Reviews by Genre
Movie Reviews by Genre
The Perks of Being a Wallflower- Teen Movie Review
One thousand three hundred and eighty- five more days. That’s how many days of school that high school freshman, Charlie (Logan Lerman) had until he graduated; and he was counting down the days. Charlie had been through some rough times before his freshman year. His best friend had committed suicide, so going off to high school was a scary, lonely venture. However, when Charlie met Patrick and his stepsister, Sam (Emma Watson), things began to change. Though Sam and Patrick were both seniors, they liked Charlie, they introduced him to their friends and they even took him to parties. The Perks of Being a Wallflower, based on the best selling novel, is a story about the ups and downs of growing up, and the importance of friendships along the way.
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Rating: 2 out of 5 buckets
Release Date: October 12, 2012
MPAA Rating: PG13
Best Age Group: 16+
Sexual Content: Excessive
Violent Content: Moderate
Crude or Profane Language: Moderate
Drugs and Alcohol Content: Excessive
Will Kids Like It? Yes (Mature teens)
Talking Points:
Initially Charlie was dreading his freshman year, however things began to change when he met some new friends. His friends distracted him from his dark past. The film highlighted the value of friendships.
Charlie may have had some emotional problems, though he was a very devoted friend and brother.
Charlie and his English teacher, Mr. Andersen (Paul Rudd) had a wonderful relationship. Mr. Andersen was a positive influence in Charlie’s life; the movie also highlighted the importance of a great teacher and how that can positively effect a student.
Drugs, drinking and casual sex were apart of these teenager’s lives; it was accepted and not a big deal….but where were the parents???
Sexual Content: Excessive
- We saw couples kissing and fondling each other at high school parties.
- It was implied that most of the teens were having sex. The movie portrayed the attitude that casual sex was not a big deal, it was apart of high school.
- We saw two male characters kissing each other in a bedroom.
- We saw Charlie touch a girls chest; though she was fully clothed.
- The teenagers frequented the movie, Rocky Horror Picture Show; they dressed up as character’s in the movie and danced around the theater. That was very strange.
- We see flashbacks of a young Charlie with his adult aunt. His aunt rubs his leg, and Charlie remembers how she once molested him. This may be disturbing to some teenagers.
Violent/Disturbing Content: Moderate
- Two boys had a fist fight in the high school cafeteria; we saw one boy punching and beating up another boy.
- We saw a teenage boy viciously slap his girlfriend.
- In one scene, it seemed as though Charlie was going to hurt himself with a knife. That was disturbing.
Crude or Profane Language: Moderate
- The f-word is said once. We heard “sh–,” “h—,” “a–,” and “b–ch,” a couple of times each. We also heard “f-ggot,” and “jack-off.”
Drugs and Alcohol Content: Excessive
- Teens drank alcohol and smoked cigarettes at parties. Charlie got stoned on hash brownies, and also had LSD.
- Drinking and drugs were at all their high school parties…not sure where the parents were!
Will Kids Like It? Yes (Mature teens)
Perks of Being a Wallflower dealt with difficult teenage issues and had a mature subject matter. Some teens may find the film depressing, while mature teenagers may find the movie very interesting. Depending on the teenager, I recommend this for kids ages 16 and up. Parents need to be aware of the excessive sexual content and drug and alcohol content.
Paul Blart: Mall Cop- Family Movie Review
As the title implies, Paul Blart is a mall cop who takes his job very seriously, perhaps a little too seriously. It’s a pretty quiet job until a group of well organized robbers attempt to rob the mall on Black Friday, they also take a group of hostages, including Paul’s daughter, and a mall worker who he has a crush on. So now the mall cop has to become a real cop and rescue his daughter, and love interest, and save the day..
Rating: Four out of five buckets
Release Date: May 19, 2009
MPAA Rating: PG
Best Age Group: 8+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent Content: Mild
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
Drugs and Alcohol Content: Mild
Talking Points:
It’s an entertaining and funny movie that keeps you interested.
Paul is committed to his family and job, he’s loyal and trustworthy. He also refuses to hit a women, even in self defense.
Strong father-daughter relationship.
Sexual Content: Mild
- Paul flirts with a teenage girl.
- A character comments on a push-up bra.
Violent Content: Mild
- The robbers may scare younger kids. They arrive in the form of tattooed thugs who ride skateboards throughout the mall. They barricade the doors and take hostages, but in a humorous way.
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
- The a-word, and h-word are used.
Drug and Alcohol Content: Mild
- Paul drinks socially, he even gets drunk at one point.
I interviewed kids ages 8 to 11 after the movie, who all loved it! Some parents thought it was a little corny, but thought it was exciting for the kids. My husband, 2 boys (ages 9 and 11) and I all enjoyed it.
ParaNorman Review
Norman is a different type of kid; he’s popular, however not with the living. Norman is popular with zombies and ghosts.He not only speaks to dead people and understands them; he’s also very nice to them. The townspeople of Blithe Hollow think that Norman is a strange kid who continuously speaks to himself. His parents don’t understand him, and his teenage sister thinks he’s weird. Then one day Norman is accosted by his smelly, hairy uncle. His uncle tells him that it’s up to Norman to stop a witch’s curse which was conjured up to 300 years ago. If he doesn’t stop this curse, the dead will rise from their graves. Now it’s up to Norman to become a hero and save his town from this ancient curse. ParaNorman is an animated, comedic horror film for kids.
Rating: 3 and 1/2 buckets
Release Date: November 27, 2012
MPAA Rating: PG
Best Age Group: 8+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent Content: Excessive
Crude or Profane Language: Moderate
Drugs and Alcohol Content: Mild
Will Kids Like It? Yes
Talking Points:
The premise of this film is a little creepy; a boy speaking to ghosts and zombies; however it has a very clear and powerful message to be kind to one another. It highlights the fact that if you’re upset and angry with someone you will be miserable – don’t let your anger consume you and get the best of you. The film also focuses on the problems of bullying, acceptance of others, and most importantly forgiveness!!!
Norman’s dead grandpa says to him, “There’s nothing wrong with being scared, Norman, as long as you don’t let it change who you are.”
Norman tells a witch that it’s okay to be different, that differences make us who we are, and gives us the power to help others. Great parent/child conversation.
This film may scare younger kids as Norman has many encounters with ghosts. Having said that, many of the scenes are portrayed as silly rather than gory. Kids were laughing throughout the film.
Norman first sees the ghost of his uncle in a toilet bowl; this was a very strange scene.
Sexual Content: Mild
- Norman’s sister flirts with a big muscular guy.
- Another character tries to impress girls by break dancing; he also talks about an adult video store.
- Norman tells his parents that Courtney (Norman’s sister) hides pictures of the high school quarterback in her underwear drawer.
Violent Content: Excessive
- The zombies are scary looking and rotting away. Ones ear falls off.
- There are battles with the zombies and the living, we see the zombie’s body parts flying all over the place.
- Villagers assault the zombies, and try to burn down city hall.
- Aggie (a witch) has dangerous powers. She caused wooden thorns to pop up from the ground, almost impaling Norman.
- We see Norman watching a movie, in the movie there is a zombie attacking a women.
- As Norman tries to retrieve a book from his uncle’s corpse, he repeatedly knocks the dead man’s head on a table.
Crude or Profane Language: Moderate
- Words such as “a–,” and “sucks,” are said, and one character says “the f-word.”
- Name calling such as, “diarrhea mouth,” “stupid,” “fatty,” and “weirdo,” are used. Character’s also say “boobs.”
Drugs and Alcohol Content: None
Will Kids Like It? Yes
Overall this is an entertaining film. Parents need to be aware of the strange premise, which may scare kids, and also the moderate profane language. Depending on the child, I’d say this is appropriate for kids ages 8 and up.
One For The Money Review
Stephanie Plum (Katherine Heigl) is a newly divorced, unemployed lingerie salesman from Macy’s, who can’t pay the rent, and whose car gets repossessed. Feeling desperate and broke, she calls cousin Vinnie, who employs her as a bounty hunter. Stephanie’s first assignment is to find Joe Morelli, an ex-cop and an ex-lover. Now the excitement and drama begin as Stephanie toughens up, and buys a gun, with hopes of making some money to pay the bills. One for the Money is a comedy,action/adventure movie, based on a novel by Janet Evanovich.
Rating: 2 out of 5 buckets
Release Date: May 15, 2012
MPAA Rating: PG13
Best Age Group:12+
Sexual Content: Moderate
Violent Content:Moderate
Crude or Profane Language: Moderate
Drugs and Alcohol Content: Mild
See a clip of my review here, along with a review of “Man on a Ledge.”
Talking Points:
I liked how Stephanie (Katherine Heigl) was persistent on getting a new job. She needed the money to pay the bills, so she took the initiative and got a job…something that could spark a parent/child conversation.
I’ve heard a lot of good things about this book series, and I like Katherine Heigl, so I thought this was going to be a good, entertaining movie. Well, there were some funny parts, Katherine Heigl was good, (and so was Jason O’Mara who played Joe Morelli), but overall I didn’t enjoy the movie.
Sexual Content: Moderate
- Stephanie and Morelli (the guy she’s assigned to find) are sexually attracted to each other. In one scene, he barges into her apartment while she’s taking a shower. He handcuff’s her to the shower rod, while commenting on how good she looks, naked in the shower.
- Stephanie takes her shirt off, while Morelli attaches an eavesdropping wire to her body.
- Prostitutes are shown, wearing low-cut, revealing outfits.
- There are many sexual references and comments; one regarding oral sex.
- An elderly man is shown naked, we see his back side.
Violent Content: Moderate
- There are many gun shots and deaths. One guy is shot five times in the chest.
- Two characters get into a big fight, punching and shoving each other, we see them injured and bloody.
- A prostitute is thrown out of a car, bloody and bruised.
- An SUV blows up.
Crude and Profane Language: Moderate
- Words such as “a–,” “d–n,” “b-tard,” and “b–ch,” are each used several times throughout the film.
Drug and Alcohol Content: Mild
- Character’s are shown drinking wine at dinner.
- The bad guys are involved with heroin.
Overall this was a silly movie, with no redeeming qualities. This would be a good rental in which pre-teen and teenage girls may be entertained by,especially if they liked the book. Parents need to be aware of the sexual references and some moderate violence.
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian-Family Movie Review
Larry Daley, the security guard in the first movie, is now a huge success as an inventor and CEO of a gadget company. When Larry stops by the museum one day he discovers that the Museum is closed for renovations and his “historical plastic friends” are being shipped from their New York museum to the Smithsonian in Washington D.C. Larry immediately flies to D.C. when he learns that the monkey has taken the magical Egyptain tablet, which brings everything and everyone to life. So now, a new character, the evil pharaoh (Hank Azaria), who’s from the Smithsonian, hopes to use the tablet to conquer the Smithsonian and the world, and it’s up to Larry and his friends to save the day.
Rating: Four out of five buckets
Release Date: December 1, 2009
MPAA Rating: PG
Best Age Group: 7+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent Content: Mild
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
Drugs and Alcohol Content: None
Talking points:
Hanks Azaria steals the show. He is an evil pharaoh with a lisp and a slightly feminine stream of consciousness way of talking. He’s hilarious. He choose Archie Bunker’s chair as his throne and was dismayed to discover that Dorothy’s ruby red slippers weren’t made with red rubies.
Amy Adams is terrific as Amelia Earhart. There are other fun and interesting new characters in this movie; Al Capone, bobble head mini Einsteins, and Abraham Lincoln.
A new idea of the sequel is that the artwork also comes to life, and they even entered into the artwork, which was fun and creative.
Amelia Earhart(Amy Adams) stresses the importance of having fun in what you do in life, she says “If you’re not excited by what you do, why do it.” This is a constant message throughout the movie.
In the end Larry say’s “ The key to happiness is doing what you love with people you love.”
Teddy Roosevelt says “Sometimes the greatest change brings about even greater opportunity.”
I read that the first film had a positive impact on museums, it boosted attendance at the New York Museum by 20%. This may encourage kids to visit a museum this summer.
Ben Stiller, who plays Larry, said “this movie makes the air space museum seem like the coolest place in the world.”
Sexual Content: Mild
- Jedediah say proudly ‘this cowboy got to second base.” This may spark a few questions, it did in my house.
- Characters kiss.
Violent Content: Mild
- There is some slaptick violence. Characters use swords and have silly battles.
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
- D-word is said twice. Also, “stupid,” and “sucks” are used.
Drug and Alcohol Content: None
Overall this is a fun entertaining movie, one for the whole family!