Little Red Riding Hood is a story that has been reshaped and revised for hundreds of years. It has been touched by the hands of Charles Perrault, the Brothers Grimm and more recently by computer animation in Hoodwinked. Only a red cape, a grandmother, a wolf and the woods are necessary to deem a story a retelling of this classic fable. Catherine Hardwicke’s Red Riding Hood contains all of these elements, but little beyond these symbols exist to connect her story to its more classical narrative.

In this rendition, the girl cloaked in red is no longer a child, but now a young woman. She lives in a medieval village that is isolated from the outside world because of an evil creature that haunts and torments the town. Monthly, during each full moon, the townsmen sacrifice their finest livestock to keep the beast’s murderous tendencies dormant. Violence still erupts, though, and a young woman is slaughtered. The victim’s inconsolable sister is Valerie (Amanda Seyfried) and the rightful owner of the nearly blood red cloak. Her grief for her deceased sister is immense, but her ultimate torment comes from the agony of a star-crossed romance with a man that she cannot have.

Peter, played by Shiloh Fernandez, is that one true love. He is a dangerous and handsome woodcutter, destined to be poor, but consistent in his broody sex appeal. Tragically, she is betrothed to Henry (Max Irons). Henry is an amicable, attractive and quite wealthy fellow, but far too passive and decent to win Valerie’s heart. She has no fire for him, but his love to her remains true. Basically, just think of Team Edward and Team Jacob and nearly all of the details regarding the love triangle will be explained.

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As if the first trailer for Warner Bros’ Green Lantern wasn’t enough earlier today, we’re getting yet another cinematic treat in the form of the first trailer for Warner’s Red Riding Hood is now showing it’s face.

The film comes from Twilight and Thirteen director Catherine Hardwicke, and stars upcoming actress Amanda Seyfried, so you know there is a built in teen audience well before the trailer even hit. Here’s the official synopsis.

In “Red Riding Hood,” Seyfried plays Valerie, a beautiful young woman torn between two men. She is in love with a brooding outsider, Peter (Shiloh Fernandez), but her parents have arranged for her to marry the wealthy Henry (Max Irons). Unwilling to lose each other, Valerie and Peter are planning to run away together when they learn that Valerie’s older sister has been killed by the werewolf that prowls the dark forest surrounding their village.

For years, the people have maintained an uneasy truce with the beast, offering the creature a monthly animal sacrifice. But under a blood red moon, the wolf has upped the stakes by taking a human life. Hungry for revenge, the people call on famed werewolf hunter, Father Solomon (Gary Oldman), to help them kill the wolf. But Solomon’s arrival brings unintended consequences as he warns that the wolf, who takes human form by day, could be any one of them. As the death toll rises with each moon, Valerie begins to suspect that the werewolf could be someone she loves. As panic grips the town, Valerie discovers that she has a unique connection to the beast–one that inexorably draws them together, making her both suspect…and bait.

We already have our theory about the film based on the trailer. Check it out after the jump and weigh in. Red Riding Hood hits theaters on March 11th.

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As a general rule, Westerns tend to be what Sergio Leone labeled “fairy tales for grown-ups.” They may not always be sophisticated, but they reside in a quasi-historical land of cool where even the dust, sweat, and blood seems to be part of the fun. Very few Westerns ever delve into the brutal realities of the frontier.

There’s a good reason for that – misery is not entertaining.  McCabe and Mrs. Miller is proof of the rule.  This is not a enjoyable movie. This is the bonechilling reality that underpins all your Western myths, Manifest Destiny, John Ford and Conestoga wagons.  Robert Altman’s unfortunates come before all that. They’re the desperate people scraping a town together for their own profit so that civilization can come in and build over the opium-addicted ashes.

McCabe and Mrs. Miller is a footnote-in-history movie, the kind of story that exists only in dusty judicial records. McCabe (Warren Beatty) arrives in a mining outpost and decides to build a brothel.  Mrs. Miller (Julie Christie, the most beautiful woman alive) gets wind of it, and arrives to muscle in with her superior knowledge. They’re a success, and of course big business gets wind of it, and wants to buy them out.  McCabe dissembles, and they send in the bounty hunters.  No, it doesn’t end well.

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