New Family Movie Site

Taking a break from the 'deep' stuff for a moment, perhaps I can let you know about a new 'clean movie' site that's out there: MoviePicks.org Created for the purpose of supporting movies that 'entertain and uplift without offensive content", MoviePicks.org doesn't analyze or rate movies for quality or offensive content, but merely provides suggestions and brief blurbs about 'clean' movies.

The intent is commendable, although MoviePicks.org--along with all the other movie ratings for parents sites out there (see my Movie FAQ for more)--demonstrates why judging the content of movies is inherently problematic. "Offensiveness" is highly subjective--differing from person to person just about as much as preferences for food. Some of MoviePicks suggestions are mid-range PG-13 movies (such as "K-PAX" and "Kate and Leopold") with a fair amount of profanity and other stuff among them. Not "R-13" level by any means, but certainly enough not to be considered 'clean' by a fair number of people who watch it.

Plus, there are many ways to be 'offensive' that have nothing to do with the standard Profanity/Sex/Violence categories. I found "Castaway", "Mr.Holland's Opus", and "Seven Years in Tibet", all of which are on the MoviePicks list, 'offensive' for various social and philosophical reasons. And although I'm not among them, many people found "God's Army" offensive--again, for things unrelated to PSV content. And don't even get me started on "The Other Side of Heaven" which *gag* for some reason just earned a CAMIE award for being a "great, uplifting movie" (move aside...I think I'm going to throw up...)

This isn't a criticism of MoviePicks because judging content is an extremely difficult task, and you can find numerous 'head-scratching' analysis of movie content on every other site out there.
PSVRatings.com has "The Truman Show" rated yellow (moderate) in the "Sex/Nudity" category (?)
"Pirates of the Caribbean" gets a yellow (moderate) for "Profanity"???
Screenit.com has The Lord of the Rings movies rated "Mild/Moderate" in Blood/Gore, while "The Ring"--one of the most restrained horror movies you'll even see--gets a "Heavy"???
"Whale Rider" gets a moderate profanity rating from three different sites. Did they see the movie?

In any case, as anyone who cares about movie content has undoubtedly discovered, finding and rating 'clean' movies is inherently difficult, and in the end you'll still be left to exercise your own judgment as to what you and your family watches, which is probably as it should be.