NEW YORK (CNS) -- The following are capsule reviews of movies recently reviewed by Catholic News Service.
"Dark Shadows" (Warner Bros.)
Campy comic take on the gothic TV soap opera first broadcast in 1966. Buried alive by an angry mob of New England townsfolk in the mid-18th century, a vampire (Johnny Depp) is accidentally exhumed in 1972, only to find himself a bemused fish out of water in psychedelic-era America. As he tries to restore the dwindling family fortune for the benefit of his descendants (including Michelle Pfeiffer, Chloe Grace Moretz and Gully McGrath), he romances the resident governess (Bella Heathcote), who's a dead ringer for his true love of long ago, and battles the still-living witch (Eva Green) whose jealousy-fueled curse transformed him into a bloodsucker in the first place. Though visually striking and initially amusing, director Tim Burton's riff on a property once beloved by teenage baby-boomers introduces some discordant notes as it seeks to garner laughs from casual sexual encounters. Then the melody gets lost altogether amid a crescendo of special effects and supernatural mayhem. Some action violence, semi-graphic sexual activity, an implied aberrant act, a suicide, drug use, mature references, a couple of uses of profanity, about a half-dozen instances each of crude and crass language. The Catholic News Service classification is L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 -- parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.
"The Perfect Family" (Variance)
This virulently anti-Catholic dramedy ridicules just about every aspect of the church, its teachings and members, offering broad caricatures to score negative points. Director Anne Renton sets a perplexing and often sacrilegious tone in the story of a supermom (Kathleen Turner) who is desperate to win the coveted "Catholic Woman of the Year Award" in her parish. Trouble is, her perfect family is anything but: Her daughter (Emily Deschanel) is a lesbian, pregnant and getting "married." Her son (Jason Ritter) has left his wife and is having an affair. And her husband (Michael McGrady) is a recovering alcoholic and philanderer. It takes a rogue priest (Scott Michael Campbell) to reveal that true happiness is attainable with God's help and not through the church. Together with screenwriters Paula Goldberg and Claire V. Riley, newcomer Renton has concocted a bilious piece of propaganda that amounts to Hollywood hate speech. Pervasive anti-Catholic prejudice, sacrilegious humor, a benign view of premarital sex and homosexual acts as well as of same-sex marriage, an abortion theme, some rough language. The Catholic News Service classification is O -- morally offensive. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 -- parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.
* The Perfect Family, O (PG-13)
* Marvel's The Avengers, A-III (PG-13)
* Safe, O (R)
* The Five-Year Engagement, O (R)
* The Raven, L (R)
* The Pirates! Band of Misfits, A-II (PG)
* Think Like a Man, A-III (PG-13)
* The Lucky One, A-III (PG-13)
* Chimpanzee, A-I (G)
* The Cabin in the Woods, O (R)
* Lockout, A-III (PG-13)
* The Three Stooges, L (PG)
* Bully, A-III (PG-13)
* We Have a Pope, L (Not Rated)
* American Reunion, O (R)
Copyright © 2012 by Catholic News Service