Parents’ Guide to Movies

Published 4:00 am Friday, February 12, 2010

‘Valentine’s Day’

Rating: PG-13 for some sexual material and brief partial nudity

What it’s about: Assorted couples and would-be couples try to pull it together in time for “the most romantic day of the year.”

The kid attractor factor: An all-star cast that includes Anne Hathaway, Jessica Biel, Jessica Alba, Bradley Cooper and Oscar winners Jamie Foxx, Kathy Bates and Julia Roberts

Good lessons/bad lessons: Fall in love with your friend. It saves time and heartache.

Violence: None

Language: Quite clean, considering

Sex: Teens plan it, with near nudity played for laughs

Drugs: None

Parents’ advisory: A bit risque for tweens, but teens might learn something about love.

‘The Wolfman’

Rating: R for bloody horror violence and gore

What it’s about: A hairy beast stalks the moors, slaughtering with impunity.

The kid attractor factor: Hairy beasts slaughtering

Good lessons/bad lessons: Don’t blame the Gypsies. And staying at home when the moon is full is never a bad idea.

Violence: Graphic — beheadings, disembowelings, dismemberments

Language: No profanity

Sex: Partial nudity

Drugs: Lots of needles, a few pints are consumed.

Parents’ advisory: Old fashioned in some ways, but nightmarishly graphic in its violence — not suitable for kids 14 and younger.

‘Tooth Fairy’

Rating: PG for mild language, some rude humor and sports action.

What it’s about: A cynical, embittered hockey player is sentenced to be a tooth fairy after he lectures kids to live in the real world and not fantasize about things they may never have.

The kid attractor factor: Dwayne Johnson, the cinema’s ultimate plush toy, dressed as a fairy and doing slapstick.

Good lessons/bad lessons: Taking away children’s fantasies ruins childhood.

Violence: It’s hockey, right?

Language: Very mild language, despite the hockey.

Sex: None, though the hockey player is dating a single mom with sleepover privileges.

Drugs: None.

Parents’ advisory: Strictly a younger kids’ fantasy, with fairies and the gadgetry of fairies plus a good message about the odds against growing up to be a star athlete. Suitable for 5 and older.

‘The Book of Eli’

Rating: R for some brutal violence and language.

What it’s about: A loner wanders a post-nuclear world, guarding a book.

The kid attractor factor: Denzel and Doomsday. Kids love ’em both.

Good lessons/bad lessons: Books and their big ideas can be used to inspire or enslave.

Violence: Quite a bit, mostly stylized. Occasionally graphic.

Language: Half a dozen F-bombs.

Sex: Hinted at, avoided.

Drugs: None.

Parents’ advisory: Entirely too violent for those 10 and younger.

‘The Lovely Bones’

Rating: PG-13 for mature thematic material involving disturbing violent content and images, and some language.

What it’s about: A murdered teen narrates the tale of her death and her family’s life after it.

The kid attractor factor: It’s about kids, and it’s by fantasy director Peter Jackson (“King Kong” and “Lord of the Rings”).

Good lessons/bad lessons: “You’re not supposed to look back. You’re supposed to go forward.”

Violence: A girl is lured on camera, and murdered off camera.

Language: Some profanity.

Sex: Young romance, and the crime itself has a sexual nature.

Drugs: Alcohol and cigarettes.

Parents’ advisory: Entirely too creepy and intense for very young children, and kids younger than 12 might be bored by this after-life thriller and fairy tale.

The Family Movie Guide should be used along with the Motion Picture Association of America rating system for selecting movies suitable for children. Only films rated G, PG or PG-13 are included in this weekly listing, along with occasional R-rated films that may have entertainment value or educational value for older children with parental guidance.

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