Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer (PG)
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This is based on a series of children's books, which I haven't read. It came out in 2011, and while I remember being aware of it at the time, I don't remember whether or not I had any interest in it. But in late August 2016, I happened to see a used DVD for $2 in a thrift shop, so I figured I might as well get it. (Even though it was still hot out, I was starting to worry about the impending end of summer, and thought I should do all I could to make the most of what's left of it. Which, naturally, means watching a movie with "summer" in the title. Obviously it wouldn't mean anything like going outside, right?) Anyway, apparently the movie did pretty poorly critically and financially, but I never let such things influence my opinion. I had to see it for myself to decide whether it's any good or not. And now I can say, I can't even imagine how anyone could not like this movie. I thought it was incredibly fun and funny, and Judy was a really cool kid. (I totally would have loved to be her boring friend, when I was a kid.) Which is not to say she's perfect, because who is? But despite her flaws, she's mostly cool. In her own way.

The movie starts on the last day of school before summer break. The internet informs me that Judy Moody is in third grade, but the movie itself... I dunno, all I could surmise is that she's in elementary school. Anyway, not important. Her teacher, Mr. Todd (played by Jaleel White, looking very un-Urkel), tells his class (or rather sings to them) that there will be a prize for anyone who can figure out what he's doing with his summer break, and find him. (I figured it out about 33 minutes into the movie, but of course Judy doesn't discover the answer until near the end of the movie, and then it's just by accident. Still, it was fun for me to see all the times she could have found out, and didn't.) Anyway, Judy has a big plan for her summer break. She usually finds it boring, but this year, she's devised this chart full of "thrills" that she and her friends can engage in, to earn thrill points. At first, I thought it seemed kind of pointless (no pun intended), because her only idea was that at the end of the summer they could tally their points and say that it meant they'd had a great summer. Unfortunately, her friend Rocky tells her he's going to Circus Camp, and her friend Amy tells her she's going to Borneo. So that just leaves Judy with her friend Frank, and she doesn't seem particularly optimistic about her chances of having fun with him. Meanwhile, her brother Stink (not his real name) has plans to capture Bigfoot, since there have been lots of sightings of the creature in their area (Virginia), recently. And their parents have to fly to California to take care of a sick relative, so Judy and Stink's aunt Opal (Heather Graham), whom they don't even know, will be coming to stay at their house for the summer and look after them. Judy is not expecting to like her, but Opal turns out to be a fairly cool, free-spirited artist, who has traveled all over the world. So they end up bonding quite nicely. (Incidentally, I want to mention that after watching the movie, I learned that Judy's mom was played by Janet Varney, who voiced the title character in The Legend of Korra. I could not tell that at all, while watching the movie, but I think it's pretty cool. Because I love Korra.)

Anyway, Judy gets the idea to turn her original plan for the summer into a contest, to see who could get the most thrill points over the summer. (And now I see a point to it.) We don't really see Amy earning points in Borneo, but I'm sure she does. However, Rocky definitely earns a lot of points at Circus Camp. Judy and Frank try a lot of things, but for one reason or another, they never pan out. So Judy's really frustrated about that, and ends up blaming Frank. (But don't worry, after a little fight, they ultimately remain friends.) Oh, and I should mention there's a guy named Zeke, who runs a very small, local club for Bigfoot seekers, of which Stink is a member. Despite her disbelief in Bigfoot, Judy eventually decides to join her brother in his search for the creature, as her last chance to earn major thrill points. (I feel like mentioning that I didn't see Stink as the typical sort of uber-annoying sibling you'd expect in movies or TV shows like this. Judy and Stink generally didn't get along, but it never seemed like they actually hated each other. They were just each weird in their own distinctive ways. But they were never really mean to each other, or anything. Honestly, I thought their relationship seemed more realistic than you usually see in movies or TV.)

Oh, before I forget, I also wanted to mention that we occasionally see Judy's imagination acted out in CGI, which I thought was a fairly nice touch. (But I'm glad the gimmick wasn't overused.) I also want to say that in spite of the fact that I've never read the books, I still felt that Jordana Beatty was perfectly cast as Judy. And... yeah, I dunno what else to say. The movie is kind of ridiculous, but like I said, fun and funny. Also cute and sweet and weird and cool and... I dunno, whatever, just... the total opposite of a bummer, y'know? (Although one thing does still bother me. When Rocky was leaving for his camp, he said something to Judy that she couldn't hear. I assumed that would turn out to be important later, but actually it never comes up again.)