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

kevin smith is like a big kid .
his humor is that of a sophisticated juvenile 's .
he grew up idolizing star wars and loves comic books , having also written a few .
he also has a cult following , mostly composed of teenagers , college students , and smith 's own fellow adolescent - minded grownups .
smith is hilarious in person and in writing , but when he tries to be earnest and moralize , that is when he goes wrong .
kevin smith is a better writer than director , and he 'll be the first to tell you that .
that might also be part of the reason why his moralizing comes across as so heavy - handed .
great directors show us their theses instead of having the characters sermonize them .
this was true in the overrated chasing amy , and it is true for dogma as well .
that is not to say smith 's message is a bad one .
in dogma , smith tells us that problems arise when people believe beyond any doubt that their insight into god and god 's desires is superior to anyone else 's .
basically , dogmatism is bad .
changing the minds of the dogmatic is virtually impossible , and since the dogmatic believe that they have special insight , they also know what is best for you , whether you like it or not .
this is not exactly a new message in movies ( see inherit the wind ) , but i have no problems with recycling old ones , particularly since dogma 's protesters are proving smith 's point .
smith 's own problem with delivering this message is that he beats us over the head with it like we are reading a dogma for dummies book .
but this is smith 's personality , and his simplistic views neglect such adult issues as how does one interpret the bible ( or koran , etc . ) correctly ( or if there even is a correctly ) and how one settles disputes of heretofore dogmatic concerns .
the story concerns abortion clinic worker bethany ( linda fiorentino ) being chosen by voice of god , metatron ( alan rickman ) , to prevent the destruction of the universe by two fallen angels , bartleby ( ben affleck ) and angel of death , loki ( matt damon ) .
along the way , forgotten thirteenth apostle , rufus ( chris rock ) , stripper muse serendipity ( salma hayek ) , and slacker duo jay and silent bob ( jason mewes and kevin
smith himself ) come to bethany 's aid .
fallen muse , azrael ( jason lee ) , proves to be the behind - the - scenes manipulator for all the chicanery .
the logical but convoluted plot only exists as an excuse for the jokes and to make smith 's points , and in itself , has little dramatic momentum .
among the supposedly outrageous claims made by the film is that god is a woman , jesus was black , and the bible was written by a bunch of racist , misogynistic white men .
of course , kevin smith does not necessarily subscribe to these ideas himself .
they are a metaphor for the fears and insecurities of the dogmatic .
smith says as much in his amusing disclaimer that precedes the movie .
when harvey weinstein asked smith to put it into the film before cannes , smith thought it might give validation to protesters ' claims that the film was sacrilegious , but then he rethought it and turned the disclaimer into a joke .
the film 's humor is uneven .
some parts are very funny
as when bethany goes for a fire extinguisher when metatron makes a burning - bush kind of entrance .
but many of the film 's jokes just bomb , as in virtually anything involving salma hayek 's serendipity .
also , some of the jokes can be seen coming from a mile away .
still , smith keeps the zingers coming at a sufficiently rapid pace . among the actors , fiorentino and rickman stand out by far .
fiorentino virtually by herself gives the film emotional weight .
damon and affleck are fairly lackluster .
rock and hayek exist in the film pretty much only as comic relief as are mews and smith .
but the latter duo fare much better because jay and silent bob , who recur in all of smith 's movies , are much more in line with smith 's brand of humor .
bud cort , george carlin , janeane garofalo , guinevere turner , and alanis morissette all make cameo appearances .
P

take two old and dying men , a lifetime of regrets , a house full of sins , a thoroughly despicable man , enough lies , insecurities and other character defects to keep a team of psychiatrists gainfully employed , then add a inexplicable meteorological and amphibian - based phenomenon and you will have summed up magnolia , the newest film from paul thomas anderson ( boogie nights ) .
the movie tells multiple stories , weaving them together , or overlapping them during the course of its three hour running time .
would that the stories were worth the telling .
earl partridge ( jason robards , a thousand acres ) is dying of cancer .
bedridden , in much pain , it is obvious that his time is growing short .
his much younger wife played by julianne moore ( an ideal husband ) is surprised to find herself struggling with his impending death .
having married for money , she discovers that she has actually fallen in love with the old guy and regrets having cheated and lied .
earl regrets having cheated on his first wife and estranging himself from his only son ( tom cruise , eyes wide shut ) , now a misogynist self - help guru who teaches men how to " seduce and destroy , " his sexual and vulgar perspective on male / female relationships is so over - the - top as to be utterly unbelievable .
meanwhile , jimmy gator ( philip baker hall , the insider ) is also dying of cancer .
not as physically incapacitated as earl , jimmy is still able to perform his duties as the lovable host of a long - running quiz show which pits adults against children .
the current whiz - quiz - kid is stanley spector ( jeremy blackman in his film debut ) who is tired of the pressure of performing and is willing to call it quits .
on the other hand , quiz kid donnie smith ( william macy , mystery men ) would like nothing more than to return to the spotlight when he was a " somebody .
"
his pathetic life is souring as he can no longer capitalize on his brief 15 minutes of fame which stanley is all too eager to relinquish .
jimmy has his own family crisis as his drug - addict daughter ( melora walters , boogie nights ) refuses to have anything to do with him for reasons which are not disclosed to us until the end of the film .
grabbing at one last attempt at happiness she reaches out to a softhearted cop ( john c .
reilly , never been kissed ) even as she tries to push herself away from him because she deems herself not worthy of his affection .
this dysfunctional group carries on for what seems to be an interminable two - thirds of the movie .
and then it gets worse , literally raining frogs .
yes , frogs . assuming it to be an intended deus - ex - machina device ,
it is an ineffective one because it does n't seem to faze the characters much .
oh , they may step gingerly around the splattered frog corpses littering the streets , but otherwise , the frog shower did n't seem to change their behavior or pattern of living ( or dying ) .
there is simply too much going on in this movie and most of it is distasteful to watch .
mr .
anderson further obscures the film by incorporating a loud and intrusive sound track that often drowned out the dialogue , a character who apparently rapped a significant clue to a plot development which was completely unintelligble , and a heavy handed segment of " historical " occurances containing ironic twists which set up absolutely nothing .
one of the recurring themes is found in a line donnie quotes : " we may be done with the past , but the past is not done with us .
"
this is an absolute lie .
god is in the forgiveness business .
in fact , as we humbly ask for forgiveness and repent or change our offending mindset , god 's word says that he not only forgives , he also forgets .
"
i , even i , am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake , and will not remember thy sins .
" isaiah 43
: 25 [ kjv ] the spiritual one who keeps bringing up our unrighteous past is the same one who wants to keep us in a state of condemnation .
do n't let him .
next time your spiritual adversary reminds you of your past , take great pleasure in reminding him of his future .
he hates that .
N

pulp fiction , quentin tarantino 's anxiously awaited and superb follow - up to reservoir dogs , is absolutely and without a doubt progressing as one of the most talked about , loved , and hated films of all - time
.
in all fairness , it should be noted that those who love this film greatly outnumber those who hate it .
as if reservoir dogs was n't perfect , tarantino went ahead and improved on perfection by creating pulp fiction , a fast - paced , hard talking , roller coaster ride of a movie that combines violence and extraordinary dialogue in a seemingly perfect way .
every major character in this film is represented by a terrific acting performance by the actor . to begin with , the two hit men : vincent vega ( john travolta ) and jules winnfield ( samuel l . jackson ) .
these two characters work together perfectly , and the performances by each actor are nearly perfect .
travolta , in fact , is still trying to get out of the vincent vega role .
if these two characters were not enough , there 's the struggling boxer butch coolidge ( bruce willis ) , the two small - time criminals pumpkin ( tim roth ) and honey bunny ( amanda plummer ) , the big man in charge marsellus wallace ( ving rhames ) and his attractive young wife mia ( uma thurman ) , and the " problem solver " himself , the wolf ( harvey keitel ) .
these are just the major characters .
smaller roles , but equally terrific , are handed to jimmie ( quentin tarantino ) , a young married man who gets caught up in some serious gangster business , lance ( eric stoltz ) , the far - out drug dealer , as well as maynard ( duane whitaker ) and zed ( peter greene ) , two hillbillies who are the men " behind " ( no pun intended for those of you who have seen this ) a very disturbing scene towards the end of the film .
the film interweaves three stories that , at first , seem to be nothing alike but later prove to be very critical to each other .
the film begins with pumpkin and honey bunny in a small coffee shop discussing their recent robberies and hold - ups .
the two quickly decide to hold up the coffee shop , unknowing of what lies ahead .
after this , the film focuses for some time on vincent and jules and their hit man lifestyle .
utilizing the films unforgettable dialogue , the two men discuss such things as hamburgers and foot massages before they bust into an apartment to terrorize the occupants .
the two men were sent to the apartment to recover a mysterious briefcase for their boss , marsellus wallace .
after basically toying with the men , especially the unfortunate brett ( frank whaley ) , vincent and jules complete their mission and recover the briefcase .
this is not before a man jumps out from a bathroom with a .
357 " hand cannon " , shooting at the two gangsters .
he somehow completely misses them , leading jules to cite divine intervention .
this is also the basis for more of the now - famous tarantino dialogue .
the film then shifts to focus on boxer butch coolidge and his boxing escapades .
butch was ordered to take a fall in his latest fight , but when he does not , marsellus vows to find him , wherever he is , and make sure that butch is not able to enjoy his new fortune .
vincent , meanwhile , has the honor of taking marsellus ' wife , mia , out on a date while the big man is out of town .
vincent , obviously , is rather nervous about this , especially after hearing the tale about a man who was thrown out of a window for supposedly giving mia a foot massage .
after their date , which seems to rather smoothly , things take a turn for the worst at the hands of vincent 's high - priced heroin , dubbed a " monster " by lance .
each story continually progresses , and new and amazing events occur .
eventually , the stories all meet each other in the end , with pumpkin and honey bunny holding up the restaurant , which happens to contain both vincent and jules .
pulp fiction is definitely one of the best films of the decade , and possibly of all - time .
along with its superb dialogue , action , writing , directing , and acting , this film will not only latch onto you , but it proves that it does not want to release you until it has sunk its claws completely into you .
and with most fans of this movie , this is proved to be a rather easy task , although at times the graphic images , violence , and language may seem a bit overpowering .
surely , quentin tarantino 's fame was greatly escalated by this film , and he proves not to be one who will fade from existence very soon .
P