Red Riding Hood, HP7 Part 2 and Arthur

It's the holiday season, so I struggle to find a movie this time of year. "Red Riding Hood" was on Senior Screen (£3.50 on a Wednesday morning) so I gave it a go. It reminded me very much of 1960's Hammer Horrors, and about just as scary (i.e. not). There is always a village (this one was beautifully constructed), the inn, the dark forest and a damsel in distress. This time it's Amanda Seyfried and she is by far the best thing about the movie, apart from the set. These movies always dig up an old classical actor or two. This time it's Julie Christie and Gary Oldman who try hard with a script that was doomed to fail. Catherine Hardwicke does her best directing what could have been a good story, but fails miserably with the rest of the cast.

It was only a few months ago that I took Zoe to see "Harry Potter 7 Part 1", so for her birthday it was off to see the final film in the series. It turned out to be a reasonable action movie, although it did lack some of the "magic" of the earlier films that were firmly based at Hogworts. No lessons for our teenage trio this time, and very little for Hermione to demonstrate her superior brain power. But it did give the opportunity to reprise the cream of British acting talent, and even one notable new member. Kelly McDonald turns up as the ghost of Helena Ravenclaw. And it was good to see John Hurt's Olivander at the beginning. David Yates keeps the action on track, and the ending replicates the book. Thank goodness.

It was panned by the critics, but on another blank week, ("Beginners" was not even on during the day at Wycombe) "Arthur" was the best I could do, on Senior Screen again. So despite not being a fan of Russell Brand, I was pleasantly surprised. But then I was never a great fan of Dudley Moore in the original. If anything, Brand is less manic and certainly less slapstick. The strength of the movie is the screenplay. This is by the British writer Peter Baynham. He wrote "I'm Alan Partridge " for five years and the same silly, dry humour shines through. Maybe not to everyone's taste. The movie looks terrific and the costumes, lighting etc are all great. Stir in some more Brits, Helen Mirren and Geraldine James, and it cannot fail. Except that it does depend on the lead role. I would say that Russell Brand almost pulls it off, but then I cannot think of anyone who could have done it better.