Hocus Pocus – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 1993 film Hocus Pocus.

Story

It’s harder for me to judge this movie’s story than normal because I’ve watched it yearly for 25+ years. There are a lot of witch clichés thrown around in this movie but it also works as a satire of the concept.

I was impressed that there were no offensive moments and it was as much fun as it always was.

Score: 1 (Admittedly not objective)

Character

The witches were wonderfully evil, narcissistic, and funny.

I’ll always have a soft spot for Dani (one of my first crushes). Max is an idiot who doesn’t think before he speaks or acts but has lots of heart. The brother-sister relationship makes him likeable beyond the typical white boy with a crush. Allison is a little bland but could have been worse.

The movie is greatly lacking in any sort of representation.

Score: 0.5

Dialogue

I think I need a list of Bette Midler’s insults in this for my next internet argument. Maggoty Malfeasance and Thundering Oafs being some of my favourite. The dialogue is over the top and a little awkward but delivered perfectly. I’ve often danced around singing Amok! Amok! Amok!

Score: 1

Visuals and Music

This movie more than anything defined what I thought of as what Halloween should look like. The beautiful leaves and lively decorations. Similar to home but we had more snow and less leaves by that point. I envied their lack of snowsuits.

The music is sometimes epic, sometimes silly, and always right on point.

Score: 1

Fun

This movie makes me nostalgic and makes me smile. Watching my daughter’s face as she whispered, “He’s going to light the candle.” and, “No don’t light the candle.” made my night. It was great to see how into it she was.

Score: 1

Overall

This is a classic and is both scary and funny. It’s not a perfect movie but it is a lot of fun. The sections with the kids would have made for a fun movie but the witches send it over the top in every way. I’ve watched this dozens of times and I’ll happily watch it every Halloween.

Final Score: 4.5

Point Zero – Chapter 10

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Prologue | 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: Another day another TRAP!

I was lucky that when I exploded with electric energy I was able to control where it went and that behind me was just an old warehouse dressed like a hospital. I didn’t think that as I stood in front of the impaled corpse of the most realistic puppet the Puppeteer had made so far. 

The Puppeteer spoke through his puppet, “You didn’t think I’d make it that easy for you? Did you, Sam?” The puppet collapsed but my ears still rang with the sound of my name.

I didn’t wait to see what happened next. I just threw myself into the sky flying as high as I could. The warehouse was just outside of town and it was a quick flight back to Toronto.

I tried my coms but they must have been fried in the storm or Mel had dismissed it. I was thankful she hadn’t dismissed my costume or I’d be as naked as I felt.

If the Puppeteer knew who I was, he knew who the rest were. I was so caught up in my own mind that I didn’t hear the police helicopters. I blame the rushing air, fatigue, and distraction. Either way, two RCMP attack helicopters flanked me out of the clouds.

Over a loudspeaker I heard, “Electric Knight. You are under arrest. Follow us quietly or we will open fire.”

“We’re over the city. That’s way too dangerous.” My words were lost to the rush of air and the thrumming of their propellers. 

I didn’t want to go with them, I didn’t want to be responsible for them opening fire in a residential neighbourhood, and I didn’t want to hurt them.

That left me no other option than to follow. In theory they should have taken me to a police station or the RCMP headquarters in Etobicoke. I half expected to be escorted to another abandoned warehouse. Instead we went higher and over the clouds I saw a floating battleship like something out of Marvel Comics or Doctor Who.

The bow said HMS Joe Clark. I couldn’t help but wonder, Joe Who.

Although the ship looked impressive, the proportions were off and I could feel almost no electricity use. “Please land on the carrier,” the voice from the helicopters said but they didn’t move towards it. 

I looked closely at the helicopters and concentrated on the pilots. I waved to see what would happen. They didn’t react. Their heads didn’t move. 

This was a trap… another one. 

I focused what little concentration I had left and looked at the helicopters. They were well built replicas but the power source was all wrong. It was electric. Which was a good thing for me. I tugged with my powers and took all the electricity from the batteries without changing speed or course. 

The ‘copters fell from the sky and a megaphone from the carrier screeched, “You think you’re so smart! Each of those had a chemical based bomb that will level half of Toronto. You’ll never get all three in time.” The screams were followed by what sounded like a bad cartoon villain laughing. 

The fact that he said three only clicked when the carrier started to fall. I flew as quickly as I could and grabbed the carrier. It was lighter than I would have expected; I threw it as hard as I could and when it was as high as possible I shot it with a bolt. 

The voice hadn’t lied, the explosion threw me down faster than I could have gone on my own. Between the push from the blast and my own power I flew fast enough to catch the first ‘copter. I hadn’t considered what to do with it. If I detonated it at this height, it would devastate whatever was below. If I didn’t, the other one would hit the ground before I had a change to get to it. 

I had only one choice, I had to pull this one to go catch the other. I grabbed the blades and pulled it along with me. It slowed me down and hurt my arms but I was catching up to the second one. I’m not sure what was scarier; holding a bomb, chasing a second bomb, or the sight of downtown rushing toward me at mach speeds.

I thought I wasn’t going to make it but I did and with less than a metre to spare I managed to grab the second ‘copter. I was now on Bay street with two bombs.

“You think that catching them will stop me?” the voice asked. I sighed as I realized he could detonate it remotely. I tightened my grip and pulled as fast as I could, straight up. I could feel my muscles fighting not to let go. I was also fairly certain I wasn’t going to get high enough.

Stopping my ascent, I thought about everything I knew about electricity. Then I remembered Frank filming a movie for one of our classes. He somehow talked all our teachers into letting him make a movie instead of another boring oral presentation. He had wireless microphones and whenever we were too close to anything electronic, they recorded this horrific hum. We had to build a barrier of metal and electricity to block the effect. He’d called it a Faraday cage. 

It wouldn’t stop an explosion… but it just might block a radio based transmission. 

Again I concentrated on my powers and created a bubble around myself and the helicopters. I went as high as I could before my hands gave out and tossed the helicopters as far as I could.

It was far enough to protect the city, but the blast hit me like a car. I was thrown back and the strength plus speed of it made my vision blur. 

I felt numb and despite the ground quickly moving up, my eyes felt heavy. I started to hallucinate and I heard Frank’s voice, “Don’t you dare give up now, Sam. I need you to live. I need you to open your eyes.” The clouds raced away from me and I wondered if I’d said something to offend them.

“Sam. Stop falling, I can’t lose you again.”

Read Chapter 11

While you wait for the next chapter, check out the previous serial stories:

Week 9 – Coco

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I adore this movie. And I cry. A lot. It’s a perfect way to introduce the Day of the Dead to your kids.

Here is the link for the downloadable materials. (Again, please let me know if you have any problems so I can fix it!)

MondayTuesdayWednesdayThursdayFriday
Watch movieRemember the deadBake traditional Mexican foodLearn about Dia de Los MuertosFlex
Summary of the week

Daily details:

Dance

Ballet and martial arts on alternate days

Music

Singing, listening to different pieces, learning piano

Crochet

The project she is working on (currently she is making herself a poncho)

Basic Information

We talk about the days of the week and play games with the cutouts of the names. We do the same thing with the names of the months of the year. You can find the print-outs here.

Printing words

Download materials

Counting objects/math-type activities

Practice counting objects and writing how many of each type – in download materials

Count flowers/petals and group them (fake flowers or real)

Count and group nuts

Storytime

Activity

Remember the dead: go through old photo albums

Bake traditional Mexican food (link to 15 traditional recipes)

Learn about Dia de Los Muertos (+ watch Elena of Avalor special episode)

Next week: Abominable

Week 7 – Curious George Halloween Results

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This week was not as good as the previous week for virtual school. I’m not sure what happened, but she didn’t want to talk to, listen to, or try to speak French with her teachers. And then there was the thing with the playdough. She had never played with playdough before, and the teacher asked them to make letters out of playdough. Dragon just had a complete meltdown because, and I quote, “but the playdough is ripped apart now!!” Cue tears. She got a nice bit of one-on-one with Mme at this point, which was nice. It was just a little frustrating on my end, because she *is* doing better with her French.

  • This was a worksheet from the teacher. She LOVED it.

As for the home school portion, it felt like there was less to do this week, thankfully, as there were a lot of handouts from virtual school to complete.

Dance

No martial arts again this week, but she did ballet 2-3 times this week.

Music

I forgot to get her to practice with the letters, so we did it verbally just now as I’m writing this post. I’d say she’s doing pretty well.

She had another piano lesson on Saturday. She worked on rhythms and clapping (eighth notes seem to be the easiest for her), as well as the song she played last week and Chopsticks.

We listened to a bunch of French music. Coeur de Pirate was the favourite yet again and I am thrilled because it is a beautiful album.

Crochet

No crochet this week.

Basic Information

Rather than pull out the papers, we did these verbally this week. She can now recite the days of the week in French without prompting. She has the first five months of the year down pat (when she remembers to start with Janvier and not Février) and is working on remembering Juin. Next week, I think I’ll add the next 3 months.

Printing words

Despite not wanting to complete the printing words on Friday, she did pretty well.

  • Words are traced
  • Not sure this is the best way to sit to print properly….
  • Words are printed

Counting objects/math-type activities

She’s still forgetting that sept comes after six. We tried repetition both verbally and written. I’m guessing that this will just take time. Her printing of numbers is getting better, I think.

  • Objects counted
  • Numbers are coming along nicely.

Storytime

We didn’t read any French books together this week.

Activity

Draw pumpkin face – she wanted to draw a scary pumpkin face. This is the one she chose. Appropriately spooky.

  • The middle face is the one she deemed spookiest
  • Trying to copy
  • Look at all those teeth!
  • Very spooky. I approve.

Finger painting with Crayola washable paint on paper – she decided that although it was fun to make hand prints, she didn’t like washing her hands in between each colour. Verdict: prefers painting with a brush.

  • Set up
  • Two by two, hands of blue
  • Cleaning station
  • Purple prints
  • Look! The water is green!
  • Completed abstract art

Learn about monkeys – she found this fact sheet very interesting.

  • Les chimapnzees!

Turkey Pot Pie – Leftover Recipe

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Hello Food Lovers,

This is a long recipe to make but it’s totally worth it. Change it up with some thyme or chives. Add different veggies. If you have left over rutabaga (never happens in our house), add that too.

Print

Turkey Pot Pie

Course Main Course
Cuisine English
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 45 minutes
Servings 2 Large Pies

Ingredients

Crust

  • 5 ½ Cups Flour
  • 1 ½ tsp Salt
  • 1 tsp Baking Powder
  • 3 tbsp Brown Sugar
  • 1 lbs Lard or Margarine
  • 1 Egg

Filling

  • 6-8 slices Bacon, chopped into cubes
  • 3-6 cloves Garlic mushed or chopped
  • 4 cups Turkey, cooked and cut up in cubes
  • 1 Yellow Onion, chopped
  • 1-2 tbsp Jalapeno, chopped and de-seeded
  • 1 cup Carrots, sliced or chopped
  • 2 stems Broccoli, sliced or chopped
  • 1 cup Zucchini, sliced or chopped
  • 1 cup Peas
  • 2 cups Mushrooms
  • 1 cup Milk
  • 1 cup Gravy
  • 3-4 tbsp Flour
  • Salt and Pepper to taste

Instructions

Crust

  1. Combine first 4 ingredients and mix with Lard until the consistency of large meal.

  2. Mix Egg and vinegar mixture together and add to the rest and work with a fork until it's the right consistency.

  3. Chill if wanted.

Filling

  1. In large pan or wok, Cook Bacon and put to the side with chopped turkey and peas.

  2. In bacon grease fry the garlic, once slightly brown add the onions and jalapenos.

  3. Once the onions are translucent add carrots and broccoli. Cook on medium for 5-10 minutes.

  4. Once the carrots and broccoli are a little soft, add the rest of the veggies. Cook another 5 minutes.

  5. Add bacon, turkey, peas, salt, and pepper.

  6. Add milk and gravy, stir thoroughly.

  7. Add flour and stir until there are no lumps and sauce has thickened.

  8. Let cool for 10-20 minutes.

Putting it together

  1. Roll out dough into a large square and put it in an 8×8 square pan. Fill with half the cooled filling and cut a cover.

    Repeat for second pie. There should be just enough dough for 2.

  2. Use 1 egg yolk with a little milk as a wash for golden brown top.

  3. Cook for 30 minutes at 425°F.

  4. You can freeze the pie for up to a month. Defrost it in the fridge the day before and cook for 30 minutes at 350°F.

Enjoy,

Éric

A Babysitter’s Guide to Monster Hunting – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2020 film A Babysitter’s Guide to Monster Hunting.

Story

A by the numbers spy/secret society/urban fantasy first episode. This is an example of not just playing into the tropes but embracing them fully.

The story isn’t new, but it is well executed with extremely good set up. Predictable but fun.

Score: 0.5

Characters

The main genre team tropes are all there: the science nerd, the tech nerd, the bad-ass with a tragic backstory, and of course the special kid who was destined to be the hero with a special power. (I like that the power is math.)

Overall, these characters should be flat and boring, copies of copies, but somehow through writing and acting the characters are likeable and unique.

Tom Felton chewed up the scenery, relishing the role, as a weird cross between Jude Law as Pitch in Rise of the Guardians and Michael Keaton’s Beetlejuice.

Score: 1

Dialogue

The dialogue was standard YA and with the exception of Tom Felton and the kidnapped kid there wasn’t much good dialogue. Nothing cringe, just bland.

Score: 0.5

Visuals and Music

Surprisingly pretty and wonderfully shot. The movie uses every horror trick except the expanding corridor and uses them well. When the movie wasn’t in full horror mode it was bright colours and beautiful sets.

The music was subtle but effective. A lot of half used pop songs but they were effective and pushed the urban fantasy feel.

Score: 1

Fun

I think this was just the perfect scary level for my daughter but she’s a horror fan. It was a little scary for my Mother In-Law though. I found it a lot of fun but it did suffer from the need to set everything up for this movie and the next 2. (Assuming they’re doing all 3 books.)

It was definitely handled better than Society for Second born Royals but not as well as Enola Holmes. That being said, I look forward to re-watching this one.

Score: 1

Overall

A fun movie with a few flaws. Easily a new favourite Halloween movie and I’m excited for the next ones in the series. Not perfect, but a lot of fun.

Final Score: 4 stars out of 5

Monsters vs. Aliens – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2009 film Monsters vs. Aliens.

Story

An interesting mash-up (monster mash-up?) of typical monster and alien invasion tropes from both the classic movies and the newer ones. Although they revel in the tropes of the genre, the movie isn’t an alien invasion or monster movie, it’s a superhero origin story.

Score: 0.5

Characters

The characters were funny but not particularly interesting. They balanced their roles well and were likeable but nothing special.

Score: 0.5

Dialogue

The movie was filled with quotes, references, and jokes about other monster or invasion movies and TV shows. I’m sure I missed a few but greatly enjoyed those that I caught.

As far as original dialogue, each character had a few great moments.

Score: 1

Visuals and Music

The movie was colourful and the monsters were okay, but the humans and Susan were really off. The mouths and eyes were just off enough to make it disconcerting.

The music was a beautiful homage to classic monster and alien movies.

Score: 0.5

Fun

Lots of action, jokes, and fun moments. It was fun from start to finish. I’m sure the genre references and jokes help me a lot.

Score: 1

Overall

This is a movie that squeezes monsters, aliens, and superhero tropes all together. It’s what happens when you make a loving parody. It was exciting for the kids and a had lots of little Easter eggs for the adults.

Final Score: 3.5 Stars out of 5

Renaissance Virtual Conference – October 23-24, 2020

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Hello Book and Coffee Lovers,

Éric Desmarais Author and JenEric Coffee & Crochet will be in attendance for the second Renaissance Virtual Conference.

JenEric Coffee & Crochet will be in the vendors room for the show.

Éric will have 2 panels:

4 PM – 5 PM EDT: THE END (Saturday October 24 2020): This panel discusses how to write a satisfying ending and why it’s so important. 

10 AM – 11 AM : I know that place! (Sunday October 25 2020):This panel discusses the challenge of using real places in fiction. How do you avoid problems? How to futurize a location? What are common pitfalls in using real locations?

Go register now (It’s a free conference)

Hope to see you there!

Advent deadline in only 2ish weeks.

Get them while you can.

You have until Friday November 9th to order your advent calendars for shipping in mid to late November.

Here are the options for this year:

  • 24 Bags at 1oz each ($50)
  • 12 Bags at 2oz each ($50)
  • 24 Bags at 2oz each ($100)
Each Advent calendar will come packaged in one of the baskets and the 24 packet 2 oz will require 2.

This is a pre-order for our Advent Calendars. Flavours will be picked from our current selection and a few experimental flavours.

These are pre-orders.
Deadline to order second wave November 9th – Orders will ship mid-November.

ALLERGY If you have allergies please email us at JenEricDesigns(AT)gmail.com to let us know your specific allergy.

Thank you,

Éric