Jackie
The Great Gatsby- Teen Movie Review
It’s been 24 hours since I saw this movie, and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since. The characters, the setting and what the film symbolized; prohibition, the Jazz Age, one’s social status, and the American Dream. It was the summer of 1922; a recent Yale graduate named Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire) moved to New York for business, and rented a house in West Egg on Long Island; which was populated with people of “new money.” Next door to Nick lived a mysterious man named Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio). Gatsby lived in a gothic mansion, where he had extravagant parties every Saturday night. Continue reading
Iron Man 3
Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) is back as Iron Man, and stronger than ever. In this third film of the Iron Man series, a terrorist named the Mandarin (Ben Kingsley) threatened to destroy America. Unfortunately Stark’s former security guard, Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau) was injured in an explosion, which was caused by the Mandarin. Continue reading
Pain & Gain-Teen Movie Review
Truth is stranger than fiction, a saying that definitely pertains to this film. Set in Miami in the 1990‘s, Pain & Gain is an unbelievable true story about a personal trainer named Daniel Lugo (Mark Wahlberg). He wanted to better himself, become a “doer,” not a “don’ter.” The only problem was he went about it the wrong way. He recruited two bodybuilders to help him kidnap Victor Kershaw, one of his wealthy clients at the gym. Initially their plan was to kidnap Victor, blindfold him, and have him sign over all his assets. However things fell apart, and Daniel and his bodybuilder accomplices got caught up in a criminal venture that ultimately changed their lives forever.
Zero Buckets
Rating: 0 out of 5 buckets
Release Date: April 26, 2013
MPAA Rating: R
Best Age Group: 18+
Sexual Content: Excessive
Violent Content: Excessive
Crude or Profane Language: Excessive
Drugs and Alcohol Content: Excessive
Will Kids Like It? No
Talking Points:
The film has an all-star cast, to name a few; Mark Walhberg, Dwayne Johnson, Anthony Mackie and Rebel Wilson (from Pitch Perfect). Having said that, with such a familiar/popular actors, pre-teens and teens may want to see this R-rated film. Not necessarily in the theater, but on DVD. With the excessive violence, sexual, and language contents (see details below), this film is not appropriate.
Director Michael Bay portrays this film as a comedy, which seems hard to believe, given the storyline. However it’s such an odd, unbelievable story, the comedic elements were a nice relief.
Besides the fact that this film is not for kids, in all content areas, adults may find it intriguing. Given that this is a true story, it held my attention, while wondering the outcome.
Sexual Content: Excessive
- We see a topless woman in a strip club.
- A female character is shown wearing a very short dress; she bends over and reveals her back side to a group young boys.
- Two characters are shown having sex against a car; they are both fully clothed.
- There are a lot of sexual references centered around male and female anatomy, sexual toys, breast milk, pregnant woman and multiple sex partners.
- A guy is shown masturbating to porn.
- A character is shown touching a dead woman’s breast.
Violent Content: Excessive
- The bodybuilders tried to kill Victor three times; they created a car “accident”, a car fire and a they drove a van over his head; thinking he was dead, but he wasn’t!
- Victor was handcuffed and brutally beaten.
- They initially tortured Victor, he was shocked with Tasers, they burned his hand with a clothing press, pliers were pushed up his nose, and he was hung upside down.
- A character’s toe was shot off, he saved it, and eventually gave it to a dog. That was disgusting.
- The bodybuilders hid some deceased bodies by dismembering them with saws, then grilled their hands.
Crude and Profane Language: Excessive
- There was so much profanity throughout the film I lost count. Some words that were said; the f-word, “d-mn,” “b–ch,” “a–,” “h–,” “c–t,” “p—y,” and “d—.”
Drug and Alcohol Content: Excessive
- We saw character’s drinking heavily and snorting cocaine throughout the film.
- We saw a man inject steroids into his thighs.
Will Kids Like It? No
Overall Pain & Gain is an inappropriate film for kids. Having said that, adults may be intrigued by the storyline, especially since it’s an unbelievable true story!!
Oblivion-Teen Movie Review
Earth was destroyed by an alien race, and Jack Harper (Tom Cruise) is the caretaker. However things get complicated when an unexpected traveler arrives, which causes Jack not only to question his mission, but also himself. Oblivion is a sci/fi futuristic film, one that mature teenagers will most likely enjoy.
Rating: 4 out of 5 buckets
Release Date: April 19, 2013
MPAA Rating: PG13
Best Age Group: 14+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent Content: Moderate
Crude or Profane Language: Moderate
Drugs and Alcohol Content: Mild
Will Kids Like It? Yes
Talking Points:
The cast of the film were wonderful and captivating! With Tom Cruise as Jack Harper and Olga Kurylenko (whom I wasn’t familiar with) as Jack’s wife; both interesting characters. Morgan Freeman also starred in the movie, another intriguing character.
For the most part, the film was appropriate, however there was a lot of violence, however, the battles were mostly with Tom Cruise and mechanical drones.
Teenagers will most likely enjoy the film, though it was a little slow and confusing in parts; which may not appeal to tweens and younger kids.
Sexual Content: Mild
- We saw a naked woman, from the back side only.
- It’s implied that Jack and two different women were sexually involved.
Violent Content: Moderate
- There were gun shots and explosions throughout the film, however it mostly involved Jack and drones.
- A character was shot in the stomach, and her shirt was covered with blood.
- We saw a gun pointed at a character’s head.
Crude or Profane Language: Moderate
- The f-word was said once. We also heard, “sh-t,” “b–ch,” and “h—,” throughout the film.
Drugs and Alcohol Content: Mild
- We saw a character smoking a cigar.
Will Kids Like It? Yes
- Teenagers that like futuristic sci/fi movies will most likely enjoy this film. I interviewed five high school students from a Charter Academy. They said the film was, “awesome.”
Overall this is an appropriate film for teenagers; 14 and up. Parents need to be aware of the violent content and some profane language.
Scary Movie 5-Teen Movie Review
Spooky things began to happen when Charlie Sheen and Lindsay Lohan spent the night together, and were found dead the next morning. So Charlie’s brother Dan, and his rocker girfriend, Jody (Ashley Tisdale) adopted the deceased couple’s three young children. The new family experienced some unusual activity in their home, and eventually realized that they were being stalked by a demon… things got even stranger!!! Scary Move 5 is the fifth installment in the spoof series; a film I don’t recommend for kids!
Click here for Movie Bucket Ratings!
Zero Buckets!
Rating: 0 out of 5 buckets
Release Date: April 11, 2013
MPAA Rating: PG13
Best Age Group: None
Sexual Content: Excessive
Violent/Disturbing Content: Excessive
Crude or Profane Language: Excessive
Drugs and Alcohol Content: Excessive
Will Kids Like It? No
Talking Points:
This is not a film for kids, it’s inappropriate and disgusting! However, parents need to be aware that kids may want to see this movie, as it stars Ashley Tisdale from Disney Channel’s The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, and also the star in the High School Musical film series. Though rated PG13, with the excessive sexual content and language, it could have been rated R. To top it off, there are no redeeming qualities or great messages either!
Sexual Content: Excessive
- The opening scene shows Charlie Sheen and Lindsay Lohan spending the night together.
- We see videos of Jody (Ashley Tisdale) sexually involved with strange objects such as a plant and microwave.
- We saw two naked women in the shower, covered with soap suds.
- While on drugs, Jody and her friend proceeded to have sex, we saw them in their bra and undies.
- There are a lot of sexual references with regards to body parts, incest, oral, sex, masturbation and more.
- The book Fifty Shades of Grey, was referred to in a dream involving whips and sexual toys.
Violent/Disturbing Content: Excessive
- A group of possessed Christians physically mutilated themselves. To name a few of the things, we saw character’s cutting themselves with blades and power tools, a women sliced her tongue, another cut off her own arm, and a man sawed off his leg.
- Dan and Jody punched each other, and their adopted kids. This was done in a slapstick way, but still disturbing and not funny!
- Jody accidentally bumped her baby’s head on a door. A baby’s hair was set on fire, and a newborn was kicked across a stage. All this was meant to be done in a comedic way; though once again…not funny!!
Crude or Profane Language: Excessive
- The f-word was said once. “Sh-t,” “h—,” “a–,” “d–n,” and “b–ch,” are said throughout the film.
Drugs and Alcohol Content: Excessive
- Character’s take Ecstasy.
- We see characters drinking at parties.
- Two rappers steal a bundle of weed.
Will Kids Like It? No
Overall this was an inappropriate film, one I do not recommend for kids, or anyone for that matter!!! See Here Comes the Boom instead, it’s still in theaters.