Teacher: In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.
Teacher: Now, understand the problem? If you are still confused, see the following example:
plot : two teen couples go to a church party , drink and then drive .
they get into an accident .
one of the guys dies , but his girlfriend continues to see him in her life , and has nightmares .
what 's the deal ?
watch the movie and " sorta " find out . . .
critique : a mind - fuck movie for the teen generation that touches on a very cool idea , but presents it in a very bad package .
which is what makes this review an even harder one to write , since i generally applaud films which attempt to break the mold , mess with your head and such ( lost highway & memento ) , but there are good and bad ways of making all types of films , and these folks just did n't snag this one correctly
.
they seem to have taken this pretty neat concept , but executed it terribly .
so what are the problems with the movie ?
well , its main problem is that it 's simply too jumbled
.
it starts off " normal " but then downshifts into this " fantasy " world in which you , as an audience member ,
have no idea what 's going on
.
there are dreams , there are characters coming back from the dead , there are others who look like the dead , there are strange apparitions , there are disappearances , there are a looooot of chase scenes , there are tons of weird things that happen , and most of it is simply not explained .
now i personally do n't mind trying to unravel a film every now and then , but when all it does is give me the same clue over and over again , i get kind of fed up after a while , which is this film 's biggest problem .
it 's obviously got this big secret to hide , but it seems to want to hide it completely until its final five minutes .
and do they make things entertaining , thrilling or even engaging , in the meantime ?
not really .
the sad part is that the arrow and i both dig on flicks like this , so we actually figured most of it out by the half - way point , so all of the strangeness after that did start to make a little bit of sense , but it still did n't the make the film all that more entertaining .
i guess the bottom line with movies like this is that you should always make sure that the audience is " into it " even before they are given the secret password to enter your world of understanding .
i mean , showing melissa sagemiller running away from visions for about 20 minutes throughout the movie is just plain lazy ! !
okay , we get it .
. .
there are people chasing her and we do n't know who they are .
do we really need to see it over and over again ?
how about giving us different scenes offering further insight into all of the strangeness going down in the movie ?
apparently , the studio took this film away from its director and chopped it up themselves , and it shows .
there might 've been a pretty decent teen mind - fuck movie in here somewhere , but i guess " the suits " decided that turning it into a music video with little edge , would make more sense .
the actors are pretty good for the most part , although wes bentley just seemed to be playing the exact same character that he did in american beauty , only in a new neighborhood .
but my biggest kudos go out to sagemiller , who holds her own throughout the entire film , and actually has you feeling her character 's unraveling .
overall , the film does n't stick
because it does n't entertain , it 's confusing , it rarely excites and
it feels pretty redundant for most of its runtime , despite a pretty cool ending and explanation to all of the craziness that came before it .
oh ,
and by the way , this is not a horror or teen slasher flick . . .
it 's just packaged to look that way because someone is apparently assuming that the genre is still hot with the kids .
it also wrapped production two years ago and has been sitting on the shelves ever since .
whatever . .
. skip it !
where 's joblo coming from ?
a nightmare of elm street 3 ( 7/10 ) - blair witch 2 ( 7/10 ) - the crow ( 9/10 ) - the crow : salvation ( 4/10 )
- lost highway ( 10/10 ) - memento ( 10/10 ) - the others ( 9/10 ) - stir of echoes ( 8/10 )
Solution: N
Reason: The phrases used in the review convey a negative sentiment (e.g. "presents it in a very bad package").

Now, solve this instance: joe versus the volcano is really one of the worse movies made in very recent memory .
the strangest thing is that you would think nothing would go wrong with it .
it has a solid cast with tom hanks & meg ryan as the lead roles .
but you can never judge a movie by its cast . . .
if there is one good thing about joe vs the volcano , it is that the plot is original .
unfortunately , it is also incredibly stupid .
the movie begins with joe ( tom hanks ) going to work .
this opening sequence is very boring and slow .
it shows joe walking to his office .
but on the way , he has to wait in a long line passing by strange and slightly depressing scenery with obnoxious lighting .
a sequence like this should take 2 minutes .
here , it takes over 5 . . .
it is obvious that joe hates his job .
at his office , one of his co - workers is meg ryan .
oddly enough , she plays 3 different roles in this movie ! !
joe leaves to go to a doctor 's appointment .
his doctor informs him that he has a " brain cloud .
"
this means that in a few months , he will die .
so what does joe do ?
quit his job , of course ! !
when he arrives home , joe meets an old man named graynamore ( lloyd bridges ) .
graynamore tells joe that in order to get some important mineral for his company from an island , the natives need someone to sacrifice to their volcano to please their fire god .
by a startling coincidence , the boat trip to the island takes a few months .
by the time he reaches the island , he will almost be dead from the " brain cloud " anyway , so joe agrees .
graynamore gives joe a credit card to buy everything he needs to go on this " great adventure " .
joe goes on a date with meg ryan , his co - worker .
the day before the boat trip , joe meets one of graynamore 's daughters .
she is also , surprise , meg ryan . except she looks more hippyish .
they both have dinner and the next day , joe gets driven over to his boat .
the lady that sails the boat is another one of graynamore 's daughters .
and , wonder of wonders , she is also played by meg ryan .
as they sail to the island , meg ryan tells joe that the natives of the island have a craving for orange soda .
after some stupid talking scenes , they also deduce that graynamore had his doctor be the one that joe went to . and that the " brain cloud " thing was made up ! !
they do plently of cheap special effects on the boat voyage .
joe goes fishing and catches a hammerhead shark .
this is a cheap gag that has been pulled off many times .
but , to top it off , the shark is obviously rubber and fake ! !
one night there is a storm .
a cheap - looking lightning bolt strikes the boat and everything is cast overboard .
fortunately , joe and meg ryan manage to find some of the luggage that joe brought to sail .
by pure luck , they get to the island .
since the natives like orange soda , they wear soda cans as attire ! !
stupid or what ?
; ) before joe leaps in the volcano , he gets fed .
right before he jumps , meg ryan pleads him not to .
when joe decides to , she goes in with him because " she loves him " .
now this is where the movie should end .
but , unfortunately , the " cheesy ending " bug comes in .
the volcano blows the couple out and into the ocean where they land on joe 's luggage .
they float to another part of the island as they watch lava pouring out of the volcano towards the villagers .
i give this movie a . see it only if you 're a film buff that enjoys a bad movie
every now and then or if you really like tom hanks or meg ryan . . .
Student:
N