Sisters Put a Spin on Reviewing Movies : Criticism: Newsletter goes beyond the ratings to explain to parents when depictions of sex and violence may be suitable for viewing by their children.

While most movie critics have nothing but unqualified praise for “Pinocchio,” a newsletter edited in Hermosa Beach says there are a few things parents should know about the 50-year-old Disney cartoon.

“Why does Gepetto, a sweet, kind and trusting fellow, sleep with a gun under his pillow?” writer Sharon Kissack asks in a recent issue of the newsletter, Reel Review. And Kissack, who nevertheless pronounces the film “charming,” writes: “Where did they find a vicious-looking whale that swallows people?”

Many such observations can be gleaned from the newsletter or through a related 900 telephone number, both of which are run by Kissack and her younger sister, Virginia Felix. The Hermosa Beach-bred sisters, using a $20,000 investment, launched the publication and phone service two years ago to help parents pick appropriate movies for their youngsters.

The women say film reviews and the current motion picture ratings fail to give parents enough information to gauge the suitability of movies for their children. Before starting their enterprise, for instance, Felix decided not to take her 7- and 10-year-old daughters to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s “Total Recall” because it had received an R-rating. She said that after watching the science-fiction blockbuster with her husband, however, she felt that the film--while somewhat violent--would have been OK for her kids.

“All the time we were in ‘Total Recall’ I was thinking, ‘I could have brought the kids instead of paying for a baby-sitter,’ ” said Felix, 43, who edits and lays out the newsletter at her Hermosa Beach home.

Kissack, 52, a regular moviegoer whose first job as a teen-ager was usher at a Hermosa Beach cinema, had for years given film advice to other parents. A friend’s casual remark about her movie acumen prompted the pair’s cinema enterprise.

“I just try to point out the things the critics don’t,” said Kissack, who now lives in Upstate New York, where she writes the newsletter reviews and oversees the 900 number.

Few movie reviewers, Kissack and Felix say, have noted Hollywood’s habit of casting crickets and mice as good guys and cockroaches and rats as bad guys.”Crickets make so much noise,” Felix said. “I consider them more obnoxious than cockroaches, personally.”

Though the sisters use their newsletter and phone service to point out racism, sexism, homophobia and excessive sex and violence in the movies, it would be unfair to accuse them of political correctness. In the “Pinocchio” review, Kissack also asked why the beloved cartoon classic had “so many bad boys, and no bad girls?”

“I don’t have any particular ax to grind,” Kissack said. “I’m not trying to preach to people, I’m just trying to give them the facts.”

The sisters say they try to avoid sweeping judgments, preferring instead to describe the degree of a film’s profanity, nudity or violence and the context in which it occurs. For instance, Kissack said that after watching so many films she does not believe movies as a whole are too violent.

“Violence is a part of humanity, so get used to it,” Kissack said. “A lot of times it can be used to make an anti-violent point anyway. Also, there is what I call ‘festive violence’ like in ‘Lethal Weapon’ where things blow up and no one seems to care that much.”

Sometimes, Kissack said, even questionable amounts of violence or sex shouldn’t necessarily keep parents and their children from a film. A film’s content can often spark important dialogue between the generations that otherwise might not arise.

“When you have kids, you can’t just sit down and say we are going to talk about sex now,” said Kissack, whose children are 22 and 25. “You talk about things when they come up.”

The sisters’ movie reviewing enterprise has been struggling financially since its creation. The $10-per-year newsletter has 200 subscribers nationwide and the 900 number receives about 450 calls monthly at 99 cents a minute.

But Felix and Kissack say they are providing a vital service, both for their clients and for themselves. On her older sister’s recommendation, Felix screened the video release of last summer’s “The Last of the Mohicans” before letting her children watch it. She said it turned out to be a wise move.

“The movie was a beautifully photographed kill-fest,” she said. “I don’t see how watching that would help my kids.”

Though the sisters live on opposite sides of the continent, their foray into movie reviewing has helped nurture their personal relationship. “I really admire her quite a lot,” Felix said of Kissack. “I like the way her mind works.”

Critic’s Corner

The following are excerpts from Reel Review, a newsletter edited in Hermosa Beach that is intended to help parents pick appropriate movies for their youngsters.

“Bram Stoker’s Dracula”: “Safe sex is not an issue to the undead of the pre-AIDS era. . . . There is some serious violence--severed heads and such--but this is necessary vampire-movie activity.”

“The Adventures of Huck Finn”: “The citizens are well-armed and do not hesitate to shoot others over feuds. . . . Huck develops moral values and shows promise that he will grow to be an honest, if wily, adult.”

“The Crying Game”: “This is not a regular love story.”

“The Last of the Mohicans”: “There is one brief, passionate kissing scene. . . . We see adults hacked, shot, scalped, burned and beat up, though it isn’t, for the most part, gory or agonizing. . . . Native Americans are depicted as complex individuals.”

“Night and the City”: “This film is full of tough guys and hustlers who use that-word-that-starts-with-F very liberally . . . “

“A River Runs Through It”: “The boys sneak out at night, drink alcohol and behave foolishly. . . . Smoking seems common among the male characters.”

“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III”: “The worst of the language, other than one ‘damn,’ involves epithets like ‘steaming puddle of puke.’ ”

“Singles”: “Characters converse in various ways about sex, from a doctor’s graphically scientific explanation of the birds and bees, to extensive ponderings on the eternal question of breast size. . . . This is a realistic story of young adult relationships that would probably bore children and pre-teens.”

“Mr. Baseball”: “Without criticism, chewing tobacco was in prominent use among the American baseball players. Likewise without critical comment, the Japanese players all smoked cigarettes after a game. There was a negative remark about Mr. Baseball’s occasional cigar.”