Red Riding Hood

This is the final film that I can't wait to see at the cinema. Red Riding Hood is an American dark fantasy film directed by Catherine Hardwicke who is known for popular, unconvetional films such as Twilight and Thirteen. It is very loosely based on the folk tale Little Red Riding Hood collected by both Charles Perrault under the name "Le Petit Chaperon Rouge" (Little Red Riding Hood) and several decades later by the Brothers Grimm as "Rotkäppchen" (Little Redcap). The film also draws inspiration from Bruno Bettelheim's book The Uses of Enchantment, in which he analyzes fairy tales in terms of Freudian psychology. The film stars Amanda Seyfried who is known for roles in the lovable films Mama Mia! and Mean Girls and Gary Oldman who has starred in The Fifth Element and The Dark Knight.

The plot of the film is: the people of Daggerhorn have long maintained a truce with the werewolf that stalks their woods. Every month they sacrifice an animal in the hope that the wolf will depart with its thirst for blood quenched. One of Daggerhorn's inhabitants is Valerie (Amanda Seyfried), a young girl who is in love with the brooding woodcutter Peter (Shiloh Fernandez), even though she has been promised to the wealthy Henry (Max Irons). Her plans to run away with Peter are shattered when the wolf kills her older sister. Suddenly everything has changed. Famed werewolf hunter Father Solomon (Gary Oldman) is sent for, but immediately warns the townsfolk that the wolf could be lurking within any one of them. As tensions rise, Valerie finds herself at the centre of Solomon's hunt, and discovers that the wolf may be closer than she ever suspected.

I am a big fan of Seyfried's and I love the fact that she has done a gothic film instead of keeping to her cheesy, girly films. The film looks very appealing as the sexual chemistry between Seyfried and Fernandez seems captivating, also I want to see how they have included the traditional fairytale into this modern film.

Sucker Punch

The second film that I really want to see at the cinema is Sucker Punch and it is a 2011 action-fantasy thriller film about the fantasies of a young woman who is committed to a mental institution. It was written and directed by Zack Snyder who is known for his stunning cinematography in Watchmen and 300, the cast includes Emily Browning who is known for unusual films like Lemony Snickets: A Series of Unfortuante Events and The Univited, Vanessa Hudgens who was in the teen sensation High School Musical and Jena Malone who starred in Indie Films such as Donnie Darko and Into the Wild.

From the unusual cast I don't really know what to expect from this film but from the adverts and the storyline it looks like it will be an artistic film with quite a harrowing storyline, much like one of my most favourite films Sin City. This is a very dark film about the three stories all interwoven. There is murder, prostitution, torture and even cannibalism. However, the magnificent mise en scene makes the film a masterpiece to watch as most of the film is in black and white but there are few accents of colour; a young girl's blue eyes or a woman's red lips. Sucker Punch has more colour to it but it is still a very dark looking film defining how terrible the girl's life really is.

The plot of the film is: locked away against her will, Babydoll (Emily Browning) has not lost her will to survive. Determined to fight for her freedom, she urges four other young girls - the outspoken Rocket (Jena Malone), the street-smart Blondie (Vanessa Hudgens), the fiercely loyal Amber (Jamie Chung) and the reluctant Sweet Pea (Abbie Cornish) - to band together and try to escape their terrible fate at the hands of their captors, Blue (Oscar Isaac), Madam Gorski (Carla Gugino) and the High Roller (Jon Hamm). Led by Babydoll, the girls engage in fantastical warfare against everything from samurais to serpents, with a virtual arsenal at their disposal. Together, they must decide what they are willing to sacrifice in order to stay alive. But with the help of a Wise Man (Scott Glenn), their unbelievable journey - if they succeed - will set them free.

This film looks like a treat to watch from the young, fiesty cast to the superb fantasy to the stunning visual elements.

Scream 4

So I've reported on the films that I have seen at Glasgow Cineworld so in the next few blogs I'm going to talk about films I want to see. The first film that I've been dying to see (quite ironic, you'll see why) is Scream 4 and it is an upcoming slasher film which is the fourth installment in the Scream series. It was directed by Wes Craven and it stars David Arquette, Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Emma Roberts and Hayden Panettiere. Campbell, Arquette and Cox are the only returning cast members from the previous films. Originally, the series was intended to be a trilogy, but after ten years, Bob Weinstein thought it was time for another film. It is intended to be the first of a new trilogy, with Wes Craven signed on for the duration. It is due to be released on April 15, 2011.

The original Scream film tells the story of the fictional town Woodsboro, California being terrorized by a masked killer who enjoys tormenting his victims with phone calls and movie references. The killer's main target is Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), a teenage girl whose mother, Maureen, fell victim to a brutal murder one year earlier. The film takes the form of a "whodunit" mystery, with many of her friends and townspeople being fellow targets and suspects. After the original film Scream 2 and Scream 3 were released following the same base storyline of Sidney Prescot being stalked by a killer known as 'Ghostface'.

Scream 4 commences several years after the events of Scream 3, where Sidney Prescott returns to her home town of Woodsboro on the 15th anniversary of the first Woodsboro Murders for a tour of her new self-help book, where she encounters former allies Sheriff "Dewey" Riley (David Arquette) and entertainment journalist Gale Weathers (Courtney Cox), as well as her younger cousin Jill Roberts (Emma Roberts), her best friend Kirby Reed (Hayden Panettiere), aunt Kate Roberts (Mary McDonnell), and several of Jill's high school friends. However, with her return to Woodsboro also comes the return of past slasher-killer Ghostface, who is starting to stalk and kill Jill's friends and several other people in the Woodsboro area. The killer is now taking reference from horror-movie remakes by basing their murders on those similar to ones committed in the movie Stab, only with more twists on the 21st-century horror movie: in order to survive, Sidney, Dewey, Gale, Jill, and her friends must band together and follow the conventions of 21st-century horror movies to determine who the killer is and stop them before the murders spiral out of their control.

I am a big fan of the Scream films as they are old school horror as they don't need: brutal torture, rape, horrificly disfigured villains or anything else disturbing to make it interesting. Instead the genious of the film comes from: the many tense moments, some slight gore (to keep up with the times), the tounge-and-cheek humour about following traditional horror movie rules to not get killed and the fact that the murderer is just someone in a mask.

I love how the movie has still included the three main characters along with introducing new, younger characters to attract a new generation. I grew up watching old school slasher films and really enjoyed the Scream trilogy so this makes me really excited to embark on a new direction to horror.

Limitless

I saw this film last night and 'oh my god' it was brilliant! Limitless is a 2011 American techno-thriller film directed by Neil Burger who is known for directing such clever films as The Illusionist and The Lucky Ones and it stars Bradley Cooper who is a new actor and is known for his sheer attractiveness as 'Phil' in The Hangover and Robert De Niro who is the legendary actor known for classic films like Taxi Driver and Raging Bull. It is based on the 2001 novel The Dark Fields by Alan Glynn with the screenplay by Leslie Dixon. The plot of the film is when a writer discovers a top-secret drug which then bestows him with super human abilities.

This film just blows your mind! From the opening credits we known it will be a mind warp as the graphics continuosly go down New York's streets to almost feel like you're flying. I don't want to give much away because you HAVE to see it but there are so many tense moments that make you crawl up in your seats. This film captures everyones desire to be the best they can be in just one little pill. The audience goes through Cooper's journey from a lazy, unsuccessful writer to a womanizing, intelligent, millionaire. However, not everyone enjoys his new success and this leads the film to being so tense. Cooper has appeared in minor roles previous to this film but this film has shot him into Hollywood A list.

Limitless is unbelievably clever, has a great storyline and it captures everyones desire. This film had the audience gripping their seats tensly, laugh at the clever humor and be engrossed in this man's journey to success.

I give Limitless 5/5