USEFUL SITE: Screen It! for movie ratings

If you're concerned about the appropriateness of a movie or video, Screen It! is worth checking out. Its team of reviewers (unaffiliated with any political, social, or religious philosophy) give unbiased reviews of movies, videos, and DVDs so you can decide for yourself and your family whether the content is appropriate, based on your values.

Screen It! has been named one of the top 5 most useful movie sites on the Internet by film critic Roger Ebert, and has been featured in USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, Parade Magazine, The Washington Post, and many other newspapers, magazines, and TV programs.

A company that's been around for ten years, Screen It! has reviewed nearly two thousand movies and videos grouped into 15 categories. Screen It! reviews give a more comprehensive explanation of content than you'd find in ratings systems like that of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA)-the rating system that categorizes movies as G, PG-13, and so on.

An example of part of a Screen It! rating:

After the quick take, there's a longer plot description and a summary ("Word to parents") highlighting possible objectionable content in the film. Ratings include an explanation of why the MPAA rated it as it did, how others rated the movie, and, of course, what Screen It! reviewers thought about it. The analysis ends with a section that covers scenes or subject material you may want to discuss with your children.

Screen It! has both a free offering (click the NO THANKS button at the bottom of the home screen to go to the free service) and a subscription service. (Learn more about Screen it!)

Next time you or your family head to the movie theater or considers a video to bring home, a quick check on Screen It! will give you confidence that the entertainment is the fun you were looking for and you can sit back and enjoy the popcorn.

Linda

p.s. There are lots of Web sites that can help make your Web experience safer or give you greater control over what you see and hear online or in the "real" world. Finding them can be a challenge, so now and then I'll introduce one I think you may find useful-and mark it as a USEFUL SITE. This is the first. (Note: I have no financial motivation in recommending this or any other site.)