primrosemoon

I was thinking about this show recently and I decided to see if I could find some episodes for sale. I found some on Amazon and I just finished watching "Ramona the Patient" a few minutes ago! It was really fun to realize that I could still hum along with the theme music and remember the cat book report that she does at the end.

This show was on in the late 80's, and it aired on Sunday mornings for a while if I remember correctly. I was about 6 and I loved it because I was always a huge fan of Beverly Cleary books. The show itself is pretty good, and it does remain loyal to the stories. It's also fun to see Sarah Polley in such a cute role, as she's known to play very serious, somber roles these days.

Yay Ramona!

I grew up reading Lois Duncan books, and I always thought "Summer of Fear" was pretty cool. Therefore, I decided to take a chance and buy the movie off ebay. But ugh-- it's sooo bad! I wasn't surprised, as most '70s movies like this are cheesy, but I had still been hoping for something a little better.

First of all, the actress who played Julia was horrible. I always imagined her being a TON creepier, not just having a slight, fake, southern accent. Also, am I the only one bothered by the fact that not only did Rachel's brother have a crush on Julia, his supposed FIRST COUSIN, but Rachel was encouraging it? What the heck! Was this considered OK in the '70s?

Everyone commenting on the ridiculous packaging of the DVD is right. The picture is creepy, showing a girl's face which is part skull. That is the scariest thing about the entire movie. The ending is supposed to be scary, but it's extremely hilarious instead. SIGH... I should have known. Oh well.

Further, I was very disappointed by Wes Craven and the producer's commentary. I only listened to the first half hour or so of it, but I was really hoping they would poke a little fun at the movie and be honest. Instead they act like they produced and directed an Oscar-worthy film. Gimme a break!

All in all, this movie is slightly entertaining due to horrible '70s hair, incestuous family members, Fran Drescher as a teenager, and the dildo type thing that Rachel finds with Julia's stuff. Enjoy!

I agree with Sophie08 (right below my post). I fell in love with this book when I was 14 and was SO super-excited to watch the movie. While I did enjoy the movie, I definitely felt that it was cheesy and didn't really encompass any of the "magic" in the novel. I hate Dominique Swain as Andrea...actually the only character who I felt they cast correctly was Summer Phoenix as Rebecca. All in all, Girl is an entertaining movie but there are sooooo many cringe-inducing cheesy lines-- mostly within Andrea's voice-overs, which, I may add, do NOT come from the book! Definitely read it to get the real story. :)