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

the most amazing thing about paul cox 's innocence is how unlike a movie it is .
i mean that as the highest compliment .
if most studios were to profile an elderly couple who rekindle a 40-year - old romance , i 'd want to run and hide .
the sex scenes would be handled as a farce , producers would shed 20 years off the characters ' ages ( so susan sarandon and harrison ford could star ) and true love would shine through any obstacle without explanation and consequence . along with a charming romantic story , the australian / belgian innocence shows how an increasing sense of mortality combined with revisiting the past while being entrenched in the present can make something that seems so right seem downright questionable .
the romance gets started when former musician andreas ( charles " bud " tingwell ) , learns that his true love , claire ( julia blake ) , lives nearby .
they decide to catch up on old times , but soon find themselves in a reinvigorating affair .
complicating matters is andreas ' frail health , and claire 's longtime husband ( terry norris ) , who ca n't understand why he 's suddenly become obsolete .
in my mind , the movie is less about the relationship between andreas and claire , than the feelings of everyone involved .
john , claire 's husband , endlessly questions what he did wrong .
claire initially insists she 's a grown - up , but admittedly behaves like a child , a prospect that thrills and disappoints her .
andreas , an agnostic , begins to question his fate , a message cox delivers in a memorable dream sequence .
cox litters the movie with flashbacks , including the repeated vision of a roaring train .
it 's a reminder of andreas and claire 's past love ( as young lovers , they met by train ) , but as it recurs , we get the feeling that the past and the present have clashed .
a pall is cast on the whole affair .
a master of the understated , cox strings together a series of memorable moments .
in andreas ' dream sequence , amidst the roar of the train and conversations , we get the whole picture of andreas and claire 's love .
we also get glimpses into john and claire 's relationship .
during a silent candlelit dinner shortly afterward , claire admits to john about her indiscretion , telling more than any monologue could .
all that 's heard is the scraping of forks against plates .
the characters are unlike anything i 've seen
-- they 're people .
so many times , movies and especially television portray senior citizens as gratingly spunky .
or they 're reduced to comedic buffoons .
ordinary people with a pile of emotions , claire and andreas are n't sure what the next step is .
they do want to be happy , which consists of an entirely different set of conditions than what they 've known throughout their adult lives .
bravo to cox , who wrote the script , for not making john a monster , so that claire 's affair is automatically justified .
norris is so effective
as john that he makes andreas and claire 's love difficult to accept .
we feel for him .
he 's a decent man .
sure , he may have become complacent , but he never expected this , especially now .
with so much presented to the audience , it 's only expected that the material gets a little drawn out and repetitive , which it does .
however , in bringing up tough questions and not offering easy answers , cox displays a skill and ?
lan is n't likely to be surpassed by anyone anytime soon .
P

" crazy / beautiful " suffers from the damned - if - you - do , damned - if - you - don't syndrome .
after a spate of flighty , cookie - cutter teen films , the romantic drama addresses alcoholism and parental loss along with its love story .
but rather than applaud the production , early reviews have dismissed it as an overblown " afterschool special .
"
even worse , in the wake of federal trade commission hearings that blasted the industry for marketing violent and sexual movies to young people , the studio got a case of the heebie - jeebies and forced director john stockwell to re - shoot scenes and cut footage to " tone things down .
" needless to say , the filmmaker was frustrated .
"
we were trying to make a cautionary tale , " he told newsweek , " and we could n't show the behavior we were trying to caution people away from . " regardless , the film works , thanks to exceptional performances from its lead players and a script determined to transcend stereotypes .
" crazy / beautiful " is quality fare , good enough that i half - expected the summer movie crap police to walk into the press screening and confiscate the print for " failure to incorporate explosions and poop jokes .
" set in pacific palisades , calif .
, the story follows the burgeoning relationship between two teens .
every morning and evening , carlos nunez ( jay hernandez ) takes a two - hour bus ride in order to attend pacific high school .
an honor student and star athlete , carlos is responsible , modest and focused as he works on securing a place in the naval academy .
all is well until he meets nicole oakley ( kirsten dunst ) , the daughter of a rich congressman ( bruce davison ) .
nicole is a drunk apparently hell - bent on self - destruction .
carlos is smart enough to recognize the danger in getting involved with her , but he is only human
and she has the greatest smile .
plus , as her father notes , she has a real knack for drawing others into her downward spiral .
as with " save the last dance , " " crazy / beautiful " ( god , how i hate lower - case titles ) takes situations that look stale on paper and makes them seem fresh .
while noting the racial and social differences between the kids , the screenplay dances around most of the clich ?
s
( there are still several mtv moments , though ) .
the filmmakers make a point to give characters that crucial extra bit of shading that turns them into individuals instead of stereotypes and the actors take it from there .
cute - as - a - button dunst forces the viewer to share the pain beneath nicole 's behavior .
she is credible enough that when dad urges carlos to get away from her before she drags him down , i hoped the boy would listen .
as carlos , hernandez is a revelation . hunky without looking like the product of a hollywood design team , the young man can really act ; we will see a lot of this guy in the future . aside from its title , the biggest problem with " crazy / beautiful " is its ending , which wraps everything up too fast and too tidy .
after carefully presenting credible characters and situations , the conclusion feels rushed and lazy .
still , this is the kind of film that deserves accolades from critics instead of cheap shots .
"
afterschool special " my ass ?
" crazy / beautiful
" is the real deal .
P

urban legend surprised me .
based on the last few films the genre has produced ( including but not exclusive to the likes of
i know what you did last summer , disturbing behavior and the disappointing halloween : h20 )
, i was positive that i was in store for another mildly entertaining but silly and ultimately boring rehash of the scream phenomena .
thankfully , legend rose above
it 's soggy premise
to become not only a hip , scary and stylish entertainment , but also what will probably become one of the best films of the year
.
you 're all familiar with the plot ; a bunch of overly horny teenagers get systematically slaughtered by a masked maniac who 's identity is not revealed until the closing moments of the film when it turns out to be , you guessed it ; everybody 's favorite veteran of the whodunit flicks . . .
the only person you did n't suspect !
however , just because legend does n't really break any new ground as far as literary or even technical achievements go does not mean that it ca n't qualify as first - class entertainment .
it was , believe it or not , one of the funnest times i 've had at the movies all year .
the thing is , i 'm not really sure what made this particular stab ( pardon the pun ) at the genre seem so fresh and alive .
maybe it was the above - par performances by the movie 's two leads ( jared leto and " cybil " actress alicia witt ) .
or , it could have been the on- target direction by jamie blanks .
more likely , though , it was because of the inspired premise .
i do n't think i need to tell you that a killer hacking people up ala urban folklore is much more frightening than a killer fisherman .
urban legend begins with a sequence that reminded me of the classic scream opener , not so much in plotting as in attention to detail that makes for an absolutely chilling teaser for the rest of the film .
a pretty young coed is driving down a deserted road when ( gasp ! )
a gas problem ( hee - hee ) forces her to stop at an equally deserted gas station for a refill .
one problem , though . would you want to stop at a station run by brad dourif ?
i thought not .
predictably , the attendant ends up coaxing her into the main building to sort out a problem with the credit card company .
it 's odd , though , when you pick up a phone to realize that nobody 's on the other line .
naturally , the potential victim escapes into her car and drives off .
and the when we least expect it . . .
whack ! ! !
a decapitation .
it turns out that the creepy looking attendant was just trying to warn her about the maniac in the back seat of the car .
so who is it this time ?
the obvious candidate is the slightly off - kilter professor at the college the girl went to ( none other than freddy kruger himself , robert englund ) , who teaches a class on urban legends .
a - ha .
or could it be the fame - hungry local journalist ( leto ) looking for a meaty story to put on his resume ?
like all movies of this nature , one of the chief pleasures is trying to guess whodunit .
and it turns out to be , of course , the one you did n't suspect .
i 'm not going to pretend urban legend is anything more than it is ,
but i must give credit where credit is due .
and this flick definitely deserves credit for being what not many other recent horror films have been . . .
fun .
* complimentary movie ticket courtesy of valley cinemas in lodi , ca
P