Written and Directed by: Martin McDonagh Starring: Brendan Gleeson, Colin Farrell, Ralph Fiennes, Clemence Poesy, Jordan Prentice Rated: Rated R for strong bloody violence, pervasive language, and some drug use. Parental Notes: This is not a film for youngsters. The violence in it is graphic in a realistic way rather than a cartoony one, and thus fairly disturbing.
Directed by: Juan Antonio Bayona Starring: Belén Rueda, Fernando Cayo, Roger Príncep Rated: R for some disturbing content. Parental Notes: This is not a child-friendly film, on several counts. For one, it’s subtitled. For another, it is very creepy, with the ghosts or corpses of dead children featuring prominently in many scenes, and one graphic car accident scene. This film deserves its R rating and is not at all for kids. Teenagers who can appreciate foreign cinema and love spooky films will likely enjoy it.
Directed by: Xavier Gens Starring: Timothy Olyphaunt, Olga Kurylenko, Dougray Scott, Ulrich Thomsen Rated: R for strong, bloody violence, language and some sexuality and nudity Parental Notes: This is a fairly standard action movie — high on body count, low on graphic gore. There’s a fair amount of sexual tension in places and several shots of the female lead wearing a g-string and nothing else, but no graphic sex.
Directed by: Sidney Lumet Starring: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Marisa Tomei, Albert Finney Rated: R for a scene of strong graphic sexuality, nudity, violence, drug use and language. Parental Notes: This movie definitely deserves its R rating and is not suitable for youngsters.
Written and Directed by: Tony Gilroy Starring: George Clooney, Tom Wilkinson, Syndey Pollack, Tilda Swinton Rated: R for language including some sexual dialogue. Parental Notes: This is not a movie aimed at kids. Most preteens and teens will probably be fine with the violence and sexual content, but they may not be captivated by the story.
Written and Directed by: Sean Penn (based upon the novel by Jon Krakauer) Starring: Emile Hirsch, Marcia Gay Harden, William Hurt, Catherine Keener, Vince Vaughn Rated: R for language and some nudity. Parental Notes: There isn’t much in the way of violent content, aside from some footage of hunting. Scenes depicting the slaughter and cooking of wild animals might upset children, however, and there are shots of the meat being consumed by maggots that are far from pleasant. There’s a bit of non-sexual nudity, as well.
Directed by: Neil Jordan Starring: Jodie Foster, Terrence Howard, Nicky Katt, Naveen Andrews, Mary Steenburgen Rated: R for strong violence, language and some sexuality. Parental Notes: This is not a film for children or even most preteens. It contains brutality and fairly graphic violence and is emotionally brutal as well.
Directed by: Philip G. Atwell Starring: Jason Statham, Jet Li, Devon Aoki Rated: R for sequences of strong bloody violence, sexuality/nudity and language. Parental Notes: This mediocre film is very violent, with nudity and sexuality sprinkled throughout. Not one for the kiddies.
Written and Directed by: Matt Maiellaro, Dave Willis Starring: Dana Snyder, Dave Willis,Carey Means, Andy Merrill, Mike Schatz, Matt Maiellaro Rated: Rated R for crude and sexual humor, violent images and language. Parental Notes: This isn’t really a kids film. If you let your kids watch Aqua Teen, though, you might as well let them see the film, as it’s basically the same in terms of content.
Written and Directed by: Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino Starring: Rose McGowan, Kurt Russell, Freddy Rodriguez, Josh Brolin, Michael Biehn, Marley Shelton, Rated: R for strong graphic bloody violence and gore, pervasive language, some sexuality, nudity and drug use. Parental Notes: This is not a kids movie. It’s packed with graphic, over-the-top violence of all sorts, from zombies’ heads exploding to people being ripped apart in car accidents. Think “Kill Bill” but without the swords.