fun

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – JenEric Movie Review

by

How This Works – Read Other Reviews

Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2005 film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

Story

The influences of World War Two are felt throughout the story and it adds a certain grounding that is missing from some fantasy films. As much as there are some things that bother me about the story, it is extremely well-crafted.

Score: 1

Characters

When I first watched it, I disliked the boys but rewatching it, I see the struggles they have both in family and in a world that expects them to do nothing.

The rest of the cast was great, and despite not being a huge fan of the voice of the lion, it isn’t as bad as I remember.

One thing that really bothered me was the stereotype of “beauty is good and ugly is bad”. They went out of their way to make all the good guys look pretty and all the villains, except the witch, ugly.

Score: 0.5

Dialogue

The dialogue is mostly from the book and I’m really glad they removed some of the sexist language. The banter between the characters was nice and family-like.

Score: 1

Visuals and Music

The special effects, sets, and camera work hold up extremely well for a twenty-year-old movie. The clothing and armour are fantastic and it’s easy to forget that the animals are CGI.

The music is epic and really sucks you into the story.

Score: 1

Fun

Jen and I had seen the movie a few times already and knew we liked it. It was really cool to watch the kids watch it. They both liked it but said it was a little scary.

Score: 1

Overall

A classic story done extremely well. The acting, music, and special effects hold up twenty years later.

Final Score: 4.5 Stars out of 5

Holiday Mismatch – JenEric Movie Review

by

How This Works – Read Other Reviews

Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2024 film Holiday Mismatch.

Story

Adorable meddling mothers and a sweet romance. I love the symmetry between the relationships. That being said, it’s just two different tropes smushed together.

Score: 0.5

Characters

The mothers had incredible comedic chemistry and the love interests were adorable. Both sets together worked great. The dad and brother were entertaining as well.

I do hate when all the drama comes from a misunderstanding or a character not keeping a secret. It felt a little forced.

Score: 0.5

Dialogue

The dialogue is funny, flirty, and cute. I liked the multiple jokes about the mothers being witches.

Score: 1

Visuals and Music

The snow was ridiculously fake and a few scenes were obviously filmed in summer. But the camera work and the scenes were well done and excellently decorated.

The music did it’s job and accentuated when it was needed. Could have used more holiday music though.

Score: 1

Fun

This was a nice break from the traditional angsty holiday movie. It was sweet and everyone but the 5yo loved it. He thought it was boring.

Score: 1

Overall

A fun and rewatchable holiday movie that avoids the angst often associated with romance. It thrives off the chemistry and charisma of the mothers.

Final Score: 4 Stars out of 5

A Biltmore Christmas – JenEric Movie Review

by

How This Works – Read Other Reviews

Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2023 film A Biltmore Christmas.

Story

Both an homage to time travel movies and old Hollywood. The movie balances its gimmicks and the actual romance extremely well. Also, in a reversal of the standard holiday movie, it’s the guy who gives up everything for the girl.

I love the parallels between the characters in the movie and those in the movie inside the movie.

Score: 1

Characters

The characters are vague stereotypes that are elevated by both the quality of the writing and the acting.

Score: 1

Dialogue

Although corny and sappy, the dialogue works extremely well, and I like that they point out when she says things that are out of time.

Jonathan Frakes’s tour guide voice is straight out of Believe it or Not.

Score: 1

Visuals and Music

As good as the movie was, there were a few scenes that feel like they were only added to showcase the location, and that made it a little awkward and feel amateurish. That being said the location was spectacular.

A lot of great touches with the lighting differences between time periods, the costumes, the sets, and some creative camera work.

The music was okay but nothing stood out in the score.

Score: 0.5

Fun

This was pure time travel and romance fun. Just enough angst for flavour but not enough to be annoying. Everyone in the family loved it.

Score: 1

Overall

One of the better Hallmark movies with a gimmick, it pulls off both the time travel and the romance while being clever, sappy, and witty. I’m going to want to rewatch this next year for sure.

Final Score: 4.5 Stars out of 5

How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966) – JenEric Movie Review

by

How This Works – Read Other Reviews

Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 1966 special How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

Story

The Grinch is sick of crass commercialism and is overstimulated by the “noise, noise, noise, noise”; therefore he hates Christmas. Despite the eight-year-old’s protests that they need the tragic backstory, this was done fantasticly for a twenty-three minute special. There’s an economy of story that is quite impressive.

Score: 1

Characters

There’s really only the Grinch, Cindy-Lou, and Max but they are all fairly well fleshed out. The animators did a fanatastic job giving Max a personality without any lines.

Boris Karloff kills it as the Grinch and the narrator.

Score: 1

Dialogue

The dialogue is pulled straight from the book and is both absurd and rife with meaning.

Score: 1

Visuals and Music

The animation is spectacular for its time. bringing the exaggerated style of Dr. Seuss and giving the motions to match is great. The movement and framing are what all future Dr. Seuss adaptations would use as a base.

Score: 1

Fun

Huge nostalgia points from me. Despite its age, it stood up well. I’d love a cleaned up version from the original film. The kids were both glued and complained it was too short.

Score: 1

Overall

A holiday classic with lots of heart. This is a combination of amazing animation and wonderful voicework.

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.

Sharing is awesome!

Home Alone – JenEric Movie Review

by

How This Works – Read Other Reviews

Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 1990 film Home Alone.

Story

Completely improbable in so many ways but extremely entertaining. There is a lot of care taken to not waste time or story threads.

Score: 0.5

Characters

Little eight-year-old Kevin is innocent, resourceful, and mostly kind. I was worried at how brutal I remembered him being but other than the traps, he was a sweet kid. The same can’t be said about his family. They were pretty terrible.

As a kid I had a hard time relating to the mother and father and even watching this with my eight-year-old I had trouble.

Score: 0.5

Dialogue

Other than the family that talks like an 80’s after school special on bullying, the rest of the dialogue is well thought out, funny, and clever.

Score: 0.5

Visuals and Music

Most of the movie relies on practical effects, pratfalls, and a beautiful neighbourhood. It works and for a 34-year-old movie, it holds up extremely well.

The score is great and the Christmas music is fun.

Score: 1

Fun

I was worried watching this with my kids because of how violent I remembered it being. But other than the traps and pratfalls, it’s a pretty heartwarming movie and we all enjoyed it.

Score: 1

Overall

A nostalgic, silly, and cartoony film with lots of heart and some great dialogue. Definitely worth rewatching.

Final Score: 3.5 Stars out of 5

Time Cut – JenEric Movie Review

by

How This Works – Read Other Reviews

Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2024 film Time Cut.

Story

A fun mixture of time travel and slasher story elements but with a paradox twist that isn’t normally explored.

Score: 1

Characters

I have a soft spot for smart characters. They are rarely found in slasher films and unfortunately the smart idiot trope happens a lot in time travel. Thankfully neither is the case in this movie. They act fairly logically and they are smart.

I do think the quiet nerd being picked on and being rejected turns them evil trope is a little overdone.

Score: 0.5

Dialogue

The dialogue is pretty good but I would have liked the slang differences to be explored more. Other than fashion, the main character didn’t seem out of place.

Score: 0.5

Visuals and Music

The visuals are great. I like the choice of lighting and colouring to denote the decade. The special effects are minimal and mostly practical.

The music is oddly nostalgic for only being twenty years ago.

Score: 1

Fun

I was expecting a dumb movie and after really liking Totally Killer I didn’t expect to enjoy this one. I was happily wrong. It was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed the ending.

Score: 1

Overall

An excellent time travel movie with mild slasher elements. It doesn’t shy away from fun or asking question. It’s nice to see a movie that feels like a rehash do something different with its conclusion.

Final Score: 4 Stars out of 5

Abigail – JenEric Movie Review

by

How This Works – Read Other Reviews

Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2024 film Abigail.

Story

A remake of the Daughter of Dracula, they make a good effort to update the story and add some fun twists. The pacing was good and the references to other books and movies were a nice bonus.

Score: 1

Characters

It’s hard to balance this much blood, violence, and atmosphere while still giving the large cast of characters time to breathe. Not only do we get to know the characters but even like them, despite the fact that they were all willing to kidnap and maybe torture a child. The actors did a fantastic job at making horror action tropes into real feeling people.

Score: 1

Dialogue

The dialogue feels like it belongs in more of a mystery or action movie and that’s a good thing. The horror is built with atmosphere and intercharacter tension as much as the vampire.

Score: 1

Visuals and Music

The special effects were minimal and practical which worked really well. The quantity of fake blood was awe inspiring.

The music was perfect. I’ll never hear the nutcracker the same way and the rest of the score did everything it could to enhance the action.

Score: 1

Fun

Bad guys getting destroyed by monsters is a fun relaxing night for me. (I might be weird.) This was perfect and it even gave me the “Final girl gets pissed and fights back” trope that I love so much.

Score: 1

Overall

If you like old-style slashers and watching bag guys getting ripped to shreds, this is a lot of fun. It’s a smart horror that knows enough to reference its influences and do its own thing. Coupled with a great cast, it’s a perfect film.

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.

Come say hello at Can-Con 2024

by

Hello Readers!

This weekend is the wonderful Can-Con: Conference on Canadian Content in Speculative Arts and Literature.

Jen and I will be in the vendors room (FREE to the public, masks are optional) most of the time, selling awesome coffee and crochet.

Here are the vendor’s room hours

  • Friday 5-8
  • Saturday 10-6
  • Sunday 10-4

Jen will be on the “”The Pros of Being a Ghost (writer)” panel on Saturday morning (Nov 2nd) from 10:00-10:50.

Éric will be at the booth and chatting with people.

Hope to see you there!

Éric

Halloweentown II: Kalabar’s Revenge – JenEric Movie Review

by

How This Works – Read Other Reviews

Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2001 film Halloweentown II: Kalabar’s Revenge.

Story

A simple revenge story which spends a lot of time trying to find the plot.

Score: 0

Characters

Extremely consistant with the last one, to the point where it feels like the mom didn’t learn anything. The characters are young and make some silly mistakes but it does make sense.

Score: 0.5

Dialogue

Cheesy and trying way too hard to be relevant to modern audiences. The dialogue is just as quippy as the first.

Score: 0.5

Visuals and Music

The visuals are good, especially when they use practical effects.

The music does its job and also ties in well with the first.

Score: 1

Fun

There were a few times that I wanted to scream at the characters but beyond that I really enjoyed the movie, as did the kids.

Score: 1

Overall

Simple and adorable. A lot like the first, it’s geared to younger audiences and is a lot of fun.

Final Score: 3 Stars out of 5

The Rescuers Down Under – JenEric Movie Review

by

How This Works – Read Other Reviews

Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 1990 film The Rescuers Down Under.

Story

The story set-up made me groan but instead of the traditional love triangle, Bernard’s story was about finding the self-confidence that Bianca had in him the whole time.

The rescuing story was also interesting in it’s conservationist bend and scary smart villain.

Score: 1

Characters

The main characters are just as loveable as before and Bernard’s arc is lovely. The added animals are fun and the humans are extremely clever. Something that is refreshing in a movie with kids getting kidnapped; the boy (like the girl in the previous movie) is extremely clever.

Score: 1

Dialogue

There’s a lot of talking that felt over the top and a little long winded. But overall it was pretty clever. I loved John Candy’s lines and irreverence.

Score: 0.5

Visuals and Music

The art is a great blend of traditional and computer animated. Unfortunately, the computer parts don’t hold up as well as the traditional ones.

The music was good and had some nice epic bits.

Score: 0.5

Fun

This is a well-balanced and fun movie. Everyone in the family loved it. Even the 5yo, who said he didn’t want to watch it, was in the room within a few minutes.

Score: 1

Overall

A classic with excellent art and wonderful characters.

Final Score: 4 Stars out of 5