July 05, 2009 12:09 am A guide to movies from a family perspective: 'Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen' Rated: PG-13. Best for: Age 9 and older (long and loud for squirmy kids). What you should know: Sequel to the blockbuster about alien robots here on Earth. Autobots strive to keep the planet safe from evil Decepticons, with help from Sam (Shia LaBeouf), Mikaela (Megan Fox) and members of the military. This time around, intel desired by the bad guys is downloaded into Sam's brain, interrupting his entry to college. He goes on the run, and, inevitably, lots of things go boom. Language: A three-letter a-word is used often and its longer version is uttered as well. The s-word is said twice by Sam's mother and then by a general. Crude and suggestive language is used. Sexual situations and nudity: A sexy, aggressive coed (Isabel Lucas) comes on to Sam and jumps him. Parents look forward to time alone; a man is seen in skimpy underwear; a couple kiss. Mostly, the camera ogles Lucas and Fox. Violence/scary situations: Explosions rock the film throughout. Earth is threatened, and people are killed by the thousands, although rarely on screen. A scene reminiscent of director Michael Bay's "Pearl Harbor" film shows ships destroyed and bodies floating in water. Sam's brain is probed by a Decepticon minibot. People and Autobots we care about are injured and in constant danger. Alcohol and drug use: There's drinking at a wild frat party. A parent eats marijuana-laced brownies. 'My Sister's Keeper' Rating: PG-13. Suitable for: Mature tweens who can handle sad material, and older moviegoers. What you should know: This is based on the Jodi Picoult book about a girl who goes to court to avoid giving her ailing teen-age sister a kidney. The movie shows what can happen to a family when one of three siblings is gravely ill (here it's leukemia) and examines questions about conceiving and engineering a child to try to save another's life. Many people were crying at a preview. Language: One f-word, a couple of uses of "Jesus Christ," some profanity and mild expletives. Sexual situations and nudity: A teen-age girl and boy kiss or recline on a bed after an amorous interlude. Violence/scary situations: Cancer patients appear with bald heads and are shown vomiting or suffering nosebleeds and other effects of their disease or treatment. Two characters die, offscreen, and another suffers an epileptic seizure. A reference is made to a 12-year-old girl killed by a drunken driver. Drug or alcohol use: A distraught teen mixes alcohol with some prescription pills. Adults drink beer or wine. 'The Proposal' Rating: PG-13. Suitable for: Tweens and up. What you should know: Sandra Bullock plays a no-nonsense New York book editor who, facing deportation to her native Canada, pretends to be engaged to her assistant, played by Ryan Reynolds. They head for his hometown in Alaska, where their ruse threatens to come undone. Language: A couple of uses of "Jesus" or "Christ" along with a half-dozen mild expletives. Sexual situations and nudity: All played for laughs, including a kiss and a naked, carefully choreographed collision and tumble. A hapless exotic dancer performs, and jokes are made about fertility and bust lines. Violence/scary situations: Generally mild. A character makes reference to losing her parents when she was a teen. Someone who cannot swim is unintentionally thrown out of a speeding boat, and another collapses and needs immediate medical care. Alcohol and drug use: Adults celebrate or relax with alcoholic drinks, and one scene is set in a bar. 'Year One' Rating: PG-13. The Motion Picture Association of America originally rated the movie R for "some sexual content and language," but changed the rating to PG-13 after the director and producer made cuts. Suitable for: Mature teens and older. What you should know: The movie spoofs several stories told in Genesis by having two cavemen encounter the tales firsthand in hopes of getting their cavegirl crushes out of slavery. Language: Liberal use of sexual terms and stronger version of "buttocks." Sexual situations and nudity: The sexual innuendos are too many to count, and the cavemen and cavewomen are scantily clad in rags. Violence/scary situations: A man is speared, the two protagonists get stoned by a child and a eunuch and some humans and animals are decapitated. Oh yeah, there are some scary masks, too. Alcohol and drug use: A reference by a teen-ager to "smoking some herb." A slave imbibes a whole chalice of alcohol shortly before her sacrifice. 'Imagine That' Rating: PG. Suitable for: Kindergarten-age children and up. What you should know: Eddie Murphy plays a workaholic dad who enters his daughter's imaginary world and finds financial tips, workplace success and personal happiness. Language: A stronger version of "heck," twice. Sexual situations and nudity: None. Violence/scary situations: At a meeting in the dad's office, a quickie mention is made of a nuclear weapon being detonated, but anything slightly scary — bouncing off a trampoline, tumbles, speeding through traffic — is played for laughs. Drug or alcohol use: None. 'My Life in Ruins' Rating: PG-13. Suitable for: Mature tweens and up, although its target seems to be older audiences. What you should know: Nia Vardalos from "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" plays an American reluctantly working as a tour guide in Greece. She has lost her mojo but finds it after a memorable tour, where she falls in love and begins to see beyond the stereotypes she assigns passengers. Language: About a half-dozen mild four-letter words. Sexual situations and nudity: A woman announces a sexual dry spell, a man advises her to have more sex, characters kiss and are shown after a sexual interlude, and a man jokes about a prescription pill that allows him to share his bed with two women. Violence/scary situations: A bus mishap looks worse than it is, and, in a separate incident, a person falls ill and lands in the hospital. Drug or alcohol use: Some visitors almost always have a beer can in their hands, and characters down shots or other alcohol. 'Up' Rating: PG. Suitable for: Children 4 or 5 and older. What you should know: This is the 10th movie from Pixar and it's a little more than 90 minutes (nowhere near as long as "Cars"). It's about a widower who ties thousands of balloons to his house and sails away to South America, unaware that a boy has accidentally stowed away. Language: Nothing notable. Sexual situations and nudity: None. Violence/scary situations: A wordless sequence early on conveys a couple's inability to have children and the elderly wife's illness and death. Adults will understand what is happening but children may not. "Up" has lots of cartoonish peril, including a strike to the head which leads to an arrest, stormy skies while flying, scary dogs, attempts to kill, hurt or capture people and creatures, and a fall we presume is fatal (the result is not shown). Drug or alcohol use: None. 'Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian' Rated: PG. Suitable for: School-age and older children who can sit attentively through a 105-minute movie. What you should know: This is the sequel to the 2006 hit with Ben Stiller as a night watchman at a museum. This time, he has a new job but is in Washington trying to keep old and new exhibits that have come alive from wreaking havoc. Language: Two stronger versions of "darn." Sexual situations and nudity: None. Violence/scary situations: Cartoonish, from slaps to the face to the throwing of spears, perilous plane rides and death threats — a miniature man is held captive in a sandy hourglass. Drug or alcohol use: None. — Scripps Howard News Service
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