Family values will be celebrated at the 18th Annual MOVIEGUIDE® Faith & Values Awards Gala on Tuesday, February 23. Beginning at 5 PM, the distinguished actors, directors, and writers will be making their way down the red carpet for the 6:30 PM Dinner and Gala. Each year around the same time as the Oscar® Awards, MOVIEGUIDE® hosts its own annual Awards Show in Beverly Hills to reward the best family-friendly movies and TV shows in the previous year that unfortunately are not given enough attention in mainstream award shows.
Similar to the OSCARs®, there is a wide array of Awards’ categories at the MOVIEGUIDE® awards. The Grace Awards are reserved for inspiriting acting in movies and televisions. The Faith & Freedom Awards are for those films and television shows which have promoted positive American values. Additionally, there are Best Films’ Awards for both Mature Audiences and Family Audiences. Nominations for these awards is based on the moral and spiritual principles embodied in the films as well as the production values and redemptive and inspirational nature of the stories.
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This year, films like Up, The Blind Side, Tyler Perry’s I Can Do Bad All By Myself, Disney’s A Christmas Carol, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Earth, Hanna Montana, and countless others will vie for one of these highly-acclaimed awards. In addition to family films, inspiring television moments are also paid homage and will be awarded for their family-friendly nature.
Last year, Bolt, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, Fireproof, High School Musical 3: Senior Year, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Kung Fu Panda, Madagascar: Escape to Africa, Nim’s Island, The Tale of the Despereaux, and Wall-E were honored as quality family movies.
MOVIEGUIDE® is an international family guide to movies and entertainment that exemplify family values and themes. Aside from being a magazine, it also serves as a TV program, radio show, and internet resource. Tuesday night’s gala is a celebration honoring the best of this past year’s movies.
MOVIEGUIDE’s® TV and radio programs are broadcast across the United States, Canada, England, New Zealand, Australia and Guam and reach audiences of 250 million people. MOVIEGUIDE®, founded by author Dr. Ted Baehr, also releases 10 or more movie reviews biweekly intended to provide ratings to parents and the astute adult viewer. Its goal is to “provide a bridge between the entertainment industry and the traditional family audience”, which comprises 65 percent of the American population-the nation’s largest demographic.
In addition to its annual awards show, MOVIEGUIDE® releases an Annual Report on the success of various movies’ content. Its most recent report, released on January 22, 2010, confirms that “sexual content in movies proves what Movieguide has been showing everyone for 17 years-that explicit movie sex and nudity turns off moviegoers.”
Researchers from Pepperdine University and the University of California conducted a five-year study of more than 900 movies. Their findings indicate that “explicit sex and nudity does not ensure a movie’s popularity among either viewers or critics, and results in reduced ticket sales.” Surprisingly, Death Keith Simonton of UC Davis, co-author of the study, explains, “Even among R movies, less graphic sex is better.”
Reasonably dubbed the “Christian Oscars”, the MOVIEGUIDE® Awards recognize those films that have rejected the pressures to include explicit sex, nudity, violence, and drug use in lieu of compelling plots and strong acting.
Tuesday’s Red Carpet will be decorated by VIPs like Sandra Bullock, Jim Carrey, Cuba Gooding, Tyler Perry, Nicholas Cage, and Billy Ray Cyrus. It is a must-see event for all those who wish to support the production of high-quality, moral films. For more information on Movieguide®, visit www.movieguide.org.
Photo of actress Maria Grazia Cucinotta at the 4th annual Movieguide® Awards in 1996: AP Images
