A great adaptation of the short story, if only in spirit. It unfortunately relies a lot on the “parents don’t believe” trope which I hate.
Score: 0.5
Characters
The parents read like a dynamic from movies in the 70’s or 80’s. The mom is all over the place and the dad is an ass. I’m glad that they were supportive after they saw proof but they were by far the worst part of the movie.
The kids were fantastic and I loved the teacher and his wife.
Score: 0.5
Dialogue
The kids’ dialogue felt well done but some of the spiritual stuff was a little meh and the science overly simple.
Score: 0.5
Visuals and Music
The movie held up in the way it was shot and its special effects. It relied a lot on the kids interacting with the effects and it really worked.
The music was fantastic and I loved it even if I recognized some shades of Lord of the Rings.
Score: 1
Fun
The 9yo wasn’t impressed but the 6yo loved it. The adults all enjoyed it and so did I.
Score: 1
Overall
A fun science fiction with a great message and some adorable kids.
Can-Con was a lot of fun. I had been reconsidering going next year but after this weekend, I’m looking forward to it. I was greeted warmly by lots of people I really like and respect. Some of them I hadn’t expected, and it made me feel way more welcome than I’ve ever remembered.
It was a nice weekend filled will great people and a really chill vibe.
Thank you to everyone who came to talk and I look forward to seeing you all next year.
This image of Rabbit from Winnie the Pooh, walking around barely awake, really shows how I feel. I’m going to spend the day resting and playing video games.
As a kid, my mom complained that I never wanted to get out of the bath, pool, or lake.
Unfortunately, I got ear infections every time I went into a pool until I was in high school.
Because of that, I never got formal swimming lessons. My mom taught me in the local lake. I don’t remember it, but she must have been a good teacher.
When I first met my wife, one of our first dates was at the local YMCA where she worked as a lifeguard. She challenged me to a race. I knew I was going to lose, she was a lifeguard, swim instructor, and a great swimmer (still is). She of course did win but I held my own, only a few strokes behind. (I think she took it easy on me.)
Not sure if she did it as a test or not, but in hindsight, I think it’s a good one. How a person handles losing or winning tells you a lot about them. I was impressed by how good a winner she was.
I still have issues with chlorine, bromine, and other chemicals in pools. It makes me itch, and if I have a cut, it swells and burns. If I don’t take a shower within a few hours, I start to feel a little weak.
Despite that reaction, my muscles and body always feel better after being in the water. I feel more relaxed and less stressed. (Maybe I’m a child of Poseidon?)
Anyways, here’s a cute picture of Dragon and Pegasus jumping into the pool:
One of my favourite parts of being your father is watching your minds develop. You have such different and amazing ideas. It’s also fascinating to see the difference.
Dragon, you’re now old enough that you’re starting to put structure to your thoughts. When we wrote Assassins, you randomly said, “The bad guy should be called The Beast.” It was random and we made it work. Yesterday, I was talking about a story I wrote involving a snowman and you gave me story ideas, a coherent concept, and it was something I’ve never seen or thought of. I’m being vague because I’m going to use it in a future TTRPG session. It’s impressive to see your mind work.
Pegasus, you’re still in the phase of being completely random. I’m sure you’re tired of me asking for explanations but I want to understand. I want to know your process because it’s both fascinating and impressive. You have a mind that grasps a concept, takes it in, and then moves on so fast that I can’t always follow. I can’t wait until I can follow you or you know how to explain.
You both have such amazing and unfettered imaginations. I hope that’s something you’ll continue to nurture. I’ll do what I can to help you as long as I can.
Thank you for the privilege of watching you learn, grow, and imagine. The world is all kinds of sad right now and you give me hope.
Sometime in the end of November, Dragon got sick again with her third cold. It quickly passed to Pegasus and to my mother-in-law. Jen and I were mysteriously unaffected.
Then I got a tickle in my throat and HUNGRY. As long as I can remember, when I start a non-vomiting cold, I get ridiculously hungry. Maybe my body is trying to get things ready for a bad cold.
By Saturday December 2nd, I was sick. I had trouble eating, moving, and talking. I tried to drink water as much as possible. Soon it was getting hard for me to breathe and both kids were still feeling it. We saw our family doctor on the 5th and I was prescribed a puffer and tests. Jen had a tickle by that point.
My nights were spent coughing and trying to force air into my lungs. In the Thursday as I was about to get a chest x-ray, my watch beeped and said something like, “You’re at rest and your heart rate just jumped, are you okay?”
Friday the 8th, I was sitting on the couch feeling my heart beat fast and not able to catch my breath. Finally Jen said, “Maybe you should go to the hospital?”
I didn’t want to. I didn’t want to leave my house and comfort, but my chest hurt. Jen called 911.
The ambulance took me to the Civic hospital where we found out:
My heart rate was 230 (normal resting is around 80-90)
I was dehydrated (probably from not being able to eat much, diarrhea, and fever)
I had low potassium, sodium, and magnesium
I had no vitamin D (doctors used the words “impossible” and “weird” more than I like about this)
I had a mild urinary tract infection
All of which was being caused by severe case of RSV and mild pneumonia.
At the hospital, they tried to shock my heart back into normal rhythm (twice) but it didn’t work. They gave me an IV with multiple medicines to help bring my heart rate down and by Saturday afternoon it was in the low 100’s.
Art by Dragon that was brought to the hospital in a care package along with some clothes and toiletries.
The rest of the weekend was spent coughing, hooked up to machines, and eating way too much crushed ice. The hospital staff took amazing care of me and I would be dead right now if not for them.
I was released on Monday, with pills that would control my heart rate, vitamin D supplements, and a plan to look in on me. They assure me the heart rate won’t be an issue once I get over the cold and I’ll be back to normal. (There was a hiccup with one of my IV sites getting infected, but I’m on antibiotics now.)
Now I need to recover. I’m still sick with RSV. I have no voice, my nose leaks, I’m coughing all night, I feel weak and dizzy. Several times I’ve worried about collapsing ,but I’m getting stronger.
Jen really stepped up and even through her own sickness (much shorter and milder than the rest of ours thankfully) made sure the kids and house were taken care of. I’m really proud of her.
We had a lot of support. My in-laws have been stalwart helpers, drivers, and kid herders. We also have amazing friends and neighbours who checked in and made sure we were okay. Thank you!
My work has also been super understanding and accommodating.
As of this writing (Thursday evening) I still have but a whisper for a voice and I’m easily tired, not to mention coughing, but I do feel better. It’s going to be a long, slow recovery for me.
Today we’re talking about the 2021 film Under Wraps 2.
Story
They frame the story with a wedding and that structures it slightly differently than the first one. Makes it fresh and keeps the story going. The plot is good and flows really well. The parallels between the mummies and the kids is a little overdone and the messaging a little juvenile, even for a kids movie.
Score: 0.5
Characters
Often times a sequel will manufacture drama by changing a character. They skirted the line with this one, but made it believable. More importantly they solved their issues with good communication.
The kids were fun and the mummies did a great job.
I loved the dads; they were sweethearts.
Score: 1
Dialogue
Lots of clever pieces of dialogue and some really fun moments.
Often felt younger then it should, considering the age of the characters.
Score: 0.5
Visuals and Music
Typical Disney TV low budget effects, but the film makers leaned into the classic monster movie practical effects and that made it feel more grounded than bad CGI would have. The camera work was excellent.
The music was okay, if forgettable.
Score: 0.5
Fun
This was a fun movie with lots of exciting moments. Even though it felt a little young, everyone loved it.
Score: 1
Overall
A fun movie and a great sequel. It combines everything that was great about the first one and improves on it.
The past few weeks you’ve both been disturbingly “down with the sickness“. Dragon brought home a cold and it wasn’t long before Pegasus caught it; he always wants to do what his big sister is doing.
Just when we thought the cold was under control, Dragon went to school… for a couple days before calling home with a sore tummy. She vomited twice on the way home.
So we went to CHEO (which Dragon kept calling CHEREO for some reason.) Mum was with her for the first part of the ten hour wait and I was for the rest. It was exhausting and because of her non-standard symptoms, they missed that she had an ear infection. Dragon, sadly, missed Halloween because of it.
Two days later, her ear hurt and we went to the after-hours clinic. (Mum adds: MUCH faster than the hospital, but we had thought she had broken a rib or something and would need x-rays!) They figured out the ear infection and sent her home. The antibiotics seem to be helping, but it’s slow and the upset stomach, dizziness, and nausea are still there.
As previously mentioned, Pegasus insists on doing everything his older sister does and got himself an ear infection too. So off to the clinic on Sunday for him. Antibiotics are started and hopefully he’ll feel better soon.
The two of you spent a long time not getting sick because of COVID isolation and I forgot how hard it is watching you be sick. I feel completely helpless and I hate it. I’m the parent, I should have all the answers right?
I hope you feel better soon.
So far, Mum and I are still okay. Tired and ragged, but okay.
Looks like today is my last day of vacation. It’s sad but I’ll take another week at the end of June and then hopefully another in mid July. Those will be better. It’ll be nice to spend time with the kids.
I’m going to enjoy my last day by spending time with my kids, playing videogames, and maybe I’ll take them to Walmart and check out the discount chocolate.
Today we’re talking about the 2021 film Under Wraps.
Story
This is a cute Halloween story. There are a lot of errors in Egyptian history and I’m not sure what the point of the 3-day pass for the movie was. It seemed odd and without any reason. That being said, I liked the jab at grave robbing.
Score: 0.5
Characters
Although the characters were awesome and I really appreciated the diversity, I found there was a lack of depth. They just felt very YA written by someone who’s only seen kids in movies.
Score: 0.5
Dialogue
There were a lot of great wisecracks and gags. I really liked the play on words with the word Mummy.
Score: 1
Visuals and Music
Excellent makeup and good acting combined with some genre savvy camera angles make this a fun movie to watch. It uses the practical effects well and limits the cheesy digital effects.
This was a nice throwback to the kids monster movies of my youth. I liked the nod to Zombies (the Disney channel movie series) with the costumes in the background, and the awesome dancing. The whole family liked it and now the kids are pretending to be mummies and zombies, so yay?
If I have one gripe… Honey doesn’t work that way. Also it felt a little disjointed at times and I had a hard time not checking my phone,, which isn’t a good thing.
Score: 0.5
Overall
A fun if shallow Halloween movie. It has some great scenes and fun moments.
A very simple and effecient story that uses everything that it sets up. It’s not groundbreaking writing but it is solid and well thought out.
Score: 1
Characters
An impressive young cast that balances comedy, action, and drama extremely well. I really enjoyed the evolution of the soldier. I liked the pseudo villain being a rich dude with too much greed. Although the Kill a Minion to show I’m a Jerk trope was a little overdone.
Score: 0.5
Dialogue
The movie leaned heavily into comedy and has a lot of great lines. The comedy was balanced well with beleivability.
Score: 1
Visuals and Music
The special effects were amazing and the locations suitibly YA. I found the camera work excellent and it emullated other hero movies excellently.
The music was significantly better than I had expected.
Score: 1
Fun
Despite a few awkward moments the movie is fun from start to finish. Everyone in the family loved it and the kids forgot to ask for snacks.
Score: 1
Overall
A light YA movie that meshes the humour of 80’s kids movies with the action and special effects of modern superhero films. A lot of fun with some amazing kid actors.
