Cinema Saturday

I've decided to start a new meme - this may be a meme elsewhere, but I don't think with the same content as I'm planning - Cinema Saturday


Cinema Saturday posts will be television or movie reviews*, a lot of them will be movies or TV shows that are adapted from, based on, inspired by or otherwise draw from books.

As someone who almost always has to read a book before I'll see the movie, it seemed like a great idea to incorporate the movie/TV reviews into my blog and not just the books.

(Some posts will, more than likely, be about shows or movies that have nothing to do with a book, too.)

The subject of this introductory post is: Ramona and Beezus the movie based on Beverly Cleary's series about Ramona Quimby.

Ramona and Beezus stars Joey King as 9-year-old Ramona, Selena Gomez as her older sister Beezus (short for Beatrice), John Corbett and Bridget Moynahan as their parents, Ginnifer Goodwin as their aunt and Josh Duhamel as their next door neighbor.

Fans of the book series, about young Ramona who has a penchant for mischief and a very large imagination should love the movie . . . no matter what age they are now. It's also a great movie for any teens or young adults who are babysitting, etc or parents - it's a good family movie.

There's story around Beezus being a freshman in high school and dealing with her little sister's crazy antics, there's a side story involving the girls' aunt's search for love, and their father losing his job.

Much of the movie is about Ramona and her efforts to save the house after her dad loses his job. While doing a great job displaying Ramona's crazy antics, the plot also shows the great relationship the family has with each other.

The father's unemployment doesn't feel like something forced or an element used just to pull on people, it seems to really fit with what people - and kids - are experiencing. Everyone might not love how the issue is resolved, but I think it was well developed over the course of the movie and fit well with the characters.


Ramona and Beezus is an adorable movie with something for just about anyone of any age to enjoy. You don't have to know the Ramona Quimby books to see the movie either - and it might even make some want to read the childrens' series.

There are a few great shots - when Ramona's jumping on her bed, for example - where the filmmakers let you take a trip of sorts inside Ramona's imagination. They were nice additions to the story without being there all the time and distracting from the story or making it only a kids' movie.

A great story with great imagination, Ramona and Beezus is one book series that translated to a very enjoyable movie.

Ramona and Beezus DVD and Beverly Cleary page on Amazon

*Cinema Saturdays may technically be Small Screen Saturdays if they're TV reviews . . . but the name will stay the same for tagging, linking, etc