fun

We’re Writing Again :-)

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Hello Friends, Family, Fans, and Readers,

It’s happening again! AGAIN! Jen and I are writing another book.

This is the third Gates of Westmeath book and I’m absolutely loving writing and reading it.

Assassins! Accidental Matchmakers is available at:
Local Canadian bookstores
Amazon.ca ebook
Kobo ebook
Indigo/Chapters ebook
Indigo/Chapters paperback

I absolutely love writing with Jen. It’s like having a super-fan to pump you up for writing and like getting to read your favourite book as it’s being made!

This going to be book 3, and book 2 Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests will be coming out spring 2024. We’ll post pre-order links as soon as we get them, and stay tuned for the cover reveal and other sneak peeks!

I’m so excited to be writing this book and I can’t wait to see what happens.

Stay safe and be kind,

Éric

See How They Run 2022 – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2022 film See How They Run.

Story

The story tries really hard to be clever and referential while still respecting the genre. It’s not a spoof or an homage, but some sort of clever combination. The great thing is that it works on all levels. Everything is laid out in the intro narration and I was still pleasantly surprised.

Score: 1

Characters

The main detective characters are clichés brought to life. They’d be almost boring if it wasn’t for the quality and charm of the actors. Unfortunately, that doesn’t apply to the whole cast, which is populated by a checklist of quirky film noir characters.

Score: 0.5

Dialogue

The dialogue is a combination of period and modern and was a little jarring at times. It was however very clever and well thought out.

Score: 0.5

Visuals and Music

The director and cinematographer must have been big fans of Hitchcock and Anderson. It mostly worked as a mashup, but lacked originality and felt a little forced.

The music was strong but unmemorable.

Score: 0.5

Fun

This movie was a mystery lover’s good time. All the adults loved it, but the kids found it slow and talky. I will re-watch this one.

Score: 1

Overall

An excellent homage/comedy to the mystery genre, Christie in particular, and a fun movie. Its odd directorial choices are held together by the impressive acting from the leads.

Final Score: 3.5 Stars out of 5

I’m old fashioned and I miss the cinema

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Hello my friends, family, and fans;

I’m getting to the age where technology and habits I adopted as a kid are now considered old fashioned. I still like physical media (CDs, Blu-ray, etc), I like having a watch, and I miss going to the cinema.

The older I get, the worse my vision gets, the more I prefer to avoid fancy wrap around screens, or 3D, or that kind of thing. We went to see Taylor Swift’s concert movie (fantastic btw) and it remined me of how much I miss.

Things I miss about going to the Cinema

1. No interruptions

I have trouble sitting and doing nothing for 2 hours. It makes me feel like I should be multitasking and getting some work done. So I constantly stop myself from being able to fully enjoy the movie.

There’s also the fact that I have two kids and they tend to either be completely absorbed or making a racket during a movie.

2. Popcorn

I like cinema popcorn. Its tasty, comes in large sizes, and gives me something to do with myself so that I can relax and enjoy the movie. Even if I do go now, it’ll be a little while before I’m comfortable eating in a crowd again.

Arguably I make better popcorn, but on a regular day with the kids bed times if we have time for a movie we don’t have the 10-15 minutes it takes to make.

3. The feeling of an event

It’s an event to go to the movies. When I was a kid it involved researching in a newspaper, driving over an hour each direction, and waiting in line for a ticket. Now it’s much easier but I still get that joyful excitement and anticipation when I walk into the building.

Things I don’t miss

1. People

I never liked crowds and people are the worst. At the Taylor Swift movie there were several people in front of me that decided to check their phones every ten minutes. They also seemed to have their phones set to the highest brightness level.

2. Travelling

It’s only 15-20 minutes away but it feels like forever and I hate the anxiety of feeling like I’m going to be late for the movie. It’s a small thing, I know.

3. Closed Captions

I wish they put CC’s on all movies. There was a time where radio and cinema was highly influenced by theatre and public speaking. This meant the actors were encouraged to speak loudly and clearly. Now there are directors who prefer mumbling and who don’t care about dialogue, not to mention incorrect sound mixing.

I feel like I miss 10%-15% of the movie because I don’t have subtitles.

I look forward to returning to the cinema, but I’m still not comfortable going as often or in the same way. That being said, I hope to see The Marvels sometime soon.

Later days,

Éric

Totally Killer – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2023 film Totally Killer.

Story

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.

Final Score: 4.5 Stars out of 5

The Babysitter: Killer Queen – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2020 film The Babysitter: Killer Queen.

Story

I’m impressed with the continuity of feel from the first one. The story is fairly linear and is more of a chase situation, but everything is well set up and a little surreal like the first.

Score: 1

Characters

I love that my complaints from the first one were dealt with in this one. If it was set up the whole time I’m impressed and if not, I’m more impressed because they must have taken audience feedback.

I found the main guy a little whiny and annoying until he took things into his own hands. The new girl felt very much like a tough on the outside girl with a hard past. She played it well and was surprisingly charismatic.

I’m so glad they brought back the old group of killers. They were so entertaining and Robbie Amell was wonderful again. The younger killers were pretty forgettable and didn’t have the charisma or interest of the others.

The dads were just annoying and I could have done without them.

Score: 0.5

Dialogue

Lots of surreal cheesyness but nothing particularly great. Again Amell had the best lines.

Score: 0.5

Visuals and Music

The location shooting was great. The desert is always a great place to highten the weird. As a person who’s grown up around lakes and rivers, seeing a river in a desert was unerving.

I liked that continuity of using Queen for the babysitter and the music was well done overall.

Score: 1

Fun

The movie was fun. Once they got to the first twist it was a lot of fun. I think I like it better than the first. The sex scene was weird. I’m glad I wasn’t watching it with anyone who I’d have to explain that it was a metaphor for sex.

Score: 1

Overall

This was an excellent slasher but an even better sequel. The gore is higher, the twists more twisted, and the surreal action more entertaining. If you liked the first one, this is great.

Final Score: 4 Stars out of 5

Haunted Mansion (2023) – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2023 film Haunted Mansion.

Story

The story leans heavily into the feel of the ride and it’s expansive lore, but grounds it in a powerful story about grief and loss. It’s well constructed and everything is wrapped up nicely. There are no unwanted surprises, but lots of good ones.

Score: 1

Characters

It’s hard to give a large cast proper character development, but the movie makes sure to give each of them those little moments of depth. The cast is superb and has amazing comedic timing that balances the scary bits really well.

I really like the parallels between the characters growth and how it revolves around grief. It’s easy to forget what makes the idea of real ghosts sad and scary is dealing with our own loss.

Score: 1

Dialogue

They only used the word “Quantum” once in the movie and I’m glad for that.

Beyond that, the dialogue is a wonderful mix of silly, weird, and deeply moving. Each of the characters have their own style and tone, so much so that they could be from different times or movies, but somehow it works.

Score: 1

Visuals and Music

The movie is completely saturated with references to the ride and expanded lore. It’s both glorious and at times makes you spend more effort looking at the backgrounds in fear of missing something. Which might not be an issue for casual viewers. That being said, it’s a beautifully shot movie with great visuals.

The music is a great mixture of New Orleans jazz, creepy music, remixes from the ride, and originals that fall into all three.

Score: 1

Fun

The movie is fun, but we’re all big Haunted Mansion fans in our house. Everyone loved it, despite a few screams. I’m going to want this movie and its soundtrack.

Score: 1

Overall

A must watch for anyone who loves the Haunted Mansion ride or creepy family friendly scares. The movie has heart and depth that is surprising and touching.

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.

See you at Can-Con 2023

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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 required) 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 and I both have signings in the vendors room on Saturday the 14th:

  • Jen is at 10:30-11:00
  • I’m at 3:00-3:30

And come see us at the Renaissance Party 1-4pm in room 1703! We won’t be there all the time, but we’ll be popping in sporadically.

Hope to see you there!

Éric

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2023 film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem.

Story

Rebellious teens ignore all the rules and get everything they want. Splinter is worried about their safety (rightly so, have you met humanity?) but eventually realizes that he’s being overbearing.

There’s a giant whale mutant chimera in there too.

It very much feels like an 80’s plot with 2020’s slang.

Score: 0.5

Characters

The turtles are extremely authentically teenage boys. My sister-in-law, a teacher, looked a little shell-shocked (pun intended). The antics, limited forward thinking and overthinking had me getting flashbacks to being a teen.

April was great, despite the lazy puke jokes, and I really liked having her be the same age as the turtles.

Score: 1

Dialogue

This dialogue will feel dated by the end of the year. There’s more slang than you can shake a ninja star at.

The penchant for the turtles to all talk at the same time is both relatable and well done, although exhausting to follow. The teasing and quipping felt natural and hilarious. The villain was over-the-top but it worked.

April’s smarts and snark were awesome.

Score: 0.5

Visuals and Music

The style of animation felt very dark. The backgrounds were gorgeous and the characters great, but it was a lot of dark on dark on dark.

The music was good and did it’s job, but was nothing special.

Score: 0.5

Fun

The movie was interesting and fun, but went from pure pessimism to ridiculous optimism way too quick near the end. It felt like the writers wrote themselves into a corner and decided to just do a big battle.

The 4yo loved it and the 7yo liked it but not a lot.

The rest of the family enjoyed it, but we were all tired by the end.

Score: 0.5

Overall

An excellent TMNT movie with lots of action and for the first time the turtles felt like actual teens. April was a standout character and making her a teen was a brilliant idea. That said, the last act of the movie felt forced and the colour palate was a little too dark.

Final Score: 3 Stars out of 5

The Babysitter – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2017 film The Babysitter.

Story

I like the reversal of the slasher story, making the group of teens the villains and the bullied kid the hero. I also like that despite that reversal, he still takes them out one by one.

Score: 1

Characters

I liked most of the characters. The main was a little whiny and his parents just weird. The villains were pretty bland except for the babysitter and the jock.

The talk at the end between the babysitter and the main character is interesting and hints at her having done this for a long time. This shows how she still feels like that kid despite years of deals with the devil. I’d love to see a retro prequel.

The true scene stealer was the jock. He took genuine glee in murder and his interactions with the main character are closer to a big brother than attempted murderer. It was fun and ridiculous in the best way.

The parents, bully, and girl next door all act a little over the top. Something that works for the killers but makes the world feel dream like and a little silly when it comes from the regular world characters.

Score: 0.5

Dialogue

There’s a lot of cheese and a lot of stilted dialogue. It’s most apparent with the bullies and parents. It’s a combination of weird and surreal that works for the rest of the movie but not the “real life” parts.

I’m not a fan of the girl next door’s seeming indifference to what’s happening. She’s sympathetic but doesn’t seem to process the horror of what’s going on, going straight from sympathy to hornyness without being afraid or worried.

That being said, there’s some funny dialogue and good quips.

Score: 0.5

Visuals and Music

The filming is well done and the special effects, despite being low budget, are quite good. I like the framing and cuts but there’s nothing special overall and I feel like it could have paid better homage to cinematography of horror movies past.

The music was effective but not amazing.

Score: 0.5

Fun

This is a fun movie. Being the only horror fan in the family I watched this alone. I enjoyed it.

Score: 1

Overall

A fun and silly horror which plays with the usual tropes and has some amazing banter and some excellent scenes. It’s mostly hurt by extending the weird surreal feel to the regular world characters and not contrasting them to the killers.

Final Score: 3.5 Stars out of 5

Elemental – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2023 film Elemental.

Story

The trailers made this look like a trope-y rom-com rip-off of Zootopia. What it is instead is a wonderful story of immigration and family. The elements together in a big city is used well and not as a gimmick but a metaphor.

Score: 1

Characters

The two main charactes are animated in very traditional proportions and that’s unfortunate and stereotypical.

Their personalities are much better however and don’t fall into stereotypes too much. It did feel a little odd that neither of them had friends.

The rest of the characters and cast are fun and fairly well fleshed out.

Score: 0.5

Dialogue

There are so many element puns that I can’t wait to rewatch and catch more.

The dialogue was very honest to their emotions and simplified. I liked the micro-aggressions from the well-meaning family, it gave the story some needed grounding.

Score: 1

Visuals and Music

The animation was amazing. Lighting, colour, detail, backgrounds, all beautiful. I loved the line art look of the fire people.

One of the fun parts of watching things with subtitles is seeing how they describe the music. Accorting to the subtitles, the music was “[Emotion] New Age music”. It was however extremely well done and worked perfectly with the tone and feel of the world.

Score: 1

Fun

This was fun in every concievable way. The 6yo said it was good but not great and the three year old concured.

The rest of the family loved it and I think it’s one of my top Pixar movies. Definitely going to want to rewatch this one.

Score: 1

Overall

The movie takes the story of an immigrant family and wraps it into a magical world of elements. The emotions are authentic and story compelling. It’s colourful, fun, and easy to watch.

Final Score: 4.5 Stars out of 5