Hide and Seek

Starring: Robert De Niro, Dakota Fanning, Famke Janssen, Elisabeth Shue Directed by: John Polson Rated: R for frightening sequences and violence. Parental Notes: This is not a movie for youngsters, though teens who like to be scared might enjoy it. There is not a lot of graphic violence, but we do see a number of corpses and there are numerous, drawn-out suspense sequences.

The Merchant of Venice

Starring: Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons, Joseph Fiennes, Lynn Collins, Zuleikha Robinson Directed by: Michael Radford Rated: R for some nudity. Parental Notes: This is a Shakespeare play, which will make it inaccessible to many youngsters, but older kids who have studied his works before may find it interesting. There is little in the way of nudity here, only some bared breasts.

Elektra

Directed by: Rob Bowman Starring: Jennifer Garner, Goran Visnjic, Kirsten Prout, Will Yun Lee, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa Rated: PG-13 for action violence. Parental Notes: This is a fairly innocus PG-13, as far as violence goes. It

House of Flying Daggers

Starring: Takeshi Kaneshiro, Andy Lau, Zhang Ziyi. Directed by: Zhang Yimou Rated: PG-13 for sequences of stylized martial arts violence, and some sexuality. Parental Notes: The super-stylized violence here is unlikely to be a problem for teens and mature youngsters, but there are two brief attempted-rape sequences which some may find distressing.

The Aviator

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Kate Beckinsale, John C. Reilly, Alec Baldwin, Alan Alda Directed by: Martin Scorsese Rated: PG-13 for thematic elements, sexual content, nudity, language and a crash sequence. Parental Notes: Most of this film will be fine for preteens, though they may find its candid portrayal of Hughes’ obsessive-compulsive disorder and an intense airplane crash sequence disturbing. It will likely appeal more to teenagers interested in the era or in Hughes as a person. It’s not every day that a movie comes along which manages to somehow combine comedy, tragedy, and adventure, but “The Aviator” does just that. It’s a mind-blowing film, and not just because it includes exciting airplane sequences. “The Aviator” is the story of Howard Hughes (Leonardo DiCaprio), Hollywood mogul, aviation pioneer, and walker of the line ‘twixt genius and madness. It covers his life from his arrival in Hollywood until the height of his aviation career when he

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