The middle ground
Men in Black 3 (106 min., PG-13) Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, joined by Josh Brolin, are back battling extraterrestrials. Murders are not bloody, but quite graphic for a PG-13. The film includes mild sexual innuendo. When an escaped alien kisses his accomplice, he sends his tongue down her throat. Smith has to jump head-first off the Chrysler Building, but it’s amusing rather than scary. The dialogue includes occasional midrange profanity and a Viagra joke.
Snow White and the Huntsman (116 min., PG-13) The level of violence and disturbing images make this a solid, sometimes R-ish PG-13, and probably not entertainment for preteens. Fight scenes include many swords and daggers piercing flesh, though there’s not a lot of blood, nor are wounds graphic. More disturbing are images of Charlize Theron’s evil queen, reforming out of a pool of dead crows and tar; rotting animal corpses in the Dark Forest; tree branches turning into writhing serpents; and a huge, roaring troll that attacks the Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth). The queen’s brother threatens Snow White (Kristen Stewart) in a subtly sexual way, and there’s other, milder sexual innuendo. The movie also includes a nongraphic bedroom scene and brief toilet humor.
Where Do We Go Now? (110 min., PG-13) The women of a Middle Eastern village populated by both Muslims and Christians find a way to avoid sectarian violence. Characters engage in scuffles and fights, but any serious violence, such as the death of a child caught in the crossfire in a strife-torn neighboring village, occurs off-camera and we see only his body. The women use hashish and tranquilizers baked into sweets to sedate the men. The story includes mild, romanticized sexual innuendo.
R-rated
Chernobyl Diaries (88 min., R) A group of college-age American tourists in Eastern Europe decide to pay a visit to you-know-where. While the events that unfold are intense — the protagonists chased by a bear, by wolves, and certain other creatures — images are not exceptionally graphic. However, there are remains of torn-apart human victims, and of dead and decomposing animals, though the images are fleeting and rather unspecific. The dialogue is peppered with strong profanity and there’s moderate sexual innuendo early on.
For Greater Glory (135 min., R) Scenes of battle and the torture of a boy in this epic saga of religious devotion and violence are upsetting and intense. Battle scenes are hectic and loud, with rifle and artillery fire, fallen men and horses, but none of the deaths or injuries are highly graphic. The film shows a priest hanged in his church by government soldiers, and another killed by firing squad. The toughest sequence shows a boy tortured by soldiers, then killed and rolled into a grave.