Online Movie Reviews for Parents

There's a wonderful resource on the Internet for parents who are concerned about the content of the movies their children want to watch. It's called "Kids-in-Mind", and goes beyond the traditional PG or R-type ratings to develop its own rating system. Each movie they review (and they don't seem to miss any of the new ones and have most of the old ones as well) has three numbers that rate for sex/nudity, violence/gore, and profanity. Each is given a number from 0 to 10, with ten being the worst.

The reviews explain why a film rates high or low in each category by describing each troubling scene in considerable detail. For example, the newest "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie, which is rated as 3.7.2, describes many scenes of graphic violence, with the following being one of the milder examples: "A man shoots a gun into the air in a bar and a fight breaks out with people punching and shoving each other and using swordplay: one man is pushed over a balcony and another is thrown over a balcony. A man is shot at as he runs away, people throw fruits at him, he falls a great distance crashing through several wooden walkways and he then slams into the ground." Other scenes are described in terms that I'd rather not reproduce here.

These reviews allow each parent to decide for themselves whether or not a movie is appropriate for their own child. One family may elect to screen for sex and nudity while another may be more concerned with violent content. Check out reviews for movies you are familiar with and get an idea of what numbers you are comfortable with. You may find that movies with a violence rating of 5 are fine for your kids, but will want to think twice about letting them see something higher. As a parent myself I appreciate being able to learn these details when trying to make a decision about whether or not to let my son see a particular movie.

While on the site you can also check out their links to other movie review sites, including their sister sites critics.com and mediascreen.com, as well as Rotten Tomatoes, FilmForce and IGN. Another terrific site for movie buffs is the Internet Movie Database (imdb.com). And to find out what is playing at area theaters from Saco to Salisbury check out portsmouthnh.com's online movie guide. You can search titles to find out where and when they are playing, or theaters to find out what is playing there and when.