DVD Reviews
The Lovely Bones Review
“The Lovely Bones” is based on the 2002 bestselling novel by Alice Sebold. This is the story of the murder of a 14 year-old girl named Susie Salmon. She lives happily in a suburban neighborhood in Pennsylvania with her parents and 2 younger siblings. She tells us her story by narrating everything that happens from “in-between” somewhere between earth and heaven. Susie watches her family and friends heal from their loss and search for her killer.
Rating: Three out of five buckets
Release Date: April 20, 2010
MPAA Rating: PG13
Best Age Group: 13+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent Content: Excessive
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
Drugs and Alcohol Content: Excessive
Talking Points:
As parents we always tell our kids, “Don’t talk to strangers.” Well, in this movie the murderer is a neighbor, someone who she knows and trusts. When the neighbor wants to show Susie something that he made for the neighborhood kids, Susie is curious, but a little apprehensive, though she follows him, and that’s the beginning of the end for Susie. This could bring up a good discussion with kids about safety and to follow their instincts.
Parents will relate to what Susie’s parents are going through. Her dad is determined to find the killer, and her mom is in denial, sealing off Susie’s bedroom. Their marriage is also strained from the stress of this horrific event in their lives.
The movie is entertaining at times. Susie’s grandma (Susan Sarandon), who enjoys her liquor, adds some humor to the movie as she demonstrates her terrible housekeeping skills when she comes to take care of the kids.
Sexual Content: Moderate
- There’s no indication that Susie gets raped, as she does in the novel, and her murder occurs off screen, but knowing what happened is creepy.
Violent Content: Excessive
- The movie was scary, I was on edge in most of the scenes. However, I read that the movie was intentionally made less upsetting for teens.The movie will scare some teenage girls. As viewers, they will get to know Susie from the various flashbacks in the movie that show her interest in photography, her crush on a boy at school, and her day to day life with her parents and siblings. Teenage girls will see that Susie is a normal teenager and that they can relate to her in some aspects of their own lives. Like the author, Alice Sebold, said, “No one is immune from violence, it touches everyone.” The novel, in which the movie based on, arose from the author’s own experience with violence, her rape as and 18 year old girl.
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
Drugs and Alcohol Content: Excessive
- Susie’s grandma is an alcoholic and drinks a lot throughout the movie.
I’m not a fan of scary movies, for myself or my kids, so the movie did not appeal to me. However, I liked the characters, and I appreciated the fact that we didn’t see the gory details of the actual murder. If your unsure about the movie, I would view it first before allowing your kids to see it. It’s rated PG13 for disturbing violent content and images.
My 13 year old daughter and her 2 friends saw the movie. They all liked it, but thought it was scary. My daughter did not sleep well the night after she saw the movie. I rate it three buckets with the recommendation, as I mentioned, that parents see it first.
Little Fockers Review
This is the story about Greg (Ben Stiller) and Pam Focker (Teri Polo), from Meet the Parents and Meet the Fockers. In this third series Greg and Pam are busy arranging for their twin’s 5th birthday party, which means the in-laws will be coming for a visit. Pam’s dad, Jack (Robert De Niro) the ex-CIA , hard-nosed, very suspicious man, will be watching his son-in-law Greg the whole time, just waiting for him to make some sort of mistake. However, there’s more pressure this time with Jack’s visit. De Niro tells Greg of his plan to turn Greg into his successor as the head of the family, he calls him, “The Godfocker.” We now see how Greg has to live up to his new title, and how he handles the pressure from his father-in-law.
Rating: Three out of five buckets
Release Date: April 5, 2011
MPAA Rating: PG13
Best Age Group: Older teenagers
Sexual Content: Excessive
Violent Content: None
Crude or Profane Language: Moderate
Drugs and Alcohol Content: Moderate
Talking Points:
The movie has an all star cast, to name a few; Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman, Barbra Streisand, Owen Wilson and Jessica Alba. They were all funny at times and entertaining.
Dealing with in-laws can sometimes be difficult and uncomfortable. However, through all the comedy and slapstick humor in this movie, there is an underlying message of the importance of family, and fidelity. Hopefully, the message will get through to the viewers.
Sexual Content: Excessive
Throughout the whole movie there are sexual references and comments. For example:
- Much of the storyline is focused on Greg’s relationship with Andi (Jessica Alba), a cute, flirtatious, pharmaceutical rep.,who recruits Greg to be a spokesperson for Sustengo, an erectile dysfunction drug for men with heart problems. Of course with this drug there are many jokes and sexual references that kids don’t need to hear.
- Greg’s mom hosts a sex-therapy show, this was another source for sexual jokes in the movie, ones I won’t even mention on air.
Profanity: Moderate
With the family name Focker, that says enough right there. Many jokes were triggered with this name, while many other swear words were used as well.
Overall this was a predictable, entertaining movie with a lot slapstick humor throughout the movie. For people that have enjoyed the previous movies, they will most likely like this one too. Parents need to know the movie is filled with sexual references before sending their kids. I would say it’s okay for older teenagers.
Letters to Juliet Review
“Letters to Juliet” is a love story set in the romantic city of Verona, Italy, setting of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. When Sophie (Amanda Seyfried), a young American writer goes to Italy, she joins a group of volunteers who respond to letters written to Juliet, seeking advice about love. Sophie answers a letter dated in 1951, her response inspires the elderly women who originally wrote the letter, to travel to Italy and search for her long lost love. During their search, they come across a series of events that change lives forever.
Rating: Three out of five buckets
Release Date: September 14, 2010
MPAA Rating: PG
Best Age Group: 12+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent Content: None
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
Drugs and Alcohol Content: Mild
Talking Points:
This was a refreshing, old fashioned love story appropriate for women ages 13 to 100. I saw this movie with my mom, daughter, niece and sister-in-law. As my niece said, “What a great movie for all three generations to see together.” I couldn’t agree more.
I saw the movie a couple hours after I saw “Robin Hood,” so I was in the mood for a lighthearted, entertaining movie, however, the group of women I went with, thought that the movie was okay, but a little slow and boring. My 13 year old daughter was really bored, I dragged my 10 year old son to it, he was bored, and very fidgety.
“Letters to Juliet” is fiction, but I read in a review that for the last century, people have written letters to Juliet, and volunteers answer them. There’s also a website, which people write to. These letters, both in the movie and in real life, all involve love life problems or dilemmas, which hopefully will be solved.
I really liked the characters in the movie. Vanessa Redgrave played the elderly women looking for true love, she was so sweet and caring. Her grandson Charile (Christopher Egan), was very handsome and funny as well. Amanda Seyfried’s character was a very sweet and innocent girl in her early twenties.
Like a lot romantic comedies this was a very predictable, slightly cheesy movie, I found it a little slow in parts, but entertaining.
The scenery in Verona, Italy was absolutely beautiful!
I interviewed some 14 and 15 year old girls that really liked it. This movie is rated PG, and appropriate for any age. However, I think that younger kids will get bored, but teenage girls, who like a good love story, will most likely enjoy it. I give it three out of five buckets.
Kung Fu Panda 2 Review
My dad used to say, “Tough times never last, but tough people do.” In this sequel to Kung Fu Panda, we see our favorite Panda, Po, going through a tough time, and eventually learning how to deal with it. Po (voice of Jack Black) is now a Dragon Warrior; which means that he, along with his kung fu friends, The Furious Five, are to protect the Valley of Peace. Initially things are great, and they are enjoying their new life, until they found out an evil villain named Shen (voice of Gary Oldman) plans to use a secret weapon to conquer China and ban martial arts. Now it’s up to Po and his friends to seek out this villain, and save Kung Fu. This is an entertaining, fun movie for the whole family.
Rating: Three out of five buckets
Release Date: May 26, 2011
MPAA Rating: PG
Best Age Group: 11+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent Content: Moderate
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
Drugs and Alcohol Content: Mild
Talking Points
Po and Shen (the evil villain) both have some insecurities from their past of which they are both dealing with. I don’t want to give too much of the story away, however, there are some lessons in the movie which could spark some great parent/ child conversations. To name a couple:
• In this movie, we’re told that your story may not have a happy beginning, (like Po’s), but it’s who you choose to be. Po learns a lot about how to handle certain hardships, and eventually says, “You gotta let go of that stuff from the past, because it just doesn’t matter.” A good reminder for kids as well as their parents.
• Po doesn’t have any special powers or strengths, he’s just a regular guy who is a good friend and a good son; he wants to do the right thing.
Po is an adorable, likable character, one that kids will be entertained by. Po see’s disturbing visions of his past. We see him as a crying baby, being abandoned by his parents. This was sad, and may also disturb some kids.
Sexual Content: Mild
• Parents be prepared for some questions. In one scene, Po asks his dad, (who’s a goose), where he came from. His dad tells him that geese come from eggs, and then says, “Don’t ask where the egg comes from.”
Violent Content: Moderate
There is a lot of violence in this PG movie. One reviewer compared this movie to a Road Runner cartoon, and then comments; “You get the idea of the level and kind of violence we’re talking about here.” I couldn’t agree more. The violence consists of:
• Characters being punched, kicked and hit, while doing a lot of kung fu moves.
• There are fireballs and cannonballs used in many scenes.
• There is a lot of slapstick violence, similar to cartoons.
Crude and Profane Language: Mild
• Words such as “idiot” and “fool” are used.
Overall I think most kids will enjoy this animated action comedy, which is geared towards kids. However, parents may get a little bored. One man was snoring in the theater. With the fun characters and light humor, this is a good movie for kids ages 5 and up. Having said that, I feel that parents need to know that if their kids are sensitive to violent scenes, it might not be for them.
Katy Perry: Part of Me Review
Katy Perry’s goal is to make people smile, and that’s what she does in this wonderful musical documentary. In this film we get to know Katy Perry; we see many behind the scenes moments of her California Dreams Tour. We also get to know her family and friends, as we watch Katy Perry become an iconic pop star.
Rating: 4 and 1/2 out of 5 buckets.
Release Date: September 18, 2012
MPAA Rating: PG
Best Age Group: 8+
Sexual Content: Moderate
Violent Content: None
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
Drugs and Alcohol Content: None
Will Kids Like It? Yes
Talking Points:
Initially I was not excited about seeing this movie, but now I’m a fan! It was interesting to learn about Katy Perry. Though a little weird, she’s a very nice, loyal person. Her family, friends and fans, are what’s truly important to her, and after seeing many interviews with her parents, siblings, grandma and best friends; it’s quite apparent. One of her employee’s said, “Working for Katy Perry is like working with a friend”.
Katy is an intelligent hard-working women, and never gave up on her dream. Things didn’t come easily for her, after several years of working and trying to become a success, she went through many difficult times. However when her song, I Kissed a Girl, came out, it was a big hit, which made her a famous pop-star.
Growing up, Katy’s parents were traveling ministers, so initial she only sang gospel music. Katy writes her own lyrics from life experiences.
The most poignant part of the movie was Perry’s relationship with Russell Brand. We sense her sincere affection for her husband and see her broken heart when it doesn’t last.
Sexual Content: Moderate
- Katy wore some revealing outfits while performing, but most of them were fine.
- The lyrics in some of her songs are inappropriate.
- We see Katy and her husband kissing.
Violent Content: None
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
- “H–l,” and “a–,” are said once. The word “fart,” was shown on the screen.
Drugs and Alcohol Content: None
Will Kids Like It? Yes
Katy Perry is a wonderful entertainer, and seems to be a good person. This was a fun, entertaining movie, one that I’m sure her fans will enjoy. Parents need to be aware of the inappropriate lyrics in some of her songs. I feel this is an appropriate film for kids ages 8 and up.