I went to check out
Red Riding Hood last night. It's directed by Catherine Hardwick, director of the first
Twilight movie and I was curious about what she would do with this fairy tale-turned-cinematic-event. The book has been updated in a new form, called Red Riding Hood (eliminating the word "little") by 22-year-old Sarah Blakely-Cartwright. She's a family friend of Hardwick and Hardwick suggested she write a book to tie into the movie, thus Blakely-Cartwright wrote the book based on the screenplay. If that's not a case of "it's who you know", I don't know what is. We should all have that kind of a hookup!
The first thing I noticed was the Twilightesque feel of the opening and in the landscape. By this I mean the sweeping camera shots filmed high above a forest landscape and misty mountains. There was even a scene of "Red"( named Valerie in the film), with one of two love interests, laying in a meadow-like environment. I quite liked the scenery. I thought it was very pretty, and mystical; it was the ideal fairytale look.
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| Red kissing Henry. He's cuter than this picture indicates...lol... |
I'm sticking with calling the main character Red, though I know she's called Valerie in the movie. Valerie just seems so wrong...I'm not sure why I feel like that, but I would have preferred a softer name, I don't know, maybe a Julie, Julia, Juliet...lol..even Mary! Valerie just sounds too modern or something! Anyway, Red is torn between two boys, one a childhood friend, Henry, who's essentially penniless and the wealthy boy she's betrothed to, Henry. Both guys were sweet so it was a total toss-up as to who should get her to me, but I guess I was leaning toward the childhood buddy; after all, a guy shouldn't be excluded from love just because he's broke! Lol...It is here that I felt the movie missed it's moment.
