DEATH OF TRADITIONAL CINEMA

*may contain spoilers IN TIME has an intriguing enough premise: in the near future, people stop aging at 25, and from then on everyone is left with only a year to live unless you are rich and can buy off more time-the other alternatives are either to win time in a fight (a la arm wrestling) or steal. However, big corporations are manipulating the system to ensure their survival, and there are policemen who hunts anyone who breaks that system. The story's hero is a common man, Will Salas (Justin Timberlake), a factory worker living in the ghetto, who goes after the faceless corporations after the unjust death of his mother (Olivia Wilde). Infiltrating the ranks of the rich and elite, he is forced to kidnap Sylvia Weis, the beautiful young daughter (Amanda Seyfried) of a time businessman (Vincent Kartheiser) in order to elude capture from timekeeper Raymond Leon (Cillian Murphy) and his men.  Sylvia unexpectedly becomes drawn to Will's cause, and her life's lack of thrill ...

RED RIDING HOOD works well as a popcorn flick when you let yourself get whisked away with Catherine Hardwicke's storytelling focus on the small village with which the film takes place. Sure, RED RIDING HOOD is ridden with cliches and traces of Twilight, but it is a cliched film that is better than most cliched films, and certainly better than Twilight. Here goes your R-18 version of Grimm's Fairy Tales. Film critic Roger Ebert noted that he did not recall any "riding" involved with the kids' tale. I'm perfectly okay with a loose adaptation as long as it will not feel like an insult. Hardwicke's setting is dreamy. It's isolated, it's snowy, and full of trees- perfect for a semi-horror setup. Amanda Seyfried may very well be just a towering sex symbol,  and we do not necessarily have to admire her acting here (CHLOE remains as her only notable film outing). The presence of visual testosterone Shiloh Fernandez and Max Irons only confirms what I jus...