Book star comes to life in impactful and emotional show.
“Amber Brown” is a coming-of-age series produced by Bonnie Hunt (“Cheaper by the Dozen”). Inspired by Paula Danziger’s popular same-named book series, the show follows 11-year-old Amber (Carsyn Rose) as she navigates some of life’s most difficult challenges. The series is mainly live-action but frequently includes animations to express Amber’s emotions. Themes include embracing your individuality, expressing yourself honestly and friendship. The show’s all-star cast, including Sarah Drew (“Grey’s Anatomy”) and Michael Yo, tackles difficult and important subjects that kid viewers can take lots of lessons from. (10 25-minute episodes)
Available on Apple TV Plus.
Suspenseful time-travel tale has violence, strong language.
“Paper Girls” is a suspenseful sci-fi series based on the same-named comic book about the time-traveling adventures of four 12-year-old newspaper delivery girls in the late 1980s. It has lots of strong language, including “f—,” “s—,” “a–hole,” and “b—–s,” as well as racist slurs. There’s also violence: Characters are frequently in peril, a teen wields a gun and shoots another character, someone uses a hockey stick to kill an enemy and there’s lots of futuristic sci-fi weapon use. That said, it’s also a story of loyalty and friendship, with positive messages about valuing differences. (Eight 35-minute episodes)
Spy flick has violent action, standard storyline.
“The Gray Man” is a secret agent action/thriller movie starring Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans as men who get caught up in a dangerous cat-and-mouse game. There’s lots of violence and references to violence. Scenes include torture, body horror, gun violence, explosions and domestic violence. While characters demonstrate perseverance, courage and integrity, the movie could also be seen as romanticizing a violent lifestyle. Characters use strong language (“f—,” “s—” and more). (129 minutes)
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