TASK DEFINITION: In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.
PROBLEM: the reunion film is not an original idea in any way , shape , or form .
it 's been done throughout film history over and over again , and has become one of the many sub - genres , like the prep school sub - genre , the angst - filled teen sub - genre , and the slasher sub - genre .
what makes " peter 's friends
" so remarkable is not how it does n't follow the rules of this sub - genre , but how it follows it so well , and creates characters that i would n't mind hanging with .
what are the rules of the reunion sub - genre ?
well .
. .
. 1 .
you need a group of friends , most of them married or at least dating , and sometimes even married or dating eachother .
2 .
you need to have them brought back together over some sort of a crisis .
3 .
they are not to have spoken together much since they split apart .
4 .
the reunion has to come in intervals divisible by 10 . 5 .
they all have to be slightly to highly neurotic .
6 .
the reunion has to bring them together , seperate them with little crises , then bring them back together because , after all , they 're friends .
7 .
there has to be some sex or at least some making out either between the friends or with other people that are there or were invited .
8 .
eightly , they 're all unhappy or marginally so .
9 .
there 's some sort of sexual tension amongst some of them that 's built up over the years .
10 .
the friends are all wildly successful in the world of entertainment and the arts , sometimes internationally so .
11 .
the film is filled with nostalgic radio hits from the time when they were friends , sometimes causing them to get together in dance / song .
since it follows these rules so closely , it will probably be ( and has been ) coined off as just a " british ' big chill . '
" and in some ways it is .
both follow the rules , as i said , and both feature lots of bitching , big confessionals , and broken relationships .
but while " the big chill " was , at least to me , a tad too whiny and unsatisfying , " peter 's friends " hits its mark , making this film funny , dramatic , and poignant .
the friends of peter 's were all in the same theatre group back in ' 82 , performig wildly outrageous british acts for people far too stuck up to enjoy them
( the opening scene has them all dancing in tux tops and tutus ) .
after peter 's ( stephen fry ) wealthy father ( richard briers , hardly on screen enough to register , but oh well ) dies , leaving a giant mansion to him , he has to decide whether or not to keep it .
not sure what to do with it immeadiately , he decides to throw a giant reunion party , inviting back all his old chums .
of course , all or most of his chums follow the tenth rule .
andrew ( kenneth branagh , also directing here ) is an actor who 's unhappily married to a tv star , carol ( co - writer rita rudner ) .
maggie ( emma thompson )
is a successfuly publisher of self - help books , but looks like she needs them more than her customers , as she is lonely and unhappy .
roger and mary ( hugh laurie and imelda staunton , who were also married in " sense and sensibility " ) are married , and are the most successful creators of jingles in the uk , but have suffered a tragedy as one of their newly born twins has recently died .
and sarah ( alphonsia emmanuel ) is as promiscuous as ever , having a new boyfriend as of two weeks named brian ( tony slattery ) who 's married and wants a divorce because of her , giving her doubts .
as for peter , things seem okay . . .
the film features lots of inner - friend jokes , and even some old theatre anecdotes ( which i at least find a lot of fun in , as i 've done lots of theatre myself ) .
and there are big confessions , brawls between the friends , and by the end , almost everyone is unhappy , even though some have resolved their problems long before the end ( which i kinda dug ) .
the final twist would seem forced an anti - climactic , but for some reason , i felt the same way the rest of the friends did .
maybe it 's because the people in this film are so likable that i just wanted to join their clique .
that 's really what makes " peter 's friends
" so lovable
: the way you just want to hang with a group of friends who can be so dysfuntional sometimes , but when someone 's in crisis , can come together wonderfully for one another .
it 's when you have a giant crisis like this and people want to selflessly help you out instead of subtely pushing you away
that makes you realize you have true friends , and these people are true friends .
not to mention kenneth branagh is able to make the film seem nostalgic for the 80s
( a decade i grew up in , unfortunately ) without taking us outside of the 90s .
there are some 80s classics and anti - classics like tears for fears " everybody wants to rule the world , " but unfortunately no stupid / fun 80s songs ( i think if i ever did an 80s reunion film , i 'd put some crap go gos song on , or at least some good old " come on eileen " ) , but this is the british 80s we 're talking about .
oh well .
but anyway , the direction is pretty good , although nothing amazing .
branagh 's forte is really making shakespeare fresh and magical , but at least he 's very good with making a less ambiguous film like this .
the writing is good from rita rudner and martin bregman , with lots of good one - liners , and even some really bad but good puns ( to mock the fact that andrew lives in l .
a .
, peter , while cutting some logs , asks him is he has wood in l .
a . , and andrew says ,
" no ,
but we have hollywood
" - punishment like that ) .
the actors , as in most speaking movies , are better than their material , though , with some stand - out performances to the six friends , as well as the outsiders like slattery , rudner , and phyllida law as the old housekeeper of the peter 's mansion .
a little note should be made about hugh laurie 's performance , as he looks like he took some massive doses of prozac before doing this - i mean , i 've never seen him actually act this dramatically .
"
peter 's friends " is a really enjoyable film which makes people like me pine for some sort of future reunion , although i do n't know what kind i 'll have ( like most people , i do n't look forward to my high school reunion ) .
because of the way these friends are still able to maintain the same amount of care they have for one another and after such a long period of seperation , i just look forward to the day when i can have friends like that .

SOLUTION: P

PROBLEM: 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

SOLUTION: P

PROBLEM: for timing reasons having to do with baby sitters , we recently went to a multiplex and saw undercover blues .
i would give it one half of a star for guts .
anyone in a movie this bad would have to have guts .
i later read a ny times review that said kathleen turner and dennis quaid had gotten so plump
they looked like they had the mumps in the show .
the script was the worst part .
they had characters who talked with funny accents in an attempt to make you laugh .
they had lots of " great " sight gags
like two people trying to go in a door together and therefore bumping shoulders against the door .
turner and quaid both kept smiling like some idiots on a game show .
the good news is that we were smart enough to vote with our feet and left . buy some tickets and give them to your worst enemies .
tell them the show is great and smile a lot .
*
*
* * = one of the top few films of this or any year .
a must see film .
*
* * = excellent show .
look for it .
*
* = average movie .
kind of enjoyable .
* = poor show .
do n't waste your money . 0
= one of the worst films of this or any year .
totally unbearable .
review written on : september 29 , 1993 opinions expressed are mine and not meant to reflect my employer 's .

SOLUTION:
N