Drama
Drama movie reviews
Interstellar-Teen Movie Review
“I love you forever and I’m coming back.” That’s what Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) told his 10 year old daughter Murphy as he was leaving for an extremely dangerous and difficult mission. There had been an environmental disaster which wiped out most of the Earth’s food supply. Cooper’s mission was to travel through a wormhole near Saturn, which would lead he and other explorers to a new galaxy, with hopes to save mankind.
Rating: 4 out of 5 popcorn buckets
Release Date: March 31, 2015
MPAA Rating: PG13
Best Age Group: 12 +
Sexual Content: None
Violent/Disturbing Content: Moderate
Crude or Profane Language: Moderate
Drug and Alcohol Content: Mild
Will Teens Like It? Yes
Talking Points:
The film is thought provoking and will spark some great parent/child conversations regarding the importance and power of love and family.
Coop accepts the mission through the wormhole to save humanity. Leaving his family was devastating, however the films portrays that love is stronger than anything in the universe.
There is an all-star cast, to name a few; Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Michael Caine, Matt Damon and John Lithgow.
The movie is creepy and disturbing in same context as the film, Gravity. While explorers are up in space you constantly wonder if they’ll make it home alive.
Sexual Content: None
Violent/Disturbing Content: Moderate
- Two astronauts fight in space. One tries to murder the other and cracks the visor of his helmet.
- Characters die in explosions, one character died being after being thrown around by a huge wave of water.
- There’s not a lot of physical violence, however the storyline is creepy and disturbing. We see people on Earth suffering and scared while trying to get food and shelter.
Crude or Profane Language: Moderate
- The f-word is said once, we also hear, “sh–,” “a–,” “b–ch,” “d–n,” and “h–” sporadically throughout the film.
Drug and Alcohol Content: Mild
- We see character’s drinking beer.
Will Teens Like It? Yes
Overall this is an intense and interesting drama. Depending on the child, I feel it’s appropriate for kids ages 12 and up.
23 Blast-Kids movie review
Travis Freeman (Mark Hapka) has it all, he is a high school football star, he is very intelligent and he is a ladies’ man. However Travis’ life suddenly changes in the fall of his junior year; he is infected with bacterial meningitis and becomes blind. 23 Blast highlights Travis’ life, and how this teenage boy handles his devastating setback. Based on an inspirational true story about friendship, family and hope.
Rating: 4 and 1/2 out of 5 buckets
Release Date: January 13, 2015
MPAA Rating: PG13
Best Age Group: 10+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent/Disturbing Content: Mild
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
Drugs and Alcohol: Moderate
Will it Appeal to kids? Yes
Talking Points:
Initially Travis locks himself in his bedroom, wondering why this happened. However, after several months he eventually learns to accept his handicap and makes the most of his life. Great parent/ child conversation.
Sexual Content: Mild
- Two teenagers passionately kiss.
- Mild, innocent flirting amongst teens.
Violent/Disturbing Content: Mild
- We see hard hits on the football field
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
- “D–n,” and “h–l,” are said.
Drugs and Alcohol: Moderate
- We see teenagers at a party drinking out of red cups. One boy drinks right out of the keg and is shown drunk.
- We see a troubled teen drinking beer.
Will it Appeal to kids? Yes
Overall this is an inspirational sports drama. Depending on the child, this is appropriate for kids ages 10 and up.
Gone Girl- Teen Movie Review
Do you really know someone? Are they happily married or are they pretending to be someone they’re not? Gone Girl is the story about Nick (Ben Affleck) and Amy (Rosamund Pike), a married couple approaching their fifth wedding anniversary. Initially their marriage is wonderful, Nick fell in love with “cool Amy” and Amy fell in love with a hard working loving husband. However things change when Nick loses his job and stressful times arise. So on the day of their fifth anniversary, Amy disappears. Did Nick kill her? Was she kidnapped? Where is Amy? No one knows as the disappearance of Amy becomes a nation wide media hype. Based on the New York Times Best Seller by Gillian Flynn, Gone Girl is a suspenseful drama, one that would be disturbing for kids.
Rating: 1 out of 5 buckets
Release Date: January 13, 2015
MPAA Rating: R
Best Age Group: 17+
Sexual Content: Excessive
Violent Content: Excessive
Crude or Profane Language: Excessive
Drugs and Alcohol: Mild
Will it Appeal to kids? No
Talking Points:
People of all ages have been very excited for the release of Gone Girl due to the popularity of the book. Reading it is one thing, however there are several graphic violent and sexual scenes (see details below) which are very intense and disturbing and would most likely upset kids; pre-teens and younger.
Sexual Content: Excessive
- There are several graphic sexual scenes showing oral sex, explicit sexual encounters, publicly and privately, breast nudity and full-frontal male nudity.
- There are sexual references regarding oral sex, male/female body parts, incest and masturbation.
Violent Content: Excessive
- We see a couple in a sexual encounter, the woman slits the mans throat, killing him. We see massive amounts of blood pouring from his neck.
- We see a character use a wine bottle (under her nightgown) to fake an injury, she stains her underwear with red wine.
- Amy hits herself in the face with a hammer, bites a lover’s lip drawing blood, and injects a needle in herself and proceeds to spill her blood on the floor.
- Amy and Nick get into an argument, he slams her head against a wall. In another scene we see Nick throwing Amy to the floor.
Crude or Profane Language: Excessive
- The f-word, “sh-t,” “a–,” “b–ch,” “p—,” “h—,” “p—y,” and “c—” are used throughout the film.
Drugs and Alcohol: Mild
- Character’s are shown drinking beer and wine.
- We see characters smoking cigarettes.
Will it Appeal to kids? No
Overall Gone Girl is a disturbing, violent and sexual film, one I do not recommend for kids.
The Boxtrolls-Kids Movie Review
In an underground world lives a group of subterranean trolls who adopted an infant orphan boy named Eggs (voice of Isaac Hempstead Wright). These trolls look fearsome in their card board box attire, however they are very kind-hearted loving creatures. Things get difficult for the trolls as the evil exterminator, Snatcher (voice of Ben Kingsley) wants to eliminate all them, with hopes to to become a high society man. However it’s not that easy for Snatcher. Eggs and his wealthy friend from above, Winnie (Elle Fanning), will do anything to try and save the loving creatures underground. Based on the children’s novel ‘Here Be Monsters’ by Alan Snow, The Boxtrolls is a dark, animated film that will most likely scare young kids.
Rating: 2 and 1/2 out of 5 buckets
Release Date: January 20, 2015
MPAA Rating: PG
Best Age Group: 13+
Sexual Content: Moderate
Violent Content: Excessive
Crude or Profane Language: None
Drugs and Alcohol: None
Will it Appeal to kids? No
Talking Points:
Though this is a dark and disturbing film for kids, I did find some redeeming qualities. The importance of a loving father is highlighted as Fish protects and nurtures his adopted orphan son, Egg. The Boxtrolls are kind-hearted creatures who love children.
Egg eventually stands up to Snatcher, saying, “Cheese, hats, boxes they don’t make you who you are. You make you.”
This is an animated film geared towards children. However with the dark and creepy storyline, kids will most likely be frightened by the fact that characters are kidnapped and tortured. See details in violent content below.
Sexual Content: Moderate
- Madame Frou Frou has a seductive, manly voice. Her lyrics are sometimes inappropriate as well.
- When it’s revealed that Madame Frou Frou is also Archibald Snatcher, a character blurts out…”Oh my God, I regret so
- much.”
Violent Content: Excessive
- Snatcher is a dark, evil villain, who enjoys inflicting pain on others. He desperately wants to kill the Boxtrolls and eventually kidnaps several of them. He even invades the Boxtrolls’ underground home by using a huge robot.
- Snatcher uses a crushing press to execute all the creatures he’s captured.
- We see Snatcher’s allergic reaction to cheese, his face swells and looks disgusting.
Crude or Profane Language: None
Drugs and Alcohol: None
Will it Appeal to kids? No
Overall this is a dark and disturbing animated film, one I don’t recommend for kids. See Dolphin Tale 2 or Rio 2 instead!
Dolphin Tale 2-Children’s Movie Review
Winter (the dolphin) is back and her story of hope and inspiration is continued. In Dolphin Tale 2 we see Winter, with her state-of-the art prosthetic tail, living in the Clearwater Marine Aquarium. Loved and cared for by her human best friend, Sawyer (Nathan Gamble), and the staff at the aquarium, Winter goes through another trying time. When her tankmate dies of old age, Winter is left without a dolphin companion. Showing signs of depression, and the unwillingness to perform, the government threatens to take Winter to an aquarium in Texas, to be with her own kind. This would not only devastate Winter’s human friends, but it would also financially ruin the Clearwater Aquarium. Now Sawyer and the aquarium staff, try to find another female dolphin so Winter can be happy, and be the aquarium’s star attraction once again. Based on a true story, Dolphin Tale 2 is a wonderful movie for the whole family.
Rating: 5 out of 5 buckets
Release Date: December 9, 2014
MPAA Rating: PG
Best Age Group: 7+
Sexual Content: None
Violent Content: Mild
Crude or Profane Language: None
Drugs and Alcohol: None
Will it Appeal to kids? Yes
Talking Points:
We see a wounded war veteran with a prosthetic leg. He was a fictional character, however at the end of the film we see real people with disabilities visiting Winter, watching him perform with his prosthetic tail. It was very heartwarming to see the young children and adults who were inspired by this dolphin. This will spark some great parent/child conversations.
There is an all-star cast, to name a few; Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd, Kris Kristofferson, and Nathan Gamble.
Though a very appropriate film, young kids (5 and under) may get bored as it is slow in parts.
Sexual Content: None
Violent Content: Mild
- After Winter’s tankmate dies, Winter is very depressed and lashes out at Sawyer with her beak.
- When Winter gets a new tankmate they had to be separated quickly, to prevent them from hurting one another.
Crude or Profane Language: None
Drugs and Alcohol: None
Will it Appeal to Kids? Yes
- I interviewed a 7 year-old girl who said she loved the film. Her comment was, “My favorite part was when Winter and the Dolphin Hope bonded.”
Overall this is a very refreshing heartfelt movie, appropriate for the whole family.