Antonio Banderas

Antonio Banderas enjoys moving from the adult to the children's film world. Grown-ups know the 44-year-old Spanish actor for his work with director Pedro Almodovar in such controversial films as "Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!" But thanks to the popular "Spy Kids" action franchise, Banderas has become family-friendly. And he further solidified his young fan base in this year's No. 1 movie, "Shrek 2," which was released Friday on DVD.

Dashing hat with debonair feather? Check. Footwear made for walking? Check. Alluring Spanish accent? Double check. The cat is back. After supporting roles in three "Shrek" movies, the feisty feline Puss in Boots finally has a film of his own, and those who have cried out for animated justice will be saying "It's about time. " A treat to experience visually (especially in lively 3-D) and verbally, "Puss in Boots" is a family film where the adventure and invention never flag and the tongue-in-cheek humor doesn't linger far behind.

It was around 2 o'clock one afternoon near Guaymas, Mexico, and temperatures were hovering at a throat-parching 118 degrees. The heat had been so brutal that urgent calls had gone out to Mexico City to send salt tablets for cast and crew members who were beginning to wilt. And there was the hair-raising admonition of watching where one stepped. More than a dozen men would fan out to clear the area of poisonous snakes, and they were averaging three or four rattlers a day.

In the 25 years since he started making movies with Pedro Almodóvar, Antonio Banderas says one thing hasn't changed: The iconoclastic director is still leading Banderas toward the edge of the creative abyss. And he is still diving in. "Basically what you have to do with Pedro Almodóvar is take a leap of faith as an actor," Banderas said recently, settling into a sofa after a cigarette break in a Beverly Hills hotel suite. "Sometimes you're working with him and you feel like he's pushing you to a cliff.

During the production of the new romantic drama "The Other Man," Antonio Banderas confessed to leading lady Laura Linney that he felt insecure about his performance. "She said, 'That is very good because you are stepping into new territory,' " the star of such films as "The Mask of Zorro," "Evita" and "Shrek 2" says. "Every time you step into new territory, you know you are not exactly doing the same thing and you are not getting comfortable," he says. "This character made [me]

Thankfully, after summers filled with the forbidding cinematic couture of Batman and Robin, we have a superhero with fashion taste we can relate to.

Puss in Boots, that suavest of swashbuckling cats, surely had a life of adventure before hooking up with Shrek and Donkey and the gang. DreamWorks Animation and director Chris Miller certainly thought so. With that premise in mind, "Puss in Boots," a "Shrek" prequel with Antonio Banderas returning as the voice of the sexy but manipulative tabby, hits theaters Nov. 4. In this adventure, Puss reunites with his old friend Humpty Dumpty and...

"Of Love and Shadows" is the right story told the wrong way. Based on Isabel Allende's novel, it is an old-fashioned adventure-romance that lays bare the human rights atrocities committed in Chile under the Pinochet military regime. It is yet another of those international co-productions in which the stars speak English in ill-matched accents and the supporting players are dubbed into English, giving the movie an instant and deadly synthetic quality.

In "Shrek Forever After," the latest edition of DreamWorks' billion-dollar animated franchise, we find the much-domesticated ogre in the midst of a major midlife meltdown. But hot cars and hotter babes won't soothe this savage beast — he's just looking to get his angry back. As it happens, middle-aged angst suits Shrek and the movie quite well. After the blahs of 2007's "Shrek the Third," "Forever After" comes back with more heart and much of the kick-in-the-pop-culture-keister cleverness that made the greenish brute such a breath of fresh air when "Shrek" first blew into town nearly a decade ago. Allegedly the "final chapter" — though it feels about as final as a Cher farewell tour — the film's usual suspects are back too with Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy and Antonio Banderas reprising Shrek, Fiona, Donkey and Puss in Boots (for those of you who really have been far, far away)

Diane Flogerzi advises me to get the story out quickly. I'm typing as fast as I can. "Let me tell you one thing about this," she says. "There are a lot of people involved, and a lot of connections everywhere." With that, she explains the mission. And make no mistake, it is a mission. One fraught with urgency. A huge mistake is about to be made, she says. It could affect generations to come. Time is critical. People must act. The problem?

Puss in Boots, that suavest of swashbuckling cats, surely had a life of adventure before hooking up with Shrek and Donkey and the gang. DreamWorks Animation and director Chris Miller certainly thought so. With that premise in mind, "Puss in Boots," a "Shrek" prequel with Antonio Banderas returning as the voice of the sexy but manipulative tabby, hits theaters Nov. 4. In this adventure, Puss reunites with his old friend Humpty Dumpty and...

In "Shrek Forever After," the latest edition of DreamWorks' billion-dollar animated franchise, we find the much-domesticated ogre in the midst of a major midlife meltdown. But hot cars and hotter babes won't soothe this savage beast — he's just looking to get his angry back. As it happens, middle-aged angst suits Shrek and the movie quite well. After the blahs of 2007's "Shrek the Third," "Forever After" comes back with more heart and much of the kick-in-the-pop-culture-keister cleverness that made the greenish brute such a breath of fresh air when "Shrek" first blew into town nearly a decade ago. Allegedly the "final chapter" — though it feels about as final as a Cher farewell tour — the film's usual suspects are back too with Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy and Antonio Banderas reprising Shrek, Fiona, Donkey and Puss in Boots (for those of you who really have been far, far away)

During the production of the new romantic drama "The Other Man," Antonio Banderas confessed to leading lady Laura Linney that he felt insecure about his performance. "She said, 'That is very good because you are stepping into new territory,' " the star of such films as "The Mask of Zorro," "Evita" and "Shrek 2" says. "Every time you step into new territory, you know you are not exactly doing the same thing and you are not getting comfortable," he says. "This character made [me]

Antonio Banderas enjoys moving from the adult to the children's film world. Grown-ups know the 44-year-old Spanish actor for his work with director Pedro Almodovar in such controversial films as "Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!" But thanks to the popular "Spy Kids" action franchise, Banderas has become family-friendly. And he further solidified his young fan base in this year's No. 1 movie, "Shrek 2," which was released Friday on DVD.

In Ridley Scott's "G.I. Jane," Demi Moore's character, in training for the Navy SEALs as the first woman recruit, asks a medic why the guys join. Explains the medic: "To blow [stuff] up." It would be hard to find a more perfect expression of the primitive pleasure involved with watching movies such as the new action movie "Ballistic: Ecks Vs. Sever" than that.

Since his meteoric rise as one of Hollywood's sexiest leading men, Antonio Banderas has been itching to work on non-studio films. Not that he's complaining about commanding multimillion-dollar salaries and being the only Latino actor cast as the lead in major studio productions, among them "The Mask of Zorro" and "Evita." But having been nurtured as an actor in Europe, Banderas wanted to return to the subtler, slower-paced films that star-making studios normally don't make.

Antonio Banderas finally achieved something that has eluded him during his career--the starring role in a certified box-office hit. "The Mask of Zorro," the swashbuckling tale from Sony's TriStar Pictures co-starring Anthony Hopkins and Catherine Zeta-Jones, overcame stiff competition to top the box-office chart, grossing $22.5 million. The new comedy "There's Something About Mary" earned $16.6 million for fourth place.

Since his meteoric rise as one of Hollywood's sexiest leading men, Antonio Banderas has been itching to work on non-studio films. Not that he's complaining about commanding multimillion-dollar salaries and being the only Latino actor cast as the lead in major studio productions, among them "The Mask of Zorro" and "Evita." But having been nurtured as an actor in Europe, Banderas wanted to return to the subtler, slower-paced films that star-making studios normally don't make.

Thankfully, after summers filled with the forbidding cinematic couture of Batman and Robin, we have a superhero with fashion taste we can relate to.

Antonio Banderas finally achieved something that has eluded him during his career--the starring role in a certified box-office hit. "The Mask of Zorro," the swashbuckling tale from Sony's TriStar Pictures co-starring Anthony Hopkins and Catherine Zeta-Jones, overcame stiff competition to top the box-office chart, grossing $22.5 million. The new comedy "There's Something About Mary" earned $16.6 million for fourth place.