Reviews by Genre
Movie Reviews by Genre
War Horse Review
Typically one would think of a dog as a man’s best friend, though maybe not for a farmer’s son. This is a story about a teenage boy, Albert, and his horse, Joey. Albert has a remarkable bond with Joey as he teaches his horse to become the best plow horse in town. Unfortunately, Albert’s father is forced to sell the horse to the Army, since he can’t pay the rent. Now we see Joey’s remarkable journey as he travels throughout Europe from owner to owner, hoping to reunite with Albert. War Horse is based on a children’s book, set in England and Europe during World War I.
Rating: 3 out of 5 buckets.
Release Date: December 25, 2011
MPAA Rating: PG13
Best Age Group: 12 +
Sexual Content: None
Violent Content: Moderate
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
Drugs and Alcohol Content:Moderate
See a clip of my review here, along with We Bought a Zoo!
Talking Points:
Most of us have seen many war stories. What make’s this film different and what I like about this film is that you see the war from the perspective of a horse. You could feel the horse’s pain and suffering during the war as if he was a soldier fighting for our country.
War Horse was an educational film. I didn’t realize the importance of horses during WWI. I read that,” Britain sent more than 1 million horses to war between 1914 and 1918. Just 62,000 returned.” The war aspect of the film could spark an interesting conversation with kids.
I thought it was interesting to see a German and British soldier come together in No Man’s Land to save Joey, as he was tangled in barbed wire.
As the horse traveled throughout the war it was interesting to meet his various owners, and see them deal with the war, while also hoping to survive.
Though the film is based on a children’s book, this is a war story, and may be a little long and boring for some kids.
Sexual Content: None
Violent Content: Moderate
- Initially we see a field of dead men and horses.
- There are many explosions and gun fire throughout the film.
- We see people with missing limbs and scared faces.
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
- “B-tard” is said, and “h–l,” is said a couple times.
Drug and Alcohol Content: Moderate
- Ted, Albert’s father, drinks regularly throughout the film.
Overall War Horse was a well done film with a wonderful storyline about a boy and his horse. Since it is a war movie, the mature subject matter may not interest many kids.
Up Review
Up is a comedy adventure about a 78 year old widower named Carl, who finally fulfills his life long dream of a great adventure when he ties thousands of balloons to his house and flies away to Paradise Falls in South America. This is a place he and his wife had dreamt of going to since they first met as children, but the everyday life occurrences got in the way, so they never made the trip together. During the flight, he discovers a stowaway; Russell, an enthusiastic 8 year old boy scout. Once they arrive in South America they come across many adventures that change both of their lives.
Rating: Four out of five buckets.
Release Date: November 10, 2009
MPAA Rating: PG
Best Age Group: Any Age
Sexual Content: None
Violent Content: Mild
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
Drug and Alcohol Content: Mild
Talking Points:
Carl and his wife had a wonderful relationship. He adored her from the minute they met, even though she passes away, he continues to talk to her throughout the movie.
Russell and Carl have a sweet relationship as well. Russell has one badge left to earn as a boy scout, it’s his “assisting the elderly” badge, which he aims to do throughout the movie by caring and respecting Carl.
As Carl struggles with his house and material possessions, it’s Russell who knows what’s really important in life. When Russell is telling a story about he and his dad getting ice cream, he then says “It might sound boring, but I kinda think it’s the boring stuff I remember the most. Carl learns valuable lessons involving family, friendship and materialism.
Sexual Content: None
Violent Content: Mild
- Young kids may get scared. If you’re afraid of dogs you won’t like the movie. There are mean dogs in the movie that have special collars that make them talk, which is also very funny.
- In South America they meet a bad guy, Charles Munz, a longtime adventurer whom Carl had always wanted to meet, though he wasn’t what Carl had expected. When Munz and Carl get into a sword fight, Munz fires a shotgun at Carl, that sets the house on fire. This scared my niece who’s 6 years old.
Crude or Profane Content: Mild
- “Gosh,” “golly” and “darn.” are used.
Drug and Alcohol Content: Mild
- Characters drink wine.
I interviewed kids ages 3 to 12. Younger kids thought it was scary, but ages 7 and up really liked it. Adults will love it. They’ll get the humor and appreciate the relationships that Carl has with his wife and the young boy that he meets.
Overall it’s a heartwarming film about keeping promises, treasuring people, not material possessions, value time with your kids, and to honor and respect elderly people. It’s a good movie for grandparents to take their grandchildren. I give it 4 buckets.
Twilight Review
Based on a popular book series. It’s about a 17 year old girl, named Bella who moves to an overcast town in Washington, to live with her dad. While at her new school, she meets a very mysterious, pale-faced, handsome boy, named Edward. As she gradually falls in love with him, she gradually discovers that he is a vampire. It’s a wonderful, dramatic love story, though their romance puts her in physical danger when Edward’s vampire enemies come to town, and want to kill Bella.
Rating: Five out of five buckets
Release Date: March 29, 2009
MPAA Rating: PG13
Best Age Group: 11+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent Content: Moderate
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
Drug and Alcohol Content: Mild
Talking Points:
Edward hasn’t aged since 1918.
Bella and Edward’s relationship: You feel a powerful tension throughout the movie between his animal instincts as a vampire, and his human love for her. They could win an academy award, it’s so well done.
Edward is surprisingly close with his family, they make a point of saying that they protect each other.
Bella’s parents are divorced, she has a very loving relationship with each parent. She risks her life for her mom.
Sexual Content: Mild
- Edward and Bella kiss in the film.
- Edward watches her sleep at night. It’s kind of creepy. They snuggle fully clothed in her bed one night.
Violent Content: Moderate
- The kind of violence you’d expect from a vampire movie. An enemy vampire wants to kill Bella. There are some violent scenes: she’s slammed into a mirrored wall, blood all over.
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
- The h-word is used once or twice.
Drug and Alcohol Content: Mild
- Bella’s dad drinks beer on a number of occasions throughout the film.
I’ve talked to many teenage girls, that have loved the movie. Those that have read the book, and those that didn’t. Two girls liked the book a lot better. Overall, it’s a great romantic, suspenseful movie!
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
The movie is basically about a battle between 2 robot races, that happens to be fought on earth and for earth. In Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, 2 years have passed since Sam Witwicky(Shia LaBeouf) and the Autobots(good robots) save the human race from the evil Decepticons. Now Sam wants to go to college, and try to live a normal life. Like any teenager going to college, he has anxieties and excitement, like separating from his parents for the first time, and promising to be a faithful boyfriend to Mikaela(Megan Fox). While in college Sam gains information about the origins of the Transformers that ties into ancient history of the earth. This is information that the Decepticons want, and the Autobots must stop them from getting. So the battle begins between the 2 forces. This is a very action packed movie that most boys 11 and up will love.
Rating: Four out of five buckets
Release Date: October 24, 2009
MPAA Rating: PG13
Best Age Group: 11+
Sexual Content: Moderate
Violent Content: Excessive
Crude or Profane Language: Excessive
Drugs and Alcohol Content: Moderate
Talking Points:
Throughout all the action scenes there are some nice moments with Sam and his parents, and he’s a dedicated boyfriend.
It’s inappropriate for kids, but has a suitable rating. The film is rated PG -13(parental guidance for kids 13 and under) because of sci-fi action violence, language, and some crude and sexual material. Parents will need to guide their children. Some kids shouldn’t see this movie, while others will be just fine.
Sexual Content: Moderate
- A beautiful college student has her eye on Sam, she tries every way possible to seduce him, and she makes suggestive comments, while wearing a seductive outfit.
- When Sam goes to college he and Mikaela talk about internet dates, and again they make suggestive comments, hoping for an x-rated date.
- Women dress seductively at a college party. The characters make crass references.
Violent Content: Excessive
- There is a lot of violence. At one point Sam is held down on a table and told he’ll die a slow painful death.
- The film has a lot of guns, explosions and fights; all with complete mayhem.
Crude or Profane Language: Excessive
- Swearing throughout the film; s-word, a-word and d-word used a lot. There are many variants of the f-word too, such as “freakin,” and “frick.”
Drug and Alcohol Content: Moderate
- Characters drink beer and wine. Another character has drug-laced brownies.
Overall it’s an action packed movie that most boys ages 11 to 50 year olds will love. My boys and their friends were still talking about the movie the next day. It’s suspenseful with humorous parts and likable characters. I give it 4 buckets, but my boys wanted me to give it 5 buckets.
Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon Review
In Transfomers 3, Sam (Shia LaBeouf) has graduated from an Ivy League college, and is now looking for a job. However, he and his beautiful girlfriend, Carly, are busy helping Sam’s robot friends, the Autobots, led by Optimus Prime. The Autobots are again up against their archnemisis, the evil Decepticons; and they both have become involved in a space race between the U.S. and Russia. When Sam discovers that the Decepticons have returned to Earth, and want to destroy it, he and his friends hope to save the planet from their rivals. In Transformers: Dark of the Moon there is a lot of action and adventure, with some new and intriguing characters; there’s even a little eye candy for everyone!
Rating: Five out of five buckets
Release Date: June 28, 2011
MPAA Rating: PG13
Best Age Group: 11+
Sexual Content: Moderate
Violent Content: Excessive
Crude or Profane Language: Moderate
Drugs and Alcohol Content: Mild
Talking Points
Sexual Content: Moderate
- In an early scene, we saw Carly wearing skimpy underwear and Sam’s shirt, she then climbed on top of Sam, while they were in bed kissing.
- Carly is the hottie in the movie, she wore many skimpy and revealing outfits throughout the film. There were many sexual references and conversations as well.
- In one scene, Sam’s mom wanted to make sure that he was sexually satisfying his girlfriend, Carly. She gave him a book about female orgasms. This may go over some kids heads, but it could also be an uncomfortable scene.
Violent Content: Excessive
- There were a lot of battles between the Autobots and Decepticons, with the robots shooting, colliding and pounding each other throughout the film.
- We see a subway car filled with dead bodies.
- When the Decepticons attacked Chicago, we saw the Windy City being destroyed, with buildings toppled over, bridges and cars demolished. This was a very vivid, long scene, which may be disturbing.
- The Decepticons tried to kill Sam and his friends. They were trapped in a tall building that toppled over. We saw a lot of broken glass, and men dying as they jumped out of the building.
Crude and Profane Language: Moderate
- The “f”-word was said a few times, along with many other swear words throughout the film.
Overall this is not my favorite type of movie, but my husband, two boys (11 and 13), and daughter (15), were all mesmerized by this intense, sci/fi action film. It has great actors, a lot of suspense and action, with amazing 3D effects. If your kids like this type of movie, and you’re comfortable with it, I recommend this as a fun summer movie. I recommend this for kids ages 11 and up.