New on DVD: A princess, an assassin, and a robot

With plenty of new DVD releases this week, which ones are worth your time? Here's our SixSeeds rundown.

The Princess and the Frog

Animated Kids' Movie

The Gist: In a Disney twist on the classic fairy tale, a prince is turned into a frog. But instead of a kiss from a beautiful girl setting him free, it turns her into a frog as well.

The Ups: Set in New Orleans and the bayou, this film has lots of beautiful animation and catchy music. Like all Disney princess movies, it's full of dreams and heart. And it's a history maker. Tiana is the first African-American Disney princess.

The Downs: Some parents found the villain, a voodoo practitioner of black magic, to be too intense.

The Verdict: Rent it.  This film doesn't quite reach the magic of classic Disney movies, but even falling short of that mark is still pretty amazing.

Be Aware: Rated G for General Audiences.

 The Fourth Kind

Horror/Suspense

The Gist: People have been disappearing from a small Alaskan town. Is it polar bears? Moose run amok? No, silly. Aliens.

The Ups: A few suspenseful scenes.

The Downs: This film is shot in that shaky, pseudo-documentary style that makes people nauseous. Just plain clumsy as a movie, it's hard to tell if the filmmakers want you to believe it's true.

The Verdict: Skip it. If you want shaky camera work and scary images, watch grandma's video of last Thanksgiving.

Be Aware: Rated PG-13 for violent/disturbing images, some terror, thematic elements and brief sexuality. IMDB Parents Guide

Astro Boy

Animated Kids' Movie

The Gist: A human-like robot with really cool rockets in his heiny sets out to find his destiny, then comes home to save his city.

The Ups: Well made and poignant at times, this movie has keeps kids entertained while exploring some deeper themes.

The Downs: Movies like "Up" and "Wall--E" have set the bar for animation so high that pretty good films like "Astro Boy" look pale in comparison. Hmm...Perhaps that's actually an "up."

The Verdict: Rent it. It's worth a watch.

Be Aware: Rated PG for some action and peril, and brief mild language. IMDB parent's guide.

Broken Embraces

Foreign Film - Spanish

The Gist: A beautiful woman (Penelope Cruz) is mistress to a powerful man. She falls for a film producer, but will her jealous and obsessive boyfriend allow her to be happy? The story comes in a series of flashbacks from her now-blind love.

The Ups: Cruz is easy on the eye. Always.

The Downs: Maybe it's just me, but this movie was confusing and lacked a satisfying conclusion. It doesn't help that I was under the impression for half the movie that the blind guy was faking being blind. He's not. Trust me.

The Verdict: Skip it. If you're looking for a film by director Pedro Almodovar, watch "Volver." It's a better film.

Be Aware: Rated R for sexual content, language and some drug material. IMDB Parents Guide

Ninja Assassin

The Gist: Dude is a ninja. And an assassin.

The Ups: Ninja. Assassin. Need I say more?

The Downs: Light on style and heavy on blood.

The Verdict: Depends. Sometimes you just need to watch ninjas being assassins. It's ok. I get it. It's not a great movie, but we're not expecting "Casablanca" here.

Be Aware: Rated R for strong bloody stylized violence throughout, and language. IMDB Parents Guide

Did you Hear about the Morgans?

The Gist: A couple on the verge of divorce (Sarah Jessica Parker and Hugh Grant) witness a murder and are sent to witness relocation. Can it save their marriage?

The Ups: The stars are usually likable.

The Downs: Lackluster performances, lazy execution, and a cliche-riddled plot add up to a lot of ho-hum

The Verdict: Skip it.

Be Aware: Rated PG-13 for some sexual references and momentary violence. IMDB parents guide

At SixSeeds, we talk about the stories that surround modern life.  We love movies -- in fact, we even have a “brick and mortar” called SixSeeds Video in Winchester, Massachusetts! We know that good films have an amazing power to move, inspire, and sometimes even transform life.  Bad ones make you regret plunking down the $10 for the privilege of listening to the guy next to you chew milk duds for two hours.

That’s why we want to keep you informed of the latest offerings on DVD and Blu-Ray.  Listing the new releases below doesn't mean you should rush out and watch them with your pre-schoolers.  In fact, over the course of the next few months, we’ll list many we wouldn’t let our teenagers watch.  (Some, we regret watching!)  But somewhere in America, a teenager is going to come to their parent and say, “Hey, I’m supposed to bring the movie to the slumber party.  May I bring...?”

And right there in the aisle of the video store, a decision will be made. 

Come back next week to read “The RunDown,” America... and choose wisely!