‘Puss in Boots’ out this week
The Oscar-nominated “Puss in Boots” has all the hallmarks of a Dreamworks animation film, a mash-up of fairy tales and hipness. It is, after all, a spin-off from the “Shrek” franchise.
Antonio Banderas is back again, voicing the fluffy, puffed-up swashbuckling cat who at the drop of a hat can give you a irresistible pitiful look guaranteed to melt your heart. In this tale, the feline finds himself mixed up in a plot involving Humpty Dumpty — there are plenty of egg jokes — the Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs, Jack and Jill, and Mother Goose herself.
Along the way Puss meets up with another cool cat, Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek), who at first is a rival. But after a flamenco/salsa dance number between the two, they become allies but always with a bit of romantic tension. Having been in a number of live films together, there is a nice give-and-take between Hayek and Banderas — even if it is just in their voices.
Beyond that “Puss in Boots” is what it is. Visually, it’s bright and shiny, and the bad Jack and Jill, voiced by Billy Bob Thornton and Amy Sedaris, are fun characters — sort of Beverly Hillbillies gone wrong. At least, it doesn’t try too hard with the culture references like the later “Shrek” films. Kids will like it, and parents won’t mind it.
‘The Way’
In “The Way,” Dayton native Martin Sheen plays an ophthalmologist named Tom, whose only son, Daniel (Emilio Estevez, Sheen’s real son), dies in the Pyrenees while trying to walk the Way of St. James (also known as the Camino de Santiago), a pilgrimage of hundreds of miles that ends in northwest Spain at a cathedral where the Apostle James is said to be buried. Tom then makes the trek himself, scattering his son’s ashes along the way and befriending fellow travelers. Lovingly directed by Estevez, “The Way” is not a faith-based film but more a meditative story about spiritual change.
New films
Puss in Boots $29.99/ Blu-ray $39.99
J. Edgar $28.98/ Blu-ray $35.98
Tower Heist $29.98/ Bluray $34.98
The Way $26.99/ Blu-ray $32.99 The Mighty Macs $26.99 Martha Marcy May Marlene $29.98/ Blu-ray $39.99
London Boulevard $30.99/ Blu-ray $35.99
The Son of No One $26.98/ Blu-ray $29.99
Honey 2 $29.98/ Blu-ray $34.98
Television
Weeds: Season Seven $39.98/ Blu-ray $39.97
Nurse Jackie: Season three $39.98/Blu-ray $39.97
American Experience: Clinton $29.99/ Blu-ray $34.99
Borgia: Season one $39.98