Best Websites for Kid Appropriate Movie Reviews

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Best Websites for Kid Movie Reviews

The other day my 7-year-old daughter came running into the kitchen, giggling.  She was listening to the Meghan Trainor station on the iHeart Radio app.  She blurted out, “she said “you’ll never get me naked in your bed!””  Giggle, giggle, giggle, “why did she say that?!”  Hands over mouth, giggle, giggle, giggle.  I needed to investigate and yep, that’s what she said.   My honest reply was, “I don’t know.”

That seems to be my answer to a lot of questions pertaining to media.  The same thing happened while watching “Grease” recently, when my daughter asked “Why are they fighting?”  “Well, Rizzo told Kiniki she was pregnant and now he’s really mad at her.”  That was the truth, but instead I said, “I don’t know, I missed that part.”

I find a lot of the television shows for her age range completely inappropriate, but I’m also pretty conservative.  Movies are the same, and I hate to say it, but they don’t make ‘em like they used to.  I recently created a list of the Best 70’s Movies for Kids on my personal blog, but I had a hard time gauging what would be appropriate for today’s kids.  I loved “Smokey and the Bandit” growing up, which was rated PG in 1977 when the ratings system only consisted of G, PG and R, but really it would probably be a PG-13 today.

Enter the following websites to help guide parents through the mine field that is today’s media.  These sites should be used to help you make an informed decision about what is appropriate for your child:

  1. Common Sense Media – This is by far the most extensive and informative website when it comes to what is appropriate for kids. You can look up movies, books, songs, television shows and video games by name and see what age range is recommended and why. I just looked up “Smokey and the Bandit” and the suggested age is 10-years-old. It named every use of questionable language, violent and sexual scenes to be aware of, as well as alcohol usage. There are also Best Movie and Best TV lists which are very helpful in guiding what to watch with your family or what to let your kids watch.
  2. FilmRatings.com – This site is run by The Classification and Ratings Administration {CARA}. These are the folks who rate the movies. They don’t always get it right, but they let you know why they rated a film what they did. When looking at a trailer or movie poster, be sure to check the “ratings box” as each one is different. Next to the film rating will be the reasons why the film was rated what it was. For example, “Pitch Perfect 2” was rated PG-13 for innuendo and language. You can look up films on this site by name, year or rating.
  3. Box Office Mom – Box Office Mom gives movie reviews from a parent’s perspective, so she’s always thinking about what’s appropriate for the kids. The site is user friendly and you can search for a film by title. There’s not an extensive database as with Common Sense Media and FilmRatings.com, but this is a great site for current or recent releases.
  4. Movie Mom – Movie Mom, Nell Minow, is a movie reviewer on Beliefnet.com. It is a faith based site, so her reviews are based on spiritual values as well as cultural values. She gives films a letter grade, and lets you know what grade level a film is appropriate for. She breaks the ratings down by language, drug/alcohol use, nudity/sex, violence and diversity. The database is extensive with new releases, DVD’s and some older films.

It’s hard to know what to show our kids in this media crazed world.  Hopefully, these sites can help guide you in the right direction and give you some insight into what you’ll find appropriate for your family!  We’re watching “James and the Giant Peach” tonight for our family movie night, and after looking it up, it’s perfectly appropriate and that’s peachy keen by me:)

 

 

2 COMMENTS

  1. Great resources! And if you are looking for reviews for family friendliness from a Christian perspective, check out pluggedin.com. That is usually my go-to site.

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