Thanksgiving Weekend - Taking In A Movie

So maybe the family is visiting from out of town, the kids are out of school for the holiday and you're looking for something fun to do together, out of the house?  A lot of people take in a movie.  In fact the Thanksgiving Day 3-day weekend is one of the biggest box-office weekends of the year.

Here are the most popular main-stream Hollywood releases that will be in theaters this weekend:

• Bad Lieutenant Port of Call New Orleans
• The Blind Side
• Me and Orson Welles
• Ninja Assassin
  
• Old Dogs
• Planet 51
• The Princess and the Frog
• Red Cliff
• The Road The
• Twilight Saga: New Moon

I should point out that although not on this list, a noteworthy movie for consideration is the recent release of the animated Disney remake of the Dickens classic: A Christmas Carol (in both regular and Imax 3D versions). We have some family friends who were involved in the production of this new motion-capture/animation studio and it looks awesome (we're waiting until a little closer to the Christmas holiday to see it ourselves).

So, if you've got children of your own or your relatives are visiting with their children and you want to ensure you see a movie that is appropriate for younger viewers, what can you do?

I recommend using one of the on-line movie review websites that is designed to provide parents/others with a heads-up about the content of a movie. There are many who believe the MPAA rating system is more designed to encourage attendance that to truly provide sufficient caution to parents for inappropriate content - these on-line sources of information can be quite helpful. 

Now I should say that I am not so much of a 'prude'.  I appreciate a great movie or film that is well done, even if it has content that might be considered by some as offensive -- as long as it is within the context of the characters/action to include (sorry, gratuitous violence, rampant obscenity does nothing for me).

But when taking my 9-year old son to a new movie - I prefer to err on the side of thoughtfulness and expose him to ideas and action that are appropriate to his age level and life experience.  I am leery of some of the websites that are overt in either their specific viewpoints but more appreciate a site who provides me with the facts, the information and lets me make up my own mind as to what is appropriate for my child.

One such website is Kids In Mind - they share full details on the content in a new movie that parents might find objectionable, with a synopsis (brief outline) of the movie and really allow you to better decide is a particular movie is right for your child/ren. This site is part of the Critics.com group and I like their intentions and their delivery of information.

If you're an adult looking for some information about movies that are out, my favorite reference is the Internet Movie Data-base or IMDb. They provide the most thorough information on a movie along with links to reviews (and box office data).  Beware of the 'spoiler alerts' that caution you when you plot information is to be revealed. You will find all this info at IMDb.com .

 

Comments

[rumpters]

among all these movies i really love Old Dogs where John Travolta, Robin Williams play as co-workers and boost companions. it made me laugh all over the night. amazing movie with funniest cast
source
http://blog.80millionmoviesfree.com/in-theaters/watch-old-dogs-online

[David Harrington]

I would totally recommend another movie for the holidays: the Cremaster series is great fun for the whole family.