Movie Reviews

Aurora Awards 2026

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NASA#2007934

Dear Readers,

The Aurora Awards, which are for Canadian science fiction and fantasy writers and artists, are open for nominations for the 2025 works! (Nominations are open until April 5) This means the LONG lists of eligible works are being narrowed down to 5-6 per category.

Once they have a list of nominated works, every single person who signed up and paid the $10 membership fee gets ALL the nominated works as downloads. That’s all the adult novels, YA novels, novellas, short stories, graphic novels, and related works (usually anthologies), so about 36 works, for just $10 CAD, which is a great deal.

Getting nominated for an Aurora Award is a BIG DEAL in the speculative fiction writing community. You get a nomination pin (only once, so I’m terrified I’ll lose mine!), and you’re part of an elite group of people.

Nomination forms are not ranked.

How do you nominate?

  1. Go to this website: https://www.csffa.ca/members-home/
  2. Join, pay membership fee
  3. Nominate up to 5 works per category https://www.csffa.ca/members-home/nomination/

It would mean a lot to all of us if you’re willing to nominate us! (Categories are in alphabetical order by work)

  • Eligibility Category 2 – Best Young Adult Novel
    • The Copper Tarnish by Éric Desmarais
    • Winging It by Jen Desmarais
  • Eligibility Category 3 – Best Novelette/Novella
    • The Scarlet Thread Irregulars by Éric Desmarais
  • Eligibility Category 4 – Best Short Story
    • Harvest Special by Jen Desmarais
    • I am Snowman by Éric Desmarais
    • Plants, Fungus, and Zombies! by Éric Desmarais
    • Snow Day by Jen Desmarais
    • The Puzzles of Everdome by Éric Desmarais
    • The Summer of ’99 and How I Died by Éric Desmarais
  • Eligibility Category 6 – Best Poem/Song
    • The Ballad of the Phantom and the Wraith by Jen Desmarais, found in Winging It by Jen Desmarais
  • Eligibility Category 7 – Best Related Work
    • Connections! The Unexpected First Collection by Jen and Éric Desmarais
  • Eligibility Category 9 – Best Fan Writing/Publication
    • JenEric Movie Reviews by Éric Desmarais
    • The Travelling TARDIS by Jen Desmarais

In case you’re wondering why Winging It is not included in the best cover art category, it’s because our cover artist is Vietnamese! Only Canadian creators are eligible, unfortunately. We forgot to include The Copper Tarnish in this category because we’re not used to having art made by us! Éric did the cover for it.
Thank you so much for your time, attention, and support. If any of the above does make it through the nomination round, which ends April 5, we’ll write another post for the voting round, which will be taking place starting in June 2026.

Read safe!

Éric

A Christmas to Treasure – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2022 film A Christmas to Treasure.

Story

The main gimmick of the movie was the treasure hunt, and it was lackluster at best. The love story was definitely front and centre, but the drama took more time than needed.

Score: 0

Characters

I liked most of the characters but the main character felt very petty and young. The entire group felt like they should be in their mid twenties not thirties. There was an immaturity that felt out of place.

The queer romance was nice to see however.

Score: 0.5

Dialogue

The movie felt like it was written too quickly and the dialogue was terrible. It felt forced, and several times like a low quality high school play.

The only exceptions being the really deep heart to hearts with the love interests.

Score: 0.5

Visuals and Music

The visuals were okay. I question how that one man decorated so much without noticing the treasure hunt, but other than that it was pretty.

The music wasn’t great and the mixing was distracting multiple times.

Score: 0.5

Fun

The movie was infuriating because it could have been so much better. The entire family’s opinion seemed to be “meh”.

Score: 0.5

Overall

The movie nails one or two monologues and isn’t terrible to look at, but don’t expect a fun treasure hunt.

Final Score: 2 Stars out of 5

Snoopy Presents: A Summer Musical – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2025 film Snoopy Presents: A Summer Musical.

Story

There’s nothing new or special here except that the writers perfectly captured the spirit of Peanuts.

Score: 0.5

Characters

Each character was exactly as I expected. Some of the voices weren’t perfect but it really shows how the actors and the writers love the source material.

Score: 1

Dialogue

Cute, wholesome, and clever; just like the rest of the shows and comics.

Score: 1

Visuals and Music

The animation was thankfully 2D and fairly well done. There’s a warmth missing that only comes from traditional animation but it’s still lovely.

The music was cute but utterly forgettable.

Score: 0.5

Fun

This gets massive nostalgia points from me. The rest of the family loved it.

Score: 1

Overall

A faithful and entertaining addition to the Peanuts catalogue. Made with love and lots of heart.

Final Score: 4 Stars out of 5

The Thursday Murder Club – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2025 film The Thursday Murder Club.

Story

Two of the hardest things to write are adaptations and mysteries. Netflix succeeds at both with this movie that is as much fun to watch as it is to guess the murderer.

Score: 1

Characters

A group of retired professionals try and solve cold cases. It’s a fantastic idea to expand the Marple formula. Each of the four main characters has their own arcs and specialties.

The rest of the cast is large enough to make sure we already know who did it and small enough that we can recognize them all.

Score: 1

Dialogue

There are more jokes in this about the actors’ previous roles than I can count. I’ll need to rewatch a few times to catch them all. It’s clever, cheeky, and definitely well written and delivered with an abundances of skill.

Score: 1

Visuals and Music

The camera angles are well done and the movie is mostly shot in a very calm way that makes you forget you’re watching something. The residence, clothes, and sets are vibrant and beautiful. I particularly liked how each apartment reflected the style of the resident.

Score: 1

Fun

This was a great mystery and so much fun to watch. The whole family was glued to their seats.

Score: 1

Overall

A mystery story that is both fun and well written. Once you’ve watched it for the mystery, rewatch it for the references, jokes, and fantastic acting.

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.

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.

2023 JenEric Movie Reviews

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Hello Movie Lovers,

This year I seem to have watched, and reviewed, 48 films. Not bad considering I was too sick to watch movies for most of December. Below is a list of them in descending star order. Within each catergory, they are in alphabetical order.

5 out of 5 Stars

4.5 out of 5 Stars

4 out of 5 Stars

3.5 out of 5 Stars

3 out of 5 Stars

2.5 out of 5 Stars

2 out of 5 Stars

1.5 out of 5 Stars

2024 Reviews will start next Saturday.

A Knight’s Tale – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2001 film A Knight’s Tale.

Story

Someone thought that a sports/underdog movie should be done with jousting. It works, but it’s a paint by the numbers of all other sports movies.

The love story is trite and despite vaguely hinting at feminism, doesn’t feel authentic.

Score: 0

Characters

With a combination of fantastic actors and well written dialogue, the film is filled with likable characters. From the trustworthy Roland to the hothead Wat. The addition of Chaucer was a wonderful nod.

The only disappointing thing was how utterly white the movie was. All the main characters and all the crowds.

Score: 0.5

Dialogue

Anachronistic, like the rest of the film, but filled with great little gems that I still quote today.

Score: 1

Visuals and Music

Again, I’ll complain about the lack of colour. Not just race but lack of bright vibrant colours. Other than Jocelyn there’s no vibrant colours. It would have made the joust easier to follow and been more historically accurate.

However the cinematography and sets are fantastic.

The music was a great combination of rock and sports score.

Score: 1

Fun

This is an exciting movie, but it’s a little long and my kids got bored. The jousting could have been done better with more colours and less early 2000’s shaky-cam.

It was, however, a lot of fun.

Score: 0.5

Overall

Oddly dated to the 2000’s aesthetic of jock and sports culture, lacking any sort of diversity. The movie has a boring love story with an exciting sports story arc. In the end, it’s the quality of the actors, the emotion, and the dialogue that stand out.

Final Score: 3 Stars out of 5

2020 JenEric Movie Reviews

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Hello Movie Lovers,

This year I seem to have watched, and reviewed, 73 films. Wow. Below is a list of them in decending star order. Within each catergory they are in alphabetical order.

5 Stars out of 5

4.5 Stars out of 5

4 Stars out of 5

3.5 Stars out of 5

3 Stars out of 5

2.5 Stars out of 5

2 Stars out of 5

1.5 Stars out of 5

1 Stars out of 5

0.5 Stars out of 5

What do you think? Do you disagree on any films?

Éric

Sleeping Beauty – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 1959 film Sleeping Beauty.

Story

This is a classic. It’s now 61 years old and the 16th animated feature by Disney.

The story is pretty standard fairy tale with a little less death, rape, and horror in it than Grimm liked. A lot of the hour and seventeen minutes is spent of the set up to the big song number in the woods.

Other than some cringe-inducing grabbyness on Phillip’s side and some alcohol jokes that haven’t aged well, it held up pretty well.

The major difference with it and the more modern films is how simple the story is. Something that can be said about a lot of 1950 movies, not just the animated ones.

Score: 0.5

Characters

Poor Aurora had little to no choices in the movie. She was literally tossed around by the forces of fate and faerie.

Phillip was a nice strong hero but also felt young and less 1400 more 1950’s, which I suppose was the point.

The fathers, as is usual, were useless; and Aurora’s mother had almost no part.

Maleficent was a lonely, angry witch who could have used more motivation.

Score: 0.5

Dialogue

On average, the dialogue was simple, easy to understand and very forgettable. Maleficent didn’t need to call herself the Mistress of Evil for us to know she was the baddie, but she did.

The narration at the beginning felt over exposition-y and could have been done in dialogue or visually instead.

Score: 0

Visuals and Music

This was an absolutely gorgeous movie. Colourful, clean lines, no choppiness in animation. There are plenty of movies that don’t look half as good that came out in the past 10 years. The change in colour with the change in light source was beautiful, if a little over done.

The music was fantastic and catchy. If you don’t get Once Upon a Dream stuck in your head I’ll be surprised… and a little jealous.

Score: 1

Fun

This movie didn’t drag and if I found myself annoyed at the characters, there was always something visually stunning to look at. I had fun the entire time and wasn’t even tempted to look at my phone.

Score: 1

Conclusion

Overall, the movie was fun and beautiful. Some of the jokes fall flat after 60+ years but I didn’t need to pause and talk to my kids about what terrible thing was going on.

Final Score: 3 Stars

Spies in Disguise – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2019 movie Spies in Disguise.

Story

The movie starts as a standard spy thriller reminiscent of older James Bond. It even has a Bond-style intro sequence. There’s a car chase, stakeout, and they add a great twist by inserting an awkward and slightly out there scientist and gadget maker.

The movie exploits the tropes of Spy Thrillers, Accidental Spy, and buddy comedy in a way that could have easily been cringe worthy but wasn’t.

The themes of the movie seem to be a combination of violence begets violence and to challenge tradition. Which is pretty subtle and backed up with some spectacular action sequences.

That being said, it was a little predictable.

Score: .5

Characters

The tough guy scared by loss who’s a super spy is a tired cliché and is used to make you dislike the character to start with and redeem him in the long run. Will Smith does a great job with a character that could have been less likeable than Daniel Craig’s Bond. Unfortunately the character spends far too much of the movie on bravado and complaining. It gets annoying.

The geeky scientist who is driven by a sad backstory is normally the villain. He has every earmark of turning bad, but the writers never even let you think it a possibility. He’s a stalwart believer in a non-fatal form of justice. (Spider-Man, is that you?)

The secondary characters are entertaining but the villain is utterly forgettable.

Score: .5

Dialogue

Quipy, intelligent, and delightful. The movie shines in it’s dialogue and visuals.

A nice bonus for both an animated movie and a spy story was that the techno-babble was coherent and based in real science.

Score: 1

Visuals

It was a beautiful movie. Using visuals to move the story forward and add humour. It’s a beautiful movie that would be hilarious even without sound.

Score: 1

Fun

Other than a few times I wanted to slap the Spy character or the spy agency people, I really enjoyed this movie. There’s action, adventure, humour, and a feeling that everything will work out.

Score: 1

Conclusion

This is one of the better spy spoofs that I’ve seen. It avoids a lot of the pratfalls of awkwardness and really delivers some clever laughs. Dragon laughed a lot and sat the entire time.

Final Score: 4 Stars