In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.

[Q]: capsule : earthy , experimental , difficult , shockingly frank ( even for 1997 ! ) , and ultimately refreshing story of a black man on the run from the cops .
the first few minutes of sweet sweetback 's baad asssss song ( yes , i checked --
that 's the correct number of ss )
are without dialogue , just eerie montages of sounds .
a young boy , obviously malnourished , is taken in and fed up by several loving mother - surrogate figures .
then one of them takes the boy to bed for a sexual initation ( underneath the title credits ) that 's far more confrontatory and shocking than any ten basic instincts -- probably because it has the directness and clumsiness of real life , something we 're not used to seeing on screen .
this is one tough movie to swallow , no matter who you are , but that probably reflects more on how pallid and unchallenging movies have gotten lately .
( i suspect the sex scenes in movies like el topo and salo would probably melt the synapses of most modern audiences . )
the plot is simple but not simpleminded .
sweetback , hassled by two white cops who are apparently just looking for an excuse to beat up on a black man , breaks his bonds and runs like hell .
along the way he moves through a good many of the kinds of environments that we are only just now being seen in a more serious light in the movies -- or at all , for that matter : the slums , the missions , the ghetto .
in other , lesser , movies , sweetback would be machine - gunning everything in sight and the end credits would roll over a pile of bodies ; in this one , we get taken on a kind of a tour of the depressing and anarchic world that sweetback takes for granted .
ssbas first appeared in 1971 and was promptly rated x ( " by an all - white jury " , as director melvin van peebles crowed in his legendary ad campaigns ) , and it 's hardly surprising why .
there 's a good deal of sex in the movie , but it 's handled in a way that 's unsettlingly frank -- a frankness that spills over into the rest of the movie .
in one scene , sweetback visits a friend 's house in the hope of getting sanctuary there , and the other man chats him up while on the toilet .
we 're not used to coming this close to people in real life , let alone in the movies -- especially not people who are not made out to be glamorous .
the movie is also full of experimental stylistics that are relatively unused today , but probably because of that seem curiously fresh and new in van peebles ' hands .
one scene , in which a man is interrogated by the cops , is loaded full of menacing energy as they fire off a gun inches from his ears , and suggest his deafness through a cleverly edited soundtrack .
another note : ssbas is not so much anti - white ( that would be too easy ) as anti - authority , and as the movie goes on to demonstrate , authority exists in many forms -- governments , churches , and even the paranoid inside of one 's own mind .
ssbas is ultimately about thirsting for freedom -- and it looks like we could use a little more of that in our movie diet , god knows .
[A]: P

[Q]: i can imagine how good krippendorf 's tribe must have looked on paper .
it does not surprise me in the least that a group of extremely talented actors , led by the great richard dreyfuss and a good director ( todd holland ) , all wanted to make this film .
in fact , it is only the expertise by which this excruciatingly bad script has been executed that keeps me from suggesting that you stay as far away from krippendorf 's tribe as possible .
in retrospect , i can imagine how bad this film could have been .
i shudder at the possibilities of awfulness
had it starred an actor less able than dreyfuss .
dreyfuss plays james krippendorf , an anthropologist who is granted $ 100 , 000 by his university to find an undiscovered tribe in new guinea .
halfway into his two - year expedition , his wife ( apparently ) dies .
i say apparently because when or how she dies is never truly established .
later , we find out that much of the grant money was spent on big - screen tvs and other such pleasures .
so , when krippendorf finds out what happens to professors who do not use their grant money wisely , he decides to construct an elaborate lie .
he makes his own tribe , using his three children as actors in a video .
he simply makes up certain incredible facts about this tribe ( which he calls the shelmickedmu ) .
audiences at krippendorf 's lectures are amazed by his findings that the shelmickedmu practice circumcision .
and proof that the typical family unit is led by a single father is truly amazing to the anthropological community .
like all films like this , the lie becomes more and more complex , and the suspense is generated with us wondering at what point it is all going to fall out from under our hero .
dreyfuss is a funny , talented man , and he is funny in this film .
he has lots of positive energy and , unlike most comical actors , really manages to play people like this realistically .
this film also requires a lot of physical humor that i 've never seen dreyfuss perform , and he does a great job .
jenna elfman , who plays veronica mecilli , a scientist who wants in on krippendorf 's work , is also very funny and appealing here .
and the kid actors are great , as well .
but we 're talking about the script from hell .
this is one of those stories that requires such extreme suspension of disbelief that they might as well have established that the story just takes place in an alternate universe where things like this can happen .
but the ridiculousness of the story is not really
what is so bad about it .
all the cliches and the irritating plot devices could have easily been overcome by dreyfuss and crew .
no , the script is plagued with so many clueless stereotypes and mean - spirited characters that i was in disbelief as i watched .
furthermore , the manor in which all of this material is covered up is truly shameless .
take , for instance , the scene in which krippendorf gets veronica drunk so he can tape them having sex .
they get all decked out in the tribe getup , complete with paint to darken their skin .
krippendorf does this because he needs footage of the mating rituals of his tribe .
now , i saw this scene coming from a mile away , but i said to myself , " no , that would be far too tasteless .
there 's no way they 'll do that . . .
oh god !
"
they did do it .
it 's there .
i was almost more appalled by the fact that this did n't bother the other audience members with whom i saw this film .
i found it deplorable .
and when krippendorf is forced to admit that he did it , he simply apologizes without the slightest hint of conviction in his voice .
the film is filled with scenes like these .
they not only insult the audience , but they insult the types of people that the film portrays .
it would take some truly professional work to create videos convincing enough to fool an entire community of scientists , yet krippendorf
does it easily in an afternoon .
and watching dreyfuss stumble over a completely unprepared speech is funny and entertaining , but i think that most members of the on - screen audience would be able to see that he is making everything up as he goes .
if i were an anthropologist , this film would insult me immensely .
moving right along , the film plays off every stereotype our culture has ever learned regarding african tribes .
sure , dreyfuss dressing up like a chief is really funny , and it allows for some entertaining scenes , but the heart of this material is deeply clueless as to the themes and thoughts that it provokes .
it is because of dreyfuss as an actor that i was able to watch this film .
his character here is not a good subject for a film because he is a shameless liar , and never once does he show any kind of penance for what he does .
i suppose it was interesting to see the formula defied in this case , but for the purposes of good taste , i would have expected something .
no , this man sets a terrible example for his kids and colleagues , and the writer of the film ( charlie peters ) did n't include a single scene in which krippendorf takes his kids aside and tells them that what he is doing is very bad .
in fact , it 's his eldest daughter that frequently tells him that he is doing the wrong thing , and he continually shrugs off her warnings .
i suppose it 's important to admit that this is a funny film .
dreyfuss and elfman , and many of the contrived and insulting scenes , add up to a picture that is anything but boring .
and if you 're less serious than i , you probably will enjoy it .
i , however , ca n't get past these elements .
krippendorf 's tribe is being marketed as a family comedy , but this is the kind of film that teaches the kids of our society faulty lessons that they should n't be learning .
with a little more insight into its story and themes , this could have been a good movie .
[A]: N

[Q]: i swear i have seen the edge before .
in fact , it reminded me of the bear , the river wild , and other various films mixed into an entirely different film .
however , the edge has done something that most action films should do , and that is add heart and characters we like to the plot .
in doing so , the edge draws many more suspenseful moments out of cliched scenes than , say , the peacemaker .
unfortunately , because of those overused moments , we can pretty much guess the outcome of the film . but leave it to screenwriter david mamet to
add humor and a few surprises to mess with your head .
one surprise , in particular
, left me smiling just because mamet actually had the guts to add it to his script .
action films are a dime a dozen in hollywood , and while they are somewhat successful at entertaining us , they lack the one thing which would make them a more respected genre : intelligence .
even horror films have learned this , a genre which is probably the least respected of them
all .
the river wild was one of the best action / suspense films i have seen from the 90s .
the intelligence of the screenplay , and
the suspense drawn from the realistic characters is nearly unmatched to this day .
the edge has the intelligence and smart characters , but this time the lack of originality is the downfall .
i must admit that it was very suspenseful , and had an original third half , but the first hour and a half is riddled with cliches and plot holes .
this is an example of the final act saving the film , instead of the other way around ( as in the lost world ) .
if only the screenplay had maintained the final thirty minutes ' intensity , it could have become a great action film
( and i use the term loosely ) .
the edge is pretty much a survival - of - the - fittest film .
but taking scream 's lead , the edge makes fun of the genre 's cliches , and then uses them ( though not quite as effectively ) .
charles morse ( anthony hopkins ) is the main character , a rich and very intelligent man who wonders what the accumulation of all this knowledge has brought to him .
for once , we do n't immediately care for the main character . instead ,
we like bob ( alec baldwin ) , a photographer who is going to take pictures of charles ' wife , mickey ( elle macpherson ) , out in the wilderness .
they board a plane and head to a cabin somewhere in the arctic .
charles ' birthday is the same day , and he receives a gold watch from his wife , and a pocket knife from bob .
as action films go , these items do have importance to the rest of the story , but quite a bit more than we first expect .
soon , however , bob wants to find a native to shoot pictures of because of his " personality .
" charles , bob , bob 's assistant steve ( harold perrineau ) , and the pilot head off to find him , and as shown in the previews , hit a flock of birds flying south for the winter .
down the plane goes , the pilot is killed , and the three are left to survive in the wilderness .
director lee tamahori is aware of the silly plot which is about to follow , and therefore has to create original ways to approach the situations .
he succeeds often enough for us to enjoy the film .
take , for instance , the entire man - hunting bear plot .
this has been done many times in films with different animals , and even bears .
but given the charles ' intelligence , and bob 's uncertainty , many of the cliches are given fresh twists .
even charles himself seems to have seen these action films before .
my favorite line of the film comes from charles : " most people die in the wilderness because they did n't do the one thing that could save their life .
.. thinking .
" despite the predictability of the main plot , a subplot develops late in the film which took me by surprise , and made me smile when i realized that everything is n't as it seems anymore .
i have to write cautiously as to not reveal this surprise
, so instead i will avoid it entirely .
the first two - thirds of the edge have many humorous moments to push it along , and some of charles ' survival techniques seem possible , even making fire from ice .
tamahori is able to create a lot of suspense from the stalking bear , but whenever the bear is present , the characters lose all sensibility .
i have always wondered why characters in films walk over a log to get across water .
why not do what an intelligent person would and crawl across ?
i guess getting chased by a bear makes your thought process turn off for a while . thankfully , we already have begun to care for the characters , and so we let this small detail slide .
but some of the technical details are awkward , such as the nice stitching done on the fur coat that charles and bob make ( where did they get thread and needles ? ) .
the acting of the film is highly above average for a film of this nature , and borders on phenomenal .
anthony hopkins gives a terrific performance , creating his most likeable and layered character since remains of the day .
hopkins usually brings greatness to his roles , but here he exceeds at gaining the audiences ' sympathy , something he definitely did not do in silence of the lambs .
alec baldwin gives one of his best performances i have ever seen ( it sure is better from his fair game ) .
baldwin can be a good or a bad character , and here he succeeds at both in a way .
you can never quite guess if he is a nice or a vllainous character until the end , and baldwin is able to handle the double - natured photographer .
elle macpherson gives a good performance , albeit slight .
she is n't in the film all that much , but for the scenes she does have , she handles as an actress , not as a model .
harold perrineau is a good actor , and his scenes are nice and underplayed .
he is eliminated early , and i reveal nothing by saying this because it is inevitable and predictable .
the edge is rated r for graphic violence , some gore , and language .
some of the violence is a little too disturbing , even for me .
this film is a nice change from the mindless action most of us are used to , but too many cliches bog it down .
director tamahori has created a very smooth and suspenseful action film out of recycled parts .
david mamet 's script , though , has a lot of humor to keep the first hour afloat , and the acting is solid .
the best thing about the script is the ending which does n't end with the normal high - strung action sequence , but with a small detail involving a certain gift .
it 's a nice touch considering what we have had to go through with the bear .
and by the way , most people laughed when the film faded to black due to a large credit to bart the bear .
way to go , bart .
[A]:
P