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Family Movie Guide

The Family Movie Guide should be used along with the Motion Picture Association of America rating system for selecting movies suitable for children. Only films rated G, PG or PG-13 are included in this weekly listing, along with occasional R-rated films that may have entertainment or educational value for older children with parental guidance. Compiled by St. Petersburg Times film critic Steve Persall.

RECOMMENDED

Ghosts of the Abyss B+

(G) - Titanic director James Cameron revisits that historic tragedy, filming an expedition to explore the wreckage. The result is an exciting 1-hour documentary filmed in 3-D (and IMAX-size proportions in other U.S. markets). Moderate true-life tension.

(PG) - The clumsy, vivacious and popular Disney Channel character gets her own movie. Hilary Duff's fresh-faced appeal is carefully dedicated to being a positive role model. The MPAA rating is due to "mild thematic elements" that won't bother children.

(PG) - Fans of The Princess Diaries may enjoy this teen-girl fantasy starring Nickelodeon favorite Amanda Bynes. She plays a cute klutz meeting her biological father (Colin Firth) for the first time. Some parents may blush while explaining that to young children, but the film is essentially a harmless fairy tale with some mildly rude language.

Bend It Like Beckham B-

(PG-13) - Teenage girls, especially those with athletic interests, should enjoy this British comedy about a young Sikh soccer player resisting her family's traditional expectations. The humor includes some sexual suggestiveness, and a few rude words sneak into the hard-to-follow accents. But this is a nice piece of cross-cultural fluff, like Billy Elliot and My Big Fat Greek Wedding.

(PG-13) - A mysterious warrior (Chow Yun-Fat) appoints and trains his successor (Seann William Scott) in the dangerous task of protecting a sacred scroll. Loads of acrobatic, Matrix-style violence, moderate profanity and some sexual content make this questionable fare for children.

(PG) - A playboy (Eduardo Verastegui) juggles three girlfriends in different states, then copes with all of them in one hectic weekend. This is a grown-up romantic comedy with mild sensuality and profanity, although the Hispanic flavor could make it appealing to younger viewers in that demographic.

(PG) - The Newbery Award-winning book inspires the comic adventures of juvenile delinquents at a detention camp forced by wicked guards (Sigourney Weaver, Jon Voight) to dig for buried treasure. The film contains mild profanity and violence, plus mature themes of corrupt authority figures and the heroes' brushes with the law. Recommended for ages 10 and older.

(PG-13) - The original X-Men made comic-book movies cool again. The sequel is everything it should be for Marvel Comics fans, with loads of sci-fi (and mostly bloodless) violence, a couple of rude words for humor's sake, some mildly scary images and a brief bit of sensual behavior. Rebecca Romijn-Stamos' skin-tight Mystique costume leaves little to the imagination. For ages 10 and older.

Anger Management B-

(PG-13) - Adam Sandler has his share of young fans, but parents should know that many of the jokes in this film deal with crude sexual subjects and moderate profanity, including f-words. The film's MPAA rating was successfully appealed from its original R, but the film is still more appropriate for adults.

(PG-13) - A lonely guy (Steve Martin) flirts on the Internet and meets an escaped convict (Queen Latifah) who adds spice to his dull life. Some of that fun comes in the form of sexual humor, punch-line profanity and drug references.

(PG-13) - Chris Rock's humor is toned down a bit for this political satire, but there's still plenty of comical profanity, sexual references and drug-related humor.

(PG-13) - Three generations of the Douglas acting family (Kirk, son Michael and grandchildren Cameron and Diana) join forces for a domestic comedy-drama. Mature themes include mortality and sexuality, especially in some of the eldest Douglas' dialogue. A subplot involving drug abuse is handled in straightforward fashion and moderate profanity provides a few laughs. Not much here to entertain young viewers.

(PG-13) - Jamie Kennedy experiments with movie stardom, playing an upper-class white guy with a severe hip-hop fixation. His misadventures include all the unsavory elements of the culture: crude sexual humor, harsh profanity and some violence. It's intended as a spoof, but parents should discuss that with children before they think such behavior is being glamorized.