TASK DEFINITION: In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.
PROBLEM: i was anxious to see this for a long time .
a friend of mine recommended this to me because he has a crush on neve campbell , and he wanted to prove that she 's as hot as he thinks he is .
he proved it for me all right , but
the reasons i enjoy this film go way beyond that .
scream treads on familar ground , horror movie with , as star neve campbell puts it , " some stupid killer stalking some big breasted girl who ca n't act who 's always running up the stairs when she should be running out the front door .
"
it 's very familar , your typical horror film .
so why , you may ask after watching it , does it seem so new and original ? because it treats itself as if it has n't been done before , and thus the viewer is disilusioned into believing that it is not old , familar tired stuff .
this raises another question : how does it do this ?
simple : the characters .
they 're not your typical stupid horror film victims who do n't know what the hell to do when being chased by a guy in a ski mask and a machette .
they are horror fans , they know how stuff happens in a horror movie , they know what to do and what not to do , and that makes it scary , and even funny at certain times .
you can tell this just by watching the opening scene where casey becker ( drew barrymore ) is making popcorn , getting ready to watch a video , and some guy who sounds like a killer calls her up to play a game with her that involves horror movie triva that , if she gets it wrong , will get her and her boyfriend killed .
she knows what to answer when he asks her horror film questions , she just ca n't answer his final question , " what door am i at ? " and that gets her killed .
that scene works because in a normal horror film , half the things that happen in that scene would never happen .
the plot is typical horror stuff : sidney prescott ( an impressive neve campbell ) , an attractive young high school student who 's mother was killed a year ago tommorrow , is being stalked by a killer who 's previously murdered one of her classmates ( casey , naturally ) , and everybody in this small , california town is a suspect , including sidney 's boyfriend , billy loomis .
but as i said before , these people know how horror movies work , and that 's what makes it so appealing .
that and the references to horror movies , like when casey says , " the first ( nightmare on elm street ) was scary , but the rest sucked .
" which is obviously director wes craven ( who does a good job of poking fun of the genre that made him a legend ) patting himself on the back as he directed the first nightmare movie and none of the others , and when tatum , sidney 's friend , mentions the director , wes carpenter , which is obviously an homage by writer kevin williamson to not only craven , but also director john carpenter .
the cast is well chosen , neve campbell pulls off a good heroine
( and unlike most horror film heroines , she * can * act ) , drew barrymore does a good janet leigh impression for what little time she has in the film , and david arquette is impressive .
also good
( and funny ) in his role is henry winkler ( " the fonz " )
as the school principal .
i took half a point off for the unnecessary ( albeit limited ) appearance by friends ' courteney cox as reporter , gail edwards , sidney 's rival because she covered her mother 's disappearance .
i hate that show
, i hate those actors .
they 're untalented , overexposed , and overpaid , imho , and i would think wes craven is smart enough to know those actors are overexposed enough , but i suppose he is n't .

SOLUTION: P

PROBLEM: robert altman 's cookie 's fortune is that rare movie that does not depend on sentimentality to be uplifting and to make its viewers feel good .
it is a sunny , delightful , dreamy comedy , filled with lovely performances , skillful direction and topped off with an understated , clever , extraordinary script .
as this is an ensemble piece , it is forced to start of slowly as it introduces us to its characters , all of them residing in a southern town called holly springs .
first we meet willie ( charles s. dutton ) , an honest man with a slight drinking habit .
we then see that willie takes care of an elderly lady nicknamed cookie , who is slowly losing her grip on sanity and is being filled with loneliness , despair , and want of her dead husband .
we cut to camille ( glenn close ) who is obsessively directing a play with her sister cora ( julianne moore ) .
then we briefly get acquainted with emma ( liv tyler ) , an apparent relative of cookie , who is a down - but - not - out teen outcast , still full of love and hope even though she has no real place to live .
we also fleetingly see emma 's lover jason ( chris o'donnell ) , an ambitious but far too excitable young cop .
we are now about one quarter through the two hour picture , and robert altman decides that it is time to set the plot in motion .
we see the ecstatic cookie stare hopefully at a picture of her husband .
she exclaims " here i come ! " and then puts a pillow to her face and shoots herself .
soon after , her niece camille stops by to get a fruit salad bowl , comes upstairs , finds cookie dead and flips out .
convinced that suicide is a disgrace and that she will have none of that in her family , she eats the suicide note and convinces her slightly slow ( yet sweet ) sister that it was a murder .
she makes sure that she stages it like a murder as well ; scattering jewelry all over the floor , breaking a few cabinets , windows and doors , and then throwing the gun out in the back yard .
the only reasonable suspect is willie , who immediately gets taken into custody , and put in a jail cell
( they all know he did n't do it , so the cell stays open and he plays scrabble with the sheriff and the faithful emma ) .
meanwhile , the unperturbed camille continues her none - too - subtle manipulations trying to further cover up for the murder while at the same time making her easter play a success .
so begins cookie 's fortune , a film aptly described by critic scott renshaw as " a southern spin on fargo , " except that this one is far funnier and much more enjoyable than the coen brothers ' darker , somewhat disturbing and slightly overrated escapade .
robert altman 's slight picture is in some ways reminiscent of something like midnight in the garden of good and evil as well , in that both films focus ( on and off ) on the eccentricities of the residents in a southern us town .
indeed , most of the characters in cookie 's fortune are loads of fun to observe , and a portion of them are fascinating and surprisingly multi- dimensional .
glenn close turns in an insubstantial ( in terms of her career ) but magnificent performance
as the conniving camille and is also the source of a good portion of the many laughs that we enjoy in this movie , and she is perfectly cast as the prolific " aunt alexandria " character , endlessly obsessed with family dignity .
the equally essential role of willie is handled with an intangible grace by veteran thespian charles
s. dutton
( mimic , a time to kill ) there is nothing like a movie which leaves you feeling all warm and fuzzy
inside hours , even days after the film ends .
cookie 's fortune is such a movie .
i loved the light , kindhearted approach altman ( whose last project was the dark , intense drama the gingerbread man ) took towards the tricky subject matter .
i enjoyed the talented ensemble cast .
i even liked the trite " in the south everybody is related to everybody " cliche that is inevitably employed by the time this movie draws to a close .
i 'm not sure
why cookie 's fortune had such an all - around pleasing effect on me .
perhaps it 's that good ol' southern charm .

SOLUTION: P

PROBLEM: long time buddies and neil diamond tribute band members wayne ( steve zahn , " happy , texas " ) and j .
d .
( jack black , " high fidelity " ) watch in horror as third mate darren silverman ( jason biggs , " american pie " ) disappears under the thumb of his new fiance judith , ( amanda peet , " the whole nine yards " )
a controlling psychiatrist .
they 're doubly troubled when the return of darren 's ' one and only love ' sandy perkins ( amanda detmer , " final destination " ) returns to their home town but does n't cause a ripple in darren 's devotion to judith .
there 's only one thing wayne and
j .
d .
can think of doing - they kidnap judith and fake her death in " saving silverman .
"
written by hank nelken and greg depaul after seeing a friend engaged to the wrong woman , " saving silverman " is directed by ' hit comedy director ' dennis dugan of such films as " big daddy , " " brain donors " and " problem child .
"
it 's a dismal , third - rate farrelly brothers rip off that attempts to milk humor from such inspired bits of whimsy as having darren 's love interest come from a family of circus freaks and be about to become a nun .
gross out gags include a visualization of darren getting butt cheek implants .
" saving silverman " is almost saved by stars zahn and black .
these two are so comically talented they can take bad material and still deliver the goods .
they 're in " animal house " mode while the rest of the film trawls along and comes up empty .
jason biggs can attribute his entire career to the luck of having been cast in the smash hit " american pie .
" peet shows some physical moves but no flair for comedy here while detmer slaps a brave , sweet smile onto her face and soldiers through .
r .
lee ermey ( " full metal jacket " ) is one note in an embarrassing performance as a psychopathic ex - football coach .
neil diamond appears at the film 's climax as himself and miraculously enlivens the proceedings by belting out some of his old standards .

SOLUTION:
N