Movie Mom Nell Minow reviews movies and DVDs to advise parents.

(B+) A.I.: Artificial Intelligence

Genre: Science-Fiction
MPAA Rating: PG-13 Audience: Middle School

Cross "2001" with "ET" and "Blade Runner" and throw in some "Pinocchio," some "Wizard of Oz," some "Velveteen Rabbit" and a touch of "Our Town," and you might have some...

» Read Review Posted on Friday December 13, 2002

(B+) About a Boy

Genre: Date movie
MPAA Rating: PG-13 Audience: Mature High Schooler

"About a Boy" is the story of a shallow man appropriately named Will Freeman (Hugh Grant) who believes, contrary to John Donne, that every man is an island. Or at...

» Read Review Posted on Friday December 13, 2002

(B+) Adam

Genre: Date movie, Drama, Romance
MPAA Rating: PG-13 Audience: High School

Adam (Hugh Dancy), appropriately shares his name with the first man because even though he lives in contemporary Manhattan, he is in a very real way new to the world....

» Read Review Posted on Thursday August 6, 2009

(B+) Adventureland

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Inspired by a true story, Romance
MPAA Rating: R Audience: Adult

We all have at least one, a summer when everything changes, when we first start to become the person we truly are. Every writer tries at least once to tell...

» Read Review Posted on Tuesday August 25, 2009

(B+) The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland

Genre: For the Whole Family
MPAA Rating: G Audience: Preschool

When Elmo's favorite friend, his beloved blanket, is tossed into Oscar's trash can, Elmo goes in after it, only to find himself transported to Grouchland, where grouches cut off the...

» Read Review Posted on Friday December 13, 2002

(B+) Alice in Wonderland

Genre: Animation, Based on a book
MPAA Rating: Audience: Preschool

Plot: The children's classic by Lewis Carroll about the girl who falls down a rabbit hole is presented by Disney in this lively and tuneful version. Alice is reading with...

» Read Review Posted on Friday December 13, 2002

(B+) Amazing Grace

Genre:
MPAA Rating: PG Audience: Middle School

Parents should know that this film includes frank descriptions of some of the most profound atrocities of the slave trade, including torture and rape. The painful symptoms of Wilberforce's long-term...

» Read Review Posted on Sunday January 28, 2007

(B+) American Beauty

Genre: Drama
MPAA Rating: R Audience: Mature High Schooler

Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) is a 42-year-old man who has lost touch with anything that made him feel alive. His wife Carolyn (Annette Benning) is a realtor, so highly focused...

» Read Review Posted on Friday December 13, 2002

(B+) American Violet

Genre: Based on a true story, Courtroom, Crime
MPAA Rating: PG-13 Audience: High School

Meet two extraordinary women -- Dee Roberts, based on a real-life single mother who took on corrupt and racist law enforcement officials in Texas and Nicole Beharie, the woman who...

» Read Review Posted on Tuesday October 13, 2009

(B+) Amistad

Genre:
MPAA Rating: Audience: Mature High Schooler

Plot: In 1839, a group of Africans sold into slavery were being transported to the United States on a Spanish ship. Off the coast of Cuba, they escaped from their...

» Read Review Posted on Friday December 13, 2002

(B+) An American Tail

Genre:
MPAA Rating: Audience: Kindergarten - 3rd Grade

Feivel Mousekewitz is a little Russian mouse who emigrates to the United States with his family, after they are told that "there are no cats in America and the streets...

» Read Review Posted on Friday December 13, 2002

(B+) Analyze That

Genre:
MPAA Rating: Audience: Mature High Schooler

Robert DeNiro loves comedy. Who knew? After decades as America’s most respected dramatic actor, DeNiro discovered that he enjoyed making people laugh in “Analyze This,” where he tweaked his most...

» Read Review Posted on Friday December 13, 2002

(B+) Anastasia

Genre:
MPAA Rating: Audience: Kindergarten - 3rd Grade

A sumptuous (if completely inaccurate) animated retelling of the mystery of the Tsar’s lost daughter, this movie will captivate kids and their families. In this version, the little Anastasia and...

» Read Review Posted on Friday December 13, 2002

(B+) Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera

Genre:
MPAA Rating: Audience: Middle School

Despite lavish settings and sweeping camera movement, this sumptuously produced Andrew Lloyd Weber musical feels static, stuffy, and stagey. This is in part because so much of it takes place...

» Read Review Posted on Friday December 10, 2004

(B+) Angel Eyes

Genre:
MPAA Rating: Audience: Mature High Schooler

Watch out -- they're trying to sell this movie as a thriller with supernatural overtones, but it turns out that it is a very traditional love story, and a surprisingly...

» Read Review Posted on Friday December 13, 2002

(B+) Anger Management

Genre:
MPAA Rating: Audience: Mature High Schooler

There are two odd couples in this movie. One is the traditional pairing of two opposite characters just for the fun of seeing the sparks (and the inevitable "I learned...

» Read Review Posted on Tuesday April 8, 2003

(B+) The Ant Bully

Genre: Action/Adventure, Animation, Comedy, Family Issues, Fantasy
MPAA Rating: PG Audience: Kindergarten - 3rd Grade

A boy beset by bullies turns bully himself, going after the ants in his family's back yard. But the ants shrink him down to their size and he learns something...

» Read Review Posted on Wednesday July 26, 2006

(B+) Antwone Fisher

Genre:
MPAA Rating: Audience: Mature High Schooler

Therapy films usually follow the same pattern as romance films, a sort of one-sided romance of the subjects with themselves. In other words, it’s therapist meets patient, therapist loses patient,...

» Read Review Posted on Friday December 13, 2002

(B+) Anvil: The Story of Anvil

Genre: Documentary, Musical
MPAA Rating: Audience: Mature High Schooler

If this story wasn't true, they'd have to invent it. Indeed, they already did. "This is Spinal Tap," one of the most outrageous, influential, and utterly hilarious movies ever made,...

» Read Review Posted on Tuesday October 6, 2009

(B+) Aquamarine

Genre: Comedy, Family Issues, Fantasy, Romance
MPAA Rating: PG Audience: Kindergarten - 3rd Grade

The best thing about this fairy tale is that its happily-ever-after ending is satisfyingly real world. It's the most enchanting treat for girls since The Princess Diaries. It's less of...

» Read Review Posted on Friday February 10, 2006

(B+) Armageddon

Genre: Action/Adventure, Science-Fiction
MPAA Rating: PG-13 Audience: Middle School

The summer thrill ride movie is becoming as much of a 4th of July tradition as the picnic and the fireworks, and the 1998 version is "Armageddon," the second movie...

» Read Review Posted on Friday December 13, 2002

(B+) Assault on Precinct 13

Genre:
MPAA Rating: Audience: Mature High Schooler

A juicy premise, a powerhouse cast, and energetic direction combine for a satisfying thriller about a police station under seige. It's a big-budget remake of John Carpenter's 1976 film of...

» Read Review Posted on Friday January 14, 2005

(B+) The Astronaut Farmer

Genre: Action/Adventure, Drama
MPAA Rating: PG Audience: Kindergarten - 3rd Grade

Once upon a time there was a farmer who wanted to build a rocket ship and orbit the earth. And there were some evil ogres who wanted to stop him....

» Read Review Posted on Saturday February 3, 2007

(B+) ATL

Genre: Drama
MPAA Rating: PG-13 Audience: Middle School

The star of this movie is first-time director Chris Robinson, who took an appealing but conventional story of five friends on the brink of adulthood and made it come alive...

» Read Review Posted on Wednesday March 29, 2006

(B+) The Aviator

Genre:
MPAA Rating: Audience: Mature High Schooler

A true story that is both touching and thrilling and tons of talent on both sides of the camera are enough to make this a good movie, but not enough...

» Read Review Posted on Thursday December 2, 2004

(B+) A.I.: Artificial Intelligence

(B+) About a Boy

(B+) Adam

(B+) Adventureland

(B+) The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland

(B+) Alice in Wonderland

(B+) Amazing Grace

(B+) American Beauty

(B+) American Violet

(B+) Amistad

(B+) An American Tail

(B+) Analyze That

(B+) Anastasia

(B+) Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera

(B+) Angel Eyes

(B+) Anger Management

(B+) The Ant Bully

(B+) Antwone Fisher

(B+) Anvil: The Story of Anvil

(B+) Aquamarine

(B+) Armageddon

(B+) Assault on Precinct 13

(B+) The Astronaut Farmer

(B+) ATL

(B+) The Aviator

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