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Animated Satirical Comedy
There's trouble in the hood.
CAST AND CREDITS:

STARRING THE VOICES OF: Anne Hathaway, Patrick Warburton, Glenn Close, David Ogden Stiers, Jim Belushi, Andy Dick, Xzibit, Tom Kenny,Anthony Anderson, Chazz Palminteri
DIRECTED BY: Cory Edwards
WRITTEN BY: Tony leech, Todd Edwards, Cory Edwards, Zak Penn, Frank Miller
PRODUCED BY: Maurice Kanbar, Sue Bea Montgomery, Preston Stutzman, David Lovegren
DISTRIBUTED BY: The Wienstein Company/ Alliance Atlantis
RATING USA... Rated PG for some mild action and thematic elements.
RATING CANADA... Rated PARENTAL GUIDANCE Mild Violence





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"Red Riding Hood. You probably heard the tale."
 Right off the bat, I have to tell you, kind and gentle reader...get your butt out to see this film and take the kids. You betcha, this is one great movie for the entire family. The film works for the older viewers that like their film noir detective stories and for the children who will adore the excellent cgi animation and Boingo the Bunny among other characters. Hey, even the teenagers will like this one since Granny Puckett, in this film is no helpless old granny. She is a rootin' tootin' extreme sports enthusiast who shoots, paraglides, rides snow boards, skis and has no problem lobbing a few gernades at bad guys. The sweet, but not so sweet Granny, voiced by Glenn Close is proud of all the trophies she's won in extreme competitions. Of course we have to keep this to ourselves, see, because she doesn't want anyone to know, so hush is the word.

A SHOCKING CRIME WILL BECOME THE WORLD'S GREATEST MYSTERY


"If you want to hear the whole truth, you have to flip through the pages."
 Something sinister is happening in the woods. The forest is being threatened by the Goody Bandit, who is stealing all the recipes for world famous goodies and cookies. Meanwhile at Granny's quaint little cottage a mystery unfolds involving, Red Riding Hood, Granny, The Wolf and the axe wielding Woodsman. A domestic disturbance at Granny's house brings out the police to investigate the shenanigans going on there in. Furry and feathered cops from the animal world investigate with the help of special investigator Nicky Flippers, who insists that there are four susspects, so, there must be four stories. Nicky is obviously a rip of actor William Powell's THE THIN MAN, who of course was named Nick. The cops decide to arrest everyone at the scene and in true detective movie style. They are held for questioning by Nicky Flippers. This well dressed frog interrogates the four suspects letting each of the quartet tell their story. Now we learn the real truth of what happened at Granny's house on that fateful day when evil machinations of the worst Machiavellian kind brought these four participants together.

"What've we got?"
"Ah, it's a domestic disturbance. Breaking and entering, wielding an axe without a license...intent to eat."
 The angry and gruff Chief Grizzly (Xzibit) and the mild mannered Detective Bill Stork (Anthony Anderson) who arrived to investigate the domestic disturbance at Granny's cottage sit impatiently and listen to the suspects surrounded by his officers consisting of such characters as a raccoon, reindeer and the three little pigs. Grizzly just wants to arrest someone because he believes one of these four could be the insidious Goody Bandit. If you listen and watch the tales told by the four you should see the clues you need to figure out who the real bandit is before the officers of the law beat you to it. So, watch careful, listen intently and try not to laugh to loud because you may miss an important clue.

"You again? What do I have to do? Get a restraining order?"
 Right away you will be able to tell this is going to be one sharp film full of witty satire and laughs. The director and writers give us lots for our money with their inventive and keen script and quick dialogue. We are treated to beautiful animated visuals, song and dance routines, fast paced action and hair raising thrills as the story unfolds before our eyes. I am sure, like myself you will really, really enjoy this animated film. It will be on your dvd buying list after you see HOODWINKED! The True Story of Red Riding Hood. Am I gushing to much? Sure I am, because I want you to see just how much I enjoyed this 80 minute film. I thik this one will become a samll classic to be enjoyed by many for many years to come. Okay enough of this for the nonce, on to the story.

"So, Red. Why don't you explain how this all began."
 First up the saucy and quite literate Little Red Riding Hood tells her tale to Nicky Flippers. Little Red tells Nicky, the thin moustached, well dressed frog, that even though she delivers goodies for Granny she really longs to travel, beyond the woods, to see the whole wide world. Still, she can't disappoint her Granny so she continues to make her deliveries. Then one day she finds a note on Granny's cookie store door. The note makes it clear Granny is to be the Goody Bandit's next victim. Fearing the worst, Red takes the secret recipes from Granny's vault and with the help of her good friend Boingo the Bunny proceeds to take the secret documents to Granny's cottage in the mountains. On the way she meets the big bad wolf who is marvelously voiced by Patrick Warburton. He is perfect for this character. Most of you will remember Warburton as the actor how brought the TICK to the small screen a few years ago and up to 2004 he starred in the television comedy, LESS THAN PERFECT with voice co-star Andy Dick (Boingo). After much daring-do, Red escapes the big bad wolf and as she continues her journey she meets up with the banjo picking, always singing hillbilly goat who was cursed for the past 37 years to sing everything he says. Trying to get answers from this wooly character is an ordeal in itself, but, soon he is taking Red on a rollercoaster ride on a mine car that is sure to please and impress. Along the way they have to outrun an avalanche (you'll see who starts it later), and eventually fly through the air where a mysterious voice tells Red how to save herself. Yes she eventually makes it to Granny's house where she does the 'what big eyes you have' routine with the wolf, discovers a tied up Granny and then is accosted by a screaming axe wielding madman. This brings us to the present and to the end of Red's version of this tale.

"Shaw...Rick Shaw...I'm from Japan."
 To the music from KILL BILL, the Wolf begins the explanation of his participation in the sordid events that led him to Granny's cottage. First off this is a nice twist on the the big bad Wolf character. It seems that the big furry beast is really an investigative reporter who writes the column Facts and Fairy Tales for the local newspaper. Wolf is aided and abetted by Twitchy, a squirrel who is wound up so tight that he seems to be on the biggest caffeine high you have ever seen. He spouts his sentences out so fast that people have to tape record his voice to listen to it at slow speed. When Twitchy is asked if he drinks coffee, he states he never drinks the stuff, leaving the viewer wonder what would happen if he ever did drink a cup of java. Will we find out if he ever does? See the movie and find out.

"Ever thought about decaffinated coffee?"
"I don't drink coffee."
 It seems that the Wolf has been investigating the story about the Goody Bandit with Twitchy by his side. Events lead him to suspect the involvement of Little Red Riding Hood, since more cookies pass through her hands than anyone else's in the forrest. Using spy equipment, information from Boingo the Bunny and even lamb informants from the local herd, Wolf gets enough information to lead him to Red's location. Now don't ask how, but Wolf finally confronts her when she falls out of a cable car in the sky. He insists, that unlike what Red stated in her version of events, that he was only trying to garner information from her and not eat the young hooded cookie delivery girl, as Red claimed earlier. Unfortunately events lead to the Wolf ending up in the river with Red escaping him.

"You're looking pretty tasty."
"Don't be like that."
 Like any good reporter, Wolf does not give up and contiues to follow her into the mountains and end up in a minig car that is just behind Red and the singing goat. Unfortunately the car is full of dynamite. Now any good cartoon enthusiast knows that when you put many sticks of dynamite in a mining car it is bound to go boom. What you never watched a Roadrunner cartoon? Shame on you. Yes this is how we see Red flying throught he sky in her version of the events. Lots happens but eventually Wolf ends at Granny's where he insists that she was already tied up when he got there and Twitchy's photos can prove it. How? Come on now, I can't tell you everything.

"So what's this...a letter opener?"
 Next comes the oafish Woodsman's (Jim Belushi) tale. It seems that Kirk is really a frustrated thespian, that's right a wanna be actor who happened upon this scene while rehearsing for the part in Paul Bunyan Soothing Creme commercial. As we find out during a rousing musical number, Kirk's regular job is that of a Schnitzel on a Stick salesman.

"It would be safe to say, our thespian here knows the least of anyone in here."
 Simply, our tree cutting woodsman was out practicing his tree cutting skills for his call back audition when he gets caught in the path of a falling tree. A tree that sends him flying into Granny's house, screaming and swinging his axe in a manical manner. He was an unfortunate particpant in all this, or was he?

"I'm not like other grannies. I like living life to the extreme."
 Granny's version of events will give you plenty of good laughs as she tells of her exploits into extreme sports. Granny's antics cause her to interact with the characters in strange and funny ways as you will see when you go to see this film. I'm going to say very little about her tale becasue it may give away too many interesting surprises.

"You be careful Granny Puckett, old ladies get hurt on these slopes."
 While everyone else is trying to make it to Granny's house we find the sturdy cookie entrepreneur on the ski slopes competing in another extreme sport competition....but she has enemies out to harm her. So how does Granny end up all tied up back i her own home? Who is out to get her? Where do all these events lead to? To find out you will have to let this review lead you to your local big screen place of entertainment.

"You've been hoodwinked baby."
 The story's gimmick of course is finding out how each character's version of events, and their interaction with each other leads them to Granny's cottage. The story is far from over once their tales are told. We still have to discover the identity of the Cookie Bandit and how he or she comes into the mix. There is still lots of funny antics and excitment to come after the four tell their tales to Nicky Flippers. See what happens to Twitch. See what happens to Boingo The Bunny. Does Kirk get his acting gig? Will Wolf continue on as a reporter or will his animal instincts get the better of him? What is THE HAPPILY EVER AFTER AGENCY? Will the Cookie Bandit get his comeuppnace? Are you just going to sit there or are you going to get up and see this movie?

"If a tree falls in the forest, there are three stories-yours, mine and the tree's."
 This Christmas season there will be lots of good films to see, such as the CHRONICLES OF NARNIA but please do not overlook this wonderful little film. HOODWINKED deserves your attendance. I am certain that you will love this film, so much so that you will even purchase or rent it to see it again once it hits the store shelves. So don't Scrooge out, bundle up the family, herd them to the car, drive to your local theatre, pull out the wallet and see this film, you will certainly not be HOODWINKED. Don't forget the M&M's. Happy Holidays.

"We don't arrest people for being creepy."


"I may lead a double life full of secrets and deceptions..."


"...and then the craziest thing happened."


"Red is Blue...doesn't make sense."


"Time to shred some powder."


"What?? They're evil...I'll prove it."


"I always did like happy endings."

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Vincent Marchesano also known as Vince enjoys watching all types of films and enjoys reviewing them. At an early age he became enamoured with motion pictures especially horror films, fantasy films and science fiction films. His tastes quickly were amended to include all other film genre, from westerns to romances and epic films from all over the world. His taste in films became wide and eclectic as was his taste in music. He loved to watch Movie Classics, Feature Films, American Movie Classics, monster movies, Canadian Movie Classics, Classic Movies, War Films, American Movies of all types, Canadian Movies, Adventure movies, action movies, featuring especially John Wayne. His interest in Classic Films began with the Marx Brothers films and with the 1920's Lon Chaney version of Phantom of the Opera Movies. He soon began reading about Film Stars and Directors in American Films and Italian films which gave him a great appreciation for Orson Welles and Fredrico Fellini, THe advent of video tapes brought him a whole new appreciation for, American Movies, Classic Cinema, American Cinema, Films, Hollywood, Movies, Classic Hollywood, Film Reviews, Black and White Movies, Silent Films, Silent movies,Actress, Actors, Westerns, Horror, Hollywood Drama, science Fiction, Drama, Comedy, Sex, terror, Adventure, Monster movies, Thrillers, thrill, Hollywood Stars, , Motion Picture, Show, horror movies, Talking Pictures, Hollywood Documentary and War Movies. Moving Picture viewings were no longer limited to Silver Screens of repetoire Movie Theaters where he was introduced to Technicolor Films, action films, suspense, suspense movies as 35mm features. At these cheap theatres that dotted the landscape 35mm, 35mm movies and 16mm movies became his inspiration which helped his story telling when drawing his super hero comic strips as well. The new digital age brought in dvds,digital movies,videos, tapes which he could watch in the comfort of his home. His interest in films at one point brought him into the theatrical exhibition field where he ran several discount houses as well as art theaters and drive-in movie theaters. He quickly realized that he was not happy with how most reviewers reviewed films he was showing. This lead him in the idea of writing more industry friendly Movie reviews. His movie review were reviewed within their own categories. Gone were reviews where Godzilla would be compared to some Fellini film. He believed that horror movies should be compared to other horror and fantasy films. Romance movies should be compared to other films of that genre. Vince very rarely disliked any film except for his great disdain for Existenz and Scenes From A Marriage. He can watch King Kong, The Great Escape, Bringing up Baby, Marx Brothers and Killer Klowns From Outer Sapce over and over. He likes to enjoy many classics such as Citizen Kane and Wizard of Oz but he has a soft spot for cartoons which he can watch over and over especially Betty Boop and Popeye along with all the warner Brother characters. He know continues to review films at a slower pace due to lack of time but he promises to do more. So many films to watch, so little time, but where there is a will there is a way.