Family Film: New movies, including '2012' and 'A Christmas Carol'

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A guide to movies from a family perspective:

"2012"

-- Rated: PG-13.

-- Suitable for: Middle-schoolers and up.

-- What you should know: The world is in peril and then destroyed, by earthquakes, floods, fires, volcanic eruptions, toppling buildings, ash clouds and other disasters, in this movie that runs 2-1/2 hours.

-- Language: A half-dozen uses of profanity and about a dozen mild expletives.

-- Sexual situations and nudity: A man's pants slip low in the back, revealing more than is polite.

-- Violence/scary situations: Just predictions about the end of the world and the dramatization of it. A couple of supporting characters are killed, and billions die in a bloodless manner. Still, because this is done in such a realistic way, it could frighten younger moviegoers.

-- Drug or alcohol use: Adults briefly are shown with champagne, beer or other drinks, and a man sober for 20 years orders a drink knowing death is near.

"A Christmas Carol"

-- Rated: PG.

-- Suitable for: Children 6 or 7 and up, keeping younger in mind. It will help if they're familiar with the story and know it will end happily.

-- What you should know: This is an animated version of Charles Dickens' classic, and it is done in performance-capture style (think "The Polar Express") with Jim Carrey as Ebenezer Scrooge. You can see it in 2-D, which is the regular old way, or 3-D or 3-D IMAX.

-- Language: None.

-- Sexual situations and nudity: None.

-- Violence/scary situations: Mood, colors and story are often dour and dark. Marley's corpse is shown in a coffin, and his face spookily appears in a door knocker and his ghost, tethered to chains and money boxes, in Scrooge's bedroom. The most disturbing moments come when Marley adjusts his unhinged jaw, raggedy children representing Ignorance and Want appear, a spirit turns to a skeleton and then dust and when the shrouded, wordless figure from the future shows a world without Tiny Tim. Lots of falls, tumbles and some chases, too.

-- Drug or alcohol use: Drinks are served at parties and formal dinners.

"This Is It"

-- Rated: PG.

-- Suitable for: School-age children who can sit attentively through a 112-minute movie and appreciate its subject matter.

-- What you should know: This is a documentary showing rehearsals for Michael Jackson's sold-out tour, canceled after his June 25 death. It celebrates what would have been a spectacular show.

-- Language: None.

-- Sexual situations and nudity: Some suggestive dancing and a bit of crotch grabbing, kept to a minimum here.

-- Violence/scary situations: We see ghostly brides and grooms -- props -- that would have moved through the aisles during "Thriller." New footage being shot for "Thriller" has creepy costumed characters rising or roaming through a cemetery.

-- Drug or alcohol use: None.

"Astro Boy"

-- Rated: PG.

-- Suitable for: First-graders and up.

-- What you should know: Set in the future, this is an animated story about a scientist who creates Astro Boy to replace the son, Toby, who has died. He has Toby's memories, plus superpowers.

-- Language: A little bit of menacing talk, but certainly nothing obscene or profane.

-- Sexual situations and nudity: None.

-- Violence/scary situations: Toby dies in an accident, although that is handled as delicately as possible. It's disturbing when his robotic replacement, Astro Boy, is rejected by his father. Lots of action-fueled peril and a girl separated from her parents feels abandoned, but that ends happily.

-- Drug or alcohol use: None.

"Amelia"

-- Rated: PG.

-- Suitable for: Tweens and older.

-- What you should know: Two-time Oscar winner Hilary Swank is Amelia Earhart, the first woman to fly across the Atlantic. In summer 1937, she set off on a flight around the world that ended in tragedy. Richard Gere plays her husband, publisher George P. Putnam, and Ewan McGregor is her lover, pilot Gene Vidal.

-- Language: A couple of uses of profanity and a few mild four-letter words.

-- Sexual situations and nudity: An unmarried couple kiss and it's obvious they later spent the night together. A woman and man, married to others, kiss passionately and references are made to their affair.

-- Violence/scary situations: A plane is caught in a lightning-charged thunderstorm, a takeoff attempt ends in an accident and, most disturbing of all, is the prelude to the disappearance of Earhart and her navigator.

-- Drug or alcohol use: Adults are shown drinking or with glasses of champagne, beer and stronger alcohol.

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)

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