Remember Me Review
“This movie is about death, drinking, smoking and sex,” that’s what I told my husband after I saw it. Then I said, “oh, by the way our daughter is seeing this movie tonight.” Yes, I did let my 13 year old daughter and five of her friends see this adult movie, with their favorite vampire, Robert Pattinson, as the main character.
“Remember Me” is an intense drama, and a love story, about two families struggling with the death of a loved one. Though two completely different circumstances, the outcome is still the same; how to cope with their loss. Luckily for Tyler (Robert Pattinson), and Ally (Emille de Ravin), his girlfriend, they have each other to help with deal their struggles.
Rating: Two out of five buckets
Release Date: June 22, 2010
MPAA Rating: PG13
Best Age Group: 13+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent Content: Excessive
Crude or Profane Language: Moderate
Drugs and Alcohol Content: Excessive
Talking Points:
This is not only a love story between Ally and Tyler, it’s also a story about the importance of family. Tyler (Robert Pattinson), is a loving, affectionate brother to his 6th grade sister. Both Tyler and Ally have relationship issues with their fathers, but ultimately they both love and respect them, and realize the importance of family.
Sexual Content:
- Ally and Tyler have many passionate sex scenes. There is no nudity, but it’s implied what they’re doing, in bed, under the covers.
- Tyler’s roommate brags about how many women he’s slept with.
- We see a brief clip from “American Pie.” The scene when the father walks in on his son in bed with a girl.
Violent/Disturbing Content:
- The opening scene shows Ally, as an 11 year old girl, waiting for the subway with her mom. Two hoodlums take her mom’s purse, they shoot her mom, while Ally is watching the whole thing, screaming .
- Tyler gets into a big brawl outside a bar, his face gets slammed against a windshield.
- Tyler and Ally’s dad get into a big fight, Tyler is nearly choked to death.
Crude or Profane Language: Excessive
- Swearing throughout the whole movie.
Drug and Alcohol Content: Excessive
- Characters drank and smoke throughout the movie.
Overall, this is a PG13 movie (could have been rated R), with an adult subject matter. This movie is not a question of, are you in the Edward or Jacob camp? ( Like in the Twilight movies). This is a movie which happens to have Robert Pattinson in it, but this time he’s not the loving, innocent vampire, that most preteens and teenage girls are dying to see. This time he’s a 21 year old college student with real life issues; he continually smokes, drinks, and get into numerous fights, throughout the movie. This is something parents should know. I would not recommend this for preteens, but could be appropriate for teenage girls (high school girls).
I give it 2 out of 5 buckets. I enjoyed the movie, so did the other moms in the theater. However, my only concern is that the young “Twilight” fans will want to see this movie as well, and it’s not appropriate for them.
Red Tails Review
Rating: 4 out of 5 buckets.
Release Date: May 22, 2012
MPAA Rating: PG13
Best Age Group: 9+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent Content: Moderate
Crude or Profane Language: Moderate
Drugs and Alcohol Content: Moderate
Red Tails centers around the struggles and accomplishments of the Tuskegee Airmen in 1944, during World War ll. They are a group of courageous African-American fighter pilots, with hand-me down planes and uneventful missions. They’re viewed as inferior and inadequate pilots, only because of their race. However, things dramatically change when the U.S. military finally gives them a chance to fight for our country, and help win the war. Red Tails is based on an amazing true story, with a wonderful message about overcoming racism; it’s a great educational and entertaining movie for the family!!
Talking Points:
I absolutely loved this story! The movie will spark some great parent/child conversations about segregation. In the film we saw the two races come together to defeat the enemies, and not each other.
Not only was the film exciting and educational, the characters were great. I also enjoyed the different story lines about the pilot’s relationships they encountered during the war.
The movie seemed cleaned up. It was like it was a story told by a grandfather to his grandson. This was nice and clearly made it more appropriate for children. The special effects looked like a movie from the 1960’s; this was a little strange, but refreshing as well.
As I previously mentioned I loved the story, and I liked the characters, though the acting was not good at all, which surprised me. However, my 14 year old didn’t seem to notice the poor acting, as I’m sure most kids won’t.
Sexual Content: Mild
- Lightening, one of the Tuskegee Airmen, was known as a ladies man, though things change when he meets his true love as he’s flying over a town and notices a beautiful women.
- The couple kiss, and it’s implied that they’ve had a sexual encounter.
Violent Content: Moderate
- This is a war movie, though not as graphic as most war films. We see planes being destroyed by explosions.
- Many of the pilots are shown wounded with blood and severe injuries.
- We see several characters blown up and on fire.
- Character’s fight in a bar, initiated by racial comments.
Crude and Profane Language: Moderate
- Words such as “a–,” “s–t,” “b–ch” and “d–n,” are used several times throughout the film.
Drug and Alcohol Content: Moderate
- One of the main characters has a drinking problem. We see him drinking out of a flask several times throughout the film.
- Character’s are shown drinking and smoking at an officer’s club.
Depending on the child, this is a great film for kids ages 9 and up. However, parents need to be aware of the moderate profanity, and violent scenes, (though not as violent as most war movies). This is a wonderful film that once again demonstrates the fact that all men are truly created equal.
Red Riding Hood Review
There’s a girl in a red cloak, though she’s a teenager, and there’s a grandmother and a werewolf. Sound familiar? This is the retelling of the classic fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood. In this film the werewolf has a whole village distraught as he kills, bites and stabs many innocent victims. However, the person he really wants is a beautiful, young women named Valerie (Amanda Seyfriend). Valerie wears her red cloak proudly, as she tries to figure out, who the werewolf really is. Could it be her love interest, and bad boy Peter (Shiloh Fernandez), could it be Henry (Max Irons), who she’s stuck with in an arranged engagement, or could it be a friend or family member whom she’s always trusted? Valerie tries to figure it all out, while trying to stay alive.
Rating: Two out of five buckets
Release Date: March 11, 2011
MPAA Rating: PG13
Best Age Group: 12+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent Content: Moderate
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
Drugs and Alcohol Content: None
See a clip of my review here!
Talking Points
In this teen version of Little Red Riding Hood, there is a little love saga with Valerie and the boy she wants, and with the boy she’s been arranged to be with. Teens will like the romantic element of the movie.
The movie was not predictable, which I really liked. I had no idea who the werewolf was, until it was revealed at the end of the movie. I won’t give it away.
The thing that bothered me the most were the bad, inadequate actors. It reminded me of actors in a children’s play. However, there were some big names who were great: Amanda Seyfried, Gary Oldman and Julie Christie (the grandmother).
The film had some similarities to Twilight in that the director was the same, and Valerie’s dad (Billy Burke), is the same actor who played Bella’s dad (from Twilight).
Sexual Content: Mild
Some things parents may feel uncomfortable with:
• There are many passionate kisses with Valerie and Peter, the boy with whom she’s in love. In one scene Peter starts to take off her shirt, though we don’t see anything.
• Valerie dreams of having a sexual encounter with Peter. They appear to be naked, though we only see them from their shoulders up.
• Peter dances seductively with another girl, while Valerie dances seductively with another girl…yes a girl!
Violent Content: Mild
Parents may feel uncomfortable with some of the violent scenes in the film, to name a few:
• Father Solomon (Gary Oldman), a werewolf expert whom the villagers contact for help, is a cruel man. He lusts after the village girls, and he tortures a mentally impaired boy. He accuses Valerie of being a witch, and uses her as bait for the werewolf.
• We see the werewolf kill many victims, even biting someone’s hand off.
Crude and Profane Language: None
Overall I felt this was a strange movie; one that I thought that was just okay, not terrible, but not great. There was some romance, drama and mystery, but with all that, I felt the film lacked something…not sure what. Having said that, I interviewed teenage girls (ages 15 to 19) after the movie, who all really liked the film. They thought it was “startling, captivating and mysterious.” It had that Twilight feel about it, I guess I was too busy looking for Edward and Jacob. Appropriate for pre-teens and teens.
Red Dawn Review
On a bright sunny Saturday morning the U. S had been invaded by North Koreans, and the city of Spokane, Washington was the initial target. The innocent citizens found themselves prisoners, and their town under enemy occupation. It was Jed Eckert (a twenty-something Marine, recently home from Iraq), and his brother Matt (a high school football player), who gathered a group of young men (known as the Wolverines) to defend their country. They hid in the woods and vigorously trained. These men showed courage and strength while sacrificing their lives to fight the invaders for freedom. Red Dawn, a remake of the 1984 original film, is an action packed war movie, one that teenage boys will love!
Rating: 3 out of 5 buckets
Release Date: March 4, 2013
MPAA Rating: PG13
Best Age Group: 14+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent Content: Excessive
Crude or Profane Language: Excessive
Drugs and Alcohol Content: Mild
Will Kids Like It? Yes
Talking Points:
There were messages about patriotism and teamwork woven through the film. Jed tells the group, “We inherited our freedom, now it’s up to all of us to fight for it.” My sons and nephews had chills during some of the intense patriotic scenes.
The two brothers, Jed and Matt, were very close. Though they had some issues with each other, they ultimately supported and loved one another.
One boy, who had been implanted with a tracking device, separated himself from the group to protect them from danger.
There were a lot of well known actors, whom teenagers will like. To name a few; Chris Hemsworth, Josh Peck,from the show Drake and Josh, and Adrianne Palicki from the show, Friday Night Lights.
Parents need to be aware of the excessive, disturbing violent scenes. In the film two boys watched their father die and a boy saw his brother die; the violence never ended.
Sexual Content: Mild
- We saw a couple kissing. The boy began to run his hand up her leg, but she slaped it.
- References were made about “hot, sexy girls.”
Violent Content: Excessive
- Numerous people died from explosives, machine guns, pistols and tanks.
- The group of boys attacked the North Korean headquarters, during the raid there were several explosions.
- There were combat-related violent scenes throughout most of the film.
- We saw a character drinking a deer’s blood, which was disgusting.
- We saw one character stitching up another character’s open wound, the camera zoomed in on the wound.
Crude o Profane Language: Excessive
- The f-word was said once. We heard “sh–,” “a–,”h–,” and “b–ch,” throughout the film. We also heard, “d-ck,” “pr–k,” and “b–tard,”
Drugs and Alcohol Content: Mild
- Jed was shown drinking beer. He tried to get his teenage brother to drink a one as well.
- We saw character’s drinking at a bar.
Will Kids Like It? Yes
- I brought 4 teenage boys who all loved the film.
As I previously mentioned, this is an action packed war movie, one that boys may like. Parents need to be aware of the excessive violence and profane language. Depending on the child, I recommend this for boys ages 14 and up.
Real Steel Review
Rating: 4 out of 5 buckets.
Release Date: October 7, 2011
MPAA Rating: PG13
Best Age Group: 10 and up
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent Content: Excessive
Crude or Profane Language: Moderate
Drugs and Alcohol Content: Mild
Talking Points:
Initially I thought that this was a strange movie, after all robot boxing…that’s weird. But then an endearing relationship forms between Charlie and his son Max, and the storyline became a little more interesting.
Parents may not love this movie, though the moms will like Hugh Jackman. This is a boy movie! They will love the robot boxing element to it, and they will be thoroughly entertained by Max, a fun energetic boy!
The robot boxing was well choreographed. I read that “Boxer Sugar Ray Leonard was an essential part of the motion-capture mix.”
Charlie and Max repeatedly gamble throughout the film when placing bets on the robots. This could spark a good parent/ child conversation.
Sexual Content: Mild
- Women wear low cut dresses and t-shirts.
Violent Content: Excessive
- This is a robot boxing movie, so there is some violence, though a little weird at times.
- In one scene Charlie and Max were being chased by some thugs, Charlie was severely beaten and Max was forcefully thrown to the ground. This may disturb some kids.
- During a thunderstorm, Max slipped down a steep, muddy hill, this scene could scare some kids.
Crude or Profane Language: Moderate
- Max, the 11 year old boy, swears in the film a few times. Words such as “s–t,” “d–n,” “b–ch,” were said.
Drugs and Alcohol Content: Mild
- Many characters attending some of the boxing matches were drinking beer and liquor.
Real Steal is not a deep, thought provoking film, however it’s a fun, entertaining movie, one that boys ages 10+ will most likely enjoy. Parents need to be aware of the violent scenes and profanity throughout the film.