ShareThisA guide to movies from a family perspective:"Lakeview Terrace"-- Rated: PG-13.-- Suitable for: Teens and older moviegoers.-- What you should know: Samuel L. Jackson plays a widowed LAPD officer who doesn't take kindly to his new suburban neighbors, an interracial couple. He makes their lives miserable as the tension within their marriage escalates.-- Language: Two uses of the f-word, at least one "Jesus" as an exclamation, other profanity and use of the n-word.-- Sexual situations and nudity: A couple gets cozy in a swimming pool and a bachelor party takes a raunchy turn, complete with strippers.-- Violence/scary situations: Lots, including raging wildfires, a break-in, attempted assault, beating, fatal exchange of gunfire and overall menacing tone.-- Drug or alcohol use: Adults drink, sometimes to excess, and the cops encounter drug dealers and a volatile domestic dispute."Ghost Town"-- Rated: PG-13.-- Suitable for: Tweens and above.-- What you should know: British comedian Ricky Gervais is a Manhattan dentist who develops the ability to see ghosts, including one played by Greg Kinnear, who doesn't want his widow (Tea Leoni) to remarry. Not earth-shaking, but a pleasant, restrained romcom.-- Language: At least one use of the f-word along with other profanity.-- Sexual situations and nudity: There are references to infidelity but nothing is dramatized. A nude ghost is discreetly photographed, and an archaeologist talks about a mummy's penis.-- Violence/scary situations: We witness the sudden death of a couple of characters and the dentist learns that he died, for just under seven minutes, during a hospital test and was revived. Hordes of ghosts haunt the Gervais character.-- Drug or alcohol use: Adults drink champagne, wine and other alcoholic beverages."The Women"-- Rated: PG-13.-- Suitable for: Tweens and above.-- What you should know: This remake of the 1939 George Cukor-directed movie stars Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Eva Mendes, Jada Pinkett Smith and Debra Messing. Ryan plays a wife and mother who learns that her husband is having an affair, and the news puts her female friendships to the test.-- Language: A couple of uses of profanity (with "God" attached) and a smattering of vulgarities.-- Sexual situations and nudity: A girl asks about her mother's diaphragm, a woman briefly recalls her first sexual experience and a reference is made to oral sex. The core characters include a lesbian and a woman having an affair with a married man. Women try on sexy lingerie.-- Violence/scary situations: None.-- Drug or alcohol use: Women drink champagne or wine, and two briefly share a joint."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.(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.shns.com.)
New films from a family perspective
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