Movie Suggestion Post #97

Movie Ratings are on a scale of 1-5. Anything rated over 3 stars and is in bold, is usually a pretty good rating (5 star ratings are very rare with me)! – Content is listed for those who are careful about what they or their children view (or what to be aware of). I usually rate based on content, plot, photography/direction, and acting.)

Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure 1989 (w/ Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter, George Carlin) – 3.5 stars – Yes, this movie is good. I really do like it and hadn’t seen it since maybe 1992. I think I could re-watch it every year now because it is funny and actually well done. I like 80’s movies (for the most part). The story is about two kids who have a band (though they don’t know how to play their instruments yet). When one of them is threatened to be sent to military school and the other doesn’t seem to really know much of anything school related at all, they decide to study hard so they can have their band in the future. Because their future seems to not have that outlook, a man from the future comes to help them go back in history to learn firsthand about what their teacher is trying to get across their heads. It leads to some strange situations but is fun.
content: teen boys look at a woman’s cleavage, teen boys call women “babes”, some innuendos, deceit, guy’s midriff shown, boxers shown sticking out of pants, kissing (including a known barbarian who kisses a servant without asking or her seeming to be interested), someone is kicked out of a bedroom because they may have walked into a room where sex was happening (nothing at all shown, but you figure that is the case), sword fighting, shooting, people drinking in a bar and smoking, disobedience, stealing, language: (someone is called a “fag”, and “dickweed”), the “s” word said once in English and several times in French, misuse of the word “hell”

Coyote Ugly 2000 (w/ Piper Perabo, Adam Garcia, Tyra Banks, John Goodman) – 2.5 stars – This is about a girl who has dreams of having her songs being used by big singing sensations. She decides to move from Perth Amboy, NJ (I’ve been there myself for shows during the time that this movie came out) into NYC where she thinks she’ll get her break. While there she meets a guy who works as a burger flipper and she ends up landing a job at a place called Coyote Ugly where girls are dancing bar tenders. The place is chaotic. LeAnn Rimes makes a cameo appearance. This movie had a pretty good plot and at least they sorta showed how you can’t easily get known by just trying to bring your songs into places (she uses cassette tapes which made me laugh). I think I would have liked this more if I didn’t hate the objectification of women throughout it (you’ll have to check the content for that). I fast forwarded through a couple scenes too. The music wasn’t that great in the film by the way. haha.
content: immodesty throughout (women shown in bras, underwear, taking off tops where some are shown naked from the back, women’s midriffs shown throughout and cleavage is shown too), a man shown naked in bed with a sheet just covering his man-part, kissing (and passionately), women and men dancing very seductively and stripping a bit (such as men taking their shirts off and women rubbing their bodies), talk about virginity, lots of drinking and alcohol throughout the movie (no drunkenness shown), dangerous driving shown, women being cat-called and objectified throughout, pre-marital sex (not shown but you know it happens), a woman shown wearing just a sheet, language: (“s” word used a few times, short “b” word used a few times, “hell” used incorrectly, “d” word, God’s name used in vain)

It Happened at the World Fair 1963 (w/ Elvis Presley, Gary Lockewood, Vicki Tiu, Diane Warren) – 2.5 stars – So many strange things about this movie. First off a man leaves his tiny niece with strange men he just met for the first time to take care of. It was really strange, Also just the womanizing done by Elvis’ character is really annoying. The plot is basically a guy who is going to the World’s Fair hoping to make some moolah. Because the little girl who he had already met before and took care of at another point gets pretty much abandoned, he starts to care for her. The whole time he comes across a nurse that he wants to swoop off her feet. It had good music, but not much else. It was nice that one of the lead roles was Asian who didn’t have to speak “Engrish” but talked with a normal English accent is something rare for a 60’s movie. That part made me happy. There is also a smuggling incident included in the story.
content: abandonment, a guy lusts in front of a little girl and gives double meanings to the things he says, lots of objectification of women, kissing, fist fights, immodesty, people threaten to shoot someone, someone bites someone’s finger, smoking, talk about drinking

What Women Want 2000 (w/ Mel Gibson, Helen Hunt, Marisa Tomei, Alan Ada) – 2.75 stars – This is about a man who pretty much has a way with women and knows how to get them where he wants them. He is a charmer, though very selfish. He suddenly has to take care of his daughter for a while and is pushed aside at his job. He decides to try out products at his job that are geared towards women and an accident happens that now causes him to be able to hear women’s thoughts. Although it frustrates him, he uses it sometimes for good and sometimes for his own desires. In the end he realizes that he hasn’t been the best guy in the world. It is a good lesson learning movie. The content threw this film off though. It could have been better. The concept was good and Mel Gibson was great.
content: a whole burlesque scene at the beginning of the film of a little boy surrounded by half naked women with pasties and lingerie on, a teenage girl talks about how she wants to lose her virginity, a woman states what she wants sexually as she is in bed with a man – he is wearing no shirt and she is in a bra (I fast forwarded through most of this so I don’t really know what went on otherwise), a man shown naked on a toilet covering his man part (you see the entire profile of him being nude), a man shown often without a shirt on and wearing just a towel, kissing, marijuana shown, smoking, a man drinking with intent of becoming drunk, deceit, sexual innuendos, a girl talks about her boyfriend going up her shirt and noted that she is not wearing a bra, a teen girl making out with her boyfriend, a few near death situations, language: (a lot of the “s” word, “hell” used incorrectly, God’s name used blasphemously, the “d” word)

The Adventurer: The Curse of the Midas Box 2013/2014 (w/ Aneurin Barnard, Michael Sheen, Sam Neill, Ioan Gruffudd, Keeley Hawes, Xavier Atkins, Lena Headey, Mella Carron) – 3.75 stars – I have not read the G.P. Taylor’s steam-punk tale that this is based off of, but goodness this story was really well developed! This is an adventure/mystery/thriller tale about a teen boy named Mariah Mundi who lives in the Victorian age of England. His parents suddenly say goodbye to him and his brother, leaving them with something in which many are in search for. Mariah and his brother get separated and they work their ways to find one another and to solve the mystery of what they were given. I thought this was a kiddie cheesy movie when I saw the title and the picture that went with it, but as I watched it, it was certainly nothing like that at all. It was very good and I don’t think it would be good for a kid under 11 to see this, because of some scary imagery.
content: gun shooting, a gun that vaporizes people, a man falls to his death, slavery is shown (children chained doing labor), a man hits other people with his cane’s club handle, a teen girl falls on top of a teen boy and they kiss gently very briefly after gazing at one another’s eyes, name calling, social drinking (no drunkenness shown), a man shown smoking, scary imagery (such as cards flying up and spinning around people and some monsters), cleavage shown, a teen asks for some spirit’s help at one point,

Gothika 2003 (w/ Halle Berry, Robert Downey Jr., Penelope Cruz, Charles S. Dutton, John Carroll Lynch) – 3. stars – I used to have this rated higher but because of the content I had to lower it. I saw this about a year after it came out and haven’t seen it since. A woman works as a psychologist in a mental facility that her husband runs. Suddenly she finds herself as a patient there and she is blanked out about her memories of what happened to cause her to be there. Bits and pieces come to her at a time and there is only one person who worked with her who seems to believe her and have faith in her. It is an excellent story and will definitely cause you to wonder what is going on throughout it. I love psychological thrillers. The outcome of thestory is surprising and unexpected!
content: women are shown naked in this in an open shower at a mental facility, a woman is shown tied to a bed without a top on seen from a distance, immodesty, kissing, a woman is attacked and sliced with a razor on her arm, scary imagery, talk about murder, talk about rape (a woman in the institution talks a bit graphically about her abuse), alcohol shown (not being consumed), smoking shown, flashbacks that show blood, language: (God’s name in vain, the “s” word used a few times, “f” word 1x, “hell” used incorrectly)

Meant to Be 2012 (w/ Bradley Dorsey,Erika Eleniak, Erin Sossamon, Della Reese, Dean Cain) – 2.5 stars – Another Christian movie that slacks a lot and almost did a good job if it didn’t have such a dragging story. It had a bit of a sci-fi twist to it though that was neat. It is basically about a guy who is in search of his birth mother and wants to just see what she is like. It also follows the pain of a teen girl who is pregnant and thinking about possibly ending her child’s life. It wasn’t a bad movie, it was just boring. The message was good though.
content: talk about abortions, talk about death

Sins of My Father 2009 (documentary) – 3 stars- This follows the son of Pablo Escobar who reigned as a drug lord of Colombia in the 1970s-early 1990’s. It follows what he went through as a son and how he has overcome becoming just like his dad as many thought would happen in search for peace with those whom his father harmed. It was good but a bit slow at times.
content:: gruesome scenes of dead bodies shown or assassinations shown, some bad language every so often

From Here to Eternity 1953 (w/ Burt Lancaster, Deborah Kerr, Montgomery Clift, Donna Reed, Frank Sinatra, Philip Ober) – 3 stars – This was a very sad movie that focuses on three men who are soldiers stationed in Hawaii right before the Pearl Harbor bombing. They all know one another in some way and each of them have various problems. One man just seems to be mocked by someone who calls him, “Wop” constantly and he pretty much takes out his problems on alcohol and girls to feel better. Another man is a bugle boy who doesn’t give himself much credit and who is falling for a girl while wanting to be appreciated more as a soldier. The last one is a sergeant who is falling for a higher officer’s wife. The stories were all very sad, sincerely. I again have a hard time with movies that make it seem like affairs are okay. The actors in this movie did such an amazing job portraying their characters.
content: kissing, men shown with their shirts off, women dressed modestly but are most likely call girls or prostitutes to “entertain” men at a bar, lots of smoking and drinking (and drunkenness), a man gets tangled with a married woman and they are shown making out on a beach and we know they are doing other things though it is never shown, murders (you know it happens but it is not actually shown on screen), war violence, fist fights (including one that is pretty long), racial slurs

The Munsters 1964-1965 (TV show) – 3.25 stars – This show is so much fun. I used to watch it when I was a little girl as well as the films for it too. It had great make-up and is a wholesome family who are. . . .weird. You have a Count vampire who loves experimenting and his daughter Lilly who is married to Frankenstein’s monster named Herman Munster. They have a son too who is a little werewolf boy who has a pet dragon. They have their normal niece living with them too who can never hook a husband because of her family, but she loves her family so much!. I am surprised this was only a two-season show (70 eps). Fred Gwynne’s laugh is hilarious to me and I love Yvonne De Carlo’s sweetness and outfit and long hair. haha. Al Lewis is funny. I allowed my son to watch a bunch of episodes with me. A lot of people compare it with the Addams Family, but I’ve always been more of a Munsters fan.
content: Th grandpa says the other term used for donkey several times in the episodes, there is talk of spirits (rarely though), smoking, drinking, people breaking into other people’s houses, hitting, calling people ugly (who aren’t ugly at all), talk about death in a good way, people thinking a nice guy is scary because of his appearance, spouses assuming the other is unfaithful (they never are)