Detailed Instructions: In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.
See one example below:
Problem: 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
Explanation: The phrases used in the review convey a negative sentiment (e.g. "presents it in a very bad package").

Problem: apparently , director tony kaye had a major battle with new line regarding his new film , american history x .
i do n't know the details of the fight , but it seems that he is not happy with the final product , and nearly removed his name from the credits altogether .
i 've heard about this kind of thing happening before , and it makes me wonder how much input a studio has over the films they produce .
as it is , i found american history x to be an extremely good film , not just because of tony kaye 's focused look at the touchy subject of racism , but because of a powerful , charismatic performance from edward norton .
it 's hard to believe that it has only been two years since norton 's fantastic role in primal fear , but , here he is now , starring in his own film and making himself a star .
norton is one of those performers who becomes his character , and his work in american history x is one of the very best performances this year .
he plays a young man named derek vinyard , a skinhead living in venice beach with his brother , danny ( edward furlong ) , mother ( beverly d'angelo ) , and sister , davin ( jennifer lien ) .
the film opens with a flashback , in which derek brutally kills two black men vandalizing his car .
we find out that this lands him in prison , and the film from that point is seen through the eyes of danny .
in the present - time of the film , danny is in high school , and eager to follow the footsteps of his brother .
much of the film is told in flashback , and we see the path that leads to derek 's adoption of white supremacy .
when derek is released , having served three years in prison , he finds that his brother is now a full - blown skinhead ; derek , however , has given up the violence , and tries to get his brother to understand why racism and the violence that comes with it are bad things .
what makes this all interesting is that these two young men are not stupid , thoughtless people -- they are intelligent and articulate , and voice their beliefs in disturbingly straightforward terms .
it 's hard to make a controversial movie and not preach , but kaye has found the right note for his material .
because american history x is a mainstream film , there has to be a redemption phase for our main character -- some people may think that this is the only way to make him sympathetic .
i partially disagree with this , because , although i do not advocate racism in any way , it 's interesting the way kaye presents derek
-- he is a loud , obnoxious man , but he 's also very smart .
the reasons for why he becomes a skinhead are believable -- his father was arbitrarily killed by a group of black men .
it 's clear that he 's passionate about his beliefs , and that he 's not just a punk looking for an excuse to beat people up .
of course , it helps that kaye has an actor as talented as norton to play this part .
it 's astonishing how frightening norton looks with a shaved head and a swastika on his chest .
in addition to getting the look just right , he 's perfect for this role
-- derek requires intelligence , depth , and a whole lot of shouting , and norton does it all with ease .
even when he 's at his meanest , derek has a likable quality to him , and that 's a gutsy approach when telling a story about a skinhead .
what adds depth to the story is a subplot in which the principal of danny 's school ( avery brooks ) becomes obsessed with purging the hatred from danny .
the other performances are all terrific , with standouts from furlong , d'angelo , and lien . visually , the film is very powerful .
kaye indulges in a lot of interesting artistic choices , and most of them work nicely --
lots of slow - motion and strange camera angles add to a moody atmosphere .
but , like a lot of movies lately , american history x skims past greatness in the last few minutes .
although the climactic scene is very moving
, the picture ends with a pretentious , preachy resolution featuring a brief narration from a character who was killed .
for a movie so smart a subtle up until that point , it felt like a slap in the face to be hand - fed a theme in such a simplistic way .
it makes me wonder what , exactly , tony kaye disliked about the final version of his film .
perhaps this last scene was the problem .
it 's hard to imagine any director not being at least partially pleased with a film this good -- in a time when so many movies are timid and weak , american history x manages to make a compelling argument for racism without advocating it any way .
Solution:
P