Saturday, June 28, 2008
E-mail this story E-mail this story Print this story Print this story E-mail updates Get Newsletters Comment on this story

Parent's Little Helper

last updated: May 16, 2008 04:51:46 AM

The High Five

Most Emailed Stories

Most Commented Stories

  • BABY MAMA
    PG-13

    What it's about: A career-oriented single woman decides to have a baby at 37 and hires a trashy, goofy surrogate to carry her egg to term.

    Kid attractor factor: Amy Poehler, Tina Fey and Dax Shepard, toilet humor and gags.

    Language: A bit of jarring profanity.

    Sex: Examples of the old-fashioned way of making babies turn up.

    Drugs: Alcohol and cigarettes, and a harder drug reference.

    Parents advisory: Relatively benign how-to-make-babies comedy with a "Saturday Night Live" lineage.

  • THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: PRINCE CASPIAN
    PG

    What it's about: The Pevensie children return to Narnia for a new war against a new evil, and are aided by the dashing Prince Caspian.

    Kid attractor factor: A dream world filled with fantastical creatures.

    Violence: Almost constant, with two set battle pieces, slashings, impalings, killings aplenty and at least one beheading.

    Language: Disney clean.

    Sex: A serious teen smooch.

    Drugs: None.

    Parents advisory: Being a Christian allegory does not excuse the MPAA for giving this one a free ride in the violence department. Generally bloodless, but it's still the most violent PG film in ages.

  • DR. SEUSS' HORTON HEARS A WHO!
    G

    What it's about: A nerdy elephant hears a noisy from a tiny dust speck and comes to understand that there's a whole civilization living on that dust speck.

    Kid Attractor Factor: Lovely animation from the folks who made the "Ice Age" movies, and who doesn't love Dr. Seuss?

    Violence: A vulture and assorted chimps try to do in the dust speck.

    Language: Clean as Jim Carrey can make it.

    Sex: None.

    Drugs: None.

    Parents advisory: The longer treatment of this terrific and lean Dr. Seuss book gives you a deeper appreciation of all the ideas about tolerance, the fragility of life and being willing to hold unpopular opinions when you're morally right.

  • THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM
    PG-13

    What it's about: A bullied teen is summoned to ancient China, where he falls in with martial-arts masters.

    Kid Attractor factor: Magical martial arts and comedy from Jackie Chan and Jet Li.

    Violence: Slapstick martial arts mixed with deadlier moments of combat. Not much blood, though.

    Language: Quite clean.

    Sex: Flirtation between boy and Sparrow, the dishy dart-thrower from days of yore.

    Drugs: One martial-arts master is the Drunken Immortal, forever popping a cork.

    Parents advisory: Not exactly a movie for children

  • IRON MAN
    PG-13

    What it's about: A hard-partying inventor and heir to a weapons-manufacturing fortune builds a supercharged iron suit to try to set things right.

    Kid Attractor Factor: It's Iron Man.

    Violence: There are deaths, brawls, the threat of a massacre.

    Language: Quite clean.

    Sex: Iron Man likes to chase skirts.

    Drugs: Lots of cocktails are consumed.

    Parents advisory: A bit more adult than the Spider-Man movies, but pitched in a similar tone. A bit violent but 12-and-ups should see that there are consequences to violence.

  • MADE OF HONOR
    PG-13

    What it's about: A lifelong ladies' man realizes that his best friend is the love of his life, and she's about to marry some Scottish guy.

    Kid Attractor Factor: Patrick Dempsey, Michelle Monaghan and a lot of flirting and dating.

    Violence: A punch is thrown. And caught. On the chin.

    Language: Profanity here and there.

    Sex: One-night and one-night-per-week stands by the womanizing leading man.

    Drugs: A little alcohol, especially in the opening scenes.

    Parents advisory: More a date movie than something your average 12-and-under would like, it's for teens old enough to hold hands and share a box of popcorn, and their parents.

  • SPEED RACER
    PG

    What it's about: Idealistic, independent young driver battles long odds to foil the cartel of evil, cheating racing sponsors.

    Kid attractor factor: Eye candy galore.

    Language: Gratuitous profanity.

    Sex: None, despite Christina Ricci.

    Drugs: None, unless you count poison.

    Parents advisory: It's childish enough to be attractive to young children, but the plot demands many a tedious discussion/explanation scene, when all most kids want is more chimp moments. Fine for 9 and older.

  • 21
    PG-13

    What it's about: Math whizzes at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology team up to break the bank in Vegas.

    Kid Attractor Factor: Young people.

    Violence: A beat-down.

    Language: Not that rough.

    Sex: Implied.

    Drugs: Lots of drinking, some smoking.

    Parents advisory: The lesson that only a sucker gambles is implicit, and while the film doesn't touch on gambling as addiction, it doesn't glamorize it, either.

  • WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS
    PG-13

    What it's about: A girl meets a guy, drinks are drunk and a Vegas wedding ensues.

    Kid Attractor Factor: Ashton Kutcher, Cameron Diaz.

    Violence: Sucker punches, several of them. Crotch shots, too.

    Language: Not as much profanity as you might expect, but still worth a PG-13.

    Sex: Yes, that happens in Vegas.

    Drugs: Yes, with alcohol serving as Love Potion Number Nine.

    Parents advisory: Not remotely as raunchy as most recent romantic comedies, it's still a bit much for 12-and-unders. Take the PG-13 to the bank.

    -- Roger Moore,

    The Orlando Sentinel

  • Be the first to comment on this story click the 'Add Comment' Tab!


    Modbee.com is pleased to be able to offer its users the opportunity to make comments and hold conversations online. However, the interactive nature of the internet makes it impracticable for our staff to monitor each and every posting.

    Since Modbee.com does not control user submitted statements, we cannot promise that readers will not occasionally find offensive or inaccurate comments posted on our website. In addition, we remind anyone interested in making an online comment that responsibility for statements posted lies with the person submitting the comment, not The Modesto Bee.

    If you find a comment offensive, clicking on the exclamation icon will flag the comment for review by the administrators, we are counting on the good judgment of all our readers to help us.