Jackie

Spies in Disguise-Kids Movie Review

Lance Sterling (voiced by Will Smith) is a suave and debonair guy who’s the worlds greatest spy. Walter Beckett (voiced by Tom Holland) is a young, brilliant inventor who creates spy gear. When the handsome spy accidentally turns into a pigeon, he must team up with his nerdy tech guy to save the world from an evil villain who disguises himself as Lance Sterling…the worlds greatest spy. Spies In Disguise is an animated comedy for the whole family.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 buckets
Release Date: December 25, 2019
MPAA Rating: PG
Best Age Group: 5+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent/Disturbing Content: Moderate
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
Drug and Alcohol Content: Mild
Will Kids Like It? Yes

Talking Points:

The film highlights the importance of teamwork. Walter and Lance work very well together and they are complete opposites.

Sexual Content: Mild

Flirting between pigeons.

Violent/Disturbing Content: Excessive

Characters are shot, captured, and knocked unconscious.
A villain wants to kill all agents.
Lots of action involving weapons and spy gear. There’s a lot of slapststick violence too.

Crude or Profane Language: Mild

Name calling such as “weirdo.”
A few unfinished phrases such as; “son of a … ,” “I’m gonna kick some …” and “holy sh—.”

Drug and Alcohol Content: Mild

Characters are shown drinking.

Will Kids Like It? Yes

Overall this is a fun and entertaining film for kids ages 5 and up.

Black Christmas-Kids’ Movie Review

It’s almost winter break at Calvin Hawthorn University and the students are getting ready to celebrate! Some of the sorority girls are preparing their holiday skit for the talent show. The girls aren’t performing your typical Christmas carol, instead they’re singing a song accusing the fraternity boys of date rape. They want to create controversy and chaos ensues as masked figures show up at the sorority houses and begin to kill women. Black Christmas is a reboot of a 1974 holiday horror classic, which was previously remade in 2006.

Rating: 1.5 out of 5 buckets
Release Date: December 13, 2019
MPAA Rating: PG13
Best Age Group: 15+
Sexual Content: Moderate
Violent/Disturbing Content: Excessive
Crude or Profane Language: Moderate
Drug and Alcohol Content: Moderate
Will Kids Like It? No

Talking Points:

The movie is more than a horror film. The film will spark some discussions regarding gender equality, diversity and date rape.
One of the female students starts a petition to ban a professor as she feels his class focuses on the writings of white men.

Sexual Content: Moderate

A college boy forcefully pushes a college girl on a bed and says he “wants her.” Someone walks in to separate them.
A girl unzips her jeans and inserts a DivaCup. She doesn’t remove any clothes.
Sorority girls wear sexy Santa outfits and perform a flirtatious song and dance. The lyrics are explicit relating to sex and accusing fraternity boys of date rape.
A woman implies that she bought her friend a sexual toy for Christmas. There are several comments about sex and male/female anatomy.

Violent/Disturbing Content: Excessive

Several characters are murdered throughout the film.
We see bloody wounds (actually black goop and not blood).
Characters punch, hit, and stab one another.
A woman’s cheeks are sliced with a knife.
There’s a discussion about date rape.
A group of girls sing a Christmas-style song accusing fraternity boys of date-raping women.

Crude or Profane Language: Moderate

We hear “s–t,” “b–ch,” “ass,” “fart,” and “d–k.”

Drug and Alcohol Content: Moderate

College-age characters are shown drinking in several scenes.
A female character drinks too much and vomits.

Will Kids Like It? No

Overall this is a Christmas horror film. Parents need to be aware of the excessive violence and moderate sexual and profane language.

Jumanji: The Next Level-Kids’ Movie Review

The gang’s all back for more fun and adventure in their video game universe. Initially, Spencer gets sucked back into the Jumanji video game, and his friends are not far behind. However, this time the game has changed and the gang must endure deadly weather and escape the dangerous Jumanji video. Jumanji: The Next Level is a sequel to 2017’s Jumanji reboot.

Rating: 4 out of 5 buckets
Release Date: December 13, 2019
MPAA Rating: PG13
Best Age Group: 10+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent/Disturbing Content: Moderate
Crude or Profane Language: Moderate
Drug and Alcohol Content: Mild
Will Kids Like It? Yes

Talking Points:

Sexual Content: Mild

Characters kiss.
Flirting.
There’s talk of “boobs” and male body parts.

Violent/Disturbing Content: Moderate

In the game universe several characters die in various ways- to name a few: characters are attacked by either a snake, ostrich or mandrill.
Characters are blown up.
Characters are thrown to the ground, through walls, and beaten up.
Characters fall from heights and are crushed by boulders.

Crude or Profane Language: Moderate

We hear “b—tard,” “goddamn,” “goddammit,” “s–t,” “holy s–t,” “hell,” “damn,” “son of a bitch,” “go screw yourselves,” and “sucks.”

Drug and Alcohol Content: Mild

One scene takes place in a bar and we see characters holding drinks.

Will Kids Like It? Yes

Overall this is a fun and entertaining film. Parents need to be aware of the profane language and violent contents. Depending on the child, I recommend this for kids ages 10 and up.

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood- Kids’ Movie Review

Lloyd Vogel (Matthew Rhys) has had a difficult life. He’s a very cynical journalist for Esquire magazine, and is upset when asked to do a special edition on “heroes.” His editor wants him to write a profile piece about Fred “Mister Rogers” Rogers (Tom Hanks). Lloyd claims that Mister Rogers “plays with puppets for a living.” However, it ends up that Lloyd’s interview with the kind and compassionate man, Mister Rogers, changes his life forever. Based on a true story, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, is a wonderful and heartfelt story about love, forgiveness, and wanting to become a better person.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 buckets
Release Date: November 22, 2019
MPAA Rating: PG
Best Age Group: 10+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent/Disturbing Content: Mild
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
Drug and Alcohol Content: Moderate
Will Kids Like It? Yes

Talking Points:

Fred Rogers was ordained as a Presbyterian minister and believed his children’s show was a platform where he preached Jesus’ message of unconditional love.
Mister Rogers does not put on an act on TV. The journalist eventually realizes that there’s no difference between the Mister Rogers on TV and Fred Rogers in real life.
The film will spark some great parent/child conversations. Fred Rogers impresses upon Lloyd the importance of forgiveness- something that Lloyd needs to do.

Sexual Content: Mild

A married couple kiss and snuggle in bed.

Violent/Disturbing Content: Mild

Two characters get into a fight. We see their cuts and bruises after the altercation. A character collapses from a medical condition.

Crude or Profane Language: Mild

We hear “d-mn,” and “h–l.”

Drug and Alcohol Content: Moderate

Adults drink. One character is an alcoholic and we see him drunk at a wedding.  There are references regarding substance abuse.

Will Kids Like It? Yes

Overall this is a wonderful and inspirational film- good for a family with pre-teens and teens.

Playmobil: The Movie

Marla (Anya Taylor-Joy) and her little brother Charlie (Gabriel Bateman) love action and adventure. One of their favorite things to play is “Viking and Knight” with their Playmobil set. However, when their parents die in a car crash Marlo’s longing for adventure slows down as she becomes the caretaker for Charlie. Though peril ensues when Charlie magically disappears into the Playmobil world. Now Marlo encounters a unique experience as she must travel to find her brother, and bring him back home. Playmobil: The Movie is an animated adventure based on the popular figurine toy.

Rating: 4 out of 5 buckets
Release Date: December 6, 2019
MPAA Rating: PG
Best Age Group: 6+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent/Disturbing Content: Moderate
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
Drug and Alcohol Content: Mild
Will Kids Like It? Yes

Talking Points:

Sexual Content: Mild

Flirting

Violent/Disturbing Content: Moderate

Mature subject matter of death as the two young siblings parents die in a car accident.
Playmobil toys fight against each other with swords and other weapons.
Vehicles are blown up.
Several of the toys are frozen by a freeze ray.
An alien electrocutes some guards with her tentacles.

Crude or Profane Language: Mild

Name calling such as “wench,” idiot,” scum,” jerks,” and “pea brain.”

Drug and Alcohol Content: Mild

A character goes unconscious after drinking a drugged martini.
A character spills a sleep serum on himself.

Will Kids Like It? Yes

Overall this is a fun and entertaining film for young kids. Parents need to be aware of the moderate violent content.