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DVD parent's guide rant (1 Viewer)

David Rogers

Supporting Actor
Joined
May 15, 2000
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722
Honestly, I consider CAP Alert and many other "services" like them to actually provide tremendous value to the rest of us.

Anyone who can't see through the sad untruth of a CAPAlert "review" deserves to be led around by the nose. PT Barnum said it best.
 

D. Scott MacDonald

Supporting Actor
Joined
Oct 10, 1999
Messages
545
Like Brad said, my wife actually reviews some of these sites to help us determine what we should let our kids watch (we've never looked at CAPAlert). We always completely ignore their recomendations of course, but find their detailed information useful. If all that they can complain about is suggestive eye movement, then we know that it can't be that bad.

But serously, who would consider taking their children to Dogma or Black Hawk Down?
 

Chris Bardon

Senior HTF Member
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Jul 4, 2000
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Actually, Rogers has been doing this for years. I'd have to say that the best comment I ever saw was on South Park, where "Objectionable Words:" simply said "More than you ever thought possible".

I don't mind giving out the infomration, but I really hate it when they give away part of the movie (which their "parental summaries" sometimes do).

Still, it must be one hell of a job. Just think, someone who screens those films can put "Fuck-counter"
on their resume
 

Jason Adams

Supporting Actor
Joined
Aug 30, 2002
Messages
635
Real Name
Roger Jason Adams
Whoever posted the link to CAPalert...bless you! This site is going to provide me with more hilarity then the jump the shark website. I just went to the South Park review...

South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (R) -- WARNING! This analysis is blunt. South Park is another movie straight from the smoking pits of Hell.
Well, that just says it all I think. :D
 

Bryan Tuck

Screenwriter
Joined
Jan 16, 2002
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1,980
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Bryan Tuck
Coming Soon: CAPalert Approved sports bras (made of brass)
Didn't they use one of those in Return of the Jedi? :D

Seriously, I have absolutely no problem with parents' guides. I wish more parents would use them. I work part-time at a movie theater, and I see parents bringing very young children to very inappropriate movies. Kids mature at different rates, but I am floored by what some parents allow their children to see.

And then there are those who are just oblivious. A few years ago, we had a couple bring their 6-year-old daughter to Saving Private Ryan. They walked out, acting surprised that it was so violent. Even if they had managed to avoid all the advertising and hype, which made no attempt to hide the intensity of the film, I think the fact that it was an R-rated war movie should have tipped them off.

However, there are some parents who freak out a little too easily. Back at the theater again, we had a girl who worked there who had bought the PG-13-rated Bring it On DVD, which got her into trouble with her mother, who didn't approve of all the sexual innuendo in the movie. This girl was 17 at the time, old enough to get into any R-rated movie without her mother ever knowing. So, there are both extremes.

At any rate, I'm all for parents' guides for movie content, but some of them, such as CAPAlert, do get a little nit-picky. Okay, CAPAlert is actually downright ridiculous. Others, however, can be useful to some parents, but whatever system they use, I just think parents should take more responsibility in deciding what to allow their children to watch.
 

Alex Spindler

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Jan 23, 2000
Messages
3,971
I thought I would give another recommendation for ScreenIt. Much more objective and quantitative rather than judgemental. They also clearly separate their opinion on the suitability of the film from the "potentially objectionable material". I don't usually agree with their assessments on the merits of film, but I do appreciate their cataloging of the film itself.
 

MarkHastings

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Jan 27, 2003
Messages
12,013
Did you see the MPAA reasons for "Blue Crush" getting a PG-13?

PG-13: for sexual content, teen partying, language and a fight.

A fight??
 

dpippel

Yoyodyne Propulsion Systems
Supporter
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Feb 24, 2000
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That's why the best way to decide if a film is appropriate for YOUR children is to screen it yourself first if you feel it may contain questionable content. Movie rating sites are all well and good, but by using them excusively you rely on the reviewer's opinions of right and wrong, bad and good, offensive or not. It's always better to use your own "morality barometer".
 

dpippel

Yoyodyne Propulsion Systems
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Yet Lilo & Stitch, which contains numerous scenes of aliens with beam weapons trying to fry one of the main characters, and a subplot concerning the State of Hawaii attempting to take custody of a young girl against her will gets rated PG. I think that the MPAA and THX are actually part of the same company.
 

MarkHastings

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Jan 27, 2003
Messages
12,013
The thing that gets me, was all the parents that brought these YOUNG kids to LOTR:2 Towers!! Just because it's PG-13, doesn't mean it's fine for your 10 year old.

I guess times are changing and younger kids are getting accustomed to these movies, but when I was 10, I would have been scared to death of these Orcs!
 

JustinCleveland

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Justin Cleveland
That's not as bad as the mother who brought about 7 kids, as young as 3, to the Two Towers when I saw it the second time.

The kids went from about 3 to 12.

It was disturbing, especially since it was the second time I had seen the film (needed to use that free ticket from the FotR box set) and knew how intense, not to mention long, it was.
 

Brad Nilsson

Agent
Joined
Jun 23, 1999
Messages
34
I've now taken a look at the CAPalert website. It is clearly created by conservative Christians for conservative Christians. I see nothing wrong with this. If you're a "South Park" devotee, I don't think you'll find this site helpful. But understand and respect the fact that others may.
 

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