NEW THIS WEEK
‘Fred Claus’
Rating: PG for mild language and some rude humor.
What it’s about: Santa’s bitter, resentful older brother comes home for the holidays to help out at the North Pole and work through some personal issues.
The Kid Attractor Factor: A fanciful version of the North Pole, slapstick and a PG-rated version of Vince Vaughn.
Good lessons/bad lessons: Holding a sibling responsible for being “mom’s favorite” isn’t really fair.
Violence: Snowball fighting.
Language: Astonishingly clean.
Sex: Suggestions of cohabitation.
Drugs: Not even eggnog.
Parents’ advisory: A family-friendly, funny, big-budget, over-the-top Christmas comedy that isn’t remotely as raunchy as “The Wedding Crashers.”
PREVIOUSLY REVIEWED
‘Bee Movie’
Rating: PG for mild suggestive humor.
What it’s about: A big-city bee discovers he’s being exploited by the honey industry and sues.
The Kid Attractor Factor: Animated bees, bugs-on-windshield jokes, Chris Rock.
Good lessons/bad lessons: Bees have to learn to control their tempers. Big things are done by a lot of people doing a lot of little things.
Violence: Nothing that graphic, bug-on-bug, human-on-bug stuff.
Language: Tame.
Sex: Jerry Seinfeld is well-practiced at flirting.
Drugs: None.
Parents’ advisory: The jokes seem aimed more at people who know Seinfeld’s style of humor, but there are lots of sight-gags kids will get, and there’s a surprising amount of information about bees.
