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B +
B +
B
Posted on December 13, 2002 at 5:17 am
B+
| Lowest Recommended Age: |
Kindergarten - 3rd Grade |
| Profanity: |
None |
| Nudity/ Sex: |
None |
| Alcohol/ Drugs: |
None |
| Violence/ Scariness: |
Some scary scenes, including death of parent |
| Diversity Issues: |
None |
| Date Released to Theaters: |
1994 |
Sort of a cross between “Richard III” and “Hamlet,” this is the story of Simba (voice of Jonathan Taylor Thomas as a child, Matthew Broderick as an adult), the cub of Mufasa (James Earl Jones), the king of the jungle. Simba “just can’t wait to be king.” But his evil Uncle Scar (Jeremy Irons), bitterly …
Continue reading “The Lion King”
Posted on December 13, 2002 at 5:17 am
A+
| Lowest Recommended Age: |
Kindergarten - 3rd Grade |
| Profanity: |
None |
| Nudity/ Sex: |
None |
| Alcohol/ Drugs: |
None |
| Violence/ Scariness: |
Some scary scenes, characters in peril |
| Diversity Issues: |
None |
| Date Released to Theaters: |
1989 |
| Date Released to DVD: |
September 30, 2013 |
| Amazon.com ASIN: |
B0036TGT2A |
After some lackluster years, Disney came back into the top rank of animated features with this superbly entertaining musical, based loosely on the fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen (but with a happier ending). Ariel was the first in a series of refreshingly plucky Disney heroines. Instead of dreaming about the day her prince will …
Continue reading “The Little Mermaid”
Posted on December 13, 2002 at 5:17 am
D
| Lowest Recommended Age: |
Kindergarten - 3rd Grade |
| Profanity: |
Mild language |
| Nudity/ Sex: |
None |
| Alcohol/ Drugs: |
None |
| Violence/ Scariness: |
Child stuck in crypt, dead bodies, decay, vampires, brief fistfights |
| Diversity Issues: |
Tolerance of other cultures |
| Date Released to Theaters: |
2000 |
On one hand, this is an imaginative and exciting story, based on a popular series of children’s books. On the other hand, the subject matter is vampires. Even though these vampires are friendly and only suck blood out of cows, several children in the audience at the screening I attended were visibly upset. One 5-year-old …
Continue reading “The Little Vampire”
Posted on December 13, 2002 at 5:17 am
A+
| Lowest Recommended Age: |
Middle School |
| Profanity: |
No four-letter words, but strong Middle Earth language |
| Nudity/ Sex: |
A kiss |
| Alcohol/ Drugs: |
None |
| Violence/ Scariness: |
Very intense peril, major characters killed |
| Diversity Issues: |
Tolerance of difference cultures and species |
| Date Released to Theaters: |
2001 |
Somewhere, there are future Hollywood directors who will tell magazine feature writers that they first decided to make movies as they watched “Lord of the Rings.” It is that good. It is that once-to-a-generation, not since “Star Wars,” transcendent reminder of why we tell stories, why we have imagination, and why we must go on …
Continue reading “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring”
Posted on December 13, 2002 at 5:17 am
C+
| Lowest Recommended Age: |
4th - 6th Grades |
| Profanity: |
Brief strong and vulgar language |
| Nudity/ Sex: |
Mild for PG-13 |
| Alcohol/ Drugs: |
Character responds to bad news by getting drunk |
| Violence/ Scariness: |
Car accident, reference to young men killed in war, sad death |
| Diversity Issues: |
Disabled character |
| Date Released to Theaters: |
2002 |
Jim Carrey has been brilliant in flamboyant, comic roles and in quieter, subtler roles, but both kinds of acting have come from the same source inside him – the kind of anger that fuels a lot of actors and comedians. He uses his hostility brilliantly. One of his best performances was in “The Truman Show,” …
Continue reading “The Majestic”
