Movie Ratings That Actually Work    Become a Member

"One of the 50 Coolest Websites...they simply tell it like it is" - TIME

Taking Woodstock | 2009 | R | - 8.4.8

A young man (Demetri Martin) returns home to the family motel in upstate New York hoping to help his parents avoid bankruptcy. When he reads about a concert that was refused in a nearby town, he decides it might be good for business to bring it to their town, and thus a history-making event is set in motion. Also with Eugene Levy, Kevin Chamberlin, Emile Hirsch, Imelda Staunton, Liev Schreiber, Henry Goodman, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Paul Dano Zoe Kazan, Dan Fogler and Mamie Gummer. Directed by Ang Lee. [2:00]

SEX/NUDITY 8 - Actors on a stage in front of an audience remove their clothing and reveal bare breasts, pubic regions, genitals and buttocks and the audience rushes out. Women wearing bikini tops and short skirts and men wearing thongs and no shirts dance in a circle as a helicopter approaches; the dancers then remove their clothing and we see many men bare-chested and exposing their bare buttocks and genitals and women revealing bare breasts, their pubic area and buttocks. Several men and women bathe nude in a lake (we see bare breasts, genitals and buttocks). We see paintings of nude women revealing bare breasts and pubic areas.
 A woman wears a halter-top that reveals bare shoulders, back and cleavage. Men are bare-chested in several scenes while working construction. A man's jacket hangs open revealing his bare chest. Women remove their bras and burn them in a fire (we do not see breasts). A man dressed as a woman raises his dress to reveal his bare thigh, with a pistol strapped to it, and then his genitals covered in underwear.
 A woman rustles a patch of bushes and a man and a woman jump out from behind them and run away (it is implied that they were having sex and we see the man's bare back and chest and the woman's bare back as they run). A man wakes up in bed and we see another man lying in the bed next to him (he is bare-chested and it is implied that they have had sex). A woman places her head on a man's chest and caresses him while another man caresses the man's chest and rubs his lower leg with his foot (it is not clear whether sex occurs).
 Several women dance around a man and one kisses him; he is then turned around and kissed by a man, whom he then kisses again. A man and a woman kiss. Men and women hug and kiss and hold hands in several scenes.
 We see various people in a large crowd, kissing and caressing each other and dancing together. Several women lie on the ground panting and thrusting (it resembles childbirth) during a play rehearsal.
 A man dressed as a woman talks about the love of his life having been killed in the Korean War. A man talks about having had sex on the top of a hill with a woman when they were in high school (no details are provided). A woman makes a remark about "hippies raping the farm animals."

VIOLENCE/GORE 4 - A man swings a baseball bat at another man and a woman jumps on his back and kicks him in the crotch while the first man strikes him with the bat as they are chased out of an office (we do not see wounds).
 A man dressed as a woman and wielding a baseball bat chases several men. Two men threaten a man and a woman for protection money.
 A man sleeps in the back of a pickup truck and wakes up screaming (he has flashbacks to the Vietnam War). A man has flashbacks to the Vietnam War and in one seems to think that he is walking through the thick woods while being surrounded by the enemy. Several men tear up and burn their draft cards.
 A man says, "We should run these Jews out of town." We see swastikas and a Star of David in a noose painted on the side of a barn: the people who did the painting act in a threatening manner and the owner of the barn makes threatening remarks. A woman becomes enraged when a banker tells her that he will not extend her loan; she yells at the man and accuses him of being anti-Semitic saying, "We're OK when you need us, then you turn on the gas." A remark is made about "carving some hearts out." A woman yells at four people who then run in fear into a barn. A man complains about the conditions of a motel to its owner, who becomes angry, yells and tells him to leave.
 We see news reports on a TV about the Vietnam War and attacks in Israel. A woman talks about watching Jews being chased through the streets by bulls and she laughs. A man on the telephone says, "I just made bail." A man talks about having nightmares and taking pills to be able to sleep. People talk about a concert in another town and that "the locals killed it."
 A man walks through a field thick with tall grass, and falls into water and splashes around trying to get out. Several people slide down a very muddy hill and into a large mud puddle.

LANGUAGE 8 - About 33 F-words and its derivatives, 2 sexual references, 4 scatological terms, 2 anatomical terms, 6 mild obscenities, 1 derogatory term for homosexuals, name-calling (cuckoo land, idiot, mashugana, putz, hippies, schmucks), exclamations (for crying out loud), 7 religious exclamations.

SUBSTANCE USE - Three people take acid and one of them appears nervous about its effects, a man offers another man some marijuana (he refuses) and the first man smokes, a man and woman act inebriated after having eaten drug-laced brownies, a man smokes marijuana and offers some to another man who does not take any, a man and woman smoke marijuana, several people smoke marijuana, a man offers several people brownies baked with drugs in them, a remark is made about people dropping acid, and a man talks about Lebanese Red. People drink alcohol in a bar scene, people smoke cigarettes and drink alcohol in several scenes, people smoke cigarettes and drink alcohol in a bar scene, two men drink beer, and people talk about drinking rum and cokes. A woman smokes a cigarette and several people are shown smoking cigarettes in several scenes. A man talks about taking pills given to him by a doctor.

DISCUSSION TOPICS - Success, failure, helping one's parents, Woodstock, illegal drug use, Vietnam, homosexuality, freedom, hoarding money, enterprise, love, guilt, anti-war, anti-Semitism, greed, fear.

MESSAGE - Woodstock changed a lot of people's lives.

CAVEATS

Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.

We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.

Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.


how to
support us

PLEASE DONATE

We are a totally independent website with no connections to political, religious or other groups & we neither solicit nor choose advertisers. You can help us keep our independence with a donation.

NO MORE ADS!

Become a member of our premium site for just $1/month & access advance reviews, without any ads, not a single one, ever. And you will be helping support our website & our efforts.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

We welcome suggestions & criticisms -- and we accept compliments too. While we read all emails & try to reply we don't always manage to do so; be assured that we will not share your e-mail address.

how to
support us

PLEASE DONATE

We are a totally independent website with no connections to political, religious or other groups & we neither solicit nor choose advertisers. You can help us keep our independence with a donation.

NO MORE ADS!

Become a member of our premium site for just $2/month & access advance reviews, without any ads, not a single one, ever. And you will be helping support our website & our efforts.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

We welcome suggestions & criticisms -- and we will accept compliments too. While we read all emails & try to reply we do not always manage to do so; be assured that we will not share your e-mail address.

Subscribe to our newsletter

Subscribe to our newsletter

Know when new reviews are published
We will never sell or share your email address with anybody and you can unsubscribe at any time

You're all set! Please check your email for confirmation.

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This