instruction:
In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.
question:
in the past , tim burton has taken cinema by storm with the action packed batman , and the hilarious ed wood , but lately his films just do n't cut it .
sleepy hollow has some unique features , but the script is a terrible mess
.
for those who remember disney 's fantastic " adventures of ichabod crane " , it is actually superior to this .
disney 's version was at least interesting , while burton 's film drags on far too long , without any suspense or frights .
while the stories are similar , the new version adds too much to the once likable story , and throws in some weak dialogue to top it off .
ichabod crane ( johnny depp ) is now apparently a constable , who was sent to new york to investigate suspicious murders .
the victims are headless , and no traces of evidence were found , until the murderer reveals himself , hence the headless horseman .
now with the help of christina ricci and an orphaned boy , they must stop the headless horseman from a killing spree , that could destroy the whole town of sleepy hollow .
sure the headless horseman is an intriguing character , but the story has so many holes that even he nor depp can save this disaster
.
in the original , the headless horseman was meant to be unstoppable .
no one could stop him , not even ichabod .
by the end of the film , it had audiences in deep thought .
burton however concentrates far too much on the atmosphere , and how to make the main characters heroes .
he takes no risk what so ever , and this is where he fails .
another pathetic element of the film was the script .
like i said earlier , he just stuffed too much in at one time , and made it look real sloppy , kind of like the mess
the headless horseman made with his victims .
he completely butchered the story to pieces .
thankfully there are a few factors that i particularly liked .
the acting by depp was quite notable .
he took the nerdy character of the cartoon , and simply acted it out in a better manner .
if it was n't for his quirky one - liners , i doubt i could have remained awake , because quite frankly i was getting sleepy
.
just when i thought christina ricci was getting to be a good actress , she winds up doing this .
it just goes to show no actress or actor can pass up a big blockbuster .
it 's too tempting to let go , even if the script is mush .
the atmosphere too was quite involving .
i should have just gazed at the sets , and the eerie fog , rather than actually pay attention to what was going on .
at least burton 's films are eye candy , even if they are trash .
the only real scenes of value were the tree full of heads , and the fight between the horseman , depp and casper van dien .
other than that ,
i wish i could just fast forward through all the gaping holes in the film , and just sit back and stare at the scenery .
by the end , i can only think back and laugh at how bad sleepy hollow developed .
this is the biggest disappointment of the year , especially when such a talented director like burton handles a project like this .
do n't waste your time or money , because your head will feel hollow .
answer:
N

question:
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 .
answer:
N

question:
by phil curtolo mel gibson ( braveheart ) gave a gripping performance as the father of a young kidnapped boy in ron howard 's ransom .
gibson plays tom mullen , a wealthy business tycoon whose past actions are coming back to haunt him as a deranged psychopath , played by gary sinise ( forrest gump ) , and his band of low - life thugs kidnap his only son for $ 2 million .
tom and his wife , kate , played by rene russo ( tin cup ) were instructed not to inform the police , but they contacted the fbi .
minutes later , an elite team of agents led by delroy lindo ( broken arrow ) are in tom 's house and wiring every phone .
the plot sounds average , just like most other kidnap movies that you 've already seen , and it was nothing more than that .
that is until about half - way through the movie .
suddenly , tom goes to the fox 5 news room and makes a live broadcast saying , " this is your ransom .
but this is as close as you will ever get to it .
instead , i am offering this money as a reward on your head , dead or alive .
" at this point , the plot thickened , and the unusually slow start of the film turned into a suspense - filled action film with great stunts .
the last half of the film is very well done .
another thing that carries this film are the superb performances by gibson and sinise , as they collide in a game of wits over their cellular phones for most of the movie .
owen gleiberman of entertainment weekly commented on the subject : " it makes you wonder what kidnappers did before cell phones .
" before this movie , sinise played mostly " good guys , " first in of mice & men , then in forrest gump , and most recently , in apollo 13 . but he was surprisingly devilish and cold in his portrayal of a cop - gone - bad .
gibson , of course , was just being gibson , in an oscar - worthy performance .
although most of the scenes were quite predictable , ransom is a very entertaining and suspenseful film . ,
answer:
P