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The first edition of Complete Idiot's Guide to Bridge by H. Anthony Medley was the fastest selling beginning bridge book, going through more than 10 printings. This updated Second Edition includes some modern advanced bidding systems and conventions, like Two over One, a system used by many modern tournament players, Roman Key Card Blackwood, New Minor Forcing, Reverse Drury, Forcing No Trump, and others. Also included is a detailed Guide to Bids and Responses, along with the most detailed, 12-page Glossary ever published, as well as examples to make learning the game even easier. Click book to order. | |
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Red Riding Hood (8/10) by Tony Medley Run time 100 minutes. OK for children. This isn’t the Red Riding Hood I remember from childhood. It’s much better. It also isn’t the horror film that advertisements would lead you to believe. In fact when I checked into my screening I asked if it would scare me. One lady said yes and the other said no. The “no” was right. It’s not a scary movie. Even though it’s not particularly scary, it is an entertaining movie with fine performances all around, but especially by Julie Christie as the Grandmother with big eyes and Amanda Seyfried as Red Riding Hood. Red is in love with a woodcutter, Peter (Shiloh Fernandez), instead of the choice of her mother (Virginia Madsen), Henry (Max Irons). They all live in an isolated village in the forest living in fear of a werewolf who occasionally forages and kills people. This is basically a mystery; who is the werewolf and why is it doing what it’s doing? A werewolf killer, Solomon (Gary Oldman), is brought in to find the answer. He conducts an Inquisition-type investigation of which Fra Savonarola would be proud, even though nobody is actually burned at the stake (which was the fate that also befell Savonarola, dying by the sword with which he lived). Oldman gives a fine performance, but the person who stands out is Christie, who looks terrific and acts better. There are lots of clues incriminating most of the characters. Director Catherine Hardwicke and writer David Johnson do a good job of leading the viewer to and fro before the final dénouement. I thought this a fine mystery helped by mystical cinematography (Mandy Walker) and production design (Thomas E. Sanders) of the village isolated in the middle of the forest . As a postscript, I think the producers have made a big mistake advertising this film as a scary horror film. I don’t think they could figure out whether they were making a Twilight knock-off or a horror film, when, in reality what they were making was a mystery. I’ve had many people ask me if it’s a horror film when I tell them how much I enjoyed it. From what I can determine by the way people are reacting, they are staying away because they think it’s something it’s not. Those that stay away are missing an entertaining film with fine acting and ambience.
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