ShareThisNew films from a family perspective
Scripps Howard News Service
Must credit Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
A guide to movies from a family perspective:
"Live Free or Die Hard"
-- Rated: PG-13.
-- Suitable for: Teens and older.
-- What you should know: Bruce Willis returns in the fourth "Die Hard" movie, and this time he's joined by Justin Long as a computer hacker. Cyber-terrorists try to shut down everything in the country, from transit systems to utilities.
-- Language: Willis adds the usual 12-letter profanity to his signature "Yippee-ki-yay," and there's a steady stream of other expressions or words that make this PG-13.
-- Sexual situations and nudity: Couples briefly share steamy kisses.
-- Violence/scary situations: Lots of both, with nearly nonstop violence. People die, often by gunfire or in falls, and the story features car crashes, chaos in the streets, fights, a kidnapping, explosions and other deadly situations.
-- Drug or alcohol use: Nothing notable.
"Sicko"
-- Rated: PG-13.
-- Suitable for: Teens and above.
-- What you should know: Michael Moore asks why America's health-care system is so lacking, particularly when compared with Canada, Great Britain, France and Cuba, and shows the toll it's taken on average Americans.
-- Language: One f-word and a smattering of milder words.
-- Sexual situations and nudity: A man bares his backside so a doctor can give him a shot.
-- Violence/scary situations: Adults talk about the deaths of loved ones, including a toddler, while others discuss chronic health problems or accidents, including sawing off fingertips.
-- Drug or alcohol use: Adults are shown drinking wine.
"Evening"
-- Rated: PG-13.
-- Suitable for: Tweens and above.
-- What you should know: A dying woman drifts in and out of sleep and memory as she recalls a passionate encounter 50 years earlier.
-- Language: One f-word, some milder words.
-- Sexual situations and nudity: Women strip to their underwear and couples kiss. In one case, they share a night together, but it's handled with discretion.
-- Violence/scary situations: Someone is struck by a car and killed, and the leading character is dying.
-- Drug or alcohol use: Lots of champagne and other alcohol is consumed, sometimes to the point of excess.
"Evan Almighty"
-- Rated: PG.
-- Suitable for: School-age children, especially animal lovers, and up.
-- What you should know: This is a sequel to "Bruce Almighty," with Steve Carell as a TV anchor turned newly elected congressman who is asked by God (Morgan Freeman) to build an ark outside his suburban Virginia home.
-- Language: Nothing notable.
-- Sexual situations and nudity: Carell walks outside dressed and his clothes disappear, but well-positioned greenery preserves his modesty. He also makes a joke that he's trying to spice up his love life with his new long-haired look.
-- Violence/scary situations: Carell has construction mishaps and unusual animal encounters, but they're played for laughs. When a flood occurs, the ark comes in handy.
-- Drug or alcohol use: Some glasses with wine are shown in front of adults at a dinner table.
"1408"
-- Rated: PG-13.
-- Suitable for: Teens and up.
-- What you should know: Stephen King wrote the short story that inspired this movie about a writer, played by John Cusack, who defiantly checks into a supposedly haunted hotel room where most people cannot last an hour, let alone a night.
-- Language: One f-word and a regular dose of milder profanities or vulgarities.
-- Sexual situations and nudity: None.
-- Violence/scary situations: Much of the movie takes place in the hotel room where ghostly figures re-enact their suicides, where Cusack's life is threatened and where images of family members who passed away (including an ailing child) appear. Photos of dead bodies are also shown. These scenes are why the movie may be too intense for preteens.
-- Drug or alcohol use: Cusack raids the mini-bar for booze and drinks beer or cognac.
