the most overlooked aspects of this film is the music , composed by cameron - regular james horner .
horner has created a terrific score , receiving an oscar nomination for his work .
not only that , horner has also created one of the best scores for any action film , or science fiction film ever
( and that includes 2001 : a space odyssey , which was mainly a compilation of well - known composers ) .
in fact , the climax music is also some of the most recognized of film music .
the production design is incredible , which also happened to snag a nomination from the academy .
dark corridors lit by red lights are very impressive , but more impressive is the amount of terror which arises from well - lit locations .
normally a film will be very dark in order to scare a viewer ; aliens uses lights to scare the viewer .
then , of course , is the cinematography , which uses point of view shots , along with video feeds in order to build suspense .
some of the scariest scenes involve the perspective of ripley .
surprisingly , the acting is not only above average for this genre , but
some of the best . sigourney weaver received an oscar nomination for her portrayal of ripley , incorporating the right amount of sympathy into her hard - edged persona .
weaver
soars above the rest in this film , but she is supposed to .
carrie henn gives an above average performance for a child , developing a three - dimensional character from her quiet attitude .
lance henriksen is terrific as bishop , showing that androids do n't always have to be flat characters .
jenette goldstein shows a fair amount of enthusiasm with her role , and steals several scenes of her own ( though her personality becomes slightly annoying when she is n't fighting ) .
michael biehn gives a very nice performance in the most obligatory role of the film .
however , biehn does a good job , making it seem original again .
paul reiser may seem like an odd choice to play the sleazy corporate director , but reiser manages to pull it off quite well
( however , i still see him as paul on tv 's " mad about you " ) .
a very good cast ( which also includes bill paxton and william hope ) highlights this action film , making it stand out from others .
aliens is rightfully rated r for violence , gore , language , and terror .
aliens is sort of the redefining moment of the science fiction genre , as alien was more of a suspense / horror film .
aliens pumps up the stakes , and cameron directs it with professional quality . cameron certainly knows how to make a good action film , but here he proves how he can create some truly horrific moments on screen .
technically astonishing , aliens '
only flaw is small characters who are only there to get killed .
aside from this , you probably wo n't experience anything like aliens for quite a while .
Solution:
P