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Red Riding Hood: Eat It Up

Shannon Vestal — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 03:05:00 PST

Why is supernatural romance all the rage these days? When you see a movie like Red Riding Hood, a mature take on the classic fairy tale, you understand why. Director Catherine Hardwicke re-imagines the story, jumping off the basic points (young girl in a red cape, bloodthirsty wolf, grandmother in peril) and manipulates it into a sexy mystery that's equally appealing for both the beautiful cast and whodunit plot. Amanda Seyfried stars as the title character, Valerie, with a juicy dilemma: she's in love with poor woodcutter Peter (Shiloh Fernandez) but her hand has been promised to well-off tinsmith Henry (Max Irons).

Romantic entanglements prove to be the least of Valerie's worries, though. A big bad wolf has tormented her village for ages, but when it claims a young victim, the townspeople panic. A famous priest (the incomparable Gary Oldman) visits to help them, bringing a new piece of information - the villagers are actually being hunted by a werewolf. The witch hunt that follows is distressing for everyone, but it's worse for Valerie as she wonders if her smokin' hot lover Peter could be the wolf everyone fears. Hardwicke manages to draw out the satisfying puzzle while seducing the audience, making Red Riding Hood a deliciously guilty pleasure.

Find out why I enjoyed the movie when you

read more. Red Riding Hood is all about looks; the cast members are striking, especially an ethereal Seyfried, who finds balance in the role of an innocent girl who may have some evil lurking within her. Although, it's hard to muster up sympathy for her character's romantic drama when you see the men she's caught between. Dark-haired, dark-eyed Fernandez perfectly fills the role of bad boy with his effortless smolder, while Irons is the fair-haired good guy (who may be too good to be true). As she did with Robert Pattinson in Twilight, Hardwicke proves she has a knack for picking exceptionally promising unknown actors. Likewise, the gorgeous scenery - all snowy trees, cozy cottages, and threatening woods - combined with the costumes make for a sumptuous setting. However, some of the budget might have been better spent on CGI. The special effects used to create the big bad wolf are just plain bad. The other negative to Red Riding Hood (I don't call it a guilty pleasure for nothing), is the dialogue, bits of which are so unsubtle that you won't be able to hold in your groans. But that's not really surprising for a movie like this, so if there's a part of you that can appreciate some silly but sexy cheesiness, then by all means, indulge.

Amanda Seyfried and Catherine Hardwicke Talk Fairy Tales and Twilight at the Red Riding Hood Premiere

Lindsay Miller — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 10:34:55 PST

Amanda Seyfried chose purple Lanvin for the premiere of her dark new film Red Riding Hood at Mann's Chinese Theater last night in LA. The debut also drew Breaking Dawn's Nikki Reed and American Idol's final 13. Elle cover girl Amanda wasn't with her real-life love, Ryan Phillippe, on the red carpet. Instead, she posed with her two sexy leading men, Shiloh Fernandez and former model Max Irons. The spin on the classic fairy tale was helmed by Twilight's Catherine Hardwicke, who years ago chose Shiloh as a finalist for the part of Edward Cullen. The actor said it took three auditions before Catherine finally cast him in one of her movies, but that it was worth the wait. Catherine, meanwhile, told us Amanda was the perfect pick for the part of Red. The director also talked about her former leading lady, Kristen Stewart, who is starring in another adaptation of a Brothers Grimm tale - Snow White. She revealed that Kristen will kick ass in the role, which makes the heroine less of a damsel in distress than past versions. Check out today's PopSugar Rush for even more from our interviews with Catherine and the cast!

2011 Oscars: Virginia Madsen

BellaSugar — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 15:35:03 PST

Virginia Madsen just showed up on the Oscars red carpet wearing a truly dramatic feathered Romona Keveza dress. She opted for a curly updo, diamond chandelier earrings, and a bright red lipstick. The gown is definitely a showstopper - the color blocking is fresh, and the feathers add that extra something special. What do you think of Virginia's look?

Vote on all of our Oscar polls here!

The Human Stars of Avatar Make Their Way to LA

PopSugar — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 14:30:51 PST

The stars of Avatar hit the blue carpet in LA last night to celebrate the Golden Globe nominated epic 3D film before it hits theaters this Friday. Director and writer James Cameron was on hand alongside stars Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana. Sigourney Weaver was also there along with her two daughters. Audrina Patridge spent a good chunk of yesterday filming for her upcoming show, but she was able to put on a poufy jacket just in time for the screening. The cast moved on afterwards to a special bash at David Arquette's Propr store, where they mixed film talk with humanitarian efforts to benefit the Save Darfur organization.

For more photos from the premiere, just read more.

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Images include: Audrina Patridge, Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Michelle Rodriguez, Sigourney Weaver, Leona Lewis, Giovanni Ribisi, Virginia Madsen, Buzz Aldrin, Brendan Fraser, Cuba Gooding Jr, Joel Moore, James Cameron, Jamie Lee Curtis, Danny DeVito

2009 Tribeca Film Festival Spotlight: Kate Hudson's Cutlass

BuzzSugar — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 08:15:00 PDT

I've been perusing the long list of interesting-looking movies scheduled for this year's Tribeca Film Festival, which continues in New York this week. It will be a while till many of the buzzworthy feature films hit theaters, so I'm excited that some of the festival's short films are online for anyone to view. One of those I was particularly curious to see is Cutlass.

The 16-minute film marks Kate Hudson's directorial debut, and she also wrote the screenplay. Compared to most shorts (at least the ones without celebrity directors), this movie has a pretty amazing cast, including Kristen Stewart, Kurt Russell, Virginia Madsen, Dakota Fanning, and Chevy Chase. The quick summary of the story: A mom (Madsen) can relate to her daughter (Fanning) about wanting to buy something really, really badly. The cinematography looks gorgeous, as does Stewart, who plays a younger version of Madsen's character and is kind of a knockout as a blonde.

You can watch the entire movie right here, so to check it out and let me know what you think about Hudson's filmmaking skills, just

Movie Preview: The Haunting in Connecticut

BuzzSugar — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 14:36:24 PDT

This movie doesn't open until sometime next year, but someone must have wanted to take advantage of the Halloween spirit by releasing the trailer for it now. The Haunting in Connecticut is a based-on-real-events movie in which a family moves to a spooky old home, only to be haunted by the terrible things that happened there years ago. Turns out, their new home used to be a mortuary.

It does look frightening, though most of this comes from jump-scares and glimpses of things that look like they might be really gross, but you don't know for sure so your mind fills in the blanks with gross things anyway. It's too bad this isn't coming out for a while; I'd be all for making this a Halloween-time must-see.

To check out the trailer for yourself,

Hancock Swoops Into LA With Smiths Galore and More

Molly — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 06:01:00 PDT

After a trip around the world, Hancock hit LA last night with a high profile premiere. The Smith family is quite the red carpet pack now, perfecting the group pose for the camera - Jada was looking especially gorgeous in green - before Will was off to also pose with his costars. The next big movie star (at least in his head) Diddy was there as was Charlize nuzzling up to Stuart and Jason Bateman with his wife. Will looked overjoyed and recently talked about how great things are. He told Parade, "I feel like an athlete who has just caught my prime. I'm in the best physical condition of my life. I love what I do. I feel like this is truly the time for me to make my artistic sprint in my career." For now though, it's time to watch and see how his newest Summer blockbuster fares at the holiday weekend box office he made his own.

To see more from the premiere including the Smith family, Jason Bateman, Minnie Driver, Peter Berg, Chris Daughtry and others just read more

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Images include: Charlize Theron, Jada Pinkett Smith, Jaden Smith, Jason Bateman, Minnie Driver, Stuart Townsend, Tatyana Ali, Virginia Madsen, Will Smith, Peter Berg, Thomas Jane, Chris Daughtry, Justine Bateman, Amanda Peet, Queen Latifah, Tia Mowry, Willow Smith, Diddy, Tyrese Source and Source

Buzz News Roundup, 4/23

BuzzSugar — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 13:30:45 PDT

Showtime's The Tudors has been renewed for a third season, USA Today reports.
Variety has news that Ang Lee's next directorial project will be Taking Woodstock, the autobiography of Elliot Tiber, a Catskills motel worker who played a pivotal role in making the Woodstock concert happen.
Naomi Campbell will guest-star on the season finale of Ugly Betty, the Associated Press reports.
Virginia Madsen has joined the cast of the Amelia Earhart biopic, which already included Hilary Swank and Richard Gere, writes ComingSoon.
Mariah Carey had her best album debut ever this week, easily landing at the top of the charts, Billboard reports.
TV Land will be airing a modeling competition focusing solely on women 35 and older; details are at The Futon Critic.
Tom Cruise's 13-year-old son Connor will have a minor, nonspeaking part as the younger version of Will Smith's character in the drama Seven Pounds, the AP reports.
Contestants from the VH1 game shows with "love" in the name (Flavor of Love, etc.) will compete in a new show called For Love or Money to win cash prizes, TV Guide reports.
Variety has the just-announced lineup for this year's Cannes Film Festival, which will include Clint Eastwood's 1920s thriller The Changeling starring Angelina Jolie, Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona . . . and Kung Fu Panda.

Photo courtesy of Showtime

MK Befuddles Among Otherwise Cute New Years in April

Molly — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 06:03:00 PDT

Oh, MK...no...just no. Mary-Kate Olsen looked a touch ridiculous (sad face) at last night's New Year’s in April: A Fool’s Fête event to support New Yorkers for Children. At least her fellow partygoers including the always impeccable Leighton Meester and Emmy Rossum saved the event from being a full on velvet headband debacle. Speaking of which - love it or hate it? I kid, I kid MK. I may not always love the way she dresses herself, but I am an Olsen fan to the end and at least her fall line for Elizabeth and James and upcoming movie The Wackness are both saving graces. Plus, it's hard to be hard on her when she's out for such a good cause with all the other fabulous philanthropic celebs last night.

To see more from the event including Carson Kressley, Rachel Zoe, Virginia Madsen, Zac Posen, Kim Raver and others just read more

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Images include: Carson Kressley, Emmy Rossum, Jennifer Missoni, Katie Lee Joel, Leighton Meester, Margherita Missoni, Mary-Kate Olsen, Rachel Zoe, Virginia Madsen, Zac Posen, Kim Raver Source

Celebrities (and Sightings) Still Cycling Through Sundance

Molly — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 00:46:19 PST

While my exhausted tail returned to San Francisco last night, the fun rolls on at Sundance with a whole new group of celebs coming into town to brave the cold and show off their movies. Other than Diddy, who was mostly there to show off his vodka. Lukas Haas separated himself from Leonardo DiCaprio long enough to premiere his movie, Death in Love which Buzz and I saw last night - totally disturbing (though Adam Brody was really cute in it) - before also seeing him out to breakfast this morning. It's going to be a while before I can look at him in the same way. Buzz was there to see Meg Ryan, Felicity Huffman and William H. Macy at the premiere of Meg/William's cute movie The Deal on Tuesday night, while my only other sighting of these folk was Virgina Madsen at the premiere of her movie Diminished Capacity. I had such a blast at the festival, and be sure to check out all my partner in crime's thoughts plus all the news about movies being bought over on Buzz.

To see more from the festival just read more

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Images include: Sanaa Lathan, Sean Combs, Justin Martin, Audra McDonald, John Stamos, Phylicia Rashad, Jason Ritter, Meg Ryan, William H. Macy, Felicity Huffman, Bijou Phillips, Lukas Haas, Virginia Madsen, Jacqueline Bisset, Josh Groban, Eric Balfour, Josh Lucas, Steven Schachter, Lil Jon, Dennis Quaid, Kimberly Buffington, Lauren Graham, Brooke Mueller, Brittany Murphy Source