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Puss in Boots

  • Title: Puss in Boots
  • IMDB: link

puss-in-boots-blu-rayReprising his role from Shrek 2, Antonio Banderas returns in this prequel which explores the history and legend of Puss in Boots. The Shrek spin-off is available on Blu-ray and DVD this Friday.

Puss in Boots centers around the relationship between Puss (Antonio Banderas) and Humpty (Zach Galifianakis) whose childhood friendship was destroyed after Humpty violated Puss’ trust by tricking him into becoming an outlaw.

Reunited with Humpty and his companion Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek), and against his better judgement, Puss agrees to help Humpty fulfill his childhood dream of climbing the beanstalk and finding the goose that lays the golden eggs. To achieve this they’ll have to steal the magic beans from Jack (Billy Bob Thornton) and Jill (Amy Sedaris) and stay one step ahead of the murderous pair to claim the prize.

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Martha Marcy May Marlene

  • Title: Martha Marcy May Marlene
  • IMDB: link

martha-marcy-may-marlene-dvdElizabeth Olsen stars in writer/director Sean Durkin‘s story of a woman’s struggles to reassmilate with the outside world after living in a cult for two years. Durkin’s tale is a slow burn thriller that jumps between flashbacks of Martha’s (Olsen) time in the Catskill Mountains and her present paranoia and uncertainty now that she’s left that world behind.

Out of the blue Lucy (Sarah Paulson), receives a phone call from a phone call from her younger sister and brings Martha home to live with her and her husband Ted (Hugh Dancy). The longer Martha stays with the couple the more obvious it becomes that there is something seriously wrong with her.

Not only does Martha not understand basic boundaries (like not coming into her sister’s room and laying down on the bed when Lucy is having sex with her husband), but she’s also haunted by memories of the cult, which she will not discuss with her sister, and feels increasingly suspicious that they are still watching her and laying in wait to bring her back into their family.

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Tower Heist

  • Title: Tower Heist
  • IMDB: link

tower-heist-blu-rayDirector Brett Ratner hasn’t had what I would call a distinguished career. Other than the fun, but increasingly dumb, Rush Hour series the director’s filmography mostly contains movies which are best left forgotten.

However, at least for me, the true highlight of Ratner’s career was a heist film he made back in 2004 starring Pierce BrosnanSalma Hayek, Woody Harrelson, and Don Cheadle. After the Sunset isn’t a great film by any definition, but it is a pretty good heist flick that’s far more fun than it has any right to be.

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Waste of Time

  • Title: In Time
  • IMDB: link

in-time-dvdIn a world where the population is genetically engineered to stop aging at 25, time becomes a commodity to be bartered, traded, and stolen. Without acquiring more time those who have already reached their 25th birthday begin to see the final year of their limited life start to fade away.

When a wealthy benefactor (Matt Bomer) looking to die bequeaths Will (Justin Timberlake) a century of time the young man from the ghetto learns the truth about how time is horded by the wealthiest class and decides to do something about it.

Kidnapping a young girl (Amanda Seyfried) and persued by a time cop (Cillian Murphy), Will does his best by living day to day with a limited amount of time by committing the worst crime in the world, the same thing that got his father killed – giving away time.

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Project Nim

  • Title: Project Nim
  • IMDB: link

project-nim-dvdFrom director James Marsh, Project Nim examines the study undertaken in the 1970’s which was an attempt to prove a chimpanzee, raised by humans, could be taught to act human and communicate through Sign Language.

The documentary includes interviews from several of those involved in the project including Herbert S. Terrace who led and championed the study for years but eventually concluded Nim only learned signs tied to certain rewards but never developed a full understanding of the language he was using.

Project Nim has an amazing wealth of documentary footage taken from the study. With this footage, and the interviews, Marsh puts together a film that not only documents the study but captures the emotional experiences of those involved with Nim including those who only saw him as an experiment, those who thought of him as part of their family, and those who were physically attacked by a chimpanzee they had come to view as a friend.

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