Directed by: George A. Romero Starring: Simon Baker, John Leguizamo, Dennis Hopper, Asia Argento, Eugene Clark, Robert Joy Rated: R for pervasive strong violence and gore, language, brief sexuality and some drug use. Parental Notes: This is a zombie movie. It is packed with unspeakably disgusting images and is suitable only for very mature teenagers.
Directed by: Ridley Scott Starring: Orlando Bloom, David Thewlis, Liam Neeson, Eva Green, Marton Csokas, Alexander Siddig, Brendan Gleeson, Ghassan Massoud , Jeremy Irons, Edward Norton, Edward Norton Rated: R for strong violence and epic warfare Parental notes: There is quite a bit of violence here, and while it’s not as gruesome as some R-rated films out there, it’s still plenty gory. Youngsters should be kept away, but mature teens can probably handle it.
Written and directed by: Stephen Chow Starring: Stephen Chow, Wah Yuen, Qiu Yuen, Kwok Kuen Chan Rated: R for sequences of strong stylized action and violence. Parental Notes: This is an insanely violent film, but the violence is largely the cartoonish, light-hearted violence of Saturday morning cartoons. Some gangster violence early in the film makes it inappropriate for youngsters, but teens and mature preteens will probably love it.
Directed by: Andrew Douglas Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Melissa George, Jesse James, Jimmy Bennett, Chloe Moretz, Philip Baker Hall Rated: R for violence, disturbing images, language, brief sexuality and drug use Parental Notes: Although this film isn’t as viscerally disgusting as many modern horror films, it does include a number of disturbing images and has earned its R rating. It is definitely unsuitable for youngsters, including young teens.
Directed by: Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller, with “Guest Director: Quentin Tarantino Starring: Bruce Willis, Mickey Rourke, Clive Owen, Rosario Dawson, and plenty of others. Rated: R for sustained strong stylized violence, nudity and sexual content including dialogue Parental Notes: The only reason this film is rated R and not NC-17 is because the comic-book style presentation makes the extreme violence and sexuality a bit more palatable. This is not a film for children, or for most adults either, come to that. This makes “Kill Bill” seem cartoonish. Comics are not necessarily children’s material, and “Sin City” is the poster child for comics that are potentially damaging to children.
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.
Directed by: Bill Condon Starring: Liam Neeson, Laura Linney, Chris O
Directed by: Oliver Stone Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Colin Farrell, Angelina Jolie, Val Kilmer, Jared Leto. Rated: R for violence and some sexuality/nudity Parental Notes: With plenty of violence and two near-rapes, his is not a movie for youngsters or preteens, although mature teens may like its interesting portrait of the conqueror.
Directed by: Beeban Kidron Starring: Renee Zellwegger, Colin Firth, Hugh Grant Rated: R for language and some sexual content. Parental Notes: There’s some here to offend, but not much. It’s mostly language and a bit of naughty but not graphic sexuality.
Originally written for The Milpitas Post Directed by: Alexander Payne Starring: Thomas Haden Church, Paul Giamatti, Virginia Madsen, Sandra Oh Rated: R for language, some strong sexual content and nudity. Parental Notes: “Sideways” has some brief but fairly graphic sex in it and youngsters probably won’t enjoy the film anyway. Teenagers may enjoy it if they like character studies and intelligent humor.