Journey to the Center Of Earth
The first Hollywood film released in Digital 3-D, which automatically raises the cool factor for kids.
Plot and dialogue are weak, but kids will be entertained by visual elements.
Children under six may be frightened by flesh eating plants, a flying fish attack and a hungry dinosaur.

Kitt Kittredge
The American Girl doll comes to life in a wonderful movie set during the Depression. Young girls will come away from film with a good grasp of the those hard times and a greater awareness of economic impact on family life.

Hancock
The movie's trailer depicts Will Smith as a drunken, bad tempered superhero and presents the film as an action comedy. Comedy soon evaporates and plot is a muddled mess. After 30 minutes kids will be bored.
I have heard kids lobbying parents to see movie because Will is the star.
Better to re- watch Independence Day on DVD. Hancock is OK for kids under 7 or 8, OK for anyone.

Wall E
Disney and Pixar score again but the first 25 minutes has no dialogue. I saw the film a second time with a young audience ... And many little ones remarked ... "I don't like this." Or "I want to leave now." It will confuse the pre-school crowd and does not immediately have that warm and fuzzy element like Cars and the Incredibles. If you are taking the kids both parents should go ... or add a babysitter because older kids will want to stay and the 3-year-old may be out of there.

Don't Mess With the Zohan
"Zohan" comes from Adam Sandler and creator of "Knocked Up" and "Superbad", and contains raunchy material Judd Apatow and company are famous for. But it is not suitable for kids under 13. Sexual scenes between Sandler and the women the age of your childrens' grandmothers are to be avoided. The film is made for Sandler's core male audience over 18.

Sex and the City
This movie is rated R... for nude sex scenes and grown-up humor. Take your
fashionista teen or tween daughter to the mall, but not to this movie. It's
definitely off limits for young girls night out..

Speed Racer
If your child insists upon seeing this utterly unwatchable movie ... I advise a pre- and post-movie conversation about the real world consequences of the need for speed ... especially with little boys. In the film race car drivers crash, spin, and hurdle out of control and walk away undamaged ... leaving impressionable young minds to believe that daredevil drivers are invincible. The speed racer videogame also equates reckless risk-taking with heroism. The film begins with the title character's older brother dying in a crash, but the way in which he is idolized by the kid brother – the speed racer of the title – further glamorizes the unfolding events.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Palace
Jungle skeletons and killer critters have nightmare potential for children under the age of six.

Baby Mama
Inappropriate for children under 10 because
of adult situations and sexual humor.

Made of Honor
Utterly boring for children under 10; OK for
teen girls with a crush on Dr. McDreamy.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall
The R is for full frontal nudity. Need I say
more? Absolutely off limits for children.
Young teenagers are sneaking in to see
what the fuss is about.

Prom Night
Mildly scary. Plot centers on homicidal stalker’s obsession with high school senior. Could be nightmare producing with young girls. And beware of plot. Includes high school seniors staying overnight in a deluxe hotel suite to make prom night sex convenient.

Ironman
Children under 7 may be frightened by
scenes in which Robert Downey Jr.'s
character is held prisoner by radical jihadists.

"Agent 23" Has Kid-Friendly Plans

In the opening scene of "Get Smart", Dwayne Johnson, "Agent 23", came through the doors like he was "hot stuff", I told him. "Like I owned the room", he said with a glowing smile. He did.own the room that is. Dwayne could have had more screen time I felt, but when he was on, he was on! Obviously pleased with his performance, Dwayne flexed rock solid muscles and willingly admitted he was "loving it". Behind that glow was a hint of more things to come. "How about I become your kid's next family friendly movie star", he admitted more than questioned. "That's what I'm going for!" Well, with the latest game plan in the works Dwayne has a trio of "kid friendly" flicks hitting the big screen including "Get Smart", then "Race to Witch Mountain" and "Tooth Fairy". Already considered by "Entertainment Weekly" as one of the next A-list stars taking Hollywood by storm, it bears remembering, however, there's many a slip between the cup and the lip.

I have no doubt though the reinvention of The Rock will be a smack down!

Into the World of the Unknown

M. Night Shyamalan, who wears the austere titles of director, producer and writer of "THE HAPPENING", takes the viewer into the world of the unknown with his latest. He got a clue from some leaves brushing against his windshield as he drove across the New Jersey countryside, watching a lush, green world whirr by. Was he putting me on I wondered watching every nuance from the sly one.

"I was on my way to New York", he continued. "It was a beautiful day and the trees were hanging over the highway". With that, the precocious creator of paranoia on celluloid had an "aha moment", I suggested. "Yeah", said he. "What if nature one day turned on us? Could this really happen?" In that split second the entire structure of the story popped into his head, "instantly", he said with a smile.

Even more, M. Night is a huge fan of sound. Sound is one of his special effects. I won’t spoil its usage but he did admit it was his way to be invisible and to manipulate the audience. "You want the inevitable and you deceive us", I prodded, hoping for more. M. Night only laughed. "You work with us!" – demanding even more. He laughed again. "Remember, I warned – he who laughs, laughs last" to which he replied, "touché."

Sil Lai Abrams's Raw and Vivid Details

The best part of life for best selling author, Sil Lai Abrams was when she said "no" to the drama. No to a past that was filled with strife . no to memories of a mother who abandoned her when she four years old . no to memories of being an alcoholic runaway at age 15 . no to spousal abuse. No. No. No became her mantra as she was able to transform from a spiritually bankrupt survivor to a truly empowered contender. It's all laid out in raw and vivid detail in "No More Drama".

It was at a party recently at the fashionable Te Casan shoe palace in downtown Manhattan where the oh, so chic celebrated the success of Sil Lai's book that she did make one admission: "No to the drama. But yes to the Jimmy Choo's." And I say, if the shoe fits - wear it with a smile.

Judith Jamison's Reign

She was a star, gracing the covers of national publications. Her reign has been supreme and majestic from the time she joined the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre in the late '60s to present - first as a dancer and now as Artistic Director of the Company. But there was a loud gasp heard around the world when Ms Jamison announced her upcoming "retirement" in June.

Over the next three years, however, Ms Jamison will be working closely with Associate Artistic Director Masazumi Chaya and the Board of Trustees to select her successor, ensuring a thoughtful and deliberate transition.

"Well I had to call it something!" - said the diva when I interviewed her recently. "But I'm not going anywhere any time soon!"

We can now all exhale.

The Demands of Liv's Movie Shoot

Liv Tyler was put through the wringer far more than she anticipated in the
fright flick "The Strangers" in which she stars along with Scott Speedman. When I asked about the demands of the shoot, Liv admitted it was physically and emotionally draining. Long hours, lots of cuts and bruises as well as a bout with tonsillitis - "it was by far the hardest film shoot I've ever been a part of" she admitted, adding "it was an amazing challenge; I didn't know that I had it in me".

To think, in "The Lord of the Rings" Liv only had to do one sequence on a horse. In "The Strangers", it was a daily grind of blood, sweat but no tears. She would do it again, "in a heart beat". Liv asked me what I thought of the movie. I told her it was worth the price of the ticket just to hear her first screen scream.

And so it goes.

Broadway's "Passing Strange"

He's known as the roly-poly guy with the guitar and the funny glasses and goes only by one name, STEW. Well, the morning of the Tony nominations STEW decided not to set the alarm to watch the Tony nominations live. "I knew we weren't even going to get to first base with that one", he told me. But then - when STEW checked his dozens of e-mails mid day with tons of congratulations he found out that, not only did PASSING STRANGE get a huge nod as Best Musical, but, he, himself got one as Best Actor in a Musical, as well.

And so it goes, the roly-poly guy with the guitar and the funny glasses who wrote the personality driven story of a musician in search of himself and a music signature, which took him from San Francisco to the hash-filled haunts of Amsterdam and finally to Berlin, got the applause of a lifetime.

The Belasco Theatre on the Great White Way will now be jumping with hard rock ("not rock!", says Stew), funkadelic sounds as the story teller named STEW may even glean a smile.

As a footnote: "why did you end up in Berlin?"- I asked? "I found a home for my music, a mother for my child, and.", he paused, "NO CELL PHONES".

And so it goes.