TASK DEFINITION: In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.
PROBLEM: [ note that followups are directed to rec .
arts .
movies .
current - films and rec .
arts .
movies .
startrek .
current only , not to rec .
arts .
sf .
movies .
-moderator
] star trek : first contact a film review by michael
dequina copyright 1996 michael dequina star trek :
first contact ( pg-13 ) anyone familiar with the series of star trek movies knows of the " even - odd pattern " --the even - numbered installments of the series are good while the odd - numbered ones are , well , not - so - good .
the pattern continues with the new star trek : first contact , an energetic sci - fi adventure that
( coincidentally ? ) is the eighth entry in the hugely popular series .
in this first trek feature to feature only cast members from the late star trek : the next generation television series , captain jean - luc picard ( patrick stewart ) and the rest of the 24th - century crew of the starship enterprise -- commander will riker ( jonathan frakes , who also directed ) , android lt .
cmdr .
data ( brent spiner ) , lt .
cmdr .
geordi laforge ( levar burton ) , lt .
cmdr .
worf ( michael dorn ) , dr .
beverly crusher ( gates mcfadden ) , and counselor deanna troi ( marina sirtis )
--travel back to 21st - century earth while doing battle with the borg , a race of cybernetic beings that share a collective mind with the borg queen ( alice krige ) .
the borg intend to alter history and assimilate all of humankind into their race -- starting with the earth - orbiting crew of the enterprise and a 21st century stowaway ( alfre woodard ) .
this is an interesting plotline that is sure to mesmerize trekkers everywhere and engage everyone else , but , unfortunately , it only makes up the star trek half of the script by brannon braga and
ronald d . moore .
the other half of the title -- first contact -- refers to a subplot that takes place on 21st - century earth , where riker , troi , and laforge meet legendary scientist zephram cochran ( james cromwell ) , who is about to embark on the first warp speed flight in human history , which directly leads to the first contact with extraterrestrials .
while this story does tie into the main plot and pays off interestingly in the end , it is nowhere near as involving or exciting as the borg battles on the enterprise .
not helping matters is the tiresome cochran character , an eccentric whose drunken schtick starts out funny but becomes too one - note after a while .
in the end , though , the first contact subplot does n't detract from the enjoyment of the film as a whole .
the story is typical sci - fi fantasy , but the conviction of the cast -- most notably the always - phenomenal stewart -- makes you believe and care .
frakes , making his feature directorial debut , keeps the action swiftly rolling along and delivers the action goods , even upping the violence a notch ( this is the first trek film to bear a pg-13 rating ) to greater effect .
st : fc has a bigger budget than the last trek outing , the middling star trek generations , and it definitely shows on screen -- the production design and especially visual and makeup effects are outstanding
( in particular those involving the borg queen ) .
braga and moore 's mostly sharp script will please both trek devotees and the rest ; the references to the borg storyline in the tv series , the continuity with the previous film ( e . g .
the ongoing saga of data 's emotion chip ) , and a fleeting star trek : voyager crossover will make trekkers squeal with delight , but such points are made easily accessible to those less familiar to the trek mythos .
paramount was reportedly worried about the staying power of its trek franchise with the next generation cast now carrying the helm .
based on the entertaining success that is star trek : first contact , i 'd say the studio has nothing to worry about
( at least not until this cast retires and the crew of the wan star trek : deep space nine takes over . . . ) .

SOLUTION: P

PROBLEM: it 's now the anniversary of the slayings of julie james ' ( jennifer love hewitt ) best friends .
still besieged by nightmarish memories of the man responsible for it all , she seems to be on the verge of a nervous breakdown .
she ca n't concentrate on her schoolwork , ca n't get a good night 's sleep , and is even frightened by the shadows and the blinking strobe lights at a local dance club .
everywhere she looks , she sees visions of the man in a rubber slicker with the hook on his hand .
in the first movie , ' i know what you did last summer ' , julie and three of her friends accidentally kill a man , running him down while driving down a dark mountain highway .
to cover their misdeed , they dump the body into the ocean .
however , he never quite died and returned to hunt down julie and her friends .
julie and one other , ray ( freddie prinze jr . ) , survived only to make this dismal sequal .
needing some desparate rest and relaxation , she is elated to learn that her college roommate , karla ( brandy ) , has won a trip for four to a secluded tropical island .
accompanying these two girls are karla 's overbearing boyfriend , tyrell ( mehki phifer ) and a potential beau for julie .
but was this contest too good to be true ?
the resort is filled with a skeleton staff that seemed like love boat rejects .
meanwhile , the hotel is practically deserted as the storm season is about to begin .
this presumably creates a venue where they will be secluded and will have no possible means off the island .
eventually , they will be hunted down during power outages and chased around during intense lightning storms .
as you might have guessed , somewhere in the shadows lurk a mysteriously strange figure that is wearing a rubber slicker and wielding a hook .
julie tries to convince her friends that the killer is on the island ( an eerie touch is when she is singing " i will survive " at the karaoke bar and the words scroll " i still know . . . " ) , but her friends chalk it up to paranoia .
but the body count soon starts to rise , and for julie , it 's going to be the worst vacation of her life .
the funny ( yes , i used the word ' funny ' ) thing about this movie is that i heard more chortling and giggling ( maybe it was my giggling ) than i heard screaming .
this movie boils down to a mindless slashfest that never conjures up any amount of wry wit or even a quirky campiness .
there is n't even any suspense that leads up to the deaths .
here 's an appropriate example .
knock - knock .
" housekeeping " , says the diminuitive cleaning lady .
the door suddenly opens up .
slash .
next victim ! is there any reason to go and see this movie ?
not unless you want to see four uninteresting college kids run around in circles for about 90 minutes .
but i do want to say one thing about this movie that satisfied me .
i was thoroughly irritated with tyrell , who incessantly ranted and raved about his sexual libido .
i secretly wished for him to get filleted .
did he get ' hooked ' ?
well , let 's just say that if he did n't , i would give this film a grade of " d " .

SOLUTION: N

PROBLEM: no , it is not a bad film , in fact
it is so good in achieving its purpose
, i actually wished for the film to end itself quickly .
event horizon is not your run - of - the - mill sci - fi film , i 'm sure many who have watched this will agree with me .
it is not even original in that sense , and it does borrow heavily from films like alien , hellraiser and even blade runner .
the magic of this film lies in its unorthodox setting and methodical build - up that makes it wonderfully horrifying .
the story brings us to the year 2050 , where space travel have since enormously progressed .
the event horizon is actually a ship built for a secret experimental purpose ; it has the ability to fold time and space thus making it possible for travelling distances not reachable in a man 's lifetime .
the ship disappeared as soon as it went into operation but after 7 years , it reappeared again within the orbit of neptune .
a search and rescue team led by miller ( fishburne ) is given the task to check for survivors of the event horizon .
the designer of the ship , dr .
weir ( neill ) follows along to satisfy his curiosity on what actually happened to his otherwise technologically impressive ship .
event horizon is a sci - fi horror film , much truer to the word than say , alien would ever be .
while in alien , the crew has to cope with a ferocious creature while encased within tight spaces , in event horizon , the forces which goes against the crew is undefined but yet so powerful and horrifying .
the story unfolds itself slowly and the suspense buildup is superb , up till the point where i really felt like saying out loud ' enough !
i ca n't stand this anymore ! ' .
there are more than enough jolts to send your adrenalin pumping overtime .
the story in itself is not exactly something very exciting and also , the acting is only at most , average by most commercial standards .
even so , the essence of horror is carried out very well in this film , thanks to its well - paced storytelling , disturbing set designs and some really gory sequences ( which incidentally , has been quite generously removed by our censorship board ) .
director paul anderson ( who did mortal kombat ) and his team of ' atmosphere ' creators have done well in keeping event horizon within the bounds of the term ' horror ' .
this picture did not do very well in the us box - office most probably for the dread - factor impact it has on most audiences ; people will not see it again and not many would recommend their friend to watch this .
although on the face of it , event horizon is mostly molded for mass - entertainment ; many thrills , spills and suspense to keep audiences in focus .
however , the offbeat horror element which it ultimately convey audiences is very disturbing .
my friend and i could not say a word to each other for quite a while after going through the ' experience ' of event horizon .
i guess it was just the immense feeling of dread which the film had cast upon us .
be forewarned , this film is not for the faint - hearted nor for pure entertainment . be prepared to be disturbed if you should decide to watch this film !
event horizon is highly recommended ? ?
but at your own risk !
it has been a long time since good - horror embraced the big screen , and event horizon is one .

SOLUTION:
P