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The Secret Life of Pets,

directed by Chris Renaud and Yarrow Cheney

(PG, 1 hour, 30 minutes)

Kids and adults will find much to enjoy in this bright, slight animated comedy -- witty, fast and fun -- about what big-city pets, left alone in apartments during the day while their owners trudge off to work, get up to.

It's told from the perspective of a rounded little terrier named Max (voice of Louis C.K.) whose seemingly perfect co-existence with his adored human Katie (voice of Ellie Kemper) is sorely tested when she brings home a big, furry, abandoned mutt named Duke (voice of Eric Stonestreet) who threatens to usurp Max's cherished top-dog position.

But all that's forgotten when the pair slip their leashes (thanks to an inattentive dog walker) and, while trying to find their way home, find themselves mixed up with a militant bunch of homeless former pets led by a manic revolutionary bunny named Snowball (voice of Kevin Hart).

With the voices of Jenny Slate as a fluffy Pomeranian named Gidget who's enamored of totally uninterested Max, Bobby Moynihan as a squirrel-obsessed pug, Lake Bell as a plump, laconic cat, and Albert Brooks as a scheming hawk whose skills as a hunter come in handy.

Heart of a Dog (not rated, 1 hour, 15 minutes) An ethereal and poetically rambling reflection by multimedia/performance artist Laurie Anderson on the deaths of her husband, Lou Reed; her mother; her friend Gordon Matta-Clark; and beloved rat terrier Lolabelle; illustrated with 8mm home movies, ­iPhone footage, a canine-level camera, and dreamy animated sequences.

For the Love of Spock (not rated, 1 hour, 51 minutes) Lawyer turned filmmaker Adam Nimoy draws an arresting if sometimes too-personal documentary portrait of the development and making of the beloved character Mr. Spock of Star Trek, played by his dad, Leonard Nimoy, who died in 2015 at the age of 83.

Kicks (R, 1 hour, 20 minutes) A promising but not-quite-there-yet effort that concerns a put-upon and poor city-dwelling kid named Brandon (Jahking Guillory) who yearns for a pair of posh sneakers, which he is sure will improve his miserable lot in life. Once they're acquired, they bring nothing but trouble. With Christopher Jordan Wallace, Kofi Siriboe; directed by Justin Tipping.

Call of Heroes (not rated, 12 hours) A bloody samurai battlefest with echoes of spaghetti Westerns, this aggressive actioner concerns a collection of soldiers who, returning home in the aftermath of the collapse of the Qing dynasty in China in the early 1900s, band together to take on a cruel warlord who threatens their village and its innocent occupants. With Sean Lau, Louis Koo, Eddie Peng; directed by Benny Chan. Subtitled.

MovieStyle on 12/09/2016

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