The Pocket Library template was made by @thebookishanimator_, and I thought it would be fun to make character editions of it! Here are Tommy and Carter’s Pocket Libraries.
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Hello Cinephiles,
Today we’re talking about the 1985 film The Black Cauldron.
The story is a cautionary tale in adapting a book. I haven’t read the book so there are a lot of sections that either make no sense or give the viewer the feeling that they should have done homework before watching.
Score: 0
There is no backstory to any of the characters. She says she’s a princess but then the villain mentions she’s a scullery maid? Why does the bard have a magical harp? Why is the pig farmer boy being raised by knockoff merlin? Is the villain undead or just a monster? … nothing is explained.
I did quite like the little furry Gollum and the characters are likeable and consistant. They have acceptable arcs, but there just seems to be too much missing.
Score: 0.5
There are some nice peices of dialogue and some that make no sense at all. It’s mostly, again, because this was adapted from a series of books.
Score: 0.5
The animation was beautiful but inconsistant. Items disapeared and reappeared, characters changed sizes, backgrounds flickered.
The music was pretty epic.
Score: 0.5
Everyone kinda enjoyed it. It’s one of those movies that could have been great but was bogged down by too much lore that we didn’t get to see.
Score: 0.5
Not the worst Disney movie in existence, but it’s a missed opportunity to showcase a great story by cutting out any context.
Final Score: 2 Stars out of 5
Hello Readers and Writers,
Don’t write alone. Don’t make the mistake of thinking you don’t need any help at all.
Everyone needs a little help. Bouncing a story idea off a friend or even just Rubber duck debugging can be a huge help.
But beyond that, it’s important to find your people, or community. As much drama as there can be in writing communities (Oh so much the drama!) the excitement and love of the craft is great to help motivate you.
I know I’m a better author for being around certain people.
Now when I say find your community, I don’t mean necessarily people who are writing the same things. Sometimes writers can be very precious about what they write. (Do not ask a high-fantasy writer about urban-fantasy or spicy-fantasy. Yikes.)
No find yourself some people who are open, kind, and willing to listen.
That’s my best advice for writers. Get a friend or a duck.*
Stay safe and be kind,
Éric
*Friends and ducks may include pets, family, and random people on the bus.
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Hello Cinephiles,
Today we’re talking about the 2024 film Moana 2.
This was a textbook hero’s journey structure, just like the first one. In many ways, it’s reminiscent of old Greek myths and makes me wonder if the movie feels more European than Polynesian. I’m not familiar enough with Polynesian story structures to be the judge.
Score: 0.5
The expanded cast of heroes were a lot of fun. I loved that they chose to make the unabashed fan a man and the genius engineer a woman. They were all very entertaining but the little sister was pure adorable.
I appreciate how consistent the characters feel, which has not always been the case with Disney sequels.
Score: 1
Lots of great jokes and pop culture references. Maui follows Genie and Merlin in breaking the third wall in the most enjoyable ways. Also lots of little jokes relating to the first one.
Score: 1
The water animation looks more real then I ever thought possible, the characters are vibrant, and the choice of camera angles was fantastic.
I’d heard a lot of complaints about the music but it was wonderful. Built off the first really well and Maui’s new song was so much fun.
Score: 1
This was fun from the first frame to the last. Everything moved fast and was a feast for the eyes. The kids saw it in theatres and have been anxiously awaiting the Disney plus release to watch it with me. They loved it just as much the second time, and my 5yo asked for the Bluray so he can watch special features.
Score: 1
This follows the mythic structure of the first movie while adding some amazing characters to keep it fresh. The music lives up to the first and the animation levelled up in the best ways.
Final Score: 4.5 Stars out of 5
Hello Friends, Family, and Fans;
There’s a lot going on in the world and I’m tired. Actually, I’m mostly angry and sad. The world seems filled with hate and destruction right now. It’s important that we remember to take some time to recharge between rounds of doom scrolling the news.
The main way I like to relax is by reading, writing, watching tv, or watching movies. One of my all time favourites is Lilo & Stitch. I reviewed it a few years ago and gave it a perfect 5 stars. It’s not perfect but it is as close as possible for me (may need to compensate for nostalgia).
I was a bit skeptical when they announced a live action version. I was mostly worried they wouldn’t cast Polynesian people in the roles or that Stitch would some sort of horrifying CGI abomination.
I was sold after the first few adorable teasers that were reminiscent of the ad campaign for the original. Then they dropped the first trailer and I thought it was really impressive. It was immediately criticized for everything from being too “woke” to not putting Pleakley in drag.
Personally, I think it looks completely adorable and true to the spirit of the original.
We should always consume media critically, but maybe it’s important to wait and see the full thing before jumping to outrage. It’s exhausting to constantly be analyzing why people are angry and I’m all for progressive values, but we need to analyse the full media before getting angry. That is, unless it’s really obviously hateful or damaging.
Take a breath, relax, and allow yourself to enjoy things. Being critical of media doesn’t mean you always have to be angry or outraged. You can admit the flaws and still enjoy things that have small issues.
Please take care of yourselves. We have a marathon of crap coming up and we need to pace ourselves.
Stay safe and be kind,
Éric
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Hello Cinephiles,
Today we’re talking about the 2020 film The Santa Squad.
The movie was the first half of The Sound of Music or Jayne Eyre: nice lady comes into the house and shows the lonely father how to have fun while bringing joy to the kids. There didn’t seem to be enough of a motivation for the two leads to not get together and so the obstacles in the third act felt really convoluted.
Score: 0
The main female lead was so perfectly dressed and made up to be the mean girl that it took me a little to get to like her. Once I got past my preconceptions, she was extremely likeable and the chemistry between the leads was impressive.
We found the movie because we like Aaron Ashmore so it was no surprise that he was great.
I liked the autistic coded kids that were never treated as being lesser.
Score: 1
I was surprised by the kids’ dialogue, it felt refreshingly normal. The rest was what you’d expect from a Christmas romance.
Score: 0.5
The locations were great and the cinematography well done. I’m definitely annoyed by the over-abundant continuity issues. Then there’s the fact that they filmed in Ontario but had styrofoam snowmen that looked really fake.
The music was a little overdone and felt like it was trying to take attention away from the acting.
Score: 0.5
The kids were cute, the adults were pretty, and there was almost no angst. It was an okay movie. I enjoyed it but I’m not sure I’d want to rewatch it. The kids and family felt the same.
Score: 0.5
A stress free Christmas romance that’s worth it for the pretty leads and awesome kids.
Final Score: 2.5 Stars out of 5
I got the idea to make shadowbox out of the cover image of our books, and I thought it would be fun for you to have access as well!
Presenting The Copper Tarnish!
Materials:
Paper (or cardstock)
Colour printer
Scissors
Exacto knife
Cutting board
Tape (or glue)
Patience
Instructions:
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Hello Cinephiles,
Today we’re talking about the 2025 film Star Trek: Section 31.
A little Bond, a little Star Trek, some Fifth Element, a dash of Firefly, and absolutely no cohesion. This felt like a 2-part pilot episode that was turned into a movie. As hard as they tried to not be Star Trek, it was only the Star Trek elements that were interesting.
Score: 0
The characters were interesting and I’d love to watch them grow into more than pithy stereotypes.
The acting was way better than the script demanded and honestly each actor could have hammed it up but managed to play it straight and I’m impressed.
Score: 1
The dialogue spoken by lesser actors would have been laughable, but most of the time it worked. I particularly liked the “chaos gremlin” jokes.
Score: 1
The visuals were very clean and the special effects were great. The fight scenes were chaotic and used way too much shaky-cam.
Overall the music was good and I like the use of modern music in Star Trek when it’s used well. There’s one song that sings about a phone and it really knocked me out of the story.
Score: 0.5
It was predictable but I liked the characters so I did enjoy it.
I do have a continuity issue with it, however. Georgiou was sent from the 32nd century back in time. According to the star date at the beginning this happens in 2324. However, Georgiou originally came from season 1 of Discovery and that was in 2256. There’s sixty some years between them but San doesn’t seem to have aged 68 years. So how did he come to the future and how did he know she was going to be there? It really bugged me.
Score: 0.5
An interesting start to a series, but as a movie it lacks depth and originality. The only thing that saves it is the quality of the actors.
Final Score: 3 Stars out of 5
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Hello Cinephiles,
Today we’re talking about the 2025 film Back in Action.
It hits every beat of a spy movie and does a great job with the family drama. The story is a pile of tropes thrown together and avoids risk with the obvious set-up for a sequel.
Score: 0.5
Excellent acting and characters that are a lot of fun. Diaz and Fox have chemistry both as a couple and as a battle couple. The kids are well picked, and Glenn Close is an inspired choice to play Diaz’s mother.
Score: 1
Snappy and more than a few quips. It has a lot of humour and heart in the dialogue, although sometimes it felt like filler.
Score: 0.5
The visuals were great and the fight choreography was excellent.
The music sounded like someone trying to combine every spy movie’s soundtracks together. It was good but a little over-done.
Score: 0.5
This was a lot of fun but the “key” being still useful 15 years later felt like a stretch. The whole Mcguffin was a little over the top. It also could have been done better for the demonstration. Use it to take over Air Force One, or make the alarms at the tower of London sing showtunes. Lot of wasted potential.
That been said, the kids and the family liked it and we all hope for the the inevitable sequel.
Score: 0.5
A charismatic and excellent cast makes up for a hum-drum spy story. The heart is the family and that’s very well done.
Final Score: 3 Stars out of 5
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Hello Cinephiles,
Today we’re talking about the 2021 film The Princess Switch 3: Romancing the Star.
Taking a completely different approach from the previous movies and making this one a heist movie was a great idea. It made the whole thing feel fresh without losing the Christmassy and romance vibes.
Score: 1
The new love interest for the third look-alike is nuanced and the history between them feels real. There’s a lot of slapstick with the minions and I felt like we didn’t see enough of the original look-alikes.
Score: 0.5
Some excellent double meanings and wonderful quips.
Score: 1
Like the first two, filming on location made the whole thing pop and feel more three dimensional than a traditional Christmas movie. The little amount of CG was well done.
The music was catchy and fun.
Score: 1
I love heist movies, as does the entire family, and this didn’t disappoint. It had all the right pieces to meld the romance, holiday, and heist drama.
Score: 1
Now with a heist, this movie once again shows how good an actor Vanessa Hudgens is, while bringing in new elements and keeping the franchise fresh. If you liked the first two, you’ll love this one.
Final Score: 4.5 Stars out of 5
