Part 1. Definition
In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.
Part 2. Example
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 )
Answer: N
Explanation: The phrases used in the review convey a negative sentiment (e.g. "presents it in a very bad package").
Part 3. Exercise
200 cigarettes takes place on new year 's eve 1981 .
monica , played by martha plimpton is having a huge new year 's party .
everyone in town is trying to get there , but some are caught up in other things .
this is the basic plot of 200 cigarettes .
as we meet the characters headed towards the party , we are sent into many subplots which are unoriginal , and not interesting at all .
this disappointed me greatly .
the film should have been more about the party than the people trying to get there in my opinion .
lucy , played by courtney love , is with kevin , played by paul rudd .
the two are in a relationship that is more of a friendship , but starts to blossom into something more than that .
this subplot is extremely boring and dull , and i am getting quite sick of plots like that .
janeane garofalo is involved in another subplot , dealing with kevin .
she plays ellie , an ex - girlfriend of kevin 's .
this subplot is completely a waste of garofalo 's talent .
there was no point to it at all , and it was hardly even in the movie .
when lucy runs into a bartender , played by ben affleck , another subplot is formed .
the bartender is invited by lucy to come to monica 's party .
at the bar , he runs into two more girls .
the girls are played by angela featherstone and nicole parker , but unfortunately , due to the terrible acting of both of them , i do n't even remember their characters names .
ben affleck is a good actor , but his character does n't go anywhere so he does n't have much screen time to give a good performance .
featherstone and parker are horrible in their roles , and they are part of the reason
the film is so bad .
christina ricci plays val , and gaby hoffman plays stephie .
the two girls are trying to get to the party but are extremely lost .
they meet some guys and end up going around with them all night .
this subplot was alright , but it was quite annoying with stephie 's accent .
hoffman did an okay job of acting , but ricci did good .
she was underused , considering she is such a wonderful actress .
another subplot in the film is the relationship between cindy , played by goldie hawn 's daughter , and jack , played by jay mohr .
jack is an actor who does n't care about the girls he goes out with , he just likes dates for one night , and the next day he does n't .
kate hudson is a huge klutz .
she gets herself into very funny situations , that are the funniest parts in the entire movie .
they are probably the only funny parts in the entire movie as well .
this subplot could have been used more , mainly due to hudson 's performance .
mohr was n't good , but he was n't bad .
he was just alright , which i did n't find acceptable .
there is not much to say about the performances in the film .
none of the characters are developed or shown enough to really tell if the acting is good or not .
the only performances that i can judge are christina ricci 's as always good performance , kate hudson 's funny role , courtney love 's mediocre performance , and paul rudd 's annoying and overused performance .
i was hoping for a little more out of jaw mohr , ben affleck , casey affleck , gaby hoffman , dave chapelle , and especially out of janeane garofalo .
the two strongest things in the film were the great soundtrack and the original costumes .
martha plimpton and christina ricci had very different and original outfits which made me feel like i was in the year 1981 .
the soundtrack is full of 1980 's tunes , ranging from " i want candy " to " tainted love .
"
the songs in the movie also helped create the feel that you were back in the 1980s .
during the film , i often found myself asking the questions , " is there a reason to this ?
is there any moral story ?
is there a point ?
are any of the events going on in the film necessary ?
do i care what lucy and kevin are going through ?
" the movie is extremely boring , and by the time they reached eleven - o - clock , one hour before midnight , i could not wait for the movie to be over .
the plot is okay , but the subplots make it terrible .
maybe if the film was about the party , not about the people at the party , it could have been a lot better .
the bottom line : just like a slasher movie , this ? 80s comedy is just one too many .
Answer:
N