Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer Movie Review

 I read the books when I was 7. A review of Judy Moody And The Not Bummer Summer (2011) dir. John Schultz.

Judy Moody herself

It seems like there are a lot of references to the books. I'm surprised Stink's Jawbreaker wasn't a bigger deal. That's his defining character trait. Aside from idioms. From what I remember.

The casting was good. I thought the kids were a little young at first, but it makes sense that Stink is 6 and Judy is ~10. Jaleel White plays the teacher Mr. Todd, and he's great. I recognized him immediately. Aunt Opal is my favorite character.

The Moody family has an Xbox 360. No cookie in this one, though. The car chasing the Bigfoot truck was a great scene. And you'll never guess who it was. Judy's obsession with Bigfoot only starting so she can flex on her friends is good character development, since she is rather self-centered and opportunistic. And she suffers for it. She shouldn't be mean to Frank like that.

Poop sandwiches sound terrible. 3/10, would totally move to Judymoodyville.

Jingle All The Way Movie Review

My dad wanted to watch it. A review of Jingle All The Way (1996) dir. Brian Levant, starring Rainier Wolfcastle's IRL counterpart.

 Minnesota reference. 10/10.

Not actually. This is a wacky, zany, goofy little flick. Spoiler alert. There's an underground crime ring for bootlegging Turbo Man dolls. Sinbad as a mailman is great casting, it's really funny when he blows up the radio station with a mail bomb. Kaczynski was caught during this movie's production.

The Turbo Man costume is decked out. Why does a parade costume need a functional jet pack? The final scene when Arnold Schwarzenegger flies around with it is really fun.

Jake Lloyd as Arnold's son is adorable. It's like seeing your teacher at the grocery store. But Ted is evil. Worst attempt at homewrecking ever.

Arnold was called a pervert for chasing a kid through a playground. 4/10 

Speed Movie Review

I wanted to watch Speed since Todd in the Shadows featured it in his video on the Top 10 Buses of the 90's. (Spoiler alert: It's #2). A review of Speed (1994) dir. Jan de Bont.

I was surprised by how few people died. Only 3 people died that I can remember, and one of them was the terrorist. Is this really an action movie? I am impressed with how tense the situation can be without losing a few souls.

Is the terrorist stupid? Why did he quit his job at the bomb squad? If he wanted money, he should ask for a raise. And why was he in the elevator when he was trying to blow up the elevator? 

At the same time, the police are stupid too. They didn't bother checking to make sure he actually died when he blew up in the beginning? They didn't even see it happen. They just followed the honor system. What happened to Jeff Daniels? Is he still alive?

I didn't know Pop Quiz Hotshots was named after this movie. When Keanu said "Pop quiz, hot shot" in the movie, my first thought was that he was referencing the show Doug Walker did while Nostalgia Critic was on hiatus. So much for No Nostalgia Critic November, I guess.

The stunts that go down in this movie are crazy. Honestly, they lost some steam when Keanu tried going under with a creeper. All the work on the bus was awesome. I thought the video camera and how they got around it were really clever.

7/10. Best movie of the 90s without Sam Raimi's name on it, or at least until I see The Game.

Napoleon Dynamite Movie Review

Nora likes the movie. A review of Napoleon Dynamite (2004) dir. Jared Hess (who also did the Minecraft movie).

 

This movie is slow and empty. The setting is very life-like, mirroring what it feels like to live in small-town USA about as well as The Killers' Pressure Machine. There are not many people in the movie, and the same handful are all that appear. The school dance feels like it takes place in a 20x30 room, and vast shots of hills and countryside sparsely littered with ranch houses are common. 

Can't believe they got Haylie Duff in this thing. She's not an A-lister like Hilary Duff, but she's probably the strangest casting choice compared to all the Hess friends and obscure southpaws that make up the rest of the cast. 

 Uncle Rico reminded me of Matthew McConaughey the whole time. Napoleon's dance at the end is genuinely pretty good, but the movie's definition of skit is different from mine.

6/10 would vote for Pedro