Puss in Boots

PUSS IN BOOTS Blu-ray Review

by Andre Dellamorte    Posted: April 1st, 2012 at 5:40 am

The Shrek film series has been pretty terrible for a while now. When the first film came out it was exciting and new, and seemed to suggest a Looney Tunes approach to the newfangled trend of CG animation. Alas, subsequent entries were terrible. They’ll probably go back to the Shrek well again, but until then, they’ve given us Puss in Boots, which is better than (though indebted to) the Shrek sequels by a wide margin. Antonio Banderas stars as the titular Puss, a womanizing feline who’s known as a great thief. Here he partners with Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek) and Humpty Dumpty (Zach Galifianakis) to plant the beanstalk seeds owned by Jack and Jill (Billy Bob Thorton, Amy Sedaris). Our review of the Blu-ray of Puss in Boots follows after the jump.

2012 Oscar Nominations Announced; HUGO and THE ARTIST Lead the Pack

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: January 24th, 2012 at 6:05 am

The nominations for the 84th Annual Academy Awards have finally been unveiled. Many of the categories have fallen in line just as most have predicted (I fared alright with my predictions, but not great), with Hugo scoring 11 nods, followed closely by The Artist with 10. The biggest surprises are War Horse and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close getting in for Best Picture, the exclusion of The Adventures of Tintin from Best Animated Feature, and The Tree of Life nabbing Best Picture and Best Director nods (hooray!). On the snub side of things, despite landing the most precursor critics awards of any other actor in the race thus far, Albert Brooks was denied a Best Supporting Actor nod for his stellar work in Drive (boo). Additionally, Tilda Swinton was overlooked for giving the best performance of the year in We Need to Talk About Kevin, and AMPAS has no love for Michael Fassbender‘s haunting work in Shame.

There’s still plenty to be happy about, as Gary Oldman has his first ever Oscar Nomination (yes, that’s right) and Melissa McCarthy is a Best Supporting Actress nominee. Hit the jump to check out the full list of nominees. The 84th Academy Awards will be presented by Billy Crystal on February 26th.

HUGO, DRAGON TATTOO, and THE ARTIST Among ACE Nominees for Excellence in Editing

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: January 16th, 2012 at 6:35 pm

The American Cinema Editors have announced their list of nominees for the 62nd Annual Eddie Awards. Before you brush editing off as an insignificant category, take note that no film has won the Best Picture Oscar without at least a Best Editing Eddie nomination in 20 years. Martin Scorsese’s longtime collaborator Thelma Schoonmaker was nominated for her work on Hugo, as were last year’s Oscar winners Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Other films singled out include The Artist, The Descendants, Midnight in Paris, Moneyball, and Young Adult.

On the television side of things, Breaking Bad, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Friday Night Lights, and Game of Thrones all landed nods. Hit the jump to see the full list of nominees. ACE’s 62nd awards ceremony, hosted by Patton Oswalt, will be held February 18th.

Antonio Banderas Talks HAYWIRE and the PUSS IN BOOTS Sequel; Wants to Direct, Produce, and Star in Sci-fi Project SOLO

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: January 12th, 2012 at 9:10 am

With director Steven Soderbergh’s spy-action pic Haywire opening January 20th, this past weekend I got to sit down with most of the cast to talk about making the movie.  Starring MMA fighter Gina Carano as a burned spy who takes revenge against her handlers, Haywire also stars Channing Tatum, Michael Fassbender, Ewan McGregor, Michael Angarano, Antonio Banderas, Michael Douglas, and Bill Paxton.  I’ve seen Haywire twice now and it’s fantastic.  On top of Carano’s star-making performance, the action scenes are some of the best I’ve seen in years.   It’s absolutely something you should see in a theater.

During my interview with Banderas we talked about how he got involved in Haywire, his feelings on not being involved in more of the action scenes, karaoke, his home recording studio, and what’s up with the Puss in Boots sequel.   In addition, he talked about a sci-fi project that he’s developing (called Solo) which he would direct, produce and star in.  Hit the jump to watch.

97 Original Scores Up for Oscar; DRIVE and ATTACK THE BLOCK Ruled Ineligible

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: December 23rd, 2011 at 12:04 pm

As the 84th Academy Awards move closer, we’re starting to get a better sense of how things will pan out. We recently shared the 39 songs that will contend for the Best Original Song category, and now the Academy has announced the 97 original scores eligible for the Best Original Score award. AMPAS is notoriously picky when it comes to eligibility in this category, and as we feared the scores for both Drive and Attack the Block have been deemed ineligible. Also disappointing is the ineligibility of Alexandre Desplat’s mesmerizing score for The Tree of Life.

While it’s upsetting to see some of the year’s best work side-lined, there’s plenty to be happy about. I was a huge fan of Howard Shore’s work in Hugo and Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’s score for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, as well as The Chemical Brothers’ brilliant work in the criminally underseen Hanna. Hit the jump for the full list, as well as who I think will make the cut.

2012 Oscar Preview: Best Animated Feature, Best Original Screenplay, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Technical Category Quick Picks

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: November 26th, 2011 at 10:19 am

Continuing on with our look at the 2012 Oscar race, today we delve into Best Animated Feature and the technical categories. As Pixar’s Cars 2 was the studio’s worst-received feature to date (it currently sits at 38% on Rotten Tomatoes), we’ve got ourselves an actual competition in the Animated Feature category. Not only that, but if all 18 films that were submitted to the Academy are deemed eligible, we’ll have a total of five nominated films. This leaves us to debate the merits of Rango and The Adventures of Tintin against the likes of Puss in Boots and Arthur Christmas.

Additionally, we’ve taken a stab at Best Original Screenplay, Best Adapted Screenplay, and the technical categories. As these are incredibly tricky to predict this far out (and my picks would be doomed to haunt me come February), I’ve simply listed a couple of frontrunners in each category instead of going in depth. Though it’s still early, we’ve got an overall picture of how things look like they’ll stack up; so hit the jump to check out the state of the race so far. If you missed our previous preview articles, be sure to take a look at our picks for Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress, and Best Actor and Best Actress.

Weekend Box Office – IMMORTALS Stays On Top with $32 Million; JACK AND JILL Second with $26 Million

by Nicole Pedersen    Posted: November 13th, 2011 at 8:56 am

Jack and Jill gained some ground on Saturday, though not enough to slay the Immortals.  The 3D action/fantasy film finished first with an estimated $32 million from 3,112 locations. Considering that the film’s distributor was expecting a top opening of $26 million that has to be seen as a win.  And even if the film’s total does look somewhat anemic compared to past 3D hits, with the year we’ve had I’d prefer to focus on the positive.

	Title	Weekend	Total
1	Immortals	$32,000,000	$32
2	Jack and Jill	$26,000,000	$26
3	Puss In Boots	$25,500,000	$108.8
4	Tower Heist	$13,200,000	$43.9
5	J. Edgar	$11,470,000	$11.5
6	Harold and Kumar 3D	$5,900,000	$23.2
7	In Time	$4,150,000	$30.6
8	Paranormal Activity 3	$3,625,000	$100.8
9	Footloose	$2,735,000	$48.8
10	Real Steel	$2,000,000	$81.7

Weekend Box Office – PUSS IN BOOTS Snatches First Place from TOWER HEIST with $33 Million

by Nicole Pedersen    Posted: November 6th, 2011 at 9:22 am

And the bad news for new releases just keeps coming. Despite placing first on Friday, the Universal comedy Tower Heist could not pull off a weekend win. The all-star ensemble took in just $25.1 million from 3,367 locations or ten million less than it was expected to command. The culprit? Looks like audiences who kept Puss In Boots at the low end of its own projections last weekend came out in force for round two: giving the Dreamworks Animation release an impressive 97% hold and a second week at number one.

	Title	Weekend	Total
1	Puss In Boots	$33,000,000	$75.5
2	Tower Heist	$25,100,000	$25.1
3	Harold and Kumar 3D	$13,100,000	$13.1
4	Paranormal Activity 3	$8,525,000	$95.3
5	In Time	$7,700,000	$24.2
6	Footloose	$4,550,000	$48.8
7	Real Steel	$3,407,000	$78.7
8	The Rum Diary	$2,987,000	$10.4
9	Ides of March	$2,000,000	$36.8
10	Moneyball	$1,900,000	$70.3

Friday Box Office – TOWER HEIST Breaks In with $8.1 Million; HAROLD AND KUMAR 3D Looks Soft in Third

by Nicole Pedersen    Posted: November 5th, 2011 at 8:50 am

Despite a couple of big weekends, overall box office was down by over 10% in October.  That means that November has to be a blockbuster for this year to have a chance of breaking even.  Too bad it’s not going to get a lot of support from its first batch of new releases.  Tower Heist debuted at number one with an estimated $8.1 million from 3,367 locations.  While not bad, it’s also not the overwhelming win that Universal was looking for from their all-star ensemble.  Even worse, the comedy has a good chance of losing its number one stats to Puss In Boots by Sunday.  Last weekend’s number one film may have been held back by that freak East Coast snow storm; meaning the family film could experience a better than expected hold and a second weekend leading the box office.  Finally, a 3D price premium did not do much for the latest Harold and Kumar comedy.  A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas took in an estimated $5.4 from its 2,875 locations and is expected to end the weekend with around $15 million: or roughly the equivalent of what Harold and Kumar 2 earned for its own two dimensional debut in 2008.  We’ll have details and analysis tomorrow.

	Title	Friday	Total
1	Tower Heist	$8,100,000	$8.1
2	Puss In Boots	$7,800,000	$50.2
3	Harold and Kumar 3D	$5,400,000	$5.4
4	Paranormal Activity 3	$2,900,000	$89.6
5	In Time	$2,500,000	$19

18 Animated Feature Films Submit for 84th Annual Academy Awards

by Dave Trumbore    Posted: November 4th, 2011 at 2:49 pm

Under consideration for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature will be 18 contenders, some of which have yet to have their qualifying runs on screen. Major features include The Adventures of Tintin, Rango and Cars 2. Disney/Pixar has won 6 out of 10 years, while winning the last four in a row, but with DreamWorks’ Kung Fu Panda 2 and Puss in Boots in the running, it could very well be their turn. Though there are some dark horses in the mix.

Submitted films must satisfy the category’s qualifying rules, including their theatrical release, in order to continue the submission process. In order to activate the award category at all, no fewer than 8 animated features must be released in theaters in Los Angeles County within the calendar year. If these films meet requirements for other categories, including Best Picture, they may be eligible for those awards as well. Hit the jump to see the full list.

Weekend Box Office: PUSS IN BOOTS Tops with $34 Million in Record Halloween Weekend

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: October 30th, 2011 at 9:59 am

Dreamworks Animation’s Puss in Boots was poised to have a killer weekend, but Snowtober had other plans. The 3D Shrek spinoff still claimed the top spot with $34 million, but a freak snowstorm in the Northeast and Halloween weekend led to this weekend being fairly soft overall. Despite all the snow, Puss still managed to earn the record for Halloween weekend, narrowly beating out 2006’s Saw III which took in $33.6 million. The sci-fi actioner In Time opened to an as expected $12 million, while the weekend’s other wide release The Rum Diary made a mere $5 million. Hit the jump for more. [Update: The post has been updated with analysis on the full top ten.]

	Title	Weekend	Total
1	Puss in Boots	$34,000,000	$34,000,000
2	Paranormal Activity 3	$18,500,000	$81,300,000
3	In Time	$12,000,000	$12,000,000
4	Footloose	$5,400,000	$38,400,000
5	The Rum Diary	$5,000,000	$5,000,000
6	Real Steel	$4,700,000	$73,900,000
7	The Three Musketeers	$3,500,000	$14,800,000
8	The Ides of March	$2,700,000	$33,500,000
9	Moneyball	$2,400,000	$67,400,000
10	Courageous	$1,800,000	$27,600,000

Friday Box Office – PUSS IN BOOTS Dominates with $9.6 Million

by Nicole Pedersen    Posted: October 29th, 2011 at 9:10 am

No surprises here, Dreamworks Puss in Boots took the top spot at Friday’s box office with an estimated $9.6 million from 3,952 locations.  The spinoff to Shrek – the most profitable animated franchise of all time – is poised to take in $35 million by Sunday: enough to give the 3D title the new Halloween-weekend record.  That means that, after breaking its own records last weekend, the holiday’s only scary movie, Paranormal Activity 3, will fall to second place.  Sci-fi newcomer In Time took third on Friday with an estimated $4.3 million and is expected to top out in the low teens for the weekend.  Meanwhile, The Rum Diary debuted in what looks like fourth place with $1.8 million from 2,272 locations.  The film had to share that estimate with Footloose, but is expected to come in slightly higher by Sunday with a weekend total of $7 million.  Details and analysis tomorrow.

	Title	Friday	Total
1	Puss in Boots	$9,600,000	$9.6
2	Paranormal Activity 3	$6,500,000	$69.2
3	In Time	$4,300,000	$4.3
4	The Rum Diary	$1,800,000	$1.8
5	Footloose	$1,800,000	$34.8

Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek PUSS IN BOOTS Interview

by Christina Radish    Posted: October 28th, 2011 at 8:18 am

In Puss in Boots, the adorable little creature with the deep voice who became a fan favorite in the Shrek films gets to go on his own adventure. A notorious fighter, lover and outlaw, Puss (Antonio Banderas) sets off with the tough and street smart Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek) and his childhood best friend Humpty Dumpty (Zach Galifianakis), in search of magic beans to grow a beanstalk that will lead them to the fabled goose that can lay golden eggs. Making things rather difficult for them is the notorious Jack and Jill (Billy Bob Thornton and Amy Sedaris), who will do anything to see that the trio does not succeed.

At a press conference for the film, Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek talked about how lucky and proud they are to be a part of the film, working without a script ahead of time as the story was developed along the way, and how the got the unusual opportunity to do a voice recording session together. Check out what they had to say after the jump:

Director Chris Miller Talks PUSS IN BOOTS and Collaborating With Guillermo del Toro

by Christina Radish    Posted: October 27th, 2011 at 4:26 pm

An animator, story artist, performer and filmmaker, Chris Miller has been an integral part of the hugely successful Shrek animated film series, since its inception. And, as someone who could tell that the charming and unforgettable Puss in Boots was a cat destined for great things, it’s no surprise that he was the right man to helm the adventure story.

At the press day for Puss in Boots, we spoke to director Chris Miller during a press conference and a 1-on-1 interview about when he realized that the devilish cat with the tremendous heart deserved a movie of his own, wanting to make his a tale of redemption, the changes made during the film’s development, the influence that executive producer Guillermo del Toro had on the film, how much extra material was generated that could end up on the DVD/Blu-ray, and that he hasn’t thought about making the transition to live-action that so many other animation directors are currently doing. Check out what he had to say after the jump.

PUSS IN BOOTS Review

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: October 27th, 2011 at 12:30 pm

Puss in Boots is an adventure movie, but the advertising and the film’s first act would like you to believe otherwise.  The filmmakers can’t be held responsible for DreamWorks Animation’s marketing campaign, but they can take the blame for setting up their movie as an action-comedy before choosing to drop the jokes and shifting into a rote adventure film that takes no chances, makes dated references, and short-changes its title character.  Ironically, the technical aspects of the movie are full of passion, but the story is as soulless and calculated as they come.

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