New films from a family perspective

ShareThis

A guide to movies from a family perspective:"Traitor"-- Rated: PG-13.-- Suitable for: Mature teens and older.-- What you should know: This is a spy thriller starring Don Cheadle as a devout Muslim with a web of connections to terrorist organizations. Guy Pearce and Neal McDonough are FBI agents on his trail through the Middle East, Europe and North America.-- Language: One f-word and a smattering of other vulgarities.-- Sexual situations and nudity: None.-- Violence/scary situations: Lots, including deadly explosions and shootings, along with beatings, a prison break and terrorist plots planned and sometimes executed.-- Drug or alcohol use: Adults briefly are shown drinking champagne."The Rocker"-- Rated: PG-13.-- Suitable for: Tweens and older.-- What you should know: Rainn Wilson ("The Office") stars in this comedy as the former drummer for a heavy-metal band. He was kicked out just before the group struck it rich and spends the next 20 years seething, until his nephew invites him to join his band of high-school students.-- Language: Mild vulgarities and some crude sexual come-ons.-- Sexual situations and nudity: Wilson's naked behind is on display, some sexual references made and a couple of kisses exchanged.-- Violence/scary situations: All played for laughs, as Wilson propels himself onto a van, bangs his head on a low ceiling, tumbles down stairs or off the stage and accidentally launches his drumsticks into the crowd.-- Drug or alcohol use: Adults of age drink whiskey and beer, heavily in one case, and there is a joke about hash brownies."American Teen"-- Rated: PG-13.-- Suitable for: Teens and older.-- What you should know: This is a documentary that follows a handful of high-school students in a small Indiana town during their senior year.-- Language: An outburst with a couple of f-words and a smattering of vulgarities, along with a derogatory word for "homosexual."-- Sexual situations and nudity: There is a reference to oral sex; a girl says, "We did it," meaning sex; and much gossip about a girl who sends a topless photo that is widely disseminated, much to her dismay. Teens play spin the bottle and make out.-- Violence/scary situations: A student talks about the suicide of a sibling, another is so upset by a breakup that she cannot force herself to go to school and lots of mean-spirited things such as vandalism and prank calls are done.-- Drug or alcohol use: Underage teens are shown drinking, sometimes to the point of excess."Star Wars: The Clone Wars"-- Rated: PG.-- Suitable for: Children ages 7 and up.-- What you should know: The CG-animated "Star Wars" movie follows Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker for 100 minutes -- young children got antsy in an advance screening -- as they battle on behalf of the Old Republic. The film introduces a female Jedi apprentice named Ahsoka.-- Language: The MPAA notes "brief language" as rationale in its rating notes.-- Sexual situations and nudity: None.-- Violence/scary situations: It's an intergalactic war movie, so spaceships blow up, lightsabers cross and droids are decapitated. The son of Jabba the Hutt is kidnapped, and his life is in peril.-- Drug or alcohol use: Nothing substantial."Henry Poole Is Here"-- Rated: PG-13.-- Suitable for: Tweens and up.-- What you should know: Luke Wilson is Henry Poole, who abandons his fiancee and family and sets off to spend his last days alone after a dire diagnosis. Henry is foiled by his new neighbors, who interfere with his solitude, and when a nosy neighbor declares that she sees Jesus in the stain on the stucco wall of his house, his hideout becomes a shrine.-- Language: Mild and infrequent expletives.-- Sexual situations and nudity: One or two modest kisses.-- Violence/scary situations: A few moderately scary nighttime scenes, including a child who's missing for a short period.-- Drug or alcohol use: Lots of drinking on the title character's part, but nobody else's.(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.shns.com.)