instruction:
In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.
question:
john carpenter makes b - movies .
always has ( " halloween , " " escape from new york , " " the thing " ) and , by the looks of it ( " they live , " " escape from l . a . , " " vampires " ) , always will .
carpenter 's latest horror opus with a science fiction bent ( or science fiction outing with a schlock horror bent ) is the aptly - titled " john carpenter 's ghosts of mars " ( in case , i suppose , you went looking for someone else 's " ghosts of mars " ) .
like all those films prefixed by the very possessive " john carpenter 's , " " ghosts of mars " is an unashamed b - movie punctuated by a b - movie plot , b - movie actors , and b - movie special effects .
in category one , above , we have a storyline that borders on idiotic
( and , at times , chaotic ) .
dormant martians ( i .
e . , swirling red gases ) awakened by meddling humans
possess the souls of hapless mining colonists rendering them testy marilyn manson lookalikes .
all this explained ( in flashback ) to some grand pooh - bah counsel by martian police official melanie ballard ( natasha henstridge , from the sub- " species " films ) , the only returnee on a silly - looking train .
officer ballard went in to bring back incarcerated felon james " desolation " williams ; what she found was not a pretty picture .
in the second category we have ms .
henstridge , her blonde hair pulled back tightly and awkwardly into a ponytail , ice cube ( as the appropriately - named " desolation " ) , pam grier ( briefly , oddly -- who wanted to work with whom i wonder ? ) , and a host of extras
all assuming that the story and special effects were going to carry this film and therefore they did n't need to try too hard
.
in category number three we have , in addition to those swirling red gases and the silly - looking train , a couple of bird's - eye - view shots of a sprawling martian metropolis ( reddish also ) .
state - of - the - art special effects have never been a carpenter trademark and once again the writer / director ( who seems to have no problem finding work , however ) does n't waste any of the film 's budget in that department .
"
ghosts of mars " is lock , laughing stock , and barrel
all your standard carpenter fare : dingy interiors , cluttered exteriors , inane dialogue , lots of leather , scarred , crazed - looking aliens , and lots and lots of weaponry .
the film often and always explodes into warfare without warning -- spontaneously , stupidly .
carpenter might like to think he 's made a western here
but it 's a western without any real heroes , villains , or border conflicts .
it 's just the shootouts minus a hissing snake plissken .
i never thought i 'd miss the guy
but i do .
it 's not
* all
* the same , however .
dubbed the " one - note wonder " for his minimalist music soundtracks , carpenter seems to have graduated from simplistic ( yet effective ) scoring by highlighting his action with loud , screeching guitar work .
fortunately this drowns out a lot of the dialogue .
the final exchange between henstridge and , er , cube though is both audible * and * priceless .
mars has proven an infertile breeding ground for hollywood in the last year or so , what with the stillborn " mission to mars " and " red planet " ( with val kilmer ) .
" ghosts of mars " sadly adds to those disappointing returns ( in its opening weekend it was overshadowed by a bunch of sequels , among them " american pie 2 " and " rush hour 2 " ) .
the irony is that the mars in carpenter 's film feels sadly absent .
there are occasional references to the red planet , of course , but the film might as well have been set in perth amboys than on earth 's closest neighbor .
two things keep " john carpenter 's ghosts of mars " from getting a huge slap upside the head .
1 . henstridge keeps her top on ( miraculously ) , and 2 .
the film does n't pretend to be anything it 's not .
what that means , however , is that fans of superior , intelligent , grade a sci - fi / horror are singularly out of luck .
answer:
N

question:
after the simple looking little spacecraft lands in a automobile wrecking yard , out steps a steel - gray , human - like creature with aquamarine eyes and clad in a muscular suit .
spencer , the boy who observes this , having seen his fill of science fiction flicks , figures this thing must be a robot from outer space .
with the exception of disney and a few others , most studios view children 's films as a way to ship a cheap and unimaginative product and thereby make a quick profit .
star kid stands out as that rare kids ' film that is undoubtedly low - budget but is also highly imaginative .
remember , the robot ?
it was n't one at all but rather a " phase one assault cyborsuit .
"
the cyborsuit is actually a prototype combat enhancer developed by the trelkins and jettisoned for latter retrieval when they are under attack from the invading broodwarriors .
the significant twist in the story is that spencer gets to go inside the cyborsuit , and the cyborsuit , nicknamed cy , has plenty of spunk .
cy keeps questioning the kid about everything including words like " cool .
" upon hearing that " command , " cy starts rapidly decreasing the temperature in the cyborsuit until spencer screams for him to stop .
and when cy speaks , we see spencer 's view , the backside of cy 's lips and eyes .
as 12-year - old spencer , joseph mazzello from the jurassic park film series gives a remarkably good performance as a wimpy and initially tongue - tied kid .
even when enclosed in his powerful new cyborsuit , he has his fears but he learns to overcome them .
"
if you run away , things do n't get better , whether it 's bullies , spiders , or girls , " his science teacher advises him after he has difficulties dealing with all three .
turbo ( joey simmrin ) , the school 's chubby bully , beats up on him , spiders frighten him , and , most embarrassing of all , he ca n't speak when in the presence of his would - be girlfriend .
with his cyborsuit on , he learns some bravery that transcends his time inside cy .
spencer lives with his dad and his older teenage sister stacey , played by a smart - mouthed ashlee levitch , who looks like a younger sarah jessica parker .
stacey derides her brother , whom she barely tolerates , by referring to him only as " the fungus .
"
this whole setup for spencer 's downtrodden and delightfully funny life makes his acquisition of some superhuman powers a source of mirth and empowerment .
the beauty of mazzello 's performance is that you can vicariously experience his fear and share in his enjoyment when he goes after the bully to teach him a lesson he 'll not soon forget .
the ensuing mayhem has some of the home alone antics , but the slapstick is kept tightly under control by writer and director manny coto so that one never feels embarrassed to be laughing .
the romantic angle is handled ever so delicately . when cy wishes to know if spencer wants to mate with the object of his desire , michelle ( lauren eckstrom ) , his eyes open wide in revulsion .
" mate with her ! " spencer exclaims .
" pllllleeeeease , i just like her
that 's all .
"
the show has many funny twists .
in one , cy sees a man in a barney - like costume and begins firing at him , thinking he is an alien life - form .
soon things get way out of hand , and cy and spencer have to beat a hasty retreat .
as proof positive of the show 's class , it actually contains tasteful bathroom humor
-- thought that was an oxymoron in a kids ' picture , did n't you ?
cy can not allow spencer to leave the cyborsuit , and what happens when he needs to urinate becomes both sweet and hilarious .
the director 's staging of this sequence is one of the film 's more charming moments .
oh , and eating is pretty funny too .
spencer , whose idol is the comic book character " midknight warrior , " gets to face the challenge of a lifetime when a broodwarrior comes to capture the cyborsuit .
spencer 's valiant battle gives him a chance to find his mettle .
and the action sequences in the battle
manage to be quite respectable for a kids ' show full of inventiveness and lacking the usual repetition .
for a family movie mixing humor , fantasy , and action , star kid delivers .
although it 's probably not the sort of movie you 'd want to see without kids , with them
you 'll have a magical time with a relatively straightforward but well developed story
.
you 'll be rooting for and laughing with spencer and his buddy cy all the way through .
star kid runs 1 : 41 .
it is rated pg for fantasy combat .
although the basically cartoonish broodwarrior might scare the littlest kids , i saw none of this in evidence in our packed screening , so i would say the show is fine for kids five and up , and possibly the younger ones .
my son jeffrey , age 8 , got really excited about the picture .
he called it " an especially good movie " and gave it
*
* * * .
when i asked him to tell me his favorite characters , he mentioned almost everyone in it from the boy to the cyborsuit to the bully .
answer:
P

question:
it 's a sad state of affairs when the back box blurb is more exciting than the movie contained within it .
such is the case for the 1990 paul mayersberg film _ the last samurai_. though the blurb alludes to " a jungle filled with political intrigue , uneasy alliances , and murderous enemies at every turn ,
"
the story of the movie is actually quite simple ( and prosaic ) : a middle - aged japanese businessman named endo ( played by john fujioka ) and his assistant , both of whom have samurai aspirations , travel to africa in search of his ancestor , who went to bring buddhism to africa .
he hires the services of down - at - the - heels vietnam veteran pilot johnny congo ( the redoubtable lance henriksen ) and his girlfriend ( arabella holzbog ) , and travels to the camp of an arms - merchant - cum - safari - host- cum - islamic - missionary ( john saxon ) and his wife ( lisa eilbacher ) .
they are all kidnapped by an african revolutionary guerilla with witch - doctor aspirations to conceal a pre - arranged arms deal , which subsequently falls through . congo escapes , finds endo 's ancestor 's sword , and comes back , guns blazing , to free the rest of them , and endo kills the revolutionary with the sword .
the end .
_ the last samurai
_ is one of those movies that is neither bad enough nor good enough to be enjoyable .
it is merely _ there_. the murky plot is filled with subtexts that are never elaborated , subplots that are never explained , and many scenes that make very little sense at all .
the film is shot through with all the tired old " inscrutable japanese samurai " and zen stereotypes that are to be expected from an american movie .
it is quite slow - paced , with only a bit of action near the end , and the final duel between endo and the terrorist is quite anticlimactic .
most of the acting is fair , with the possible exception of congo 's girlfriend .
lance henriksen is his usual scene - chewing self , and is one of few possible reasons anyone might conceivably have for seeing this movie .
the only other bright spot is the sweeping african scenery .
i paid $ 3 for this film , from the discount rack at best buy , and halfway suspect i overpaid for it .
if you are in the mood for samurai , read a clavell novel or watch a kurusawa movie .
skip
_ the last samurai
_ unless you are a die - hard henriksen fan .
answer:
N