In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.

[Q]: i came to an epiphany while watching the bachelor , an innocuous - enough - on - the - surface romantic comedy .
it 's not the sort of film in which one would expect to achieve any moment of clarity , but there it was nonetheless .
i sat there watching this marshmallow of a movie unfold when suddenly i realized what is so ridiculously wrong with the entire romantic comedy genre circa 1999 .
in a word , it 's the same thing that 's wrong with so many movies circa 1999 : writing .
more to the point , it 's the refusal to acknowledge that characterizations matter when you 're telling a story about a relationship .
the bachelor is merely the latest in a long line of films where we 're expected to get dewy - eyed over any pairing of attractive , pleasant people just because they 're attractive and pleasant .
in this particular case , attractive and pleasant exhibit a is jimmy shannon ( chris o'donnell ) , a single guy who has been watching his friends slowly but surely sucked into marriage .
it 's a scary notion for jimmy , even though he dearly loves attractive and pleasant exhibit b anne ( renee zellweger ) , his girlfriend of three years .
convinced despite his reservations that it 's time to " sh
* t or get off the pot , " jimmy proposes to anne -- very badly .
anne refuses , which leaves jimmy in a very odd position when his eccentric grandfather ( peter ustinov ) dies and leaves a very specific video will .
jimmy stands to inhereit $ 100 million if he is married by 6
: 05 p .
m .
on his 30th birthday , stays married for 10 years and produces a child .
there are only a couple of minor problems : 1 ) jimmy 's 30th birthday is the next day ; 2 ) anne is nowhere to be found , meaning jimmy has to find another willing bride from among his many ex - girlfriends .
it 's a wacky , brewster 's millions - esque premise ( acknowledged as such in one of the film 's better , more self - aware lines of dialogue ) , the kind where a shallow and materialistic guy learns what really matters .
at least that would be the case if jimmy were n't already a world - class altruist .
screenwriter steve cohen slides into the story an even more draconian condition in the will : if jimmy does n't get married , not only will he lose all the money , but the family billiard table buisness will be sold out from under him , costing hudreds of jobs .
from the outset , jimmy 's motivation is n't cash ; it 's the livelihoods of his devoted employees .
it 's almost embarrassing for his marital misgivings to play a role in the bachelor 's plot development .
by any human standard , the guy is impossibly selfless .
and that 's the essence of the gutlessness endemic to films like the bachelor --
the fear of giving the characters flaws to overcome on their way to happiness .
there 's never any tension between the two star - crossed lovers , because there 's no sense that anything remotely significant is at stake .
the blandly nice o'donnell could n't pull off a randy cad if he tried , so the filmmakers do n't even let him ; zellweger 's anne may have issues with her sickeningly affectionate parents as an impossible standard to live up to , but no one dares make her anything but the woman ( lightly ) wronged . and forget about seeing enough of jimmy and anne together to feel invested in their potential reconciliation .
the parade of sit - com set pieces had better be damned funny , since they 're all that stands between us and a blissfully sweet foregone conclusion .
i 'll admit a couple of those set pieces are amusing , including ustinov 's rantings about procreation and a restaurant full - to - bursting with men popping questions and champagne corks .
far more of them are either tedious or downright ghastly
, like the shudder - inducing sight of brooke shields as an icy fortune - hunter or the hideous collection of stereotypes when hundreds of potential brides gather in a church .
you 're never going to get too many raucous belly laughs from a film like the bachelor , but that 's not the real problem .
nor is it the real problem that you know exactly the kind of warm - n - fuzzy conclusion it 's leading up to .
the problem are a beginning and middle that are equally warm - n - fuzzy --
there 's no spark , no energy , no humanity .
it 's an emotional pudding guaranteed not to offend any consumer 's digestions .
we 've reached a point where our proxies for cinematic romantic wish fulfillment do n't even have a pulse .
the bachelor is love among the mannequins .
[A]: N

[Q]: "
the endurance : shackleton 's legendary antarctic expedition " in 1914 , as the great war descended upon europe , sir ernest shackleton began his third expedition to antarctica , this time to be the first to cross the ice - bound continent on foot .
28 men set sail on the brigantine endurance and they would not be heard from again for nearly two years .
director george butler , using film footage and photographs from the historic journey , tells their remarkable story in " the endurance : shackleton 's legendary antarctic expedition .
"
the expedition started out as a merely incredibly difficult quest to traverse , on foot , the vast wasteland of antarctica .
as the intrepid ship and crew entered the weddell sea , the entry to the cold , cruel continent , they did not plan on the dense pack ice bringing the voyage to an abrupt halt as the endurance became trapped within sight of land .
for months the ice thickened and compressed until the ship was crushed , stranding the men on the flow , propelling them away from their goal and , eventually , into their lifeboats for safety .
shackleton , faced with a desolate situation , made the decision to lead the three tiny boats to the relative safety of uninhabited elephant island .
once on this " safe " haven , shackleton next turned his sights to saving his crew and returning them to civilization .
he and five of his men leave the island in an open boat to make the 800 mile journey on the world 's roughest sea to get help from the nearest inhabited island of south georgia .
miraculously , the six land , after 17 days at sea , on the uninhabited side of the target island and are forced to trek across treacherous , snow covered mountains , covering 22 miles in just 36 hours .
this ordeal is followed by several attempts by shackleton to get back to elephant island to rescue the remaining crewmen .
in the end , he is successful and everyone made it back home alive , only to be swallowed up by the ravages of the war .
the title of this fascinating documentary , " the endurance , " is more than just the name of ship that carried the crew of brave men to the edge of the world .
it is also the description of the stamina and ability of every one of the men who survived 19-months of the toughest , most grueling conditions on the face of the earth .
the name of the film is a tribute to every member of the crew and to the ship that sheltered them for many month of frigid antarctic weather .
it also describes the focused mental state of shackleton who never gave up on himself or his men .
with astonishing foresight , shackleton brought australian cinematographer and photographer frank hurley along on the journey .
the filmed footage and photos are remarkable as they capture the ordeal of the men , day to day life , the affection all felt for their loyal sled dogs , the slow destruction of the endurance and the preparations to get off of the pack ice flow .
after the sinking of the ship , the remaining film stock , with the exception of a still camera and three rolls of film , had to be discarded so the continuing chronicle of the incredible journey gets less photo documentation as the ordeal plods on .
considering hurley was using relatively primitive photo technology in one of the world 's harshest environments and captured so much on film is a feat unto itself .
( hurley created his own account of the shackleton expedition in his 1919 documentary , " south , " an interesting companion piece for " the endurance .
"
if shackleton 's original idea , document his trek across the frigid southern continent , had been successful , it would have been considered a super human feat .
as you watch the story of " the endurance " unfold , you realize that the disastrous obstacles the sir ernest and his men faced and overcame were even greater accomplishments than the first intent .
( shackleton 's amazing 800-mile journey in an open boat is fodder for a rousing adventure story all by itself . )
there are a couple of minor nitpicks with this fine work , though .
actor liam neeson narrates the story , but his voice is too soft spoken and lilting for the dramatic tale .
the nature of the ordeal also concentrates most of the visual material , both film and photo , in the documentary 's first half .
as the crew 's adventure takes more drastic paths , hurley had less and less film stock available to chronicle the awesome events .
helmer butler and his team fill in the blanks , but the treasure of " the endurance , " its film footage , is mostly relegated to the early months of the expedition .
i ca n't think of a true - life adventure that shows , better , the triumph of man over seemingly insurmountable odds .
"
the endurance , " based on caroline alexander 's book , is an eye - opening documentary that goes where few men have gone before and , even more remarkably , all 28 survivors lived to tell about it .
i give it a b+ .
[A]: P

[Q]: i actually am a fan of the original 1961 or so live - action - disney flick of the same name starring hayley mills twice as a pair of twins , separated at birth by divorcing parents , never to come in contact with the other so the parents never have to meet again .
and everyone should know how i feel about remakes , especially of films i happen to enjoy
( my fallacy : unless you 're going to either capture the same exact spirit of the original or do something different with it or maybe even both , just wrack your brain and come up with a * gasp * new idea ) .
this remake was not originally on the top of my viewing list , and was actually quite the opposite .
contemporary live
- action - disney films are not one of my favorties , anyway : they 're usually unfunny , alienating , and a big fat bore , at least to anyone over the age of 11 and above the iq of 10 .
this one , however , is shockingly not bad .
in fact , it 's actually good . not the original good , but
what 's great about it is that it does n't necessarily retread the original or capture the same exact spirit as it does become entertaining for the same exact reasons the original was entertaining .
because it 's cute and innocent fun .
because it has a pretty killer plot that is endlessly fun to follow along with .
because the lead star is immensely appealing .
because the parents are also immensely appealing .
and ( i 'm repeating myself ) because it 's cute and innocent fun .
there 's nothing too risque about it , save the plot ( the idea of separating twins and denying them the truth for years is ominously selfish , but that is precisely the point of the movie ) , and it 's aimed directly at either kids , adults who want to remember the original , or young adults who want to remember what it was like to be a kid .
i , personally , am somewhere between the second and third .
i can vividly remember when my taste in movies was n't so weird or diverse ( the names godard and kubrick were n't even a glimmer in my right eye back then ) , when i would tune in every sunday night for a couple years to see abc 's " wonderful world of disney , " where they 'd show you a live - action and/or made - for - tv disney flick an hour per week .
i can remember my mom taking my sister and i along with all my friends and their mothers to see all the rereleased disney films ( like " lady and the tramp " and " pinnochio " ) .
and , most sadly , i remember every single christmas , without fail , there were a barage of children 's animated half - hour shows , made exclusively for the christmas season , that i would n't dare missing .
i can even remember seeing the made - for - tv " parent trap ii " on tv one night , and after i had seen that one over and over and over again , i saw the original " parent trap .
"
it 's more of a late childhood movie , because it deals with the issue of divorce , but it deals with it in a disney - ized version .
it 's playful , and witty , and charming ,
and if i saw it for the first time right now , having never experienced that part of my childhood , i 'd probably dismiss it .
i 'd probably do the same for the new version of the same movie if i had n't seen the original at such a perfect age .
watching it , i could remember what fun it was to watch a disney film , and how divorce for me started to get me thinking about the possibilities of my seemingly - perfect parents splitting up , and how it affected my adolescence .
and also how it brushed that fear off with a smooth stroke , and pointed out that even in the most fucked - up of situations , things could always work out if you , well , manipulate things a bit , at least for the better .
this new version did that for me , but it 's also charming in its own way .
it has a new cast , a contemporary feel , and , for the first time in awhile for a live - action - disney flick , a tone that is n't corny or condescending , but just right .
the moments that would otherwise seem corny are actually affecting in a safe kind of way .
and for the first time since the original film , the kids actually know better than the foolish adults .
the story is basically classic by now , repeated almost as many times as kurosawa 's " the seven samurai " : a pair of twins ( played here by lindsay lohan , just like they were played by hayley mills in the original ) are separated at birth by their divorcing parents .
one , annie , is sent to live with the mother ( natasha richardson , resembling her mother , vanessa redgrave , more than i had ever noticed ) in london , where she lives with her parents and her devoted , foppish butler ( simon kunz ) , as she works as a swingin ' fashion designer .
she grows up refined and classy , but also with a keen knowledge in sports and poker - playing .
the other , hallie , is sent to northern california with her father ( dennis quaid ) to live on a vineyard with their pseudo - maid ( lisa ann walter ) , and grows up rugged yet charming .
they both meet at the same camp , one that annie wants to go to to become more rugged .
they feud because they look all - too similar , and are thus in tight competition , which results in some nasty pranks , which winds them in seclusion together in a private , out - of - the - way cabin .
there , they become friends , then learn about eachother .
once they know everything , they concoct a scheme to switch places so the one can meet the other parent , whom they 've only heard of .
they learn about eachother 's lives in detail , they make sure they look alike ( which requires hair cutting and , notoriously , ear - piercing - a scene which is like the kiddie version of the hypodermic needle scene in " pulp fiction " ) , and when the end of summer comes , they switch and hope for the best .
lindsay lohan does n't necessarily copy the acting style of hayley mills in the original .
but she comes off just as appealing as she did once .
she does , though , add a couple new things : she makes the california twin a little more appealing and the london twin a bit more frank and snobbish than the snotty and proper original , respectively .
she also adds on an american and british accent to each one , with one faking the other accent throughout , and if you really take notice , you can see that the fake ones ' accents are n't exactly perfect .
she 's also incredibly appealing , not merely cute , which is especially notable since this is her first feature film , and we know how notorious child actors are , especially in their first films .
she makes a great protagonist , and it only helps that the supporting cast is equally appealing .
dennis quaid , in fact , has n't been this likable in about a decade - his big dumb smile and near cocky attitude
is what has made him a notable actor in the past , not just that he 's mr .
meg ryan .
ditto natasha richardson ( except that she just has n't ever been this likable period ) .
the two make a winning couple , maybe not so winning as maureen o'hara and the late brian keith in the original , but they still work for this film .
instead of the bickering that ensued in the original , the film adds another dimension and another angle to their characters that was amiss in the original : during the opening credits , we see glimpses from their courtship on the qe2 , where they fall quickly and madly in love with eachother , and when back together again , the film 's more smarmy scenes come off as actually sentimental , but in that great way , not the migraine - inducing way as in many such films .
this all brings this new " parent trap " to a level of entertainment that has n't really existed since , well , the original film years ago , still my money the best live - action - disney flick of all time .
this is because it has a form of intelligence and wit that makes such plot points as an otherwise standard villainous love interest subplot ( a gold - digging sharon stone type , played by elaine hendrix , who 's deliciously tormented by the twins later on in the film )
a treat instead of a bore .
like the original , this film transcends all the crap that it very well could be ( case in point : " it takes two " starring the olsen twins ) because it treats the children as the smart ones , and the adults as the silly ones , not the other way around .
and because , above everything , it knows exactly how to be charming without biting off more than it can chew .
however , in comparison with the original , it could be a bit better .
certain scenes work well , but not nearly as well as they worked in the original .
i liked the way the parents fought over past dilemnas and
then fought over falling in love again better than i liked watching two old flames getting back together over a bottle of wine - somehow , feuding is always more cinematic and pleasing than mere reminscing , a lesson extracted from the howard hawks / cary grant films of yesteryear .
and as much as this film transcends mere cutedom , compared to the original , this film almost drowns in cutedom .
the original , though not gritty , was far more stylized and just as suitable for adult audiences as it was for young audiences .
as such , this remake may never be nearly as great or classic as the original film , but it at least knows how to treat its source material with dignity and respect , and how to create virtually the same effects without bordering on plagerism or petty annoyances .
[A]:
P