It drives my dad crazy every time I say it: “Great movie…definitely not appropriate.”

I don’t say it to justify or excuse what I watch – I’m an adult, I can distinguish the good from the bad, and I do know my own limitations.

I say it because I fear that this is what will happen if I don’t:

“Yeah, that was a great movie.”

“So let’s watch it.”

“Well…um…”

And then I stammer something about adult content, and my dad says that we’re all adults, and I try to find a way to explain that there are some things I just don’t want to watch with my parents and little sister.

They give you that look, you know – The Look – when something unsavory happens on-screen and you’re the one who chose the movie. I’d rather avoid the whole thing, to be honest. But at the same time, because we are all adults here it seems kind of silly to include a caveat with every review.

>> So consider this a WARNING that for the most part I will not be including warnings. <<

That said: Netflix has developed a great partnership with Common Sense Media to include detailed content advisories for many of the titles on their site. There are other sites out there but, unlike them, Common Sense Media doesn’t have an agenda – they exist simply to help people make informed choices. It’s a very useful reference if you want to know what a movie is rated for: violence? language? sexytiems?

I’m a big fan of knowing what you’re getting into *before* you start and with Common Sense Media at your fingertips, there’s no reason to ever feel blindsided.