On PG-13, parents are in land of lost

Describing some of the gags in the new PG-13 movies “Land of the Lost” and “Year One” in a family newspaper requires a delicate touch - and a strong stomach.

In “Lost,” the female lead, Anna Friel, gets groped by a half-man, half-monkey creature, and star Will Ferrell pours dinosaur urine over himself before traveling through a creature’s intestinal tract.

“Year One” goes further, showing co-star Michael Cera, the sweet-faced new dad from “Juno,” relieving himself - on himself - for what seems like ages. The film also features a fight between the Bible’s Cain and Abel that crosses way over the line from slapstick to cruelty.

Yet both boast ratings that allow audiences of any age to check them out. The battle over the PG-13 rating is raging again.

Visitors to movie-ticketing site Fandango, which covers more than 16,000 screens across the United States, left a disproportionate number of negative user reviews regarding the films’ ratings.

“If this is a PG-13 movie,” one visitor said of “Year One,” “the rating system is a waste of time.”

As for “Lost,” another moviegoer reported leaving the theater midway through the film and noticing others doing the same.

Liz Perle, editor in chief of Common Sense Media, a nonprofit that provides family-centric film reviews, said 67 percent of visitors to her organization’s Web site thought “Year One” included inappropriate sexual behavior.

According to the Motion Picture Association of America, a PG-13 rating advises parents to determine whether the movie is appropriate for children younger than 13.

“There’s always boundary-pushing,” Miss Perle said. “The job of parents is to not throw in the towel and do nothing. Involve your children in the decision-making. Tell them your values.”

And research any movie your children seem eager to see, she said.

“The price you pay for a free and open media is homework for parents,” said Miss Perle, whose group distributes its ratings via Time Warner Cable and Comcast.

Scott Robson, editor in chief at Moviefone, said frustration over the ratings system remains a problem for families and the film studios.

Filmmakers don’t like having to go back and recut their films to land a particular rating, while audiences bemoan the “highly imperfect system,” Mr. Robson said.

Mr. Robson, who is a father, said parents must take precautions before dropping off their children at the local cinema.

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