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Elio – JenEric Movie Review
How This Works – Read Other Reviews
Hello Cinephiles,
Today we’re talking about the 2025 film Elio.
Story
This story has been told before from The Last Starfighter to Spirited Away the odd/special/trauma kid getting sucked into another world isn’t all that original. This is probably the first Pixar movie not to make me cry at some point. It’s cute and has a good message but it’s been done.
Score: 0
Characters
I was Elio at his age (without the dead parents) and I felt for him. He was well written and his arc was believable. I also really liked Glordon. The Communiverse felt like a lot of bumbling academics rather than diplomats.
My big problem was with the Grigon. I feel like they wasted time with him on gags instead of showing us his inner turmoil about his son. It would have made his turn at the end much more powerful if we’d seen into his head more.
I’m not even going to touch the ethics and horror at the whole concept of the clones.
I did appreciate the cameo of Kate Mulgrew and the archival audio of Carl Sagan.
Score: 0.5
Dialogue
The dialogue had a lot of sweet, funny, and silly moments. It was pretty good but felt very young. There was a lot of technology and ideas thrown out but no discussion about them beyond gags. Maybe after the critics said Lightyear was too advanced, they went way too simple on this one.
I did like the recurring gag of, “Goodbye. I love you.”
Score: 0.5
Visuals and Music
The visuals were stunning, but felt like they were the point of the movie. Like everything was built on the visuals instead of the emotion or story.
The music was amazing. I particularly liked that the Hylurgian’s had battle chants. That made them more terrifying and likeable at the same time.
Score: 1
Fun
This was a fun movie. Lots of cringe but still a really nice movie. The kids loved it and the rest of the family liked it.
Definitely not a movie I’ll be wanting to rewatch.
Score: 0.5
Overall
This movie is cute and works as a young kid’s first sci-fi but it’s not original and doesn’t have the emotional depths I’ve come to expect from Pixar.
Final Score: 2.5 Stars out of 5
Loki
Storytime: This cosplayer adjusted their costume for a few seconds, waited for people to pass by, and then served this look. I thought I was in Hall H for a second. SO good.
Dear Dragon and Pegasus – Toy Time Capsule
Dear Dragon and Pegasus,
On Saturday (the 8th of November) we opened a time capsule that I had made with your Gramma. We made it in 1996 which means we opened it 29 years after it was made.
I was really hoping for a letter from Gramma in there but it was cool to see all the toys.
If I’m being honest, I think it might have been her way of making me get rid of toys and then I went overboard.
You were both super excited to open it but meh about the toys. You found the trolls silly and each of you were excited for something different. Pegasus was really into the transforming dinosaurs and Dragon was excited for the doll whose hair grows and the harmonica. (Oh boy…)
It was a nice time. We had Grannie there and Uncle Dan on the computer since he was sick.
I think having the box was nicer than opening it. Almost like letting her go. I’ll never fully let her go but this part is over.
I think maybe we should make a time capsule with different things in it. Something we could open in 25 years, hopefully together. I’ll have to think about it.
Love you kids!
Papa
P.S. November 8th was her birthday. – Jen
I wish I’d known it was okay to feel
Hello Friends, Family, and Fans;
I consider myself a fairly intelligent person. I’ve spent a lot more time analyzing my emotions and obsessing about them.
When I’m sad, I spiral, and it often hits depression levels. I try to feel my way through it and give myself grace. It makes things better, to not blame myself and it’s taken a long time to get over the shame of it. (Nothing shameful about sadness despite what my brain says.)
As for anxiety, I didn’t treat it that way at all. I treated anxiety like an annoyance that needed to be ignored, shoved down, and hidden. I get really bad anxiety in social situations. I always feel out of place and like I’m not wanted. I know that’s not always the case but it’s hard to deal with. (Doesn’t help that I have a really hard time reading people and have a little face blindness.)
In places that have a lot of noise, people, bright lights, etc; I would focus on hiding my feelings and trying to survive without showing my discomfort. It was causing panic or anxiety attacks (I’m not sure which). That would aggravate my migraines and make everything worse.
My therapist explained that you can acknowledge your feelings without focussing on the negative effects. So instead of focussing on the feeling of dread and needing to escape, I give myself permission to feel uncomfortable. It’s okay to feel and to have anxiety. I’m not broken, I’m not alone, and I’m going to be alright.
That change in attitude and thought process was enough to make Can-Con immensely easier for me. It also let me accept that people were happy to see me and to let go of the fact that some people don’t. It was still overstimulating and exhausting but better.
Anyway, this is your reminder that it’s okay to feel. Your feelings aren’t wrong, exaggerated, or stupid. They just are and they aren’t always rational but you’re not alone.
Stay safe and be kind,
Éric
Release Day for Connections! The Unexpected First Collection
Tomorrow, there will be a new book in the world – Connections! The Unexpected First Collection!
We say that it’s unexpected because we honestly didn’t realize how much we were writing until we did a word count and poof! there’s enough to fill a book!
This is set in between Assassins! Accidental Matchmakers and Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests, but you don’t have to have read those first. Our publisher River City Siren Press didn’t, on purpose, so that she could ensure that this stood on its own. I’m proud to say that it does. It also gives a lot of background to the main books, and there’s a lot of Easter Eggs hidden within – some a lot more obvious than others.
Whether this is your introduction to the Aetherverse, or if you’ve read everything else we’ve written, there’s something in here for you.
It’s all connected.
Buy it here! (One more day to pre-order)
Haunted Harmony Mysteries: Buried at C – JenEric Movie Review
How This Works – Read Other Reviews
Hello Cinephiles,
Today we’re talking about the 2025 film Haunted Harmony Mysteries: Buried at C.
Story
The story is fairly well constructed but had way too many moving parts and didn’t have the screentime to give them proper attention.
Score: 0.5
Characters
Too many characters with too little time for their stories. The brother added a nice emotional anchor but once he knew her secret, he sort of faded into the background. There were hints that he and the Siobhan were going to have a romance subplot but nothing happened, a lot like the love triangle.
The main character and the ghost was great and I liked the cast of suspects.
Score: 0.5
Dialogue
The dialogue was witty, heartwarming, and a lot of fun.
Score: 1
Visuals and Music
Once again, the countryside and locations are spectacular. The camera angles and cinematography are excellent.
The music was great and the father’s song was a nice touch.
Score: 1
Fun
This was another cozy and fun mystery. The characters are interesting and the banter is great. The whole family liked this one.
Score: 1
Overall
Sequels don’t always need to get bigger and more intense. This tries but falls a little short. However, the banter and mystery are solid and it’s a fun watch.
Final Score: 4 Stars out of 5
Rumi
The attitude is strong with this cosplayer. I felt like I was one of the demons being chastized. That’s How it’s Done!
AI (LLM) etc.
Hello Friends, Family, Fans, Coffee Lovers, Readers, and Everyone else;
There has been a lot of discourse and hype about Large Language Models, which are often called AI.
What an LLM does is use a huge amount of data to understand (in the most basic meaning of the word) and create an answer based on that data. In the best case scenario, it gives you an average of all the data. (Yes, I know this is a simplified explanation.)
What this technology is best at is analyzing patterns. Is it a transformative technology? Yes. Is it intelligence? No. We’re a long way from having general intelligence or super-intelligence.
This tech will get integrated into everything because it’s the newest gimmick, not because it’s necessarily useful.
The tech should be used for scientific research, medical analysis, improving accessibility, and offloading tedious work.
Unfortunately, it’s mostly being used as a way to bypass artists, and that’s not mentioning the horrifying environmental impact, or the plagiarism.
So let’s be clear.
JenEric Designs, JenEric Coffee, and JenEric Authors will never intentionally use AI to create, support, or produce anything.
This includes promotional content, blog posts, newsletters, etc.
Obviously, if the tech industry manages to create an ethical product, we might change our minds for non-creative things.
Be kind and stay safe,
Éric
The Scarlet Thread Irregulars (Serial Story) — Chapter 10
Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12
Chapter 10: My team trains with a master
Thursday the 12th of October, 2006 – Shields Crossing, Ontario
Everyone’s blades were drawn. We were all on edge after dealing with the devil himself and then seeing him killed by the man opposite us: Galaus the rogue knight, accused traitor, and probably our only hope.
He dispelled his massive sword and played with his orange moustache. When we didn’t move, he asked, “Are we all going to stand around or are you going to do some real training?”
“Why should we trust you? You just killed a man,” Grant said, sounding more relieved than fearful.
“Oh, he’s not dead. Just dispersed for a bit. He’ll be back and probably angry. Part of the reason you need to train.” Galaus looked smug but behind the bravado, he looked lonely. Or maybe that was my imagination.
I took a deep breath and dispelled my sword before saying, “Pie filled you in?”
“Yeah. Dealing with one of my mistakes. Sorry about that, sonny.” He fiddled with the hem of his coat before adding, “He and the other golden blades think they should lead because they can do magic, but the blackblade are better suited to leadership. When I suggested that, they banished me.”
Sylvie looked smug as she asked, “So blackblades aren’t evil?”
“Naw. They can influence the mood around them and inspire people to do better but we’re not evil. We’re protective of our teams and can get grumpy but not evil.”
He looked at me with piercing grey eyes and asked, “You’re the senior knight?”
“Yes,” I replied, barely swallowing the ‘Sir’ that wanted to come out. Some things are hard coded in a military family.
“Show me what you have,” his sword reappeared. “Just you to start.”
The great thing about magic swords is that you can set them to not hurt your opponent. When we duelled, we normally made sure to avoid killing each other.
We stayed in the field of grass, the others moved back, and I summoned my sword. When I was young I assumed most older men were frail or at the very least slow. I was wrong and it almost cost me my life when I fought against a wizard. I attacked Galaus; his swordsmanship was impeccable.
As we fought, he spoke to the group, “You will almost always fight something that is more powerful than you. The trick is to find out their weaknesses, and to exploit them.”
He performed an impressive set of moves and beat me back. I couldn’t find his weakness when it came to swordfighting. “Not just exploit their weakness,” I added, “but use our strengths.”
He smiled and asked, “What is a Gatekeeper’s greatest strength?”
“Our sword!” Grant shouted.
“No!” both Galaus and I shouted back.
“Our minds?” Clifford suggested.
Galaus laughed and replied, “No. Too many Gatekeepers forget to use that.”
“What’s left?” asked Robin in her squeaky voice. She sounded defeated.
Sounding a little annoyed, Sylvie replied, “Each other and the community we protect. You sound like my grandfather.”
His eyes flicked to Sylvie for a moment and it gave me the opening I needed, I beat at his sword and lunged, nicking his shoulder. If we’d been dueling for real, I would have cut deep enough to sever muscle.
“Excellent,” he told me but kept looking at Sylvie. “I trained your great-grandfather. He was one of the knights that didn’t try to kill me. Instead, he helped me get into the wizard’s library and study the old texts.”
“I didn’t know,” both Sylvie and I said in unison.
“Can people stop doing that? Please. It’s creepy,” Robin said.
Galaus smiled widely and said, “I’ll teach you the things I learned and help you when the time comes. But I won’t train him.” He pointed his sword at Grant.
“What? Why not?” Grant looked guilty and surprised at the same time. His indignation was obviously fake.
Giving the young man a stern glare that would have made a seasoned soldier uncomfortable, Galaus replied, “You broke your vow and don’t deserve that sword. If it was my choice, I would strip you of it and deliver you unto your master.”
I put two and two together and it added up to three dead adlats. I sighed deeply and said, “He saved the team’s life. I might not like how he did it but he’s young.” Grant must have made a deal with Luc to save us. That meant either his soul or something worse.
Galaus took a step toward Grant who looked ready to cry or run and the older man said, “Is that true?”
“Yes sir. I traded my soul to save everyone’s lives. I made sure it only cost mine,” Grant said and looked down.
I thought Galaus was going to hit Grant but instead, he chuckled and said, “You’re a fool but a fool with his heart in the right place. Let’s get to training. It’ll only be a matter of time before Lance sends something to attack us.”
There was a moment where we all looked around, half expecting something nefarious to appear, but nothing happened and we started training. A lot of it was new ways of using our swords and group tactics that he said were standard a thousand years ago but had been shunned for the Romantic ideal of the solitary knight errant.
As the sun started to set, we retrieved food from the van and had a picnic. As we rested, Galaus said, “You work well together. I see why Lance might be scared of you. Especially you two. Gatekeeper legacies are rare enough, but to have two in the same family is unheard of.”
“It’s a really big family,” Sylvie said, only partly kidding. We had more cousins than I could easily name.
“It looks like we’re about to find out how well you can do against a real opponent.” Galaus pointed back toward the road and I had trouble believing what I saw. Walking toward us were four musketeers, a masked man in scarlet, a semi-naked man with a laser sword, and a masked man all in black.
While you wait for the next chapter, check out the previous serial stories:
- 2025 – Scarlet Thread Irregulars (Urban Fantasy)
- 2024 – Red Day, Ere the Sun Rises: A Sun Speaker Story (Space Opera)
- 2023 – The Suns of War (Sci-Fi, Epic)
- 2022 – Birth of the Aetherverse (Fantasy)
- 2021 – Diamond Stars and the Galactic Heist (Sci-Fi, Heist, Romance)
- 2020 – Point Zero (Superhero, Sci-Fi)
- 2019 – Seren Plentyn and the Secret of Hokulua Station (Sci-Fi Adventure Mystery)