Nell Minow: January 2009 Archives

Many families have Super Bowl traditions as the generations gather around the television to watch the biggest football game of the year. It gives families a wonderful opportunity to share their interests and histories and to talk about the skill, determination, teamwork, practice, and courage that go into competing at that level.

Unfortunately, the ads, which have generated almost as much press as the game itself, can lead to a whole other kind of family conversation and not one many parents welcome. Every year, I hear complaints from parents who find themselves getting questions about ED or who find their children imitating the silly or hyper-sexed behavior from alcohol ads.

Common Sense Media has a new report based on a review of the ads in over 50 games with more than 160 hours and more than 5000 commercials.

They found:

• 1 out of every 6 commercials shown contained messages and images that were inappropriate for young kids.
• 40% of the games included advertisements for erectile-dysfunction drugs (Viagra® and Cialis®)
• More than 500 of the ads involved significant levels of violence, including gun fights, explosions and murders.
• 300 of the ads were for alcohol.
• 80 of the ads included significant levels of sexuality, including scenes about prostitution and strippers.
• Nearly half (44.7%) of the violent and sexual ads were promotions by the networks for their own programs.

94% of the mothers polled said that they were concerned about inappropriate television commercials during pro football games. And at least one father agrees:

"I wasn't too happy with ads for erectile-dysfunction drugs popping up every 15 minutes whenever I watched a football game with my daughters in the room."

President Barack Obama, The Audacity of Hope, 2006

The report, called Broadcast Dysfunction: Sex, Violence, Alcohol, and the NFL is well worth reading. And Common Sense Media's site has something even more important -- a direct link to send the NFL a complaint using their draft text or your own words. If this is a concern for you and your family, I urge you to let Commissioner Roger Goodell know how you feel.

Writing about the original version of "The Electric Company" reminded me of one of my all-time favorite short films by John and Faith Hubley, who later went on to work on the "Letterman" segments of that show. It is the story of two little girls playing and it is called "Windy Day."

When the Hubleys began making films, animation was very structured and scripted. Their great innovation was the use of improvised dialogue and impressionistic images and the result was fresh, natural, innovative, and remarkably touching. In "Windy Day," the dialogue is the private conversation of the Hubley daughters as they were playing. I first saw and loved it when I was just past the ages of those girls myself, and I thought of it often as I listened in on my own children at play.

The Hubleys created many more wonderful films, including "Everybody Rides the Carousel," based on the work of Erik Erikson about the psychological stages of development, and "The Hat" about two border guards (played by Dudley Moore and Dizzy Gillespie) who argue over what they should do when one's hat blows into the other's territory.

Critics complain about having to decide how many stars to give a movie. There are times when it does feel very arbitrary to try to assign stars or letter grades to a film. And sometimes I think it creates more confusion than it dispels. My view is that you can only grade a movie within the context of its own aspirations and its intended audience. Otherwise, every review is going to begin, "Well, it's no Citizen Kane. I also rethink my grade when the movie comes out again on DVD.

Eric Childress of CriticWatch provides his annual dissection of the worst movie critics, those who can't write, those who don't know anything about movies or about reviewing them, and worst of all those who will say anything (and I mean anything) about any movie (and I mean any movie) in order to get their name in an ad. I breathed a sigh of relief when the only mention of my site was a positive one but nevertheless resolved to do my best to stay away from his list of overused adjectives. (Note: some strong language, understandable under the circumstances.)

Life imitates art, or tries to, as Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich proclaims his innocence with examples from the movies. The governor is accused of trying to sell the Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama and is currently being impeached by the state legislature. As Bob Mondello of NPR explains with his usual erudition and wit, the always-colorful Blagojevich likes to compare himself to characters in movies to show that it is all just a political ploy and that he has not done anything wrong.

Hey you guys! The classic 1970's show The Electric Company taught a generation of kids how to take the letters they learned on "Sesame Street" and turn them into words and sentences. The superstar cast included Morgan Freeman, Rita Moreno, and Bill Cosby. Zero Mostel, Joan Rivers and Gene Wilder worked with animation pioneers John and Faith Hubley on the "Letterman" segments.

Now endearingly retro, the original disco-era series is available on DVD. And it has just been updated with a whole new series featuring beat-boxers, hip-hoppers, and record-scratchers, but still teaching kids about the power of the "silent e." It also has some very good lessons about problem-solving and asking questions to discover the truth. In this version, The Electric Company is a group of people with special word skills who work together to foil a group of mischief-makers called the Pranksters. No Broadway or television stars in the cast, but it does have some Tony-award talent behind the scenes and some guest appearances by kid-friendly celebrities like Tiki Barber. It's aimed at children from 6-9 and its bright, bouncy, and colorful characters and situations will keep them entertained and inspired about the power of words. And they still yell, "Hey, you GUUUUYYYYS!"

A big-name cast and some big-time issues are not enough to make up for a small-time script that adds absolutely nothing new to the too-often-told tale of police corruption and family betrayal. It is as generic as its title. Four...

Pete Best, who was famously kicked out of The Beatles just before they brought on Ringo Starr and rocketed to international superstardom, appears as himself in this movie about a drummer who was kicked out of an 80's hair band...

As Jack Black explains in School of Rock, rock music is about sticking it to The Man. That takes on a wider meaning when the sticking is coming from young girls. In this documentary about a music camp in Portland,...

There is no better way to strengthen family connections than combining shared laughter and history. So every family should make time to watch the hilarious new PBS series "Make Em Laugh," the history of comedy on television and in the...

Most adults still shiver a little when the subject of middle school comes up. It is a time of the most polarizing extremes as we first begin to question everything we have been told and everything we thought we knew...

Actress Amy Walker's astonishing virtuosity with accents is on display in this popular YouTube clip. Can you guess which one is her real native-born accent?...

"The Outlander" -- with James Caviezel as a guy from another planet who battles a dragon-monster with the help of some Vikings in 760 AD, was supposed to be released nationwide today but at the last minute it has been...

Elizabeth Verdick's marvelous Toddler Tools series for preschoolers has two new titles. There are many great board books about letters, numbers, and colors, but her books help teach 2-3 year olds about social interaction, responsibility, and independence. Also recommended: the...

As a tribute to Hotel for Dogs, Yahoo Movies has assembled their list of the greatest movie dogs (and one Dogg). Check out this wonderful compilation of movie pooches from the silent era to the present. Probably the most comprehensive...

BEST PICTURE "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" "Frost/Nixon" "Milk "The Reader" "Slumdog Millionaire" BEST ACTRESS Anne Hathaway, "Rachel Getting Married" Angelina Jolie, "Changeling" Melissa Leo, "Frozen River" Meryl Streep, "Doubt" Kate Winslet, "The Reader" BEST ACTOR Frank Langella, "Frost/Nixon"...

Jen Chaney reports in the Washington Post that "Lost" gets even more mysterious with its season premiere as the island itself begins to travel through time. After four seasons that contained flashbacks, flash-forwards and electromagnetic forces that sent some characters...

Adorable Golden Retriever puppies Rosebud, Buddha, Budderball, B-Dawg, and Mudbud return in Space Buddies, an epic adventure that takes them to the moon, to be released on DVD . Moving at warp speed, dodging asteroids and more, the Buddies and...

When a real-life story combines athletic excellence and civil rights breakthroughs, it has more than enough heart and drama to be good movie material. Ernie Davis was a combination of heart and pure talent who came along at just the...

Under the earth's surface for so long they have forgotten how and why they got there and even that there is another place to be, the citizens of the City of Ember have just about lost their sense of hope,...

There is a thoughtful article in the New York Times by film critics A.O. Scott and Manohla Dargis about the way that on-screen images of African-Americans in the last five decades have reflected and influenced the way race is understood...

In the town of Malaria, anatomy is destiny. Boy babies get their assignments at birth. Those without hunchbacks become evil scientists. Those with hunchbacks become Igors and spend their days saying, "Yes, master," when ordered to "Throw the switch!" Malaria...

This week we observe one of the great strengths of the system created by the founding fathers, the orderly transition to a new administration. In honor of the outgoing and incoming Presidents of the United States, take a look at...

Today we celebrate the birthday of Martin Luther King and every family should take time to talk about this great American leader and hero of the Civil Rights Movement. There are outstanding films for all ages. Every family should watch...

Take a look at this adorable trailer for "Monsters vs. Aliens" from DreamWorks, featuring the voices of voices of Reese Witherspoon, Paul Rudd, Hugh Laurie, Seth Rogen, Will Arnett, Rainn Wilson, Stephen Colbert, and Kiefer Sutherland: It's currently scheduled to...

I'm thrilled to be hosting the Washington DC-area screening for New in Town, a new romantic comedy with Renee Zellweger and Harry Connick, Jr. Here's a clip showing Zellweger getting some comforting advice from Siobhan Fallon Hogan....

The Jewish Partisan Educational Foundation has put together free resources for teachers who want their students to learn about the resistance fighters who opposed the Nazis. Their website includes a place to ask real-life partisans like the Bielski brothers featured...

Kidthing is a safe and secure place to find games and educational content for children. Kidthing recently won The National Parenting Center's 2009 Seal of Approval and has been selected to be the sole digital distribution partner for the National...

I'll be on 20/20 tonight with John Stossel talking about my other job -- combating corporate misbehavior and especially overpaid corporate CEOs. Tune in!...

I will be hosting a Washington DC-area screening of the new Renee Zellwegger-Harry Connick, Jr. romantic comedy, "New In Town" later this month and have tickets for the first five people to send me an email at moviemom@moviemom.com...

Christopher George Latore Wallace lived fast, died young, and left a very big corpse. He started dealing drugs as a young kid in Brooklyn, went to prison, and was killed at age 24 in a gang-style shooting that is still...

Mexican-born leading man Ricardo Montalban died this morning at age 88. He may be best remembered now for his commercials for the Chrysler Cordoba (with the "rich Corinthian leather) and for Maxwell House coffee, but that is because even at...

Edward Zwick, the director of the new Holocaust movie "Defiance," is well-known for both historical dramas ("Glory") and intimate personal stories (the television series "Thirtysomething") - and for finding the small moments in big stories and the big emotions in...

Celebrate the inauguration of the nation's 44th president with the help of the fabulously rich and engaging resources of Our White House. The non-profit, non-partisan National Children's Book and Literacy Alliance has created a free online presidential inauguration activity guide...

NatureTech is a terrific new DVD series from the Smithsonian Network that shows us some of the best ideas about energy, flight, and building materials technology come from observing nature. Biomimetics is the new science of looking to nature for...

David Apatoff's Illustration Art blog has a wonderful post on how the great illustration artist William A. Smith taught his daughter Kim how to draw and paint, and how she applied that in becoming a special effects designer for the...

One of my favorite books is Five Children and It, the E. Nesbit classic about children who discover a magical creature and have a series of adventures when he gives them one wish a day. The movie, starring Kenneth Branagh...

Every January Slate Magazine asks some of the country's top critics to have an exchange of emails about the year in film and reading it is like sitting in on a terrificly well-informed, lively, thoughtful, and provocative conversation about what...

The Lost Gods is a new DVD series from the Smithsonian about the earliest ideas about God. Filmed in 11 countries and hosted by Christy Kenneally, it explores the concepts of God as understood by the Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Incas,...

Esther Kustanowitz posted her list of the top 10 Jewish movie characters on Idol Chatter. Some are a bit of a stretch -- Obi-Wan Kenobi? Melanie Griffith in "A Stranger Among Us?" Aside from the fact that she is only...

My gallery about the best movies to watch when you're in bed with the sniffles or flu has been posted. The right movies can help you pass the time until you feel better. They can even help you recover faster,...

I was not able to make it to this year's Critic's Choice Awards in person, but I really enjoyed casting my votes and watching it on television. Here are the winners and keep in mind they are often a better...

Den of Geek has made a list of the best movie special effects shots of all time -- and the worst. Special effects go back to the very beginning of film. The first great genius of special effects was George...

The movie slate for 2009 has some upcoming family-friendly releases that look very promising. "Inkheart," based on the book by Cornelia Funke and opening January 23, stars Brendan Fraser as a man who has the power to bring the characters...

Kevin Costner the producer severely underestimates the ability of Kevin Costner the actor to win over the audience in this tepid satire of electoral politics. Through a technical and mechanical glitch, Costner's character, an affable loser named Bud, finds himself...

Emily Bazelon writes in Slate about the scariness of G-rated movies. Like several of the commenters on this site, she found The Tale of Despereaux scarier than she expected and so did her 5-year-old. Even though he had heard the...

Has there ever been a cinematic pairing as eagerly anticipated as this one? Perhaps, but I can't think of one that has been anticipated as long. Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro were both in 1974's "The Godfather II" but their...

Happy birthday, Elvis! In honor of The King's birthday this week, we present one of his best movies, the delirious Viva Las Vegas, co-starring the combustible Ann-Margret. Elvis plays a race-car driver named Lucky who meets a spirited girl named...

The Washington Post covers Rotten Tomatoes' round-up of the year's worst movies and what makes it fun to read is not just the list of what-were-they-thinking horrible films but the quotes from the reviews by the critics who suffered through...

I last wrote about the superb documentary At the Death House Door when I interviewed its subject, Pastor Carroll Pickett, who served 15 years as the death house chaplain to the infamous "Walls" prison unit in Huntsville. The film was...

I was so charmed by Steady Diet of Film's answers to the Professor Kingsfield "Hair-Raising Bar-Raising Holiday Movie Quiz" that I decided to try answering the questions myself. Professor Kingsfield, of course, is the terrifying law professor in "The Paper...

Tea thrown overboard. Freeing the prisoners. Knocking over a statue. Every revolution has a moment when the people say that they will no longer tolerate tyranny. In the case of Estonia, the Baltic nation that suffered under two of history's...

Movie City News has collected the top ten lists of all the top critics (yes, even me) and put them into a spreadsheet. Just about everyone picks four or five of ten heavily-promoted awards films -- "Wall∙E," "Milk," Slumdog Millionaire,"...