Jackie
Jem and the Holograms-Kids’ Movie Review
The power of social media!! Jerrica Benton is a quiet, though very talented teenage girl, who writes her own music, sings and plays guitar. Her songs help her deal with the day to day stress of being a teenager girl. However, her quiet life soon ends when her sister, Kimber, posts one of Jerrica’s tunes online, and before you know it’s gone viral. Now the world wants to know that quiet and humble girl. Based on a the popular 1980’s cartoon, Jem and the Holograms is an entertaining film, especially for pre-teen girls.
Rating: 4 and 1/2 out of 5 buckets
Release Date: January 19, 2016
MPAA Rating: PG
Best Age Group: 8+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent/Disturbing Content: None
Crude or Profane Language: Moderate
Drug and Alcohol Content: None
Will Kids Like It? Yes
Talking Points:
- Jem and the Holograms is a little corny in parts, though entertaining for tweens. The film highlights the importance of family and loved ones in your lives. One of the girls says…”A home is a place where you’re surrounded by people who you love and who love you regardless.”
- At the recording studio’s headquarters, the girls are told that the “house rules” demand no drinking, no smoking and no venturing out after curfew.
- The positive and negative aspects of social media is noted. A character says that paparazzi photos “live longer than vampires.”
- The teens break into a building and run from the police. One of the girls has a habit of stealing things.
Sexual Content: Mild
- We see a teenage couple making out.
- A teenage boy is shown only wearing a towel, waist down. A teenage girl walks in on him and admires his physique.
Violent/Disturbing Content: None
Crude or Profane Language: Moderate
- “A–,” is said a few times, we also hear “h—.”
Drug and Alcohol Content: None
Will Kids Like It? Yes
Overall Jem and the Holgrams is an enjoyable musical drama. Depending on the child, this is appropriate for kids ages 8 and up.
Goosebumps-Kids’ Movie Review
Moving to a new city can be difficult, especially for a teenage boy whose father had just passed away. Zach Cooper (Dylan Minnette) is upset about moving from New York City to a small town in Delaware. Though things quickly change when Zach meets his beautiful new neighbor, Hannah (Odeya Rush). Zach discovers that Hannah’s father is R. L. Stine (Jack Black), the author of the bestselling “Goosebumps” series. Things get exciting when Zach accidentally releases the monsters from R. L. Stine’s novels. Now Zach’s boring small town becomes an adventurous city. Goosebumps is a thrilling Halloween film, especially for pre-teens.
Rating: 4 out of 5 buckets
Release Date: January 26, 2016
MPAA Rating: PG
Best Age Group: 10+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent/Disturbing Content: Excessive
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
Drug and Alcohol Content: None
Will Kids Like It? Yes
Talking Points:
R. L. Stine, known as the “Stephen King of children’s literature,” is an author that kids and tweens are very familiar with. Goosebumps is a creative film, one that will most likely appeal to Stine’s fans. Parents need to be aware of the violent parts that will scare young kids.
Sexual Content: Mild
- A teenage couple kiss.
- Innocent flirting.
Violent/Disturbing Content: Excessive
- The first monster to escape is the Abominable Snowman. He destroys an ice rink’s scoreboard, a Zamboni and a vending machine. He chases some teenagers as well.
- We see close-up of snarling werewolves, which may scare youngsters.
- A werewolf chases a group of teenagers through a grocery store.
- A praying mantis grabs a boy through a school window. Later we see him in a neck brace.
- Humans fight with ceramic gnomes, smashing them to the ground.
- A monster closes a typewriter case on Stine’s finger, breaking most of them.
- Aliens freeze most of the townspeople.
- We see a group of half-decomposed zombies at a cemetery.
- A group of monsters attend a high school dance, scaring the students.
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
- “H—,” said once.
Drug and Alcohol Content: None
Will Kids like it? Yes
Overall this is a fun, though scary, Halloween film. Great for tweens who like scary movies.
Goosebumps-Kids’ Movie Review
Pan-Kids’ Movie Review
How did Peter Pan, the mischievous boy who could fly, come to be? Peter (Levi Miller) is a 12- year-old boy living in a dark and dreary orphanage in London. He has some good friends at the orphanage, though the nuns are cruel and unkind to the boys, so he is miserable. Then one night Peter’s life drastically changes as he’s swept away into a whole new world…Neverland. There Peter meets new friends and has many new adventures as he must rescue the town from the ruthless Pirate Blackbeard (Hugh Jackman). It’s also in Neverland where Peter becomes the hero known as Peter Pan. Pan is the prequel to the beloved story about a magical boy who can fly…Peter Pan.
Rating: 4 out of 5 popcorn buckets.
Release Date: December 22, 2015
MPAA Rating: PG
Best Age Group: 10+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent/Disturbing Content: Excessive
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
Drug and Alcohol Content: Mild
Will Kids’ Like It? Yes
Talking Points:
Sexual Content: Mild
- Hook flirts with Tiger Lilly.
Violent/Disturbing Content: Excessive
- German fighter planes bomb homes and buildings.
- We see Peter living in a dreary orphanage. The boys are verbally abused by nuns.
- Flying pirate ships crash.
- Vicious birds attack children and adults.
- Children are kidnapped by pirates and forced to mine for fairy dust
- A boy almost drowns by being dragged under water by a gigantic crocodile.
- Blackbeard is a cruel and evil villain, who will most likely scare young kids.
- Tiger Lilly gets into fights with several men as they manhandle her and slam her to the ground.
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
- “H—,” is said a couple of times
Drug and Alcohol Content: Mild
- Blackbeard uses a device to inhale pixie dust so he can restore his youth.
Will Kids Like It: Yes
Overall Pan is a fantasy adventure; depending on the child it’s appropriate for kids ages 10 and up. Parents need to be aware of the excessive violence throughout the film.
The Martian-Teen Movie Review
Mark Watney (Matt Damon) says he loves what he does, and he’s good at it. However, being stranded alone on planet Mars was not something he loved. Mark and a crew of fellow astronauts went to Mars, and after a fierce storm the crew left Mark behind on the hostile planet, as he was presumed dead. With only a limited amount of supplies, Mark had to find the strength and will to survive on the planet and get back home to Earth. The Martian, based on a bestselling novel, is a wonderful inspirational drama and appropriate for teenagers.
Rating: 4 out of 5 popcorn buckets
Release Date: January 12, 2016
MPAA Rating: PG13
Best Age Group: 13+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent/Disturbing Content: Moderate
Crude or Profane Language: Moderate
Drug and Alcohol Content: Mild
Will Teens Like It? Yes
Talking Points:
The Martian is a very entertaining and inspirational film. Even though the story line is similar to Interstellar and Gravity, it’s not as heavy or sad. There are actually some humorous parts woven throughout the film.
Sexual Content: Mild
- Mark walks around naked, we see his back side only.
Violent/Disturbing Content: Moderate
- A rod punctures Mark’s abdomen and he proceeds to pull it out. We see him holding the bleeding wound as he staples it shut.
- We see a close-up of Mark’s upper body which is covered with sores and wounds.
Crude or Profane Language: Moderate
- We hear the f-word twice and it’s shown in print several times. We also hear..”a–,” “h—,” and “sh-t.”
Drug and Alcohol Content: Mild
- Mark injects himself with a numbing agent numerous times.
- Mark crushes up a Vicodin pill and dips a potato in it.
Will Teens Like It? Yes
- I interviewed a few teenage boys who loved the film. They thought it was funny in parts and very suspenseful.
Overall The Martian is an entertaining and inspirational drama. Depending on the child, I recommend this for kids ages 13 and up. Parents need to be aware of the moderate profane language.
Hotel Transylvania 2-Kids’ Movie Review
Dracula (voice of Adam Sandler) finally decided that humans should be invited to stay at Hotel Transylavia, and his business is booming. However, he is worried because his half-human grandson, Dennis, doesn’t have any vampire traits…not even fangs. So when Dracula babysits Dennis for a weekend, he gathers his monster friends and they put the boy through a “monster-in-training” boot camp. Now the action begins as Dennis tries to become a vampire while Dracula gets some unexpected visitors. Hotel Transylvania 2 is an entertaining film for the whole family.
Rating: 4 and 1/2 out of 5
Release Date: January 12, 2016
MPAA Rating: PG
Best Age Group: 5 +
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent/Disturbing Content: Moderate
Crude or Profane Language: None
Drug and Alcohol Content: None
Will Teens Like It? Yes
Sexual Content: Mild
- A joke is made about “grandma’s boobies.”
Violent/Disturbing Content: Moderate
- Dracula sings a lullaby to his grandson….”Suffer, Suffer Scream in Pain.”
- Dracula throws his son off a high platform, assuming he can fly. Dracula saves his son before he lands to the ground.
- Frankenstein pulls his head off to take a selfie.
- Frankenstein falls into a bonfire and sets a whole camp on fire.
- There are creepy looking monsters that may scare young kids.
Crude or Profane Language: None
Drug and Alcohol Content: None
Will Kids Like It? Yes
- I interviewed kids ages 4 to 8 who all loved the movie. They weren’t frightened by some of the violence or scary monsters.
Over Hotel Transylvania 2 is an entertaining animated film appropriate for kids ages 5 and up.