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.

DreamWorks Animation and Paramount have released a number of new images from director Chris Miller’s Puss  in Boots.  Featuring the voices of Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Zach Galifianakis, Billy Bob Thornton and Amy Sedaris, Puss in Boots takes place before the events of Shrek.  Here’s the synopsis:

“Long before he even met Shrek, the notorious fighter, lover and outlaw Puss in Boots becomes a hero when he sets off on an adventure with the tough and street smart Kitty Softpaws and the mastermind Humpty Dumpty to save his town.  This is the true story of The Cat, The Myth, The Legend…The Boots.”

I got to see the opening of the film earlier this year and walked away very impressed by the footage.  Of course, it might have something to do with Guillermo del Toro…as he executive produced the film.  Hit the jump for the new images.  Puss in Boots gets released November 4.

Tanner Hall played at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival but sat on the shelf of distributor Anchor Bay for almost two years.  Now it’s getting released because of one person: lead actress Rooney Mara.  Because Mara went and got herself cast in the juicy role of Lisbeth Salander in David Fincher’s adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, there’s at least a name that can somewhat elevate the film’s profile and audiences can go “Hey, isn’t that the chick from The Social Network?”.  It’s not much but it’s more than Anchor Bay had last year.

But when you see the trailer, it’s not tough to see why the film sat on the shelf.  It looks like Dead Poets Society with privileged teenage girls at a boarding school flick as opposed to privileged teenage guys at a boarding school.  If you are going to see one girls boarding school drama this year, I recommend seeing Jordan Scott’s Cracks instead.  Back to Tanner Hall, hit the jump to see the trailer.  The film opens September 9th.

The theatrical trailer for DreamWorks’ Puss in Boots has landed online and I have to admit that it looks like it could be a lot of fun. Featuring the vocal talents of Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Zach Galifianakis, Billy Bob Thornton, and Amy Sedaris, the pic is set before the feline protagonist meets up with Shrek and centers on an adventure in which he must protect the “Golden Eggs” from falling into the wrong hands. While I’m as skeptical as the next person about the necessity of spinoffs such as Puss, if its done in an entertaining and clever way I won’t hold its inherently derivative nature against it. Based on what I’ve seen and heard from the film thus far, it looks as if Puss in Boots could stand on its own fairly well.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer for yourself. Directed by Chris Miller (Shrek the Third) , Puss in Boots hits 3D theaters later this year on November 4th.

That Robin Williams and John Travolta made a terrible comedy together is no surprise, the only notable aspect is that it was made in 2009 and called Old Dogs. Neither is above doing shit, and shit is what they made. But it’s interesting to think of how many times the two could have been paired: It could have been done in the early 80′s as a miss-matched partners comedy. It could have been done any time in the 1990′s post-Pulp Fiction. And had this film come out in the mid-to-late 90′s, it would have been almost the same film too. The two star as ad execs with Williams finding out the woman (Kelly Preston) he married on a lark had twins and is about to go to jail. The kids need looking after and these long time bachelors have to find out if they can be parents. My review of Old Dogs after the jump.

Once again, with the Toronto Film Festival set to begin in a few weeks, I’ve been provided with a ton of new images from the many films that are premiering at the festival. So rather than waste any time, after the jump take a look at new images “Jennifer’s Body”, “The Road” and “Youth in Revolt”. All three look like they could be really good.