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: " nothing more than a high budget masturbation fantasy " showgirls ( nc-17 ) - contains graphic nudity , profanity , sexual situations and violence .
some people , however , keep their clothes on .
you do not watch porn films for their intellectual values , nor do you write reviews on them .
that 's why this review will be short .
it seems that this film will end up in the porn section when it hits the video stores .
there is no story , script , point or acting .
only naked bodies , which is exactly the point .
here is the so called plot
: nomi , the 23-year - old with a dark past as a hooker , has hitchhiked from somewhere back east to perform in a show where a dancer does n't wear much more than a light coating of powder and a big , fake smile .
no one is twisting nomi 's arm .
no one is holding her grandmother hostage .
she wants to do this .
and that is what she is doing till the end credits .
so what 's the problem then ?
what 's the point ?
what 's the film about ?
is there anyone whose aspirations could inspire less sympathy ?
this film can be described in one sentence :
obscene level of incompetence
, excessive stupidity in the story line , gross negligence of the viewer 's intelligence , a prurient interest in the quick buck .
believe me , after an hour with these characters , acting and script , you 'll start hoping for someone to kill somebody .
elizabeth berkley makes a laughable try
as the heroine of this film , that is bad even for eszterhas ' script .
her character is the only one that is at least half written and she could really have done better .
her character denies the fact that she is a whore for the industry , selling her body to the hungry eyes of the horny public .
"
i am not a whore !
i am a dancer " , she screams , but does it in such an over dramatized way that you 'll start laughing
.
in fact the acting in " showgirls " brings terrible to a new and previously unknown level .
not one single achievement , besides the conventional cinematography , is worth mentioning .
it is a total waste of time and money .
there is not a single moment of what you might call intelligence .
the dialogue is structured of ancient stereotypes and cliches lined up one after another .
its attempt to even imagine to have half a brain results in
a catastrophe .
" in my films , " writes director paul verhoeven ( ' basic instinct ' , ' total recall ' ) , " i hold the mirror up to life .
"
well , excuse me ?
his attempt to go behind the scenes of las vegas , and as he put it " show the naked truth " , is simplified and unreal
.
occasionally , between his collection of mistakes and logical irrationalities , screenwriter joe eszterhas ( the creator of some of the worst screenplays in hollywood history ) inserts some lines of deep morality , that sound something like this :
" hey , i see you .
i see that you 're hiding " - " from what ?
" - " from you " .
yes , and even the only decent line in this film : " nomi is what las vegas is all about " ca n't save ' showgirls ' from going under .
it 's a strange phenomena .
it 's not erotic , because it lacks sensuality .
not dramatic , because it lacks the acting .
and not intelligent because it lacks a story .
it is simply verhoven 's bad excuse for making pornography .
you want to see naked women ?
bare breasts ?
full frontals ?
it 's nothing wrong with that .
but in that case i suggest that you rent a porn film in your local video store , and not waste time surviving through eszterhas ' pathetic dialogue .
b qualities , while it 's only a high budget porn - film .
Solution:
N