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

roger ebert asks in his review of sexy beast , " who would have guessed that the most savage mad - dog frothing gangster in recent movies would be played by . . .
ben kingsley ?
"
my response would be that anyone who has seen alan arkin in wait until dark , henry fonda in once upon a time in the west , or anthony hopkins in the silence of the lambs should have guessed it .
they should know that the way for a film to create a really creepy sociopath is cast someone who generally plays mild , sympathetic , or even ineffectual character roles .
the same characteristics that make an actor seem gentle in most of his roles can work in his favor when a role calls for him to be fierce and vicious .
that is the principle that works for kingsley in sexy beast .
gary " gal " dove ( played by ray winstone ) has retired from a london career of crime and is living on a luxurious villa in spain .
life has become a routine of sunning himself and relaxing .
but his paradise is about to be shattered by a one - two - punch .
the first punch is a boulder that comes rolling down the hill next to the villa .
the second punch comes from gal 's past .
back in london
gang boss teddy bass
( ian mcshane , tv 's lovejoy ) is planning to break into a safety deposit room in a bank and he wants gal .
he sends his most rabid henchman don logan ( ben kingsley ) to fetch gal .
don will accept any decision gal makes from " yes " to " certainly .
" however , if gal says " no " don will do whatever it takes to turn it into a yes including threatening guy 's ex - porn- star wife deedee ( amanda redman ) . in the meantime don knows just how to get under everybody 's skin .
kingsley makes don a compact package of fury and nastiness .
there are some serious problems in louis mellis 's and david scinto 's script that should have been caught before filming .
when we see the actual crime we have no idea why gal was so important to its success .
beyond an ability to use skin - diving gear , no special talents are required of him .
any local hood could have done what gal is needed for .
additionally the crime involves digging from a swimming pool to the bank vault , flooding the vault .
no only
could they have let the water out of the pool and avoided the complication altogether , but there is by far too much water to be accounted for by what was in the pool .
in spite of the provocative title , the story is cliched and overly familiar .
i know i have seen all the plot elements of sexy beast in old westerns like the law and jake wade .
the story is usually of the reformed outlaw , a robert taylor type , who has hung up his guns and is trying for a life of peaceful respectability .
the old gang , however , wants to do one more job with their old buddy and sends a rabid richard widmark type to go and git ?
i m .
it is not a great plot .
in sexy beast even the plot twists have gray beards .
perhaps the film has a little more respectability because it was made not as a western but as a stylish british gangster film .
it is an old plot dressed up to look new .
if the plot is old , at least the style is creative .
this is director jonathan glazer 's first film , but he has reputedly done some notable tv ads for guinness stout .
his style does have some unexpected touches including some very odd dream sequences .
cinematographer ivan bird uses a lot of half lit scenes .
we see one side of a person 's faces .
but the other side fades into the darkness , a sort of metaphor for the half - world these characters in - habit .
half of everything that is happening is also kept hidden .
us yanks will have a hard time with some of the dialog .
at least in my theater it was difficult to make out the words with the quiet speaking , the heavy accents , and the cockney language .
sexy beast is a very and familiar minor plot lent respectability in the us by being done in what is here a still somewhat novel genre , the london crime film .
the plot may be new to british crime films , but it would be overly familiar as a western .
further respectability comes from ben kingsley 's high - powered performance .
i give it a 4 on the 0 to 10 scale and a 0 on the -4 to +4 scale .
N

why do people hate the spice girls ? ?
what exactly have they done wrong , other than perhaps offend the fashion police ?
?
so what if they are not " great " singers --- they ai n't singing opera , folks , its pop music ! ?
who exactly is a " great " singer ? judging by that opening paragraph
it is obvious that i like the spice girls . ?
they do what they do -- sing some catchy tunes -- and
they do it pretty well . ?
they are able to carry that into their first film , " spice world " . ?
" spice world " certainly is n't a great filmgoing experience .
. .
what it is what the spice girls are all about : fun , songs , and a lot of " girl power !
" drawing from a number of different films ( like the beatles ' " hard day 's night " ) " spice world " chronicles the week heading up to the girls ' first concert at london 's albert hall .
?
they get to tool around london in a big ol' bus ( driven by meat loaf ! )
and generally have fun . ?
in order to through a semblence of plot into the film , there is an evil tabloid publisher played by barry humphries , better known to americans , for about 15 minutes , as dame edna ( remember her ? ) ?
he wants to sabotage the girls ' concert so he can sell papers .
of course , the point in a movie like " spice world " is n't plot . ?
the center of the film is the spice girls themselves : ginger ( the recently departed geri haliwell ) , posh ( victoria adams ) , sporty ( melanie chisolm ) , scary ( melanie brown ) , and baby ( emma bunton ) .
?
each one has their own personality and , perhaps the best part of the film , look like they are having some honest - to - goodness fun , something that ca n't be said for a lot of people in films today .
along for the ride are richard e . grant as their manager , clifford , and various other characters making quick cameo appearances ( including teriffic british actors like richard briers and stephen fry ) . ?
and , every once and a while , roger moore pops up as the chief to spout odd koans ( added bonus : he gets to , in the words of craig kilborn , dance , dance , dance . )
watching this film was fun , for the most part . ?
there are a few slow segments , but overly , director bob spiers keeps things moving at a quick pace , with plenty of hummable spice girls songs in the background . ?
his camerawork is fairly pedestrian , though the final concert number is done quite well with effective use of editing . ?
the look of the film promotes the high fun , with the design of the spicebus being quite original and eye - catching .
? add in wall - to - wall spice girls music and this film is lovable romp . ?
if you do n't like the spice girls , you wo n't change your mind with this film .
?
but , if you find them at least tolerable , get ready to sit back and chill because the spice girls are here to entertain you . . .
and do it quite well . ?
" spice world " ( 1998 ) . ?
directed by bob spiers . ?
written by kim fuller . ?
music by the spice girls .
?
with geri halliwell , victoria adams , melanie chisolm , melanie brown , emma bunton , richard e .
grant , claire rushbrook , roger moore . ?
distributed by columbia pictures .
?
running time : 92 minutes . ?
rated : pg . ? available on home video .
----
29 june 1998
P

according to the publicity material , with this movie the directors " hope to restore good old - fashioned bowling to its rightful place in the mainstream of american consciousness .
" hmm .
you never know , they just might be on to something .
what with the rise of geek chic , lounge music and seventies fashion , the ever - contrary kids of the nineties might just latch on to bowling as another terminally unhip bastion of tackyana to claim as their own .
but then , i doubt if kingpin will have anything to do with it .
it 's cheesy all right , but connoisseurs of bad taste will find this film exudes that bland smell of stale jokes rather than the invigorating stink of true kitsch .
that 's a shame , because , in the first ten minutes
or so the film promises to be a lot more .
woody harrelson plays the hotshot bowler on the rise , roy munson .
the movie opens in the fifties with roy 's dad dishing out the reader 's digest / gumpian wisdom in scoopfuls , shifting to the 70s for a hilarious spoof of saturday night fever .
the sardonic tone of the proceedings is much enhanced by the presence of bill murray , as the delectably slimy big ern mcracken .
it 's thanks to murray that the first quarter of kingpin seems so good
- he gives the wry , derisive edge to this otherwise rather unfocused comedy .
mccracken dupes munson into a hustling job , then abandons him to an angry mob who mangle roy 's hand .
then it 's fast forward 17 years later when munson is a fat , balding loser with a prosthetic rubber hand .
he 's hopeless until he meets ishmael ( randy quaid ) ,
an amish amateur bowler that munson takes on as protege .
so together they set out for the million dollar bowling tournament in reno , picking up pretty hustler claudia ( vanessa angel ) on the way .
with the exit of bill murray , the filmmakers seem to have only one direction to go , and that 's . . .
dumb and dumber .
yes , indeed , kingpin is brought to you by those modern proponents of laxative humour , peter and bobby farrelly , the directors of the aforementioned jim carrey vehicle .
so , prepare for much slaparound comedy with flying rubber hands , distended nipples , ridiculous hair and bull semen .
get set for stock fish - out - of - water situations when city - boy roy puts on a beard and tries to blend in with the amish community , or when suaku straitlaced ishmael takes on smoking , striptease and unchristian neighbour - socking .
now , do n't get me wrong , there 's nothing wrong with cheap humour , and i had my fair share of lavatorial laughs with woody and randy .
the trouble is that these jokes are n't bold or funny enough to drive a movie that bumbles along without much sense of direction .
it lurches from sports movie to amish - mocking to road - trip to sentimental melodrama , ( pausing for a broadside spoof of indecent proposal , and many shameless plugs for the accompanying pop soundtrack ) , never quite getting it all together .
some gags fall flat from a lack of build - up , while there are bits and pieces in the movie that simply do n't do anything .
why the long , unfunny fight in the car park ?
why two of these ?
why does that guy wear mascara , or that guy have a glass bowling ball with a rose in it ?
the film is full of these half - thought - through ideas that give the impression of any old gaffer , grip or makeup artist throwing in random stuff and saying , " would n't that be funny ? " .
well , no , actually .
the actors do n't do the movie much favours either .
woody harrelson comes off okay , plausibly acting dumb , smart , cynical or innocent when the implausible script calls for it , but randy quaid is a ceaseless ham , and vanessa angel has no talent ( like schwarzenegger , she seems more convincing playing a computer - creation than a human -- take the tv series weird science . . .
please ) .
even murray hams it up when he reappears in the movie 's climax .
all in all , a fairly useless attempt at comedy , and a certified no - hoper at kickstarting the bowling renaissance .
we 'll have to look to a reinspired john waters , or perhaps somebody from down under ( " strictly bowling " , anyone ? ) for the definitive bowling comedy .
the flying inkpot 's rating system :
* wait for the video .
*
* a little creaky , but still better than staying at home with gotcha !
*
* * pretty good , bring a friend .
*
*
* * amazing , potent stuff .
*
*
*
* * perfection . see it twice .
N