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"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" (PG, 2 hrs., 33 min.)

The saga of boy wizard Harry Potter (now almost a man-wizard) remains as fascinating as ever in this film, based on the sixth book in J.K. Rowling's series. Handsome but dark -- literally sunless -- the movie has fewer action sequences, a lot of thoughtful dialogue scenes, and assumes near-total knowledge of the books, though of course director David Yates had to leave some things out or change them for the film. In a way, " Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," despite a major incident in its closing scenes, is a sort of place-holder for the two-part finale of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," scheduled for 2010 and 2011.

The PG rating, as opposed to the last two films ("Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," 2005 and "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," 2007), which were PG-13s, reflects the fact that the action sequences are less violent and bloody. Yet the film is still iffy for children under 10. It has scary images, as when the Death Eaters collapse London's famous footbridge full of people, and when skeletal beings swarm out of an underground lake to attack Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) and professor Dumbledore (Michael Gambon). One Hogwarts student is briefly under a spell and tossed about, nearly to death. Another appears to die of poisoning, but is revived. Harry gets a broken nose, thanks to his nemesis, Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton). The humor is also subtler now that the Hogwarts kids are older, though the magic/joke shop run by Ron Weasley's brothers in Diagon Alley is wittily conceived to amuse all.

With Harry and his friends now in their later teens and experiencing romantic longing, there is more sexual innuendo. After the Death Eaters attack London, professor Dumbledore takes Harry to meet professor Horace Slughorn (Jim Broadbent). Slughorn knows crucial secrets about the early Hogwarts years of Tom Riddle, who became the villainous Dark Lord Voldemort. Harry also suspects Draco Malfoy is a secret Death Eater. Draco does have a secret, but that's not it. And Harry still wonders which side mysterious professor Severus Snape (Alan Rickman) is on. Amid all this, Harry develops a romantic yen for his friend Ron Weasley's (Rupert Grint) sister Ginny (Bonnie Wright) -- hence, THE KISS -- and Hermione (Emma Watson) loves Ron, who is too busy flirting with Lavender Brown (Jesse Cave). Teen angst and magic -- a heady potion.

Beyond the Ratings Game: Movie Reviews for various ages

-- OK FOR KIDS 8 AND OLDER:

"Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" PG -- Twenty-first century slang and ageless slapstick still work in the third "Ice Age" feature. Like the others ("Ice Age," 2002, "Ice Age: The Meltdown," 2006, both PGs), the latest installment is funny, but not Pixar-transcendent. It's in 3-D, so kids may jump when an angry T. rex chases the heroes, or when a flesh-eating plant briefly swallows two of them. The old friends are here -- Manny the mammoth (voice of Ray Romano), his pregnant mate Ellie (Queen Latifah), Sid the Sloth (John Leguizamo) and Diego the saber-toothed tiger (Denis Leary). Sid finds three large eggs that hatch into toothy dinosaur babies, and he, a vegetarian, can't handle them. (They eat other baby animals, but are forced to spit them up alive.) The dino-babies' real mom arrives, snatching them and Sid. His cohorts follow and discover a tropical glade full of dinosaurs. An even larger T. rex comes after them all. They meet Buck (Simon Pegg), a swashbuckling weasel with an eye patch who has taken on the male T. rex before. Scampering behind all this is Scrat, the non-verbal squirrel-rat, still chasing the perfect acorn. This time he tangles -- and tangos -- with a seductive female, Scratte, over the precious nut. There's a creepy skeleton graveyard, occasional semi-crude and/or mild sexual jokes (a butterfly "coming out," and turning a "T. rex into a T. rachel").

-- OK FOR KIDS 10 AND OLDER:

"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" PG (NEW) -- The saga of boy wizard Harry Potter (now almost a man-wizard) remains as fascinating as ever in this film, based on the sixth book in J.K. Rowling's series. It has fewer action sequences, a lot of thoughtful dialogue scenes, and it assumes near-total knowledge of the books on the part of its audience. In a way, this handsome, sunless film is a kind of place-holder for the two-part finale of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," scheduled for 2010 and 2011. The PG rating, as opposed to the last two films ("Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," 2005 and "Harry Potter and Order of the Phoenix," 2007), which were rated PG-13, reflects that the action sequences are less violent and bloody. Yet the film is still iffy for children under 10. It has frightening images, as when the Death Eaters collapse London's famous new footbridge, full of people, and when skeletal beings swarm out of an underground lake to attack Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) and professor Dumbledore (Michael Gambon). One Hogwarts student is briefly under a spell and tossed about, nearly to death. Another appears to die of poisoning, but is revived. There are instances of broken noses and other bloody wounds. With Harry and his friends now in their later teens and experiencing romantic longing, there is more sexual innuendo. After the Death Eaters attack London, professor Dumbledore takes Harry to meet professor Horace Slughorn (Jim Broadbent). Slughorn knows crucial secrets about the early Hogwarts years of Tom Riddle, who became the villainous Dark Lord Voldemort, whom Harry must inevitably confront. Harry also suspects that his rival Draco Malfoy is a secret Death Eater and still wonders which side mysterious professor Severus Snape (Alan Rickman) is on. Meanwhile, Harry has feelings for his friend Ron Weasley's (Rupert Grint) sister Ginny (Bonnie Wright), and Hermione (Emma Watson) is feeling romantic about Ron, who is too busy flirting with Lavender Brown (Jessie Cave).

-- PG-13s OF VARYING INTENSITY:

"(500) Days of Summer" (NEW; LIMITED RELEASE) -- When a genuinely fresh romantic comedy appears, it is cause for celebration. "(500) Days of Summer" puts to shame all the cliche-ridden "rom-coms" that Hollywood currently grinds out, and it ought to charm discerning high-schoolers. Directed (Marc Webb) and written (Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber) by relative newcomers, the movie, aside from a hip, altie-rock soundtrack, stays away from easy pop-culture references. It was shot in old Los Angeles, which gives it a timeless look, and during one ingenious interlude, it portrays Tom's (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) romantic angst in parodies of classic European art films. Tom wants to be a writer, but scribbles at a greeting card company instead. His story unfolds in a mix of flashbacks, tracing the 500 days that elapse between his falling hard for the boss' new secretary, Summer (Zooey Deschanel), how she broke up with him, and how he eventually got over it. Much of Tom's longing and pain he relates to his friends (Geoffrey Arend and Matthew Gray Gubler) whose become a kind of Greek chorus. The film includes profanity, crude sexual slang and innuendo, references to porn (not shown), several implied sexual situations, and drinking due to depression. Not for middle-schoolers.

"Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg" (Unrated) (NEW; LIMITED RELEASE) -- High-schoolers interested in American culture and the early days of television may find some fascination in documentary filmmaker Aviva Kempner's loving profile of TV's earliest sitcom star, Gertrude Berg. Berg's show, "The Goldbergs," about Jewish housewife Molly Goldberg, living with her family in a New York City apartment, premiered on TV (after a run on radio) in 1949 and was a hit. Molly's trademark was her habit of leaning out her window to chat with neighbors (hence the "Yoo-Hoo" in the title). Berg also wrote and produced the show, which made her a triple-threat TV pioneer. As Kempner recounts, Berg had to deal with the McCarthy era blacklists (she lost a lead actor to them) and other hurdles. Fans such as Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and National Public Radio's cultural maven Susan Stamberg, among others, talk about Berg's influence.

"I Love You, Beth Cooper" -- An awkward, charm-challenged mix of fresh ideas and teen movie cliches, this losing-one's-virginity-after-high-school comedy shows promise early on. Shy, nerdy valedictorian Denis Cooverman (Paul Rust) bares his soul during his graduation speech. He tells cheerleader Beth Cooper (Hayden Panettiere of TV's "Heroes") he loves her. Then he urges other kids in the audience to confess to eating disorders, childhood sexual abuse and low self-esteem. Beth's boyfriend Kevin (Shawn Roberts) beats him up. That night, Beth and her pals (Lauren London and Lauren Storm) take pity and hang out with Denis and his friend Rich (Jack Carpenter), drinking, flirting, driving recklessly and harassing Rich about his vague sexual orientation. The comic mayhem detracts from the film's honestly poignant takes on young love and uncertainty. Pushing this PG-13 into R territory is the bawdiness, with implied near-nudity, profanity, a couple of implied nongraphic sexual trysts (including a threesome), teen drinking, implied bribery (with sexual favors) of a convenience store clerk to sell them beer, semi-explicit jokes about erections and condoms, parents in partial undress canoodling in their car, a drug reference and teens in underwear. Not for middle-schoolers.

"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" -- In this endless, agonizing sequel, director Michael Bay lets actors play second fiddle to prolonged special-effects battles between giant, quick-changing robotic warriors -- good Autobots and evil Decepticons. The plot is incomprehensible except to Transformers superfans and perhaps other sci-fi/action-loving high-schoolers. In addition to bloodless but intense 'bot battles, the movie contains human warfare and enough crude sexual innuendo to make it iffy for middle-schoolers. The hero, Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf), nearly has his skull cut open. There is some profanity, a gag about an adult getting high on marijuana brownies, and toilet humor. Sam, who discovered the ancient alien race of Transformers in the first film (which had a better human-robot mix), is starting college and hoping free-spirited Mikaela (Megan Fox) won't forget him. Then the Decepticons attack Earth and Sam and the good 'bots must act.

"My Sister's Keeper" -- What nearly saves this turgid weeper (based on Jodi Picoult's novel) is plain, deeply felt acting that cuts through the syrupy montages. High-schoolers and mature middle-schoolers may be moved by the story, since key characters are young. There is a graphic portrayal of leukemia and its treatment. In flashbacks we learn that Sara (Cameron Diaz) and Brian (Jason Patric), upon learning their toddler Kate is seriously ill, have their next baby, Anna, genetically engineered so her blood and organs will match Kate's. Now 15, Kate (Sofia Vassilieva) needs Anna's (Abigail Breslin) kidney. For mysterious reasons, Anna, 11, hires a lawyer (Alec Baldwin) to sue for her "medical freedom." There's an upsetting image of Anna at 4, or 5, screaming as doctors prepare to take her blood or bone marrow for Kate. The movie has comic sexual innuendo and a subtly implied sexual situation between two terminally ill teens (cuddling on a bed, bare backs), profanity, beer-drinking, prostitutes on a street, and an adult having a seizure.

"The Proposal" -- This trifling, unoriginal romantic comedy benefits from a first-rate comic cast and crackling repartee. Teens with a romantic, slightly older sensibility may find it fun. It includes a lot of sexual humor, however, that might concern parents of middle-schoolers, including a big guffaw scene in which Sandra Bullock and co-star Ryan Reynolds accidentally crash into each other, sort-of-but-not-really naked. The moment is digitally cleansed, but the idea is to titillate. There is midrange sexual slang and innuendo, a threat to castrate someone, a male exotic dancer in a G-string, moderate profanity and a nasty remark about immigrants. Bullock plays a hard-driving Canadian-born editor at a New York publishing house who bullies her horrified assistant (Reynolds) into becoming engaged to her so she can stay in the U.S. They go to his Alaska hometown to meet the folks, and it's amusing to watch her grow human.

-- R's:

"Bruno" -- The Motion Picture Association of America's explanation of "Bruno's" R rating says it all -- "pervasive strong and crude sexual content, graphic nudity and language." Sacha Baron Cohen sheds his crude, Central-Asian "Borat" persona and becomes Bruno, a gay Viennese fashionista of dubious intellect, frightening taste and a great willingness to expose his privates. He moves to Los Angeles in search of fame. When movies don't beckon, he tries celebrity punking (Paula Abdul, former presidential candidate Ron Paul), seducing redneck hunters, crashing a "swingers" party, and even brokering a Middle East peace. "Borat ... " (R, 2006) was wildly crude and almost ceaselessly hilarious. "Bruno" is wildly crude and only fitfully hilarious. Cohen has a genius for exposing pretension and bigotry, but this film is too squirm-inducing and desperate to shock. It is neither for anyone under 17, nor for offendable adults.

"Public Enemies" -- A handsome, deep-delving film with moments of shattering violence, "Public Enemies" chronicles how bank robber/folk hero John Dillinger (Johnny Depp) met his end at the hands (or triggers) of dogged FBI agent Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale) and his men. In director Michael Mann's elegant crime tale, there's scant difference between untethered lawmen and criminals. The ambitious head of the new FBI, J. Edgar Hoover (Billy Crudup), as much as tells Purvis to use fascistic methods in rounding up Dillinger and his cohorts. The actors are all vivid. Depp plays Dillinger close to the chest, with flashes of charm and mayhem. In addition to loud, darkly bloody shootouts, the film has a nongraphic sexual situation, verbal sexual innuendo, implied nudity, rare profanity, drinking and smoking. OK for high-schoolers.

(c) 2009, Washington Post Writers Group.

This news arrived on: 07/16/2009

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