Nothing forges a friendship like treating an arrow wound. For Ginny, Mary and Nora, an ill-fated archery lesson and an injured classmate are just the beginning of the lifetime of trouble they’re about to start.

Ginny is a year above the other two, more experienced in both summer camp and girlhood, and takes it upon herself to somewhat forcefully guide her younger friends. Mary cowers in the bathroom away from her bunkmates, spouting medical facts, while Nora hangs back, out of place. When their camp counselor plucks them out of their cabin groups to place them in the new “Sassafras” cabin, they feel like they fit in somewhere for the first time.

50 years later, “Summer Camp” sees the three girls, now women, reunite for the anniversary reunion of the very same camp at which they met. Although they’ve been in touch on-and-off in the preceding decades, this will be the first time the women have seen each other in 15 years.

Between old camp crushes, childhood nemeses and the newer trials of adulthood, the three learn to understand each other, and themselves, in a way that has eluded them the entirety of their friendship.

I really wanted to like “Summer Camp.”

The opening scene, a glimpse at the girls’ first year together at Camp Pinnacle, does a good job at establishing Ginny, Mary and Nora’s dynamic. It’s sweet, funny and feels true to the experience of many adolescent girls’ friendships.

On top of that, this movie’s star-studded cast and heartwarming concept endeared me to it the moment I saw the trailer. Unfortunately, an enticing trailer is about the most “Summer Camp” has to offer.

As soon as we meet our trio as adults, things start to fall apart. It really feels like the whole movie was made to be cut into a trailer — the music is generic, shots cut abruptly between poses, places and scenes, and at one point two of the three separate shots of each woman exiting Ginny’s tour bus are repeated.

The main character and sometimes narrator, Ginny Moon, is a self-help writer who uses “therapy speak” liberally and preaches a tough-love approach to self improvement. This sometimes works perfectly for the movie’s themes but is often used to thwop the viewer over the head with a mallet labeled “WHAT THE CHARACTERS ARE THINKING” rather than letting us figure it out for ourselves.

There are glimpses of a better script — like when Mary’s husband asks her whether she was actually having fun or just being bullied, presumably by Ginny. This added some depth to her relationship with him, implying he actually does listen to her sometimes, and acknowledged the nagging feeling I’d been getting in the back of my head: “Hey, isn’t Ginny kind of mean?”

Despite all my annoyance with “Summer Camp,” there were a few things I really liked about it. I’m a lot younger than the main characters of this movie, but there were multiple points where I found myself thinking, “Hey, my aunt talks like that!” or, “Wow, he sounds just like my dad.”

The dynamic of the three main characters felt very true to life, I’ve known and been each of them at one point or another. It felt especially accurate to the relationships of girls and women, and seeing our protagonists reconcile at the end was, for me, genuinely heartwarming.

“Summer Camp” is not a movie I can recommend for quality, but if you’re looking for a lighthearted, somewhat silly romp to help you get into the summer spirit, this one will do just fine.

Caroline Julstrom, intern, may be reached at 218-855-5851 or cjulstrom@brainerddispatch.com.

Caroline Julstrom finished her second year at the University of Minnesota in May 2024, and started working as a summer intern for the Brainerd Dispatch in June.

Hollywood’s most exclusive club is throwing open its golden gates once again, with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announcing Tuesday it is extending invitations to 487 new members.

Representing 57 countries, the list of invitees includes high-profile names like Lily Gladstone, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Jessica Alba and Catherine O’Hara alongside numerous less starry but still accomplished performers, filmmakers, executives and below-the-line professionals. This diverse group comprises 71 Academy Award nominees and 19 Oscar winners.

Continuing its push for greater inclusion even after reaching its post-#OscarsSoWhite diversity goals, the Academy revealed that 44% of the new class identify as women, and 41% are from underrepresented ethnic/racial communities, up from 40% and 34%, respectively, in 2023.

More than half of this year’s invitees are from outside the United States, reflecting the academy’s continued global expansion, bringing the group’s total international membership to 20%.

“We are thrilled to welcome this year’s class of new members to the Academy,” said Academy Chief Executive Bill Kramer and President Janet Yang in a joint statement. “These remarkably talented artists and professionals from around the world have made a significant impact on our filmmaking community.”

Although still significantly larger than the annual groups of invitees in decades past, which were generally limited to around 100 people, this year’s class is roughly half the size of the record-setting 2018 class, which included 928 members. Since reaching its post-#OscarSoWhite goal of doubling the number of women and people of color in its membership ranks in 2020, the academy has brought down its more recent class sizes to ensure it can continue to support its rapidly growing membership.

Including the new class, 35% of the academy’s members now identify as women, and 20% are from underrepresented ethnic/racial communities, maintaining and slightly improving upon last year’s benchmarks.

Six branches invited more women than men this year: actors, casting directors, costume designers, documentary filmmakers, executives and makeup artists and hairstylists. Four branches — actors, directors, documentary filmmakers and writers — drew the majority of their candidates from underrepresented ethnic/racial communities.

In the actors branch, invitees include “Killers of the Flower Moon” star Gladstone, who this year became the first Native American actress to be nominated for an Academy Award, and German actor Sandra Hüller, a nominee for “Anatomy of a Fall,” along with Randolph, who won the supporting actress prize for “The Holdovers.”

In the directors branch, invitees include Justine Triet, who earned the original screenplay Oscar this year for “Anatomy of a Fall” and also was invited into the writers branch along with her partner and co-writer on the film, Arthur Harari. Also invited were filmmakers S.S. Rajamouli (“RRR”), Celine Song (“Past Lives”), Cord Jefferson (“American Fiction”) and Boots Riley (“Sorry to Bother You”).

Notably, two of the key figures involved in last year’s historic strikes of writers and actors were invited into the executive branch: Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, chief negotiator for SAG-AFTRA, and Ellen Stutzman, chief negotiator for the Writers Guild of America.

If all invitees accept their invitations, the academy’s total membership will grow to 10,910, including 9,934 voting members.

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ( out of 5)

He looks pretty good for being 45 years old and having a solid diet of the four basic food groups: lasagna, lasagna, lasagna, and lasagna. Garfield (Chris Pratt) has graced newspapers, cinemas, toy stores and has been a window ornament in cars worldwide. As one of the world’s most recognised cats, it is no wonder that he would get a new animated franchise to honour his four decades of lounging around in our lives.

This unlikely adventure takes audiences back to the origins of his life with Odie the beagle and their owner, Jon Arbuckle (Nicholas Hoult). As he does all he can to avoid Mondays and any form of exercise and finds new levels of leisure, the orange cat is suddenly confronted by his past as he is reintroduced to his long-lost father, Vic (Samuel L. Jackson). Their sudden family reunion is tainted by the unexpected need for his father to rectify a wrong with one of his former feline friends, the Persian cat – Vinx (Hannah Waddingham). The two cats and a friendly beagle must reacquaint themselves with one another as they work with Odie to fulfil the order from the criminal kitty who needs them to deliver a milk order that would rub any cat the wrong way. Along the way, they must befriend a wise bull named Otto (Ving Rhames) to stay ahead of dairy security officer Marge (Cecily Strong) as they hope to achieve their mission and get home to their life of lasagna and leisure.

When reviewing a film about a lazy, pasta-eating cat, one must manage expectations. To expect this to be groundbreaking cinema might be a bit of a stretch. Also, considering that there is little for families to enjoy in cinemas, The Garfield Movie might be the best snack food option for parents for the season. The tone goes from ridiculous to sentimental and back to farcical as if the source material is based on a classic cartoon, which, of course, it is. A consideration as you continue with this review and realise that the film will do exactly what it is meant to do, entertain families with the fun, ridiculous actions of the cat with little motivation to do much with his life except eat his favourite Italian food and spend time with his owner. Chris Pratt and the rest of the cast come along for the ride to complement this tale of friendship, family and food.

What should parents know about The Garfield Movie? Suppose your children loved the antics of the Super Mario Brothers or liked the humour delivered by the Minions. In that case, this film will provide laughs and a hankering for Italian food afterwards. Most of the laughs for parents will fly over the heads of the little ones and will provide something for the adults in the audience. There is little to object to outside the gluttonous tendencies of this legendary cat. The discussion opportunities after the film include the three Fs of family, friendship and forgiveness.