fun

My Spy – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2020 film My Spy.

Story

The show feels like it’s both paying homage and mocking spy movies and it pulls it off with heart. The story is fresh and has a few good twists that, even if you see them coming, are satisfying.

Score: 1

Characters

I expected, from the trailers, that this would be a cringe comedy, but Dave Bautista brings warmth and humility to the role, and Chloe Coleman is both funny and precocious in the best way. One of the things I really appreciated about this was how competent each character was at what they do. The humour comes from them being out of their element.

Score: 1

Dialogue

Clever, fun, and often really funny. The eight year old’s sarcasm is spot-on.

Score: 1

Visuals and Music

The camera work is solid and the action scenes are very well choreographed.

The music was perfect for the movie and complimented it well.

Score: 1

Fun

The entire family loved the movie. It was funny and heartwarming.

Score: 1

Overall

One of the many films that got shuffled away to streaming because of the pandemic, it deserves so much more. It’s a fun, funny, and lovable movie.

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.

THEY’RE COMING!!! Winging it and The Copper Tarnish

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Hello Readers!

The books are coming out, the books are coming out! Just in time for your Pride Month reading too.

Winging It
by Jen Desmarais

A wedding and a summer camp that Tommy and Carter are never going to forget.

Tommy discovers magic exists, his boyfriend is a rock giant, and his sister is marrying one of the leaders of a supernatural community called Aetherborn.

Carter learns to navigate an in-person relationship, introducing Tommy to the magical world, and being involved in his Ariki’s wedding.

Both boys need to build their confidence in each other, themselves, and their relationship. The Door Tech summer camp seems to be the perfect way to do that, until they get magically transported to the not-so-fictional world of Everdome. In this realm of Domed continents floating in space, winged beasts, and new cultures, the boys will have to overcome challenges beyond anything they’ve seen before.

The only way they, and their relationship, can survive is if they start Winging It!

49th Shelf Crushing It
Indigo Books Crushing It
Archambault Crushing It
Amazon Crushing It
Rakuten Kobo Crushing It
Apple Books Crushing It

The Copper Tarnish
by Éric Desmarais

Until last summer, I was the most popular girl in school. Then I was accused of killing my boyfriend when he disappeared. Luckily, he didn’t die, but he wasn’t the same when he came back. Murder accusations are nothing compared to the rumours that I kissed said boyfriend’s sister. That rumour proved to be the real killer for my popularity.

Now everyone hates me except the gorgeous new girl who seems determined to ruin any chances of being popular by hanging out with me. There’s also a cute soldier hanging around my mom’s diner and freaky sounds in the woods.

Autumn definitely won’t be dull. All I need to do is graduate…and stay alive.

eBook
Paperback
Hardcover

What are you waiting for? Go pre-order them now!!!

Éric

Fountain of Youth – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2025 film Fountain of Youth.

Story

As entertaining as the movie was, there wasn’t so much a story as a bunch of set pieces held together by banter.

Score: 0

Characters

The major problem with saying your characters are super-intelligent is that they then have to act it. These characters missed obvious things and acted smart when the plot demanded it.

Now that being said, the actors took some mediocre scenes and elevated them. Every last one of them oozes with charisma and charm.

Score: 0.5

Dialogue

Intelligent people don’t have to use big words. With intelligence comes the ability to be concise.

The majority of the dialogue was good and the brother-sister banter was fantastic.

Score: 0.5

Visuals and Music

This movie was stunning. The special effects, choreography, and camera work were superb.

The music was clever, incorporating the small theme in both the plot and the music was a genius idea.

Score: 1

Fun

I and the rest of the family really enjoyed this movie. It was pretty, exciting, and had some good banter. I dislike the ending enough to make me annoyed every time I think about it.

Score: 0.5

Overall

Unoriginal with one of the worst endings I’ve ever seen, the movie is fun and fluffy with the actors making it extremely likeable but the supernatural and the plot were poorly thought out.

Final Score: 2.5 Stars out of 5

The Legend of Zorro

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2005 film The Legend of Zorro.

Story

A straight sequel to the first one, it relies on miscommunication to move the plot forward. It also fall into the superhero trope of only failing when it’s a plot point.

Score: 0.5

Characters

The kid is adorable and the two leads are just as charismatic as the first time. Unfortunately, they are split up most of the movie when they work best as a team.

The villain is mustache twirling, British, and evil.

Score: 0.5

Dialogue

There’s some amazing banter between the two leads and with the villain.

Score: 1

Visuals and Music

The movie looks just as beautiful as the first and the fight scenes are amazing.

Score: 1

Fun

I hate that the characters can’t just be happy… It’s frustrating and feels forced when they work so well as a team. That being said, it was still an extremely fun movie.

Score: 0.5

Overall

The movie suffers from needing to split its leads but it’s still an excellent movie.

Final Score: 3.5 Stars out of 5

The Mask of Zorro – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 1998 film The Mask of Zorro.

Story

The story and myth of Zorro is based on the “Fox” archetype. (Robin Hood, Reynard the Fox, or The Scarlet Pimpernel) I like the addition of the apprentice and especially the nod to Joaquin Murrieta. It’s an extremely good example of how to adapt a story.

Score: 1

Characters

Each character was perfectly written. The only part I had issue believing was Antonio Banderas needing help on how to be charming. The villains were nuanced enough to be realistic but evil enough to deserve their fate. The parallel stories and character development between the older and younger characters was excellent.

Catherine Zeta-Jones manages to balance damsel and kick-ass in an extremely believable way.

Score: 1

Dialogue

I’d give full points for, “So the devil will know who sent you.” alone. The rest of the dialogue balanced heroics, humour, drama, and romance in a perfectly believable way.

Score: !

Visuals and Music

This film, thankfully, came out before shaky-cam. The fights are wonderfully choreographed and the practical effects have aged fantastically.

The music is equal to any modern superhero and really amps up the emotion.

Score: 1

Fun

Swashbuckling, explosions, witty one liners, and at its core a big heart. I’m sounding old but this kind of movie isn’t made anymore and that makes me sad. The whole family loved it.

Score: 1

Overall

One of the best adventure / swashbuckling movies. The emotion and character drama anchor the action and heroics, making everything feel so much more. Modern superhero movies could learn a lot from this movie.

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.

Pocket Library – Jen and Éric edition

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The Pocket Library template was made by @thebookishanimator_, and I thought it would be fun to make our own editions of it! Here are Jen and Éric’s Pocket Libraries.

Left: Jen has Assassins! Accidental Matchmakers, Crushing It, Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests, and Winging It. She also has an emergency cellphone. Note that lower back pain is sold separately.
Right: Éric has Assassins! Accidental Matchmakers, Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests, Parasomnia, Elizabeth Investigates A Study in Aether, Everdome, Coffee Shop Between the ‘Verses and The Copper Tarnish. He also has an emergency ukulele. Note that migraine pain is sold seperatly.
Winging It by Jen Desmarais is available now!
Cover Art by Pinkpiggy93
49th Shelf Crushing It
Indigo Books Crushing It
Archambault Crushing It
Amazon Crushing It
Rakuten Kobo Crushing It
Apple Books Crushing It
The Copper Tarnish by Éric Desmarais available June 3rd, 2025.
eBook
Paperback

The Black Cauldron – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 1985 film The Black Cauldron.

Story

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

Characters

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

Dialogue

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

Visuals and Music

The animation was beautiful but inconsistant. Items disapeared and reappeared, characters changed sizes, backgrounds flickered.

The music was pretty epic.

Score: 0.5

Fun

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

Overall

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

Writing Alone

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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.

A small rubber duck I keep next to my desk. It is all black with skeleton markings like it’s wearing a costume.

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.

Moana 2 – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2024 film Moana 2.

Story

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

Characters

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

Dialogue

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

Visuals and Music

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

Fun

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

Overall

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

Outrage and Child-Like Wonder

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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