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: probably the most popular and praised film of all time , turned out to be a primitive and predictable costume drama with a dose of social criticism .
everyone knows about the greatest and most famous shipping disaster of all time .
and the actual catastrophe is masterfully crafted by director james cameron , combining visual -and sound effects , he re - creates the frightening atmosphere of the sinking ship in the middle of nowhere .
i liked very much
the emotional and brutal contrast between the first and the third classes .
while their cabin is slowly filling up with water , a mother is telling her children a fairytail -- " .
.
and they lived happily ever after . .
"
.
and then the ship goes down
and the few survivors are left alone under the stars and the chilling air .
however , the actual disaster is happening almost at the end of the movie , while the first two hours are just beautiful sets and bad dialogues .
in the present day , the rms titanic is explored by brock lovett ( bill paxton ) , a treasure seeker looking for the coeur de la mer diamond , lost during the sinking .
somewhere inside the ship , lovett 's crew discover a sketchbook of an artist long dead .
here , in the shape of a nude young lady , is a window into the distant age of 1912 .
lovett is extremely surprised when he get 's a phone call from rose dawson , claiming that she is a model .
she is immediately helicoptered onto the vessel , and she gets the first glimpse of the fated ship in 80 years .
as the memories come flooding back , she once again becomes rose dewitt buketer ( kate winslet ) , the fianc ?
e of wealthy cal hockley ( billy zane ) and daughter of ruth dewitt bukater ( frances fisher ) .
on board there are rich and poor , everyone trust in the ship 's designer ( jonathan hyde ) and her master , captain e .
j .
smith ( bernard hill ) .
on board the ship , rose , unhappy and restless meets jack ( leonardo dicaprio ) - a young american artist , poor , brave and attractive .
a love story slowly emerges and the two lovers must not only experience the difference between the social classes , but also face the greatest power on earth - death .
cameron could as well have called his picture " the never ending love " or " love at first sight " , as he concentrates all his energy on the young couple , and not on the disaster itself .
the plot is anything but original and the dialogues sometimes resemble a television soap - opera .
the director does n't even try to overcome his empty script . because of its primitive and predictable plot , titanic is totally depending on the visuals that truly are breathtaking .
russel carpenter 's rich , majestic and incredibly detailed cinematography is certainly award - worthy .
everything from art direction to visual and sound effects are a top notch .
but it does n't help much when the costumes are more convincing than the actors who wear them .
the actors are not to blame , because their characters are more like caricatures , in other words - fake .
jack is a man with many talents : he is a talented artist , handsome , brave , honest , strong , funny . . .
you name it .
he does n't have any dark side , he does n't make any mistakes , that for a second would make him human .
jack is perfect , but he is - poor .
on the other hand we have cal .
he is a bastard that treats rose as an odalisque and not as his wife - to - be .
he lacks everything jack possesses , but he is -- rich .
this childish contrast between the social classes is one of those things that makes titanic nothing more than a mediocre picture .
cameron knows precisely what we want to see .
his film therefore contains certain minimums to draw an audience - attractive actors , a " tragic love story " , beautiful visuals ( including expensive special effects ) , a dose of social criticism , a fascinating historical event ( we love true stories ) and last , but not least - an incredible media support , which proclaimed an average picture the " greatest film of all time " .
on the outside titanic looks perfect , but behind that sparkling curtain of incredible visuals - is emptiness - nothing to think about .
the main weakness of this film , which ironically became its success , is simplicity .
cameron enables our basic and if you wish - primitive emotions : love , hate , fear and helplessness .
everyone understands the power of love and the threat to our beautiful couple is likewise imaginable - a sinking ship .
titanic is a typical hollywood production , totally and completely dependent on visual perfection to hide its primitive plot .
it 's a good picture , but absolutely not a masterpiece .
it 's among hundreds and thousands good films released every year , not better or worse than the average american film .
Student:
P