instruction:
In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.
question:
in my opinion , a movie reviewer 's most important task is to offer an explanation for his opinion .
but with soul survivors , i 'm so full of critical rage that this review is liable to turn into a venomous , uncontrollable rant , obligations damned .
however , protocol forces me to do otherwise .
soul survivors tells the story of four college - bound friends : cassandra ( melissa sagemiller ) is sweet and innocent .
party girl annabel ( eliza dushku of bring it on ) is dating world - weary harvard student matt ( wes bentley ) .
matt still has feelings for cassie , who is now dating sean ( casey affleck ) .
driving back from a creepy , gothic party , the quartet gets into a horrific car crash .
sean dies , leaving cassie crestfallen and guilty , made worse because sean saw matt kiss cassie just minutes after sean revealed his love for her . as cassie mopes through her classes , she sees the ghost of sean all over the place , urging her to follow him .
along with being plagued by other ghastly visions , cassie is also followed by thugs from that strange party .
annabel and matt try calming her down , but no one shares cass 's visions .
she has to figure out this purgatory all by herself .
rarely have i seen a director
so thoroughly mishandle material .
in his directorial debut , steve carpenter does nothing to provoke the audience into feeling any emotion .
when the movie 's camerawork is n't pedestrian , it 's clich ?
d .
carpenter 's need for close - ups , his camera following sagemiller from behind , drain the movie of any anticipation .
we already know what to look for , so why should we be surprised ? and the sense of scary atmosphere , which was recently done so well in the others , is nowhere to be found here .
carpenter 's script relies on random twists and turns with a minimum of logic and loads of laziness .
this is a movie where the ending features one character providing an explanation about the plot to another character , which is one of the lamest screenwriting devices around .
the second lamest device , of course , is the , " oh , it was all a dream " resolution . and guess what ?
this movie has both ! not that the main body of the film , which has sagemiller constantly running in fear or having a nervous breakdown , is anything worthwhile .
since there 's no captivating dialogue , no character chemistry exists anywhere .
that 's a huge problem , since the four main characters are supposed to be couples .
carpenter ca n't even get the smutty scenes right , which are becoming more prevalent in pg-13 movies like bring it on and get over it .
[ the film was recently re - cut from an r rating to get more kids in the seats .
-ed . ]
when sagemiller and dushku dance together at a club , he rarely shows them in a full shot and he never keeps the camera on them for longer than a second before relating to some michael bay - style quick cuts .
and when sagemiller and dushku take a shower together after getting covered in paint , they 're fully clothed . regardless ,
any sexiness in that scene is undercut by its stupidity .
why would n't they wash the clothes in the sink or in the washing machine ?
why would they shower in their clothes ?
what if they were n't covered in latex paint ?
the cast , which will see better material in the future , would be wise to leave this one off their resumes .
i felt sorry for affleck , who i 've liked in other movies , and bentley , who was great in american beauty .
dushku , who possesses an alluring femme fetale quality , has got to stop taking roles belonging to rose mcgowan .
as for sagemiller ( star of the aforementioned get over it ) , i want to see her in a movie where she plays a person , and not an object for gawking .
and i 'm not even getting into luke wilson 's role as a priest .
at least he 's friends with wes anderson .
bottom line : soul survivors is so awful i feel compelled to knock on doors and warn people about it .
answer:
N

question:
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 .
answer:
P

question:
nosferatu the vampyre ( germany 1979 )
a film review by mike watson copyright 1999
mike watson
this extraordinary re - telling of bram stoker 's " dracula " by german filmmaker werner herzog deserves the most prominent of places in cinematic vampire lore .
inspired by f .
w .
murnau 's 1922 silent film of the same name
, herzog 's film is a work of exquisite bleakness , an oddly touching tragedy with a beautiful and uniquely haunting quality that lingers long afterwards .
the original full - length english and german language versions of nosferatu have at last received a video release by u . s .
distributor anchor bay entertainment , and in gorgeous widescreen prints .
until now only a shortened english language version of the film was available on video , and only in europe .
both of these re - releases restore the film to its full length , but viewers should still be wary of the english version due to its often stilted dialogue .
apparently the english dialogue coach herzog had on the set during filming was incompetent , and some of the voices also seem to be dubbed .
the german version with english subtitles remains the definitive one .
everyone knows the story of dracula .
or do they ?
his story has been so bastardised on film over the years that a brief reminder of the basic plot certainly wo n't hurt .
jonathan harker is a young lawyer sent to the gloomy castle dracula in transylvania to do business with a creepy count ( played by klaus kinski ) who wants to buy a house in harker 's hometown .
upon seeing a photo of harker 's wife ( the radiant isabelle adjani ) he instantly falls in love with her .
locking harker up in his castle , he sets off on a long journey to meet this woman whose beauty so bewitches him . upon divining his identity as a vampire , adjani seduces the count and lures him to his death one morning as the sun rises .
that is a story familiar to millions , but herzog has elevated stoker 's tale into the realm of - and i use this term a tad reluctantly - cinematic art .
nosferatu is as much a meditation as it is a film , shot through blue - ish and white filters and peopled with characters who perform as if they were half hypnotised .
the film 's surreal , dream - like quality is utterly mesmerising .
there is much to enjoy , but i 'll limit my praise to a few key points .
holding the film together is kinski 's remarkable performance as count dracula .
past screen portrayals , including bela lugosi 's famous turn , have largely been one dimensional and tended towards camp .
but kinski . . .
oh boy
, this is something far more compelling .
aided by a startling make - up job , he portrays dracula 's vampirism not simply as pure evil
but as some sort of loathsome disease .
this man is dreadfully lonely .
he lives in utter solitude , shunned by the locals for his hideous appearance and reputation for bloodlust .
kinski 's portrayal of the count is both creepy and deeply affecting .
when he dies , you almost feel as if this man 's tortured soul has been freed at last .
then there 's the unforgettable soundtrack , largely composed by german group popul vuh .
it is so eerily beautiful and evocative
that it 's quite impossible to imagine the film without it .
popul vuh are longtime herzog collaborators and play an ancient - sounding kind of spacemusic using piano , chants , and exotic instruments .
when i first saw this film some years ago i was so impressed i tracked down and bought a number of their albums .
the one i still listen to the most is " tantric songs " , from which most of the music in nosferatu is taken .
it 's a testament to the music 's depth that it is as powerful without the pictures as it is with them .
the album is still available on the highly respected ambient and world music label celestial harmonies .
this is a timely re - release by anchor bay .
after francis ford coppola 's unscary and woefully overblown version of bram stoker 's tale in 1992 , it is a joy to go back to herzog 's film and see the amazing things he has done with what is now a century - old story .
to some aficionados , nosferatu is quite simply the greatest vampire film ever made .
without a doubt , it is an unmistakable classic of the genre .
do n't miss it .
answer:
P