Ready or Not – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2019 film Ready or Not.

Story

This was meant as a dark comedy but came off more as a survival horror with incompetent, if better equipped, enemies. There were a lot of jump scares that doubled as attempts at humour, but overall it missed the mark almost completely.

Score: 0

Characters

The characters were interesting. A wonderful assortment of terrible rich people. Unfortunately, they were built up and almost all of them had unsatisfying deaths.

The bride played it like a horror action movie while the direction played it like a survival movie and the difference was a little jarring. She was an excellent actress and I would have liked to see the movie she was acting for rather then what they cut together.

Score: 0.5

Dialogue

The snippy rich family is an old trope but fun to watch. The dialogue between them was entertaining and the crazed aunt had some great lines.

The bride also had some excellent one liners.

However, the switching between whiny rich people and murderous devil worshipers was a little bland.

Score: 0.5

Visuals and Music

The music was okay if expected. Creepy old-timey music is really overdone and has been done better.

The visuals were appropriately gory and the special effects were excellent.

Score: 0.5

Fun

The movie starts quickly and the intro is done well, but after that it gets a little repetitive. The twists are predictable and honestly I just kept looking forward to the bride snapping and taking initiative to fight back.

I spent most of this movie planning a better version.

Score: 0

Overall

A wonderful premise and excellent actress wasted on a mediocre and repetitive story. The action and special effects are great but everything else has been done better.

Final Score: 1.5 Stars out of 5

Princess Serenity

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FadhiliTheOne is an incredible cosplay and won Best in Show at ComicCon 2022, bumping her up to the highest tier. I’m so very proud of her!

Unfortunately, I did not get a picture of her winning cosplay this time, but hopefully next time!

Vacation ending… :-(

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Hello,

Looks like today is my last day of vacation. It’s sad but I’ll take another week at the end of June and then hopefully another in mid July. Those will be better. It’ll be nice to spend time with the kids.

I’m going to enjoy my last day by spending time with my kids, playing videogames, and maybe I’ll take them to Walmart and check out the discount chocolate.

Later days,

Éric

Health Update April 2023

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Hello Friends, family, and fans;

As I mentioned in March, I did the nerve conduction test with a very condescending neurologist.

Yesterday I had an appointment at the speciality clinic. My very nice occupational therapist (OT) went through a bunch of questions and asked me about a bunch of things. She then did some physical tests and went off to talk to the doctor.

I told her I was worried about the vision problems and the numbness in my face and my worries about MS. She said she’d talk to the doctor. She also said that that was normally something a family doctor dealt with and not them. They are concentrating on the neurologist’s conclusion that it’s muscular.

The doctor came in and asked me more questions and then asked, “What is bothering you more.” I told him it was the pain that bothered me more, but the face that scared me more. His reply was, “Okay then. Let’s focus on the pain.”

So the plan now is to have me see a doctor that specializes in pain and put me with a group consisting of a physiotherapist, a therapist, and my OT. They’ll run special rehab and physio for me two or three times a week. I’m kinda happy about that, since it’ll save us some money on physio that is only covered 80% usually.

I’ll be honest, I’m a little underwhelmed. It’s been 10 months of this and I haven’t had an x-ray or any other tests on the part of my arms that hurt. I’ve had one type of test, no imaging, and this feels very flimsy as a diagnosis. (Is it wrong that I want something definitive?)

The clinic people are really nice and I think they have my best interests at heart, but I feel like they’re focussed on getting me back to work and not really figuring out what’s wrong with me.

I asked again about MS and the OT said that if there had been any signs, the neurologist would have noticed and that the doctor is trusting that. It’s not very comforting, but I’ll have to trust them for now.

I doubt the balance issues, clumsiness, brain fog, trouble sleeping, numbness in my face, and vision issues are due to muscular issues in my arms. I’ll do what they say (I don’t have much choice) and hope it helps, but I’m not convinced. If this doesn’t help, I’ll have to try and see if my family doctor is willing to run a parallel investigation (if he hasn’t fully retired by then).

It’s been a hard week. Glad it’s over and now I can enjoy spending time with my family over the long weekend.

Stay safe and be kind,

Éric

Slumberland  – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2022 film Slumberland.

Story

A fantastic concept played surprisingly straight. I’m really glad they avoided the “you must be crazy” talk about her dreams. The pacing and story structure was great, albeit a little slow in the beginning.

The movie’s twist was important, but supported the emotions and didn’t feel cheap.

Score: 1

Characters

The characters felt well-developed and surprisingly deep considering the sparse details on backstory.

I didn’t like the pickpocket scene at the end. It felt out of character for both versions of that character. It was played for laughs and meant to seem flirty, but came off disrespectful and creepy.

There’s a lot that the characters don’t share and that either didn’t make sense or was played fast and loose. If it wasn’t for how well the actors emoted, the dialogue and story would have seemed flippant and undercooked.

The pig was awesome.

Score: 0.5

Dialogue

Lots of great dialogue and lots of awkward moments and phrasing. The strange pattern and beats of the dialogue enhanced the surreal quality of the film. It’s one of those movies who’s dialogue is just a little off and almost feels poetic but is just simplistic.

Score: 0.5

Visuals and Music

Utterly beautiful and wonderful. The film is a spectacle that does a great job at showing the variety and breadth of dreams while still having a unique style.

The music was good and worked perfectly. I liked the repeated motif of the piano song she played with her father.

Score: 1

Fun

Other than the slow parts at the start, the movie is exciting and fascinating. The entire family was enthralled. The raw emotions hit the adults more though. I can see this becoming a comfort crying movie.

Score: 1

Overall

A fantastic trip into dreams. What it lacks in coherence and dialogue, it makes up in emotion, visuals, and spectacular acting.

Final Score: 4 Stars out of 5

Ottawa MINI-ComicCon the Weekend

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Hello!

This weekend (April 1st and 2nd) is Ottawa Mini-ComicCon. It’s at the EY centre. Free entry, but $10 Parking.

Look, they even labelled us on the map.

JenEric Coffee and Designs will be there and we’ll have lots of baskets for Easter and coffee! For the first time since 2019 we’ll be offering free samples again.

Hope to see you all there!

Éric

Casual Good Omens cosplay

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These two walked by and I almost missed them. If they’d been separate, I definitely would have. But the pattern on the mask, combined with the sunglasses on the other, made me realize what I was looking at: casual cosplay Crowley (red) and Aziraphale (blue). Absolute perfection. I was SO excited!!!