‘Once upon a time,’ we find the picturesque town of Daggerhorn, surrounded by forest and shrouded by fear of a notorious, serial-killing werewolf, whose identity remains a mystery. For beautiful, free-spirited Valerie (Mamma Mia’s Amanda Seyfried) however, this is less of a problem than her impending betrothal to Henry Lazar (Max Irons) rather than to her dreamy childhood sweetheart, Peter (Shiloh Fernandez). When Peter suggests that she run away with him, Valerie agrees wholeheartedly; but when the Wolf takes another victim – her own sister Lucie – Valerie’s plans fall by the wayside. Enraged, the townspeople vow to find the Wolf and end his reign of terror, once and for all.

Considering the breadth of Hardwick’s success with Twilight, it is inevitable that the comparisons between the two should come thick and fast. Superficially, they are immensely similar: pitched to the same teenaged girl audience, the films both hint at unconsummated longing against a backdrop of supernatural violence. Both have a beautiful ‘loner’ as the protagonist who fills in the blanks for the audience with narration. Cameras soar and meander high above the action, providing us more with a panorama of a small community than the story of a girl. And crucially, both rely on the brooding sexual tension between the leads to drive the story forward.

This is where the similarities end. While Twilight pulled this off convincingly enough for the latest instalment to gross nearly $700 million worldwide, Red Riding Hood falls short. It’s enjoyably pulpy at times, but also sometimes ponderous and incoherent. Seyfried is typically wide-eyed and entrancing, but this type of role is a walk in the park, well, forest, for her. Fernandez attempts to smoulder but struggles to bring to Peter the much-needed charisma apparently forgotten by the writers. Considering his pedigree (he’s the son of Jeremy Irons and Sinead Cusack), it’s little surprise that Max Irons steals the show, but his likeability does the overall story no favours. Far from being the supernatural horror flick the trailer would have us believe, this film is most convincing when it’s a simple tale about a love triangle.

This is not to say that there isn’t fun to be had in the periphery: veterans Julie Christie and Gary Oldman provide somewhat farcical entertainment as Grandmother and Solomon respectively, and ensemble scenes with the Greek-chorus-style townsfolk seem to carry an intriguing level of energy. All in all however, it’s a telling sign when you realise that the town’s fear of the Wolf is ultimately more frightening than the creature itself.

Red Riding Hood is in Australian cinemas now.

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The film is directed by Steve Reynolds, written and produced by Mike Jefferies, both of whom were involved in the first two Goal films.

However, unlike its two predecessors, this film was not released in the cinemas, and rather only made its debut in the DVD section of your local video store.

After the successes of the first two films, it was no surprise there were plenty of fans desperate to check out the film, and many footballing fans who also would have been excited by the release.

However, Goal 3! takes the movie to  a whole new level, for the worse.

While most fans were expecting to see further developments in the Santiago story, what they got is this footballer who incidentally does not get to play football in the movie where he is the lead, and the game is left to two new characters that nobody even knows.

A real shock, I know!

I’m not sure why they went ahead with the third movie when the lead character they were building up over two movies didn’t even get to play.

Another major let down in the film was the skill and footballing scenes. There is evidentally a lack of class, even with the likes of Rooney, David Beckham, Steven Gerrard and Christiano Ronaldo.

In summary, Goal 3: Taking on the World is not a release worth chasing up, and if anything you will be left disappointed by the films end.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=oE19Uig3Ohk

6/10

Precious is one of these films. With the likes of Avatar, The Hurt Locker and Invictus stealing the limelight, the Lee Daniels release has managed to go by under the radar in recent months.

Set in Harlem in the 80s, Precious is the story of Claireece Precious Jones, a sixteen-year-old African-American girl born into a life of pain.

For starters, she is pregnant for the second time by her drug-addicted father. Her life at home is made a nightmare by her abusive mother, a poisonously angry woman who scars her emotionally and physically.

School is a place of chaos, and Precious has reached the ninth grade with good marks even though she cannot read or write.

The inspiring story of Precious is that while she may sometimes be down, she is never out. Her story speaks of a courageous woman who overcomes adversity to reach greater heights.

Threatened with expulsion, Precious is offered the chance to transfer to an alternative school, a move that will lead on a journey from darkness, pain and powerlessness to light, love and self-determination.

There are few movies which leave an everlasting scar on your memory, and Precious is one of these films… for the right reasons.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5FYahzVU44

Now you can add The Road to that list.

The new film is written by the brains behind the successful No Country for Old Men and directed by the highly rated Australian John Hillcoat.

The basic plot of the film resolves around an apocalyptic event that kills off all living existence on the planet earth, well, almost all.

A father and son combo manage to survive the tragic event and embark on a journey to nowhere.

Along their adventures where they hope to find warmth, salvation and human companionship, they find much more.

Firstly they have to fight off the cannibals extremists who have been living off the flesh of survivors since the doomsday hit.

Then they have to come to grips with the fact that the world they once loved will never be the same again.

The Road boasts a star studded line up, including the likes of Viggo Mortensen, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Robert Duvall, Guy Pearce, Molly Parker and Michael K. Williams to name a few.

While many will be cautious of watching the film purely because of its blockbuster status fear not, there is much more to the film than just heroics, devastations and drama.

There is also the story of a father and son who build an unbreakable relationship through adversity.

The Road is worth a look at your local cinema when it is released next week.

The film is itself a spin off from the successful BBC comedy series The Thick of It, which satirically critiques politics in the current world we live in.

In The Loop is based around the theme of the western world beginning a war in the middle east.

The controversy begins when the Minister for International Development, Simon Foster (played by Tom Hollander) accidentally states that a proposed war in the Middle East is “unforeseeable”.

Although he gets grilled by the Prime Minister’s enforcer Malcolm Tucker (Peter Capaldi), the statement coincides with a visit by high-up U.S. officials who jump upon the phrase and begin to use Simon, as a pawn in an international game of politics.

The film actually follows the exact format as the TV series The Thick of It, and if you are a fan of the comedy show, you will be sure to enjoy In The Loop.

The film has a tendency to go off the rails at times and really take the piss out of international politics, which adds to quite a humorous plot.

All in all the movie will make you laugh, cringe, and at times be scared to laugh at the controversial lines dished out.

Starring Tom Hollander, James Gandolfini, Peter Capaldi and Steve Coogan, In The Loop delivers a great satire on the US and UK political lunacy on the issue of war.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQrqMkCuHqA

8/10