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A Keller Christmas Vacation – JenEric Movie Review

January 28, 2026 by Éric Desmarais

Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2025 film A Keller Christmas Vacation.

Story

A nice fusion of European vacation movie and Christmas tropes. The family dynamic is wholesome and funny why still being believable. The story was a nice change from the usual formula.

Score: 1

Characters

Each character was flawed but lovable and despite some annoying choices everyone held their own and I never got annoyed when the movie changed focus from one sibling to another.

Score: 1

Dialogue

The dialogue was cheesy but had some hints of genuine emotion. I’m not going to be quoting this one but I’m also not going to cringe.

Score: 0.5

Visuals and Music

The visuals were okay but they managed to film on location and still make everything feel like it was shot on a sound stage.

The music was unintrusive but festive.

Score: 0.5

Fun

I’m not usually a fan of family movies that have a parent declaring they’re sick but this was handled well. It was nice that they didn’t treat it as an instant death sentence instead of a long term degenerative condition.

It was light, fluffy, and well acted. Everyone enjoyed it.

Score: 1

Overall

This is a family Christmas movie with a believable family dynamic and lots of fun moments. I think this will be in our yearly rotation.

Final Score: 4 Stars out of 5

Tinker Toys

January 27, 2026 by Jen Desmarais

Everything is built from tinker toys! This cannot be structurally sound…

“Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”

January 26, 2026 by Éric Desmarais

Hello Family, Friends, and Fans;

What a weekend…. On Thursday night we discovered that Dragon had lice. Then we discovered that the rest of us did. We shampooed them with the special Nix stuff and the rest of the weekend was bagging, cleaning, and countless checks for eggs or bugs. I’m exhausted just thinking about it. I hope we got all the little fuckers. I do not want to do that again.

Other things that happened: Hot water heater died, I switched pills for migraines, and on Sunday I took my nighttime pills in the morning. I was so sleepy. Sigh.

In order to avoid adding more frustration to the whole affair, I cut my hair. Looking for bugs or eggs in blond and white hair that’s curly: not fun. I’m having mild dysphoric seeing my reflection. It doesn’t look like me.

Jen also cut her hair, less drastically. She has an undercut that removed about a third of her hair.

We emailed the school and their teachers but haven’t heard anything. sigh.

This is your reminder to check your kids hair regularly.

We’re all through the laundry and the kids seem okay. The box of Nix says they’ll be protected for 10 days but we’ll check them in case on Saturday.

All of this work and other than the bugs, I feel like my house is less clean then when we started. I made me think of Ozymandias and the poem by Percy Shelley.

It made me think of my own life’s work. All my writing and small footprint on history. Will I be remembered in 10 years? 20? 100? or will I end up just another pile of lost stories? Or will some part of me survive through my work?

I don’t know and that scares me.

On that happy note, don’t forget that reorders are available for Jen and I’s new book:

eBook

Paperback

Stay safe and be kind,

Éric

Faymous Cover Reveal

January 24, 2026January 23, 2026 by Jen Desmarais

Did you know that we have a book coming out in a little over a month?

It’s called Faymous, and we wrote it way back in 2022. Time to shine!!

eBook

Paperback

Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests Google Search

January 22, 2026 by Jen Desmarais

If you were to search Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests in Google, this is what might show up…

Not really, but these are related to the book!

Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests by Jen and Éric Desmarais is available now!

49th Shelf Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests

Indigo Books Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests

Archambault Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests

Rakuten Kobo Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests

Apple Books Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests

Add it to your “Want to read” on Goodreads here!

Holiday Touchdown: A Bills Love Story – JenEric Movie Review

January 21, 2026 by Éric Desmarais

How This Works – Read Other Reviews

Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2025 film Holiday Touchdown: A Bills Love Story.

Story

A sweet take on the next door neighbour as a love interest trope. They played it very low angst and with lots of humour. The overall mystery story was okay but felt too simple. Loved the reveal of who the clerk was at the end. (Although Jen called it almost right away.)

Having worked in a store, that storeroom with all the receipts was way too small.

Score: 0.5

Characters

Lots of characters are thrown at you quickly, which makes the large family/community feel more realistic (even though it’s not that big). I like that these movies aren’t centred around the football players but instead the fans. The chemistry between the leads felt realistic and cute.

Score: 1

Dialogue

The banter and jokes were well done and most of the dialogue was great.

Score: 1

Visuals and Music

The visuals were basic but well done.

The music was okay.

Score: 0.5

Fun

I was thrown by the mix of accents and the idea that a store would keep receipts from decades past but overall I enjoyed this. The rest of the family liked the low angst feel and cute couple.

Score: 1

Overall

This is a Hallmark romance that celebrates both the holidays and the football fans equally. There’s love and family in both the love story and the crafting of the film.

Final Score: 4 Stars out of 5

Ilya Rozanov

January 20, 2026 by Jen Desmarais

“I’m on the cover of the f***ing game!” – Ilya Rozanov, “Heated Rivalry” by Rachel Reid, and show by Jacob Tierney

This Senators jersey has Rozanov’s name and number (81) on the back. It’s amazing and I want one.

Regarding Ilya and what he’d say if approached by the Doctor: I think he’d be down to see the universe. Especially if the Doctor was wearing glasses.

This was the only TARDIS picture from Ottawa Comic Con Holiday edition 2026.

Thank you Ottawa!

January 19, 2026 by Éric Desmarais

Hey everyone,

Keeping it short since I’m dealing with a migraine but I wanted to thank everyone who came out and saw us this weekend. We sold lots of books and almost sold out of coffee.

Before every big con, I wonder why I put myself through it, and then the nerdy community spends a few days being awesome to us.

Thank you!!!!

Éric