‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’
Rating:
PG for some rude humor and language
What it’s about:
A boy narrates his comically nightmarish misadventures from his first year in middle school.
The Kid Attractor Factor:
The best-selling books come to life, or at least the big screen.
Good lessons/bad lessons:
“It’s our choices that make us who we are.”
Violence:
Bullies threaten it.
Language:
Trips to the toilet using the milder words one uses there
Sex:
Boys stumble toward that age when they notice girls.
Drugs:
None
Parents’ advisory:
Funny, irreverent, pretty faithful to the tween-centered books, this is very family friendly, potty breaks notwithstanding.
‘How to Train Your Dragon’
Rating:
PG for sequences of intense action and some scary images and brief mild language
What it’s about:
A viking lad learns that slaying dragons is not the only way of coping with them.
The Kid Attractor Factor:
A 3-D, animated film based on the popular children’s books
Good lessons/bad lessons:
On parenting — “You can’t stop him. You can only prepare him.”
Violence:
In a movie with vikings and dragons? Yes! But comical.
Language:
Oh, a few mild oaths here and there
Sex:
All the viking lads want to get close to the viking lass who looks like a Bratz doll.
Drugs:
None
Parents’ advisory:
A cartoon comedy with more sensitivity and heart than we usually get from DreamWorks; suitable for all ages
‘Remember Me’
Rating:
PG-13 for violence, sexual content, language and smoking
What it’s about:
A troubled young man finds love and purpose in the love of a girl he dates on a dare.
The Kid Attractor Factor:
Robert Pattinson, from “Twilight,” in a romantic role without fangs.
Good lessons/bad lessons:
When a guy asks you out looking as if he just got beaten up, run.
Violence:
More than you’d expect
Language:
Some profanity, not much
Drugs:
RPattz drinks beer and smokes, almost incessantly.
Parents’ advisory:
Not even remotely as clever or deep as it seems to think it is, this is a gateway drama for Pattinson fans aging out of teen vampire tales.
Hot Tub Time Machine’
Rating:
R for strong crude and sexual content, nudity, drug use and pervasive language
What it’s about:
Three burnouts and their teen traveling companion are sent back in time to see where their lives went wrong.
The Kid Attractor Factor:
It’s a raunchy comedy that all their friends will be sneaking into.
Good lessons/bad lessons:
“Embrace the chaos of life.”
Violence:
Yes, beat-downs, attempted suicide
Language:
Pretty raw
Sex:
Yes. The soapy kind
Drugs:
Bongs and blow and booze aplenty
Parents’ advisory:
The drugs, sex and bad 1980s rock ‘n’ roll add up to
no way
kids under 15 should be seeing this.
‘The Bounty Hunter’
Rating:
PG-13 for sexual content, including suggestive comments, language and some violence
What it’s about:
A bounty hunter tries to bring in his ex-wife, who skipped bail and missed her court date.
The Kid Attractor Factor:
Gerard Butler, a once and future Spartan. And Jennifer Aniston.
Good lessons/bad lessons:
If the couple are incompatible, handcuffs won’t help.
Violence:
Quite a lot of it, actually — shootings and beatings
Language:
Lots of profanity, much of it from Aniston
Sex:
Threatened, discussed
Drugs:
Alcohol is consumed.
Parents’ advisory:
Too crass and violent for 12-and-unders, PG-“13” seems right on the mark.
