Movie Review

The Princess Switch: Switched Again – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2020 film The Princess Switch: Switched Again.

Story

Adding the third look-alike added a few interesting possibilities and it was well done. It thankfully didn’t get as dark as it could have and kept that light, angst free, Christmas feel.

Score: 0.5

Characters

Again all the characters are loveable, even the villains. Hudgens does a spectacular job at making us forget she’s playing 3 roles.

Score: 1

Dialogue

Lots of playing around with the three look-alikes and some adorable lines from the love interests. The scenes between the prince and the kid are some of my favourites.

Score: 0.5

Visuals and Music

Filming on location really pays off in this one. Scotland looks magical and the architecture seems to just fit perfectly.

The music was nice but forgettable.

Score: 0.5

Fun

Everyone enjoyed this one but it had a higher angst level and will be more fun in re-watching. The whole family liked it.

Score: 1

Overall

A great idea for a sequel with some nice twists but it isn’t quite as good as the original.

Final Score: 3.5 Stars out of 5

The Princess Switch – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2018 film The Princess Switch.

Story

A fun take on The Prince and the Pauper. Like the other early Netflix Christmas movies, it avoids too much angst.

Score: 0.5

Characters

The male characters are pretty and adorable, but it’s Vanessa Hudgens that rightfully steals the show. The adorable littler girl does a good job too.

Score: 1

Dialogue

Clever and cute with a few good social commentaries. I don’t think we’ll be quoting this one much in the future but it was fun.

Score: 0.5

Visuals and Music

Filmed at a real castle and in a place that gets snow so it was partially believable. It was however obvious that the majority of the scenes that weren’t bridging shots were filmed in summer..

The music was cheerful and unintrusive.

Score: 1

Fun

I expected a lot of awkward and angsty scenes but it wasn’t; it was fun and light and I really enjoyed it. The rest of the family felt the same.

Score: 1

Overall

A lovely Christmas romance with lots of flirting and little angst. Hudgens shows that excellent acting doesn’t have to only be depressing.

Final Score: 4 Stars out of 5

Holiday Mismatch – JenEric Movie Review

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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

Halloweentown II: Kalabar’s Revenge – JenEric Movie Review

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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

Tarzan (1999) – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 1999 film Tarzan.

Story

Not a huge departure from the book but the changes are pure Disney. That being said, it is the Disney animated movie with the most deaths other than Mulan.

There’s a nice slow pace to the movie that despite the brutality of the antagonists is kinda refreshing.

Score: 1

Characters

Rebellious Tarzan, curious Jane, overprotective but right father figure. The characters are all fairly cliché but it works.

Score: 0.5

Dialogue

The dialogue is fun and quotable.

Score: 1

Visuals and Music

The animation is spectacular and extremely well done. The movement and details are excellent.

The music went hard and is utterly fantastic.

Score: 1

Fun

I’m not a huge fan of kids dying and the beginning really caught me by surprise. It also annoyed me how privileged and innocent all the English characters were.

That being said, the music, pace, and joy in the movie are worth it.

Score: 0.5

Overall

An oft-forgotten Disney classic with amazing music and great visuals. It does have some sad parts but the happy ones make up for it.

Final Score: 4 Stars out of 5

IF – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2024 film IF.

Story

Don’t get me wrong, I love fast-paced action, but sometimes I just want a nice slow-paced movie that takes its time with the characters. This movie did a fantastic job at keeping a steady pace that felt almost like a Miyazaki film.

The story elements are well introduced and very well developed.

Score: 1

Characters

The main character is inquisitive and sad, the actress conveys that even small ways and does a great job.

At first it might seems like Ryan Reynolds is just playing himself, but as you watch his mannerisms and speech patterns, you see that he’s actually playing a mixture of himself, the main girl, and the dad. It’s subtle but impressive.

The rest of the cast has a chaotic-hopefulness that is sorely lacking in the world and films lately.

Score: 1

Dialogue

Most of the movie’s dialogue has two meanings and works as a joke and story. It’s quippy but also sweet.

Score: 1

Visuals and Music

The camera work is an updated version of the YA movies we grew up with in the 90’s combined with a lot of slow movements, letting the characters be the focus.

The music was fun and matched the emotions well.

Score: 1

Fun

I wasn’t sure what to expect with this movie and didn’t do any research, which was for the best because I wasn’t spoiled. It was a lot of fun and and had a lot of heart. I cried, I laughed, and I felt proud at guessing some of the surprises. The kids loved it and now scream “Keith!” whenever they trip.

Score: 1

Overall

A live action movie that has the heart and emotion of Pixar with the joyful pacing of Studio Ghibli. It’s whimsical and wonderful. I highly recommend it.

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.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2023 film Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.

Story

Like every other movie in this series, it feels like they come up with set pieces and added story as they went along. “I don’t know, I’m making this up as I go.”

That being said the plot in this one is, despite time travel, way more coherent than some of the others.

Score: 0.5

Characters

Instead of the confident, mellow, Indiana from the last movie, we have the Indiana who’s given up. Apparently, the screen writers liked Mutt less than I did and killed him off between movies to give Indiana more motivation. Once he stopped moping, he went back to his quippy roots.

I was glad the leading lady wasn’t a love interest and that makes this movie unique in the series as he doesn’t have a love interest that follows him through.

As for his niece, she bordered between fun and frustrating. The kid was awesome though, and it was nice to see Salah again.

The biggest frustration was offhanded way they kept killing people. I hate it when a story introduces someone interesting and then kills them off because they’re inconvenient.

Score: 0.5

Dialogue

This movie had much improved banter and dialogue. The archeology-babble was about the same but the conversations and jokes were great.

Score: 1

Visuals and Music

This was shot differently then the others and it worked really well. The camera work, effects, and colour palette was really good. I did find the “age reduced” Harrison Ford a little weird looking, and it was discordant to have the older voice coming from the younger character. Seeing as those effects look weird now, I can’t imagine they’ll age well.

The music was great as usual.

Score: 0.5

Fun

The movie straddled the line between nostalgia and new content and did a good job. The whole family enjoyed it. I feel like any Indiana film with Salah in it is awesome.

Score: 1

Overall

One of the better Indiana Jones films, and that means you’re in for lots of action, lots of adventure, and more than your fair share of quippy dialogue. It’s slowed down by experimental special effects, a depressing storyline, and more character deaths than were needed.

Final Score: 3.5 Stars out of 5

Geek Charming – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2011 film Geek Charming.

Story

It’s a teen rom-com where the popular kid has to work with the nerd and they fall in love. I did like the gender-swapped makeover scene.

Score: 0.5

Characters

The female lead almost seems like she’s a bad actress to start with but it turns out that it’s the character who’s a bad actress and she’s nowhere near as shallow or vapid as she seems. This is a hard transition to pull off without seeming fake and the movie did a great job.

The male lead became more accepting and confidant but didn’t have much more development than that.

Score: 0.5

Dialogue

Sometimes I forget what the 2010’s was like, but this is filled with dated slang and quippy one-liners.

When the movie decides to be serious, it does a great job in those softer moments. Bonus points for explaining relativity in one breath.

Score: 1

Visuals and Music

The camera work was very early 2000’s Disney channel. The clothes, sets, and everything else were okay but low budget.

The music was acceptable but nothing special.

Score: 0.5

Fun

I get irritated watching the characters flinging their cameras while filming and I found the idea that a film club would be all sci-fi a little unlikely. Film nerds tend to look down on the genre.

That being said, the actors did a great job and it was cute. I really liked that this movie showed the world what made him fall in love with her. It was a nice touch and made everything more believable.

Bonus point for having the poor kid showing the rich man Metropolis, a film about the class divide between workers and wealthy land owners.

Score: 1

Overall

A product of its time, it celebrates nerds and love with lots of innocent heart. The actors do a great job with a predictable script.

Final Score: 3.5 Stars out of 5

The Beekeeper – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2024 film The Beekeeper.

Story

This was a pretty standard action movie but it did have an fun twist. Following the FBI agents that are trying to catch him was an interesting study in morals, justice, and law. The main character is mostly treated like a force of nature, so much of the character growth is put on the two FBI agents.

Score: 0.5

Characters

The Beekeeper is a natural disaster and is established early as nearly unstoppable. He has no character development after the first twenty minutes.

The FBI agents have significantly more and they’re really the audience stand-ins.

The antagonists are pretty one dimensional but extremely hateable.

Score: 0.5

Dialogue

Quippy action movie dialogue punctuated with so many F words that the script probably looked like a Jack Torrance manuscript.

The more moralistic dialogue is well done and certainly more than apt with today’s political atmosphere.

Score: 0.5

Visuals and Music

Jason Statham still has an impressive skill set and the choreography in this is amazing.

The music wasn’t bad but wasn’t particularly memorable.

Score: 0.5

Fun

This was a lot of fun. It’s cathartic to watch bad people get what they deserve. I watched this on my own, thankfully, and I enjoyed it a lot.

Score: 1

Overall

There’s a wonderful feeling of joy in watching Jason Statham beat the crap out of fraudsters. The movie is pure action with lots of swearing and a tiny bit of philosophy.

Final Score: 3 Stars out of 5

Raiders of the Lost Ark – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 1981 film Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Story

It’s fascinating watching a story that is completely unaffected by the protagonist. Other than a lot of killing Nazis, he doesn’t do much to alter the end result.

It’s exciting and flows from one set piece to the next really well.

Score: 0.5

Characters

Indiana is tough, charismatic, wise cracking, and fluctuates between genius and fool. As an adventurer, he attracts disaster and does everything with wry wit. As an archeologist, he doesn’t do much but consult experts. I wonder what his specialty is?

Marion is the tough girl who can drink anyone under the table, shoot a gun, and runs her own bar in the tough part of Nepal. She’s also completely defenseless and screams more then my children watching this movie.

Salah is still one of my favourite characters.

The villains are evil Nazis and its nice to remember a time when we as a society were against Nazis.

Score: 0.5

Dialogue

The dialogue in this is iconic and quotable in a way only Harrison Ford and Spielberg can be.

Score: 1

Visuals and Music

The visuals are good for the time but are showing their age. The cinematography does a great job in its use of shadows.

The music is excellent and definitely big and adventurous. Perfect for the movie.

Score: 1

Fun

There isn’t a lot of cringe (outside the weird classroom scene) and I really enjoy the nostalgia, but after so many other movies, like the Librarian or Stargate, having the protagonists be hyper-competent and smart, it makes Indiana Jones feel a little less special.

The kids liked it and were a little freaked out by the faces melting until we explained how the fx were done.

Score: 0.5

Overall

One of the first archeology adventures and still a fun ride. It’s aged fairly well but the character of Indiana is often more frustrating than not. That’s in part because he’s not too bright and the uncomfortable history of archeology.

Final Score: 3.5 Stars out of 5