The Princess Switch: Switched Again – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2020 film The Princess Switch: Switched Again.

Story

Adding the third look-alike added a few interesting possibilities and it was well done. It thankfully didn’t get as dark as it could have and kept that light, angst free, Christmas feel.

Score: 0.5

Characters

Again all the characters are loveable, even the villains. Hudgens does a spectacular job at making us forget she’s playing 3 roles.

Score: 1

Dialogue

Lots of playing around with the three look-alikes and some adorable lines from the love interests. The scenes between the prince and the kid are some of my favourites.

Score: 0.5

Visuals and Music

Filming on location really pays off in this one. Scotland looks magical and the architecture seems to just fit perfectly.

The music was nice but forgettable.

Score: 0.5

Fun

Everyone enjoyed this one but it had a higher angst level and will be more fun in re-watching. The whole family liked it.

Score: 1

Overall

A great idea for a sequel with some nice twists but it isn’t quite as good as the original.

Final Score: 3.5 Stars out of 5

The Princess Switch – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2018 film The Princess Switch.

Story

A fun take on The Prince and the Pauper. Like the other early Netflix Christmas movies, it avoids too much angst.

Score: 0.5

Characters

The male characters are pretty and adorable, but it’s Vanessa Hudgens that rightfully steals the show. The adorable littler girl does a good job too.

Score: 1

Dialogue

Clever and cute with a few good social commentaries. I don’t think we’ll be quoting this one much in the future but it was fun.

Score: 0.5

Visuals and Music

Filmed at a real castle and in a place that gets snow so it was partially believable. It was however obvious that the majority of the scenes that weren’t bridging shots were filmed in summer..

The music was cheerful and unintrusive.

Score: 1

Fun

I expected a lot of awkward and angsty scenes but it wasn’t; it was fun and light and I really enjoyed it. The rest of the family felt the same.

Score: 1

Overall

A lovely Christmas romance with lots of flirting and little angst. Hudgens shows that excellent acting doesn’t have to only be depressing.

Final Score: 4 Stars out of 5

The Age of Tony (The Last Train to Christmas)

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2021 film The Age of Tony (The Last Train to Christmas).

Story

The story was fascinating and well set up, however the ending wasn’t great. They tried to find a middle ground between sappy Christmas movie and real life grit. It didn’t work at all.

Score: 0.5

Characters

Like most Christmas Carol style stories, the main character was a complete ass at the beginning and grows as the story moves along. The main problem with the likability of the rest of the cast is that we have no idea what happened to them, or if they even exist.

Score: 0.5

Dialogue

Excellent and wonderfully played. I was confused as to why every member of the family had different accents but maybe that’s a British thing.

Score: 0.5

Visuals and Music

The filmmakers did an amazing job at matching the style of cinematography from each decade.

The same can be said about the music, and although it was a little overdone at times, it was well done.

Score: 1

Fun

The ending kills any fun there was in the movie. It’s sentimental in all the wrong ways and I haven’t been as pissed off about an ending since the director’s cut of The Butterfly Effect (not that the cinema ending was any better).

All the adults agreed that the ending was terrible and the kids didn’t like any part of it.

Score: 0

Overall

This is a Christmas movie for those who don’t like joyful movies. It’s depressing and has one of the worst endings I’ve been forced to experience. The acting, music, and cinematography are fantastic, but they don’t save the film from being overly sad and downright horrifying if you think about it too hard.

Final Score: 2.5 Stars out of 5

2024 JenEric Movie Reviews

Hello Movie Lovers,

This year I seem to have watched, and reviewed, 51 films. Below is a list of them in descending star order. Within each catergory, they are in alphabetical order.

5 out of 5 Stars

4.5 out of 5 Stars

4 out of 5 Stars

3.5 out of 5 Stars

3 out of 5 Stars

2.5 out of 5 Stars

2 out of 5 Stars

1 out of 5 Stars

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2005 film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

Story

The influences of World War Two are felt throughout the story and it adds a certain grounding that is missing from some fantasy films. As much as there are some things that bother me about the story, it is extremely well-crafted.

Score: 1

Characters

When I first watched it, I disliked the boys but rewatching it, I see the struggles they have both in family and in a world that expects them to do nothing.

The rest of the cast was great, and despite not being a huge fan of the voice of the lion, it isn’t as bad as I remember.

One thing that really bothered me was the stereotype of “beauty is good and ugly is bad”. They went out of their way to make all the good guys look pretty and all the villains, except the witch, ugly.

Score: 0.5

Dialogue

The dialogue is mostly from the book and I’m really glad they removed some of the sexist language. The banter between the characters was nice and family-like.

Score: 1

Visuals and Music

The special effects, sets, and camera work hold up extremely well for a twenty-year-old movie. The clothing and armour are fantastic and it’s easy to forget that the animals are CGI.

The music is epic and really sucks you into the story.

Score: 1

Fun

Jen and I had seen the movie a few times already and knew we liked it. It was really cool to watch the kids watch it. They both liked it but said it was a little scary.

Score: 1

Overall

A classic story done extremely well. The acting, music, and special effects hold up twenty years later.

Final Score: 4.5 Stars out of 5

Holiday Mismatch – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2024 film Holiday Mismatch.

Story

Adorable meddling mothers and a sweet romance. I love the symmetry between the relationships. That being said, it’s just two different tropes smushed together.

Score: 0.5

Characters

The mothers had incredible comedic chemistry and the love interests were adorable. Both sets together worked great. The dad and brother were entertaining as well.

I do hate when all the drama comes from a misunderstanding or a character not keeping a secret. It felt a little forced.

Score: 0.5

Dialogue

The dialogue is funny, flirty, and cute. I liked the multiple jokes about the mothers being witches.

Score: 1

Visuals and Music

The snow was ridiculously fake and a few scenes were obviously filmed in summer. But the camera work and the scenes were well done and excellently decorated.

The music did it’s job and accentuated when it was needed. Could have used more holiday music though.

Score: 1

Fun

This was a nice break from the traditional angsty holiday movie. It was sweet and everyone but the 5yo loved it. He thought it was boring.

Score: 1

Overall

A fun and rewatchable holiday movie that avoids the angst often associated with romance. It thrives off the chemistry and charisma of the mothers.

Final Score: 4 Stars out of 5

Red One – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2024 film Red One.

Story

A standard buddy-cop action movie dressed up for the holidays. It has some facinating world building and leaves some unfortunate story threads. (Why bring up that the kid didn’t know his father if it wasn’t important?)

Score: 0.5

Characters

At first, I thought the characters were flat, but around half-way through the movie, I started to see their depth… for an action movie anyway.

The two main heroes were the disillusioned cop and the criminal with a heart of gold.

The supernaturals were far more interesting. Their take on Santa was fun and interesting, and I’d love to see more about M.O.R.A.

Score: 1

Dialogue

There were plenty or great quips and ridiculous dialogue said with a straight face. The speech from Jack to his son at the end was nice and heartfelt.

Score: 1

Visuals and Music

The visuals were great. Lots of over-the-top action and special effects. The fight scenes and camera work were done cleanly and made it easy to follow.

The music was good but could have been done so much better by integrating more holiday music into the action scenes.

Score: 0.5

Fun

This was a movie made for fun. Everyone in the family liked it and we all finished with a smile. It also had a lot of great supernatural and fantasy elements that made me happy.

Score: 1

Overall

This is a Christmas action movie mixed with a fantasy. It’s not the most original plot, but the setting and action is worth the watch.

Final Score: 4 Stars out of 5

A Biltmore Christmas – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2023 film A Biltmore Christmas.

Story

Both an homage to time travel movies and old Hollywood. The movie balances its gimmicks and the actual romance extremely well. Also, in a reversal of the standard holiday movie, it’s the guy who gives up everything for the girl.

I love the parallels between the characters in the movie and those in the movie inside the movie.

Score: 1

Characters

The characters are vague stereotypes that are elevated by both the quality of the writing and the acting.

Score: 1

Dialogue

Although corny and sappy, the dialogue works extremely well, and I like that they point out when she says things that are out of time.

Jonathan Frakes’s tour guide voice is straight out of Believe it or Not.

Score: 1

Visuals and Music

As good as the movie was, there were a few scenes that feel like they were only added to showcase the location, and that made it a little awkward and feel amateurish. That being said the location was spectacular.

A lot of great touches with the lighting differences between time periods, the costumes, the sets, and some creative camera work.

The music was okay but nothing stood out in the score.

Score: 0.5

Fun

This was pure time travel and romance fun. Just enough angst for flavour but not enough to be annoying. Everyone in the family loved it.

Score: 1

Overall

One of the better Hallmark movies with a gimmick, it pulls off both the time travel and the romance while being clever, sappy, and witty. I’m going to want to rewatch this next year for sure.

Final Score: 4.5 Stars out of 5

The Christmas Charade – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2024 film The Christmas Charade.

Story

A flavourless take on spy movies with absolutely nothing new to add.

Score: 0

Characters

Together, the main actors have great banter, and all the supporting cast are fantastic, but apart or talking spy stuff, it’s bad.

Score: 0.5

Dialogue

Romance and Christmas dialogue is excellent, but the cop or spy dialogue is terrible.

Score: 0.5

Visuals and Music

The movie is obviously low budget but visually they do a great job with what they have. A few sets look ridiculous but overall pretty good, and the cinematography is decent.

The music is a nice combination of the two genres and does a great job.

Score: 1

Fun

Most of the movie had me shaking my head at how bad it was but the chemistry and banter between the leads was fun. The rest of the family felt pretty much the same. I could actually see the large thought bubble over my wife’s head that said, “I could write this better.”

Score: 0.5

Overall

This movie is only entertaining on the charisma and chemistry of its stars. Anyone who enjoys spies will be disappointed, anyone who enjoys Christmas romance will see it once and forget about it.

Final Score: 2.5 Stars out of 5

How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966) – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 1966 special How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

Story

The Grinch is sick of crass commercialism and is overstimulated by the “noise, noise, noise, noise”; therefore he hates Christmas. Despite the eight-year-old’s protests that they need the tragic backstory, this was done fantasticly for a twenty-three minute special. There’s an economy of story that is quite impressive.

Score: 1

Characters

There’s really only the Grinch, Cindy-Lou, and Max but they are all fairly well fleshed out. The animators did a fanatastic job giving Max a personality without any lines.

Boris Karloff kills it as the Grinch and the narrator.

Score: 1

Dialogue

The dialogue is pulled straight from the book and is both absurd and rife with meaning.

Score: 1

Visuals and Music

The animation is spectacular for its time. bringing the exaggerated style of Dr. Seuss and giving the motions to match is great. The movement and framing are what all future Dr. Seuss adaptations would use as a base.

Score: 1

Fun

Huge nostalgia points from me. Despite its age, it stood up well. I’d love a cleaned up version from the original film. The kids were both glued and complained it was too short.

Score: 1

Overall

A holiday classic with lots of heart. This is a combination of amazing animation and wonderful voicework.

Final Score: 5* Stars out of 5


*A 5 star review doesn’t mean the movie was perfect nor that it is perfect for everyone but it is a movie I believe is as close to perfect as possible.

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