‘The Smurfs’

Rating: PG for some mild rude humor and action

What it’s about: The little blue people are sucked out of their mushroom village and land in Central Park, chased by the evil wizard Gargamel.

The kid attractor factor: Tiny blue elves getting into mischief with Neil Patrick Harris.

Good lessons/bad lessons: “Nobody is just one thing. You can be anything you want to be.”

Violence: Slapstick stuff, little blue people are put in peril.

Language: Profanity is replaced by the word “smurf.” Always.

Sex: None, though Gargamel has a “chamber pot” moment in an NYC restaurant.

Drugs: Champagne is consumed.

Parents’ advisory: Perfectly suitable for all ages and somewhat sillier and less insipid than the TV show parents will remember.

‘Crazy, Stupid, Love.’

Rating: PG-13 for coarse humor, sexual content and language

What it’s about: Assorted interconnected couples — teens through newly divorced adults — struggle with landing their respective “soul mates.”

The kid attractor factor: Steve Carell acting silly, lovesick teens making fools of themselves

Good lessons/bad lessons: “The war between the sexes is over. We won.”

Violence: Punches thrown, slapstick-style

Language: Some profanity, a lot of innuendo.

Sex: Yup, though nothing graphic.

Drugs: Lots of drinks are consumed in the movie’s many bar scenes.

Parents’ advisory: This is a dating-age romantic farce, most suitable for 15 and older.

‘Captain America: The First Avenger’

Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action.

What it’s about: A scrawny, patriotic chap is turned into a supersoldier to battle the Nazis.

The kid attractor factor: It’s a comic-book adaptation, a period piece — and stars the eternally cool Chris Evans.

Good lessons/bad lessons: “If you start running (from a fight), they never let you stop.”

Violence: Quite a bit, with a smattering of blood.

Language: Apparently, there was no cursing during World War II.

Sex: Some pretty serious come-ons from ladies in uniform.

Drugs: None

Parents’ advisory: More squeaky-clean than most comic-book adaptations, suitable for all ages.

‘Winnie the Pooh’

Rating: G

What it’s about: Pooh has this “very important thing” to do, which he will, if he can ever stop thinking about honey.

The kid attractor factor: The beloved book, film and TV character is in a brand-new movie.

Good lessons/bad lessons: Put a friend’s needs ahead of your own.

Violence: None

Language: Bother

Sex: Nary a whit.

Drugs: You can’t get drunk off of honey.

Parents’ advisory: The perfect first movie for your tyke, it holds a few charms for parents, too. Suitable for all ages, best suited for 8 and younger.

‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2’

Rating: PG-13 for some sequences of intense action violence and frightening images.

What it’s about: Our epic story of a wizard facing his destiny — and an evil foe — draws to a close.

The kid attractor factor: This is the most popular film series of all time. They know what they like about it.

Good lessons/bad lessons: “Do not pity the dead. Pity the living. And above all, those who live without love.”

Violence: Blood, death and mayhem

Language: Rhymes with “witch.”

Sex: Some serious smooching.

Drugs: Butterbeer.

Parents’ advisory: PG-13 seems a trifle heavy for a movie where the violence is plainly fantasy. OK for 8 and older.

‘Monte Carlo’

Rating: PG for brief mild language.

What it’s about: A working-class girl on vacation in Europe is mistaken for an heiress and lives it up, just a bit, while impersonating her.

The kid attractor factor: Disney Channel’s Selena Gomez has her first real shot at film stardom.

Good lessons/bad lessons: One person’s “seize the moment” is another’s “it’s stealing.”

Violence: None

Language: Very mild profanity.

Sex: Not really

Drugs: Everybody is of legal age to have a drink — in France.

Parents’ advisory: Gomez’s pre-teen fans won’t get as much from this as those older teens in touch with the fantasy and dress-up moments. OK for 12 and older.

‘Zookeeper’

Rating: PG for some rude and suggestive humor, and language

What it’s about: The animals in the care of a lonely zookeeper start talking to him, giving him romantic advice.

The kid attractor factor: Talking critters and lots of them

Good lessons/bad lessons: “Finding a perfect mate is the most important thing in the world.”

Violence: Slapstick and the suggestion of animal cruelty.

Language: A few instances of profanity

Sex: Broad animal mating jokes, a wolf teaching a man to “mark your territory”

Drugs: Alcohol is consumed.

Parents’ advisory: It’s a broad low farce with talking animals that sound like Sly Stallone, Cher and Adam Sandler. OK for all ages.

‘Cars 2’

Rating: G — for gearhead

What it’s about: That race car and his four-wheeled pals get mixed up in international intrigue when he signs on to a grand prix circuit.

The kid attractor factor: They own the toys, they remember the first movie.

Good lessons/bad lessons: “Whoever finds a friend finds a treasure.”

Violence: Cars are crushed and blown up.

Language: Disney clean

Sex: Not a hint

Drugs: Not even fuel additives

Parents’ advisory: Noisier and faster-paced than the first film, this one is suitable for all ages, especially boys 5-8 years old.

‘Transformers: Dark Of The Moon’

Rating: PG-13 for intense prolonged sequences of sci-fi action violence, mayhem and destruction, and for language, some sexuality and innuendo

What it’s about: The Autobots and Decepticons go at it again, rewriting the history of the Space Race as they do.

The kid attractor factor: It’s a toy. It’s a movie. It’s both. And lots of stuff blows up.

Good lessons/bad lessons: “When it’s not your war, join that side that’s going to win.” “Relationships have consequences.”

Violence: Humans are vaporized, but only robots bleed.

Language: Quite a bit of profanity for PG-13

Sex: A model-actress wears lots of low-cut, high-hemline dresses and a come-hither look.

Drugs: Not really, a little wine

P arents’ advisory: The violence, death, sexy clothing and profanity run this one right up to the edge of an “R” rating. Suitable for 13 and older.

‘Mr. Popper’s Penguins’

Rating: PG for mild, rude humor and some language

What it’s about: A workaholic, real-estate developer learns about family when penguins come into his life.

The kid attractor factor : Chances are, they’ve had the book read to them, plus it stars Jim Carrey and lots of cute penguins.

Good lessons/bad lessons: “Put your heart out there. It might get broken, but that’s how you know you have one.”

Violence: Penguin pecking

Language: Penguin potty jokes

Sex: None

Drugs: Champagne

Parents’ advisory: The penguin poo makes this one skew very young, though the wordplay might amuse older kids, OK for 5 and older.

‘Super 8’

Rating : PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi action and violence, language and some drug use.

What it’s about: Small-town middle-school movie buffs try to shoot a zombie movie with a Super 8 camera only to have real horror show up on their doorstep.

The kid attractor factor: Smart and smart-mouthed kids make a bad movie and face off with monsters.

Good lessons/bad lessons: Sometimes, kids catch on a lot earlier than adults.

Violence: Quite a bit, graphic, without much blood

Language: Kids of the ’70s got into mild profanity in their tweens.

Sex: Young, chaste romance.

Drugs: Adult alcoholism is discussed.

Parents’ advisory: A bit too scary-violent, adult and profane for the very young, but certainly OK for 10 and older.

‘Midnight in Paris’

Rating: PG-13 for some sexual references and smoking.

What it’s about: A frustrated writer imagines himself back in a gilded age, when Hemingway and Picasso, Gertrude Stein and Fitzgerald were all in Paris.

The kid attractor factor: Oh, you know they’re sneaking into it just to hear the naughty talk.

Good lessons/bad lessons: Every generation thinks an earlier era was the height of art and civilization.

Violence: None

Language: Quite tame.

Sex: Referred to, but not discussed in detail.

Drugs: Cocktails and wine and cigarettes.

Parents’ advisory: Not every Woody Allen comedy is kid-appropriate, but if they’re old enough to know who Hemingway and Picasso were, they’ll get the jokes. Suitable for 13 and older.

‘X-men: First Class’

Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of action and violence, some sexual content including brief partial nudity and language.

What it’s about: How Professor X and Magneto met and how they and their mutant friends took part in the Cold War.

The kid attractor factor: It’s an X-Men movie!

Good lessons/bad lessons: “Just following orders” is not a good excuse.

Violence: Quite a bit, little blood

Language: One strategically placed F-bomb.

Sex: Skimpy costumes for the ladies, sexual situations.

Drugs: Alcohol, here and there

Parents’ advisory: Slightly edgier than much Marvel comic-book fare, but with only a smattering of profanity to make it PG-13. OK for 10 and older.

‘Kung Fu Panda 2’

Rating: PG for sequences of martial-arts action and mild violence

What it’s about: The martial-arts panda sets out in search of “inner peace.”

The kid attractor factor: They loved the first one — and this 3-D cartoon offers more of the same.

Good lessons/bad lessons: “Anything is possible if you have inner peace.”

Violence: Martial-arts slapstick, cannon fire.

Language: Profanity free

Sex: None

Drugs: MSG free

Parents’ advisory: There’s nothing here that would rattle even a toddler. Suitable for all ages.

‘Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides’

Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of action/adventure violence, some frightening images, sensuality and innuendo.

What it’s about: Capt. Jack Sparrow joins Blackbeard’s crew and Penelope Cruz as they search for the Fountain of Youth.

The kid attractor factor: More Caribbean piracy, fighting and flirting.

Good lessons/bad lessons: A good parent sacrifices for their child, not the other way around.

Violence: Quite a bit, nothing horribly bloody though.

Language: Disney clean.

Sex: Flirting, innuendo, near-nude mermaids.

Drugs: Yo ho ho, there’s a tot of rum.

Parents’ advisory: Less frightening, more action-packed and kid-friendly than most of the “Pirates” films, OK for 10 and older.

‘Something Borrowed’

Rating: PG-13 for sexual content including dialogue, and some drug material.

What it’s about: A young woman comes to terms with the fact that she’s in love with her best friend’s fiance.

The kid attractor factor: It’s a romantic comedy with that fellow from “The Office” and Ginnifer Goodwin and Kate Hudson.

Good lessons/bad lessons: “Sometimes, good people do bad things” and other lame excuses.

Violence: None.

Language: Not a lot of profanity, but a lot of sex talk.

Sex: Discussed, in detail.

Drugs: Booze in bars, which leads to bad decisions.

Parents’ advisory: Not a lot here for younger kids, even if they got the innuendoes. OK for 13 and older.

‘Hoodwinked Too! Hood Vs. Evil’

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

What it’s about: Granny, a secret recipe and Hansel and Gretel are missing. Can Red Riding Hood and her pal, the wolf, save them?

The kid attractor factor: A fairy tale mash-up in animated 3-D

Good lessons/bad lessons: “A person can never really fail unless they give up.”

Violence: Cartoon punchings, squishings, etc.

Language: A “dammit Jim” “Star Trek” joke.

Sex: None

Drugs: Cocktails.

Parents’ advisory: OK for all ages, but if the kids were old enough to have seen the original in theaters (2005), they’ve outgrown this one.

‘Prom’

Rating: PG for mild language and a brief fight.

What it’s about: Assorted kids at a suburban high school obsess about the year-end dance and all it portends.

The kid attractor factor: Attractive teens coping with young love, awkwardness and their first serious thoughts of “the future.”

Good lessons/bad lessons: Don’t get too caught up in expecting that “one perfect moment,” because to most kids, prom isn’t all that.

Violence: One fist fight.

Language: Disney clean.

Sex: Flirting and the occasional smooch.

Drugs: None

Parents’ advisory: Disney’s version of high school lacks the “real” problems of “real” high schools, but that makes it suitable for all ages.

‘African Cats’

Rating: G

What it’s about: Two competing prides of lions and a lone cheetah mom are followed in this nature documentary.

The kid attractor factor: Cute animals struggling with nature in all its harsh, rough-edged glory.

Good lessons/bad lessons: “Never get fresh with an ostrich” and the like

Violence: Lion attacks, a croc attack, hyenas, nothing terribly gruesome.

Language: Disney clean

Sex: None

Drugs: None

Parents’ advisory: Gentler, more entertaining and far prettier than the very similar “The Last Lions,” this is suitable for the whole family.

‘Rio’

Rating: G

What it’s about: A rare blue macaw is sent to Brazil to mate and save his species, only he doesn’t get along with the female macaw, and they’re bird-napped.

The kid attractor factor: Animation, funny birds, slapstick, samba music.

Good lessons/bad lessons: Exotic birds were never meant to be pets because it drives them to extinction in the wild.

Violence: Cartoon slapstick.

Language: Disney clean.

Sex: Brazilian babes on the beach in Rio.

Drugs: Does chloroform count?

Parents’ advisory: Far and away the smartest, sweetest and funniest film from the folks who made those “Ice Age” cartoons, suitable for the whole family.

‘Hop’

Rating: PG for some mild rude humor.

What it’s about: Guy hits the Easter Bunny with his car and must help him recover and realize his rock ’n’ roll dream.

The kid attractor factor: A smart-mouthed, rock-drumming animated bunny, and James Marsden, the goofy prince from “Enchanted.”

Good lessons/bad lessons: Sooner or later, you will meet your destiny.

Violence: A car accident, mild cartoon peril.

Language: Disney clean.

Sex: Nary a hint.

Drugs: Nary a whiff.

Parents’ advisory: Harmless, this blend of animation and live action is aimed at the very youngest filmgoers. Suitable for all ages.

‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules’

Rating: PG for some mild rude humor and mischief.

What it’s about: The Wimpy Kid makes his way through seventh grade and a rough-and-tumble relationship with his teenage brother.

The kid attractor factor: It’s the second movie based on the popular and funny Jeff Kinney books, with tweens and teens as its stars.

Good lessons/bad lessons: “Don’t be good at something you don’t want to do” and other teen slacker credos.

Violence: None to speak of.

Language: “Holy moly!” is about as rough as it gets.

Sex: Teen and tween flirtation, an underwear gag.

Drugs: None.

Parents’ advisory: Aimed squarely at the middle school and younger set, it’s perfectly fine for 6 and older.

‘Mars Needs Moms’

Rating: PG for sci-fi action and peril.

What it’s about: A little boy stows away on a spaceship when his mother is abducted by aliens.

The kid attractor factor: Animation by the “Polar Express” folks, based on a Berkeley Breathed kids’ book.

Good lessons/bad lessons: Words can wound, and there is no limit to a mother’s love.

Violence: Alien laser guns and the threat of asphyxiation in the vacuum of space.

Language: Disney clean.

Sex: A little interspecies flirting, and blushing.

Drugs: None.

Parents’ advisory: More plot-heavy than jokey, this one may be tough on the 6-and-younger set but perfectly engrossing for 7 and older.

‘Red Riding Hood’

Rating: PG-13 for violence and creature terror, and some sensuality.

What it’s about: Red Riding Hood’s medieval village is menaced by a big bad WEREwolf.

The kid attractor factor: Young people in lust in a fairy tale from the director of “Twilight.”

Good lessons/bad lessons: “Our methods of pleasing God are sometimes … flawed.”

Violence: Slashings, stabbings and a hand is bitten off.

Language: Fairy-tale friendly.

Sex: Interrupted.

Drugs: Ale and wine.

Parents’ advisory: Aimed at that “Twilight” demographic, this is just as sexual, has a bit more blood plus a little swordplay — OK for 13 and older.

‘Rango’

Rating: PG for rude humor, language, action and smoking.

What it’s about: A pet lizard escapes into a desert town where the other varmints make him the sheriff.

The kid attractor factor: It’s animated — and the voices are provided by Johnny Depp, Abigail Breslin and others.

Good lessons/bad lessons: “People have to believe in something. Right now, they believe in you.”

Violence: Animated mayhem, a hawk is dispatched, gunplay.

Language: Some profanity — not much, but more than you’re used to in a children’s cartoon.

Sex: Heavens, no.

Drugs: Cigarettes, cigars and drinks in a saloon.

Parents’ advisory: A bit rougher and more adult-oriented than your typical kids’ toon; suitable for 10 and older.

‘Beastly’

Rating: PG-13 for language including crude comments, brief violence and some thematic material

What it’s about: A spoiled, rich high school student is condemned to look like a beast until he can win the love of someone.

The kid attractor factor: Vanessa Hudgens is the Beauty, Alex Pettyfer is the Beast.

Good lessons/bad lessons: True beauty isn’t skin deep, and “parents do what they do with what they know.”

Violence: A shooting, punches are thrown.

Language: A sprinkling of profanity, leaving out the dirtiest of dirty words.

Sex: A little making out.

Drugs: Drug abuse is a minor subtext; some teen partying.

Parents’ advisory: Surprisingly smart with good messages and a hint of edge. OK for 12 and older.

‘Hall Pass’

Rating: R for crude and sexual humor throughout, language, some graphic nudity and drug use.

What it’s about: A couple of immature husbands are given a week off from marriage by their wives.

The kid attractor factor: Comedies this dirty always draw the “let’s sneak into THIS one” tweens.

Good lessons/bad lessons: When it comes to our romantic glory days, we all remember things through rose-colored glasses.

Violence: Fisticuffs, a shooting spree.

Language: Just filthy.

Sex: Full-frontal nudity, vulgar sexual situations.

Drugs: Booze and brownies.

Parents’ advisory: The nudity and crudity rule this out for anybody younger than 15.

‘Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son’

Rating: PG-13 for some sexual humor and brief violence.

What it’s about: An FBI agent drags his son undercover with him to protect the kid, both of them disguised as women.

The kid attractor factor: Guys in heavily padded dresses pretending to be plus-size women.

Good lessons/bad lessons: “Every day you don’t demand respect, you die a little.”

Violence: A murder, shootouts.

Language: Squeaky clean.

Sex: Women in semi-undressed states.

Drugs: None

Parents’ advisory: Childish enough to appeal to young kids, with content appropriate for 10-and-older.

‘I Am Number Four’

Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, and for language.

What it’s about: Good-looking teens who live among us were the “gifted” on their home planet, and those who destroyed that planet are hunting them here on Earth.

The kid attractor factor: Aliens and ray guns and beasts and Alex Pettyfer and that cute blonde from “Glee”

Good lessons/bad lessons: Don’t take stupid risks with your life because you’re needed “for a higher purpose.”

Violence: Plenty of fistfights and dagger duels but not much blood

Language: Maybe six swear words — not the “big” ones, though

Sex: Hot teens making goo-goo eyes at one another

Drugs: None

Parents’ advisory: This action-adventure is sort of a teen sci-fi “Twilight” without the threat of sex; suitable for 11 and older.

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. Compiled by St. Petersburg Times film critic Steve Persall.