Posts Tagged ‘movies’

Caving In To Cars 2

Thursday, June 30th, 2011

Given my fierce opposition to anything violent in my kids’ entertainment and my critique of Pixar’s apparent move away from child-appropriate films (not to mention commenter Tim’s disappointed commentary on their latest film), you would not be out of line to assume that there is no way I would take my kids to see Cars 2.  And so you would likely be rather surprised to hear that my kids did indeed go with their Nana to see Cars 2 yesterday.  What, you might ask, was I thinking?  Why would I allow such a violation of my principles?

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Has Pixar Become Too Grown-Up?

Sunday, June 26th, 2011

For the last 15 years, Pixar has been known for some amazing animation, ideal, for the most part, for even younger children.  Toy Story 1, 2, and 3 were all wonderful films, according to both kids and critics.  WALL-E is a great lesson in what can happen if we don’t take care of our planet.  And I will certainly admit that I still cry at the end of Cars when Lightning gives up the race to do the right thing.  But have recent Pixar films become too violent for young kids?

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A Summer of Cinema

Friday, June 3rd, 2011

Has summer vacation snuck up on you as it has the rest of us?  Are you staring at three months of “I’m bored!” and wracking your brain (and searching the internet) for activities that will keep them busy and happy without driving you insane or sending you to the poorhouse?  Are you looking at the cost of summer camps and wondering how much your kidney would sell for — assuming you could even find a spot at any price?  Well, help is here.

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Top Ten Christmas Movies For Kids

Friday, December 24th, 2010

Sure, this time of year, everyone goes on and on about The Christmas Story and “you’ll shoot your eye out”, but I’m not sure that younger kids really get that movie.  Die Hard and Lethal Weapon are far too violent and The Ref, while one of my favorite holiday films, is certainly not suitable for kids unless you want them to be able to hold their own with Uncle “Foul-Mouth” Phil.  So what are good movies for kids this time of year?  Here are the ones I came up with:

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How Old For Violence?

Monday, November 29th, 2010

I’m pretty strict about not exposing my kids to any more violence than I absolutely have to.  For us, that has meant that Disney films are for older kids and Harry Potter is right out.  But how old do kids need to be before they can handle some violence?  We’ve hit a situation that is testing our resolve to avoid what we think are inappropriate films.  You see, as surprising as it might be, not everyone feels the same way we do.

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Rated E for Exempt

Monday, June 21st, 2010

Most parents filter the movies their kids get to see.  Depending on what is important to them, parents will mark movies off-limits due to sex, violence, or other adult topics, using such resources as the MPAA guidelines or ratings from sites such as Kids-in-Mind.  However parents judge a movie’s suitability, though, and despite its nearly continuous violence, there is one film that seems to get a free pass onto the screens of almost any young boy.  The question is, can a movie be deemed so socially significant, so culturally important, and so much a classic that it is exempt from normal restrictions?

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