![[home]](/comm/images/usccb_logo.gif){kind=logo}
WASHINGTON (June 19, 1998) -- The 1-800-311-4CCC movie line reviews Mulan for the week of June 19-25. Also included on the toll-free line is a review of Father of the Bride, this week's suggested home video for family viewing.
The 800 movie review line is a project of the Catholic Communication Campaign (CCC).
The June 19-25 list includes the following theater releases and their classifications according to moral suitability. Movies are evaluated according to artistic merit and moral suitability by the U.S. Bishops' Office for Film and Broadcasting.
- Mulan -- The U.S. Catholic Conference classification is A-I -- general patronage. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is G -- general audiences. Mulan offers a boisterous animated tale of ancient China where a rebellious daughter disguises herself as a man to fight invading Huns in place of her sickly father. Blending sumptuous visuals with catchy songs and some contrived humor, the picture's theme of female empowerment downplays romance to focus on issues of self-identity, honor and patriotism.
- Six Days, Seven Nights -- Because of brief violence, some sexual innuendo, recurring profanity and an instance of rough language, the U.S. Catholic Conference classification is A-III -- adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 -- parents are strongly cautioned that some material may be inappropriate for children under 13. Six Days, Seven Nights is a mildly comic adventure in which Harrison Ford and Anne Heche crash land on a uninhabited tropical island where they fend off pirates from the sea and an unwanted mutual attraction. The tired formula is made palatable by the airy banter between appealing performers in an otherwise completely predictable movie.
- Can't Hardly Wait -- Because of an implied sexual encounter, some underage drinking, crass expressions and minimal profanity and rough language, the U.S. Catholic Conference classification is A-III -- adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 -- parents are strongly cautioned that some material may be inappropriate for children under 13. In Can't Hardly Wait, an unsupervised high school graduation party becomes the occasion for couples to make up, break up or generally act wild and crazy. All the characters in the derivative party movie are reduced to predictable stereotypes whose lame shenanigans fail to amuse.
- The X Files -- Because of brief violence, menacing situations, occasional profanity and an instance of rough language, the U.S. Catholic Conference classification is A-III -- adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 -- parents are strongly cautioned that some material may be inappropriate for children under 13. The X Files tells a meandering story of stubborn FBI agents Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny on the trail of frozen aliens, a mutating virus and the possible colonization of Earth by extraterrestrials. In what amounts to a two-hour episode of the TV series on which it is based, the result is a murky mix of dimly seen menacing aliens amidst elaborate theories of global conspiracies.
- The Last Days of Disco -- Because of momentary violence, a fleeting sexual encounter and nudity, implied affairs, a character's substance abuse and a few instances of profanity, The U.S. Catholic Conference classification is A-III -- adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R -- restricted. The Last Days of Disco -- charts the fluctuating social lives of a half-dozen recent college grads who frequent a trendy New York City disco in the 1980s. The talky comedy is a wryly observed cautionary tale in which opinionated twentysomethings learn that there are consequences to sexual permissiveness.
- Dirty Work -- Because of some slapstick violence, sexual innuendo and frequent crude humor, the U.S. Catholic Conference classification is A-III -- adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 -- parents are strongly cautioned that some material may be inappropriate for children under 13. In Dirty Work two losers start a revenge-for-hire business but are tricked into doing an undeserved nasty deed by a smarmy tycoon on whom they decide to turn the tables. The series of silly stunts and dopey pranks land leadenly in the creaky clunker of a comedy.
The family video of the week is Father of the Bride -- The U.S. Catholic Conference classification is A-I -- general patronage. Not rated by the Motion Picture Association of America. Father of the Bride has some fun with Spencer Tracy as a self-assured suburbanite suddenly thrust into the unfamiliar world of wedding preparations when daughter Elizabeth Taylor announces her engagement. The 1950 comedy is amusingly perceptive in its view of middle-class life and family values, with great performances from Tracy as the caring but confused head of the household and Joan Bennett as his patient, sensible wife.
The classifications are A-I - general patronage; A-II - adults and adolescents; A-III - adults; A-IV - adults, with reservations (an A-IV classification designates problematic films that, while not morally offensive in themselves, require caution and some analysis and explanation as a safeguard against wrong interpretations and false conclusions); O - morally offensive.
The movie reviews are produced by the U.S. Catholic Conference (USCC) Office for Film and Broadcasting, which each week provides full length movie reviews, brief capsules and film classifications of new theater releases.
Reviewers include Henry Herx, Director, and Gerri Pare, Associate Director, of the Film and Broadcasting Office, which is funded by the CCC.
The capsule reviews are available on the World Wide Web. They can be found on two sites: http://www.nccbuscc.org and http://www.CatholicDigest.org/stops/movies/movies1.html.
Full-length reviews of the above and other movies are available through America Online at the Catholic News Service site on AOL, and can be accessed by AOL members using the keyword, "CNS."