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What to watch with your kids: ‘Descendants: The Rise of Red’ and more

2024-07-13 07:35:01

Descendants: The Rise of Red (TV-G)

Age 8+

Positive messages, peril in overstuffed franchise reboot.

“Descendants: The Rise of Red” is part of Disney’s popular fairy-tale-inspired musical franchise. It has positive messages about treating others with kindness, but it also puts its diverse cast of characters in dangerous situations. Parents are verbally and psychologically abusive, and teenagers act out or must learn to think for themselves as a result. Characters try to put themselves in others’ shoes to learn what caused them to be the way they are, and characters also try to extend olive branches to traditional enemies, with varied success. Villains threaten others, including children and their parents, with revenge, beheadings and banishments, and there are sword fights, chases, high-speed near crashes and pranks that turn people into creatures. A married couple flirts, dances and blows each other kisses. Language is limited to “witch,” “tyrant” and “heck.” Race isn’t a theme in the story, and White, Black, Asian and Latino actors — including Kylie Cantrall, Malia Baker and Morgan Dudley — play both good and evil characters. (91 minutes)

Available on Disney Plus.

Fly Me to the Moon (PG-13)

Age 12+

Charming revisionist-history dramedy has language, brands.

“Fly Me to the Moon” is a dramedy that blends fact and fiction as it ponders whether faking the moon landing in the 1960s was actually the U.S. government’s secret Plan B. Scarlett Johansson stars as Kelly Jones, a charming, talented marketing specialist hired to ensure that Americans endorse NASA and the space race, even after the Apollo 1 disaster. She’s forced to work with Cole Davis (Channing Tatum), launch director for the Apollo 11 mission to the moon. They’re attracted to each other and exchange heated looks, flirt and eventually kiss. Occasional strong language includes one “f—,” plus “s—,” “b—-,” “a–hole,” “goddamn” and more. Adults frequently smoke cigarettes and routinely drink alcohol during receptions and dinners. Violence is limited to references and flashbacks to Apollo 1. Expect lots of product placement of brands including Omega, Tang, Kellogg, Ford, Chevy and more. Families may want to dig into research mode after watching to discover which aspects of the story are fact and which are fiction. (132 minutes)

Sausage Party: Foodtopia (TV-MA)

Age 17+

Raunchy grocery comedy has tons of sex, language, puns.

“Sausage Party: Foodtopia” is a mature animated series that takes place after the events of the movie “Sausage Party.” After escaping the grocery store and conquering their enemies — humans, a.k.a. “humies” — the food community still has a lot of learning to do about the world outside. Starring Seth Rogen as the voice of hot dog Frank, Kristen Wiig as his bun girlfriend and Michael Cera as their PTSD-stricken hot dog friend Barry, this grotesque but sometimes funny comedy has lots of sex and language (think “South Park”). Animated food has a citywide orgy that includes lots of simulated sex acts, and the characters themselves are visual sexual gags. Choking as a sexual act is briefly seen. Language is frequent and includes “f—,” “b—–d,” “s—,” “d—head” and “son of a b—-.” Some characters die violently in a warlike atmosphere, and the remaining ones struggle with their losses. Some food characters appear to have ethnicities (for example, a bagel who presents as Jewish and a lavash bread with big eyebrows and facial hair) that are stereotypically portrayed. A character who uses a wheelchair is modeled after disabled physicist Stephen Hawking; his voice is played as a joke. (Eight episodes)

Available on Prime Video.

Exploding Kittens (TV-14)

Age 13+

Irreverent game-based comedy has violence, salty language.

“Exploding Kittens,” a fun exploration of good, evil and family, is an edgy animated comedy that’s loosely based on the popular card game. It follows a family whose lives are suddenly upended by the appearance of God (voiced by Tom Ellis of “Lucifer”) in the form of a fluffy white cat. God and the Devil (“Saturday Night Live’s” Sasheer Zamata), also in the form of a cat, have both been banished to Earth, and chaos obviously ensues. Violence is generally of the cartoonish variety, but there are lots of battles between the deities and others. Language includes words like “boners” and “freaking,” and there are some sexual jokes and innuendo. Characters drink alcohol (beer, wine). (Nine episodes)

Common Sense Media helps families make smart media choices. Go to commonsense.org for age-based and educational ratings and reviews for movies, games, apps, TV shows, websites and books.

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