A fascinating homage to both time travel and slasher movies. The story is well thought-out and avoids a lot of over explanation of time travel.
Score: 1
Characters
The characters are an interesting mish-mash of tropes. The 1987 group seem cartoony at first, but then remind me heavily of the way people behaved in my high school years (ten years later but still similar).
They managed to have a nice balance between the façade of the character and who they really are, using the quiet moments after the murders for character depth.
Score: 1
Dialogue
The dialogue is peppered with science fiction references and digs at the innocence of the eighties. The complete insensitivity of 1980s vs the much more progressive ideas of the 2020’s.
There’s also a few really funny lines.
Score: 1
Visuals and Music
The visuals were not as stylised as I feel they should have been, but the sets, costumes, and makeup were perfect.
I would have liked more music from the time period and the score was little bland.
Score: 0.5
Fun
The movie is a lot of fun and fits great with both time travel and slasher films. It’s not scary but I still wouldn’t watch it with the kids. It’s first and foremost a dark comedy and works great in that sense.
Score: 1
Overall
A dark comedy with time travel, generational humour, and lots of 80’s nostalgia. It’s fun, funny, and a great mash up of the two genres.
Today we’re talking about the 2019 film Kim Possible.
Story
Kim Possible isn’t and hasn’t ever been a spy but the stories follow all the spy tropes with a few superhero ones thrown in. The movie does a great job of being faithful to the spirit of the original while updating it to modern audiences. (It’s shocking how much changed between 2007 and 2019.)
The story is mostly nostalgic for older audiences and the story is quite simple. Perfect spy/superhero intro for kids. There is some cartoony ridiculousness that is a little annoying but overall good.
Score: 0.5
Characters
Kim is great and it was nice to see her going through the awkwardness of change.
Ron was portrayed perfectly, one of those super awkward kids with a giant heart. I always cringe at Ron to start and then he quickly becomes my favourite character.
The villains are wonderfully portrayed with the perfect level of overacting.
Score: 1
Dialogue
The dialogue is cheesy and irreverent. Lots of good lines but I found the mixture of mid 2000’s slang and late 2010’s a little weird. Hearing Lit and Fam followed by Booya, felt wrong.
The scene between Kim and her Grandmother was one of the best training dialogues I’ve heard.
Score: 1
Visuals and Music
The action sequences are very Disney Channel but overall they did a great job with the visuals and the music was acceptable.
Score: 0.5
Fun
The kids loved it. The adults, who watched the original in university also loved it.
It was fun and struck a great balance.
As an adult it was nice to see the kids and family talking instead of hiding things.
Score: 1
Overall
Cheesy, fun, and angst free. The story might be a little young and cartoony but they commit and there are some genius scenes.
The story is fairly simple and predictable but extremely satisfying. Everything is set up and everything pays off perfectly.
There are some excellent emotional moments and I am impressed with how tight the script was.
Score: 1
Characters
The main character is awesome. She is the perfect underdog in this sort of story and she kicks a lot of ass. I loved her brother. Their individual arcs and their sibling arc were wonderful.
I was impressed with how accurate the French was for the time period.
I’m a little sad I didn’t know there was a full Comanchi version before I watched.
Score: 1
Dialogue
The dialogue was well done. In the version I watched, they transitioned from Comanchi to English and it worked well. I liked the nods to previous Predator movies.
The main character’s body language helped with the intensity of the movie. She reacts realistically and viscerally to the horror.
Score: 1
Visuals and Music
The great plains are a great backdrop for something so epic. The wild is just so big and the predator is so much more terrifying in comparison to the bears and mountain lions. They are also beautiful.
The camera work is clean and lets us see the impressive fighting.
The music was understated but effective.
Score: 1
Fun
The movie didn’t grab my attention right away and could have used a little more action right at the beginning but I think that’s because I was expecting an action movie not a horror.
Overall it was a lot of fun though.
Score: 1
Overall
An intense action horror with enough references to make Predator fans happy but not so much as to make it unwatchable on it’s own.
The action is amazing, the acting is fantastic, and I want a whole series of kick ass woman throughout history fighting off predators.
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.
Today we’re talking about the 2022 film Hocus Pocus 2.
Story
It felt like the first closed the book on the Sanderson Sisters, but the sequel uses a clever linguistic loophole (the best kind) to bring them back. The structure of the movie is close enough to the original to have callbacks, but different to be unique.
I’m really impressed with the tighness of the story. There are elements that seem like they were meant as one of gags, but then come back later in a great way.
Score: 1
Characters
The sisters, and Billy, are 29 years older and it show in little things like the timbre of their voices and the way they move. That being said, they are completely beleivable.
The new characters are very much like the first set of kids, except instead of the awkward romance, we have the story of friends who’ve drifted apart. Much less secondhand awkward and more fun.
I also enjoyed the clueless boyfriend who didn’t realize he was a bully.
I liked the evolution of Book from a malevolent force to a loving friend.
Score: 1
Dialogue
The dialogue was quipy and a lot of fun. I liked the self awareness of the film.
Score: 1
Visuals and Music
The visuals were beautiful. They were sparing with the CGI and what little they used was well done. (Looking at you Book)
The music was fantastic. I loved the musical numbers and the other music was great. I’m buying the soundtrack if I can.
Score: 1
Fun
This had all the fun of the first with no angst, awkwardness, or child death.
It was fun and spooky in all the right ways. The entire family loved it.
Score: 1
Overall
A new Halloween tradition is here! With all the charm and fun of the first with more songs, more magic, and less awkwardness. In most ways, it’s just as good if not better than the original.
Final Score: 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.
A rare sequel which is more coherent and better all around. Possibly the best video game themed movie of all time, it both relies on and mocks the usual tropes.
Score: 1
Characters
The main five actors do a phenomenal job at being the kids. It’s mostly believable and impressively detailed. Jack Black is amazing.
Score: 1
Dialogue
The problem with trying to capture the dialogue of teens is how quickly it changes. The dialogue already sounds dated after just five years. Although the quips, jokes, and overall tone is well done.
Score: 0.5
Visuals and Music
The movie looks great and I greatly appreciate that they didn’t try to animate it like a video game.
The music is haunting and exciting all at once.
Score: 1
Fun
The five year old found it a little scary, but she loved the action and humour. It’s nice to see her starting to appreciate word-based humour more.
The rest of us enjoyed it as much as the first few times. I particularly appreciate that the humour around Jack Black’s character was so wholesome.
Score: 1
Overall
A wonderful adventure that balances action, humour, and character development for a near perfect movie.
Irreverent to the point of absurd, this movie does a great job at setting up all its major plot points with clever jokes and gags. Simple plot that seems like unconnected gags at first, but ties everything together by the end.
Score: 1
Characters
I love these characters. Kuzco is a perfect jerk, Pacha is the sweetest, Yzma is great evil, and Kronk is utterly adorable. Each plays their part perfectly and I couldn’t imagine anyone else playing the roles.
That being said, it’s a bunch of white people playing South Americans (with the exception of the kids and the fantastic Eartha Kitt.) The movie is quite clearly supposed to be set in a fictional version of the Incan Empire, but that’s only set dressing and doesn’t mean anything.
Score: 0.5
Dialogue
The dialogue in this is burned into my subconscious and speech patterns. The jokes are so expertly crafted that even after having seen this hundreds of times, I still laugh.
Score: 1
Visuals and Music
The detail in the animation and the background jokes are excellent. It’s pretty and very well animated.
They got Tom Jones and Sting to do songs for this. If I had a complaint, it’s that a few times the music was a little generic turn of the millennium Disney. But that still means it was excellent.
Score: 1
Fun
We waited a little to let my oldest start to understand the wordplay and it was worth it; she giggled throughout. I laughed a lot, as did the rest of the family. This is just a fun movie.
Score: 1
Overall
A classic comedy that relies as much on word play as it does physical gags. It has aged impressively well and is tightly scripted.
If you sign up for the Canadian Science Fiction & Fantasy Association and pay $10, you’ll have access to most of the nominated works. That’s 10+ novels, collections, short stories, and more. The voters package will be available until voting closes on July 23rd.
What are the Aurora Awards?
The Aurora Awards are awards “for excellence in Science Fiction and Fantasy works and activities.” They are administered by the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association.
It’s a fan-voted award in the vein of the Hugo’s, but with way more awesome people.
In Conclusion
Sign up, get ebooks, read, and then vote for your favourites. It’s a great deal and you’ll love the books.
Today we’re talking about the 2018 film Tomb Raider.
Story
I haven’t played the games, but I assume there are some common elements from the stills and trailers I’ve seen. The story isn’t what I expected; I expected a puzzle archaeology movie and got an action movie.
All that being said, the story was pretty good. I wish they’d spent less time with the island action scenes and more with the tomb or puzzles.
My major issues is that it started action / intrigue and the tone switched to horror action once it reached the island. That would work for a book or TV show, but for a movie it felt disjointed.
Score: 0.5
Characters
I have to give credit to the actress because we learn almost nothing about Lara the entire movie other than she’s smart, gets back up, and is very curious. Any urge by the audience to care about the character is due to the charisma the actress brings to it.
The bad guy was perfectly cartoonish and the dad was okay. I liked the captain.
The CEO of of Croft Corp reminded me of Nina Sharp in Fringe played by Blair Brown.
Score: 1
Dialogue
Not super quippy, but very well paced. There’s a lot of mythology and they space it out really well. I also liked that the few puzzles that Lara solves are thought out in dialogue.
Score: 1
Visuals and Music
Everything in this movie was stunning. Filming was amazing, lighting spectacular, and action just wonderful.
The music was intense and well composed. There were a few times that it was a little early for the scene, which didn’t work for me.
Score: 0.5
Fun
I loved every moment of it, but I regret watching it with the kids. It was a little scarier and more violent than they should be watching. However, that’s on me.
My wife liked it, but found it a little exhausting.
Score: 1
Overall
A roller coaster from start to finish. The tone goes from action to horror, but the cinematography is spectacular. A fun action movie with lots of thrills.
My publisher is looking for people to read submissions. I would love to do it, but I’m not eligible since I keep submitting books to them.
Read below, and if you’re interested in helping choose what awesome books get published, go ahead and apply.
Thank you,
Éric
There are so many amazing stories out there, and every time we open ourselves to submissions, we become inundated with them, and it’s become evident that we need help! Please read below to see if this is something that might interest you, and please share this call with your network!
What will I be reading?
Renaissance is interested in stories that live in liminal spaces; between genres, between identities, between states. We love to publish stories of joy, triumph, hope, and optimism; but the optimism which takes work and commitment, the joys which come from radical hope and love. These are the stories we hope to receive, and we hope those will be the ones you will read.
What is the time commitment?
You get to choose your level of commitment, whether that is a manuscript once every few years, or one a month, you are only obligated to read and evaluate the manuscripts you’ve committed to, at the frequency of your choice.
How will I rate the books?
We have a comprehensive form for you to fill out which will guide you through the process of commenting by asking you questions about the plot, characters, style, and our specific editorial concerns. We strongly encourage you to read the questions before you read the manuscript so that you are familiar with what you are looking for, and we will send you those questions on a word document along with the manuscript, and most of the questions are answered on a scale of one to ten, with requests for you to comment on why you chose that number (the final submission for your comments is done via Google Forms.)
Who makes the final decision?
We take your comments under serious advisement! However, you do not bear the burden of the final decision. We make sure that a minimum of three readers read each submission; after that, we look at the results of your evaluation, and based on these cumulative results, we determine whether or not the final acquisitions committee will read the manuscript. When the committee does, they will come to a final decision on the manuscript; your role in the selection process is to filter what ends up on their plate.
What’s in it for me?
References
Even though this reading work is done on a volunteer basis, this still counts as work experience, which allows us to act as professional references for you in future employment endeavours!
Industry contacts
Renaissance is a member of the Association of English Language Publishers of Quebec, the Association of Canadian Pubilshers, and the Literary Press Group of Canada. One of our co-founders, Nathan, also sits on the board of directors of LitDistCo. We get all their newsletters, and we keep very informed of what is going on at other independent presses, which means we can easily pass on job opportunities and other industry news to you, as well as invite you to meetings you might be interested to sit in on, which often provide trainings and/or insights in the current Canadian publishing landscape.
Fun books to read
We have received SO MANY amazing stories every time we have opened for submissions in the past, it was sometimes physically painful to say no to some of them. One of (in our opinion) the best perks of reading our incoming manuscripts.
Please apply now if you are interested, and share widely with your network!
Conditions and conflicts of interests
Confidentiality
Authors who submit to us trust us with their precious book babies, and we owe it to them to exercise the utmost discretion with it. Be respectful of their creative labour and do not disclose anything you read about the manuscript outside of filling the forms and speaking to Renaissance staff, whether positive or negative; authors deserve to know their ideas, characters, and worlds are safe with us.
3 years after having published a book with us
If you have published a book with Renaissance before, please know you cannot be a reader for us until three years have passed since original publication.
2 years before publishing a book with us
If you choose to be a reader for Renaissance, please know that you cannot also submit a manuscript for our consideration. You must wait at least two years after your resignation from reading for us before you may submit a manuscript.
Other conflicts of interest
You may not be a reader for Renaissance the same calendar year as a member of your immediate family, such as a spouse, parent, or child, submits a work for publication.
You may not be a reader for a work of which you are friends, ex-friends, ex-partners, or family with the author (this includes cousins, niblings, in-laws, grandparents, etc.), or any other person you have an existing relationship with (neighbour, co-worker, dogsitter, cat’s ex-lover’s sister-in-law, etc.) This rule is true whether the feelings you have towards this person are positive, negative, or neutral.
You may not evaluate a work you are also evaluating for another publishing company.
Please make use of judgement when evaluating whether a conflict of interest exists. You are required to disclose any conflict of interest immediately as they arise.
This is a pretty standard Disney formula teen music/sports movie. What’s different here is the lack of the usual tropes associated with this genre. There’s no mean girl, not much friends angst, no racism, and no parents yelling about what is appropriate.
The girl also doesn’t change herself for the boy, which is great.
There is a little bit more parental angst than I’d like and it was handled awkwardly in the story.
Score: 0.5
Characters
The friends and classmates were fantastic. It’s great to see that dynamic. The grandmother was amazing, she stole the show. The brother felt a little superfluous.
The love interest was perfectly annoying, as he should be.
The only character that bothered me was the dad. He had reasons for what he did but they were terribly shown and you really had to read between the lines. It made him seem like he went from supportive to ass without provocation.
Score: 0.5
Dialogue
The dialogue was quipy and felt appropriate, if a little extra clean, for the age and characters. I liked the nerdy talk and the pun on tikka masala tacos (tik-taco)
Score: 1
Visuals and Music
The scenery and camera work are really well done and perfectly colourful. Perfect for the style of the story.
The music is excellent and had the whole family wanting to dance.
Score: 1
Fun
The entire family was bopping to the music and loving the story. It was really nice to see some of the most frustrating tropes in kids movies were turned upside down or discarded.
Score: 1
Overall
This is the teen movie I wish I’d had as a kid. The supportive friends, family, and teacher are awesome, the music fun, and the grandmother is amazing. If you enjoyed the music based movies from Disney in the early two thousands you’ll love everything about this.
