Music

A Very Jonas Christmas Movie – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2025 film A Very Jonas Christmas Movie.

Story

This is a combination of the “must get home for Christmas” and American “European vacation” tropes. It’s done extremely PG but never feels like they held back on their humour. It wasn’t original but didn’t need to be. The story delivered with lots of emotion. I really appreciate magic being the reason for all the mishaps instead of the brothers doing stupid things.

Score: 1

Characters

No matter how intense your knowledge of the band is, the characters they play are very obvious. The neurotic “mom friend”, the womanizer, and the innocent everyman. They play the roles well and even managed to do a good job of fleshing out their feelings. The story arc for each character is fun and rewarding.

Do yourself a favour and watch it with a longtime fan, they’ll let you know the in-jokes.

Score: 1

Dialogue

Standard brother banter. I like that sometimes when they teased each other it hurt. So often in movies, men will say horribly mean things to each other and there are no consequences.

Score: 1

Visuals and Music

The visuals were standard Disney TV fare. Nothing special, but they did a good job.

The music was excellent and I look forward to getting the album.

Score: 1

Fun

I don’t know the group super well but I enjoyed this a lot. It was feel good, low angst, and fun. The whole family was glued to their seats.

Score: 1

Overall

A fun Christmas movie for anyone, even if you know little about the Jonas brothers. The music, the dialogue, and the hijinks are all delightful.

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.

Haunted Harmony Mysteries: Buried at C – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2025 film Haunted Harmony Mysteries: Buried at C.

Story

The story is fairly well constructed but had way too many moving parts and didn’t have the screentime to give them proper attention.

Score: 0.5

Characters

Too many characters with too little time for their stories. The brother added a nice emotional anchor but once he knew her secret, he sort of faded into the background. There were hints that he and the Siobhan were going to have a romance subplot but nothing happened, a lot like the love triangle.

The main character and the ghost was great and I liked the cast of suspects.

Score: 0.5

Dialogue

The dialogue was witty, heartwarming, and a lot of fun.

Score: 1

Visuals and Music

Once again, the countryside and locations are spectacular. The camera angles and cinematography are excellent.

The music was great and the father’s song was a nice touch.

Score: 1

Fun

This was another cozy and fun mystery. The characters are interesting and the banter is great. The whole family liked this one.

Score: 1

Overall

Sequels don’t always need to get bigger and more intense. This tries but falls a little short. However, the banter and mystery are solid and it’s a fun watch.

Final Score: 4 Stars out of 5

KPop Demon Hunters – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2025 film KPop Demon Hunters.

Story

The story, like everything in this movie, is a clever combination of tropes, story structures, and character archetypes. It does something that most animation targeting children doesn’t: it creates a world with loose ends that can be explored later or just by the fans.

Score: 1

Characters

The characters take a lot of influence from Kpop personalities with a dash of fantasy archetypes and some mythological references. The design, the costumes, the movements, everything is intentional and recognizable to multiple different audiences.

I do wish we’d found out a little more about the other boys in the band, but I understand that would have bogged down the story.

Score: 1

Dialogue

So quipy and irreverent it was great. The dialogue that is said for drama purposes hits so much harder because of the humour in the rest of the movie.

Score: 1

Visuals and Music

Seen as a whole, the movie was stunning. There were a few times where they went lower resolution and the characters looked like claymation from adult swim. I’m not a fan of that style, but the rest of it is absolutely gorgeous.

The music was spectacular and is playing on repeat in our house.

Score: 1

Fun

My first time watching it, I was stressed for the characters and loved all the little twists. It’s a movie with a lot of layers. The second watch really showed how much detail they put into everything.

Jen and the kids are obsessed (as are a lot of other people). It’s a fun and heartwarming movie that doesn’t shy away from the dark.

Score: 1

Overall

Every detail matters and the movie has rich storytelling and fantastic music. The worst part of the movie is how epic a world they built and how we have to wait for more.

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.

Crushing It Google Search

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If you were to search “Crushing It” in Google, this is what might show up…

Not really, but these are related to the book!

Looking for a new read? “Crushing It Jen Desmarais” in the search bar reveal the following six results: “young adult romantic fantasy”, “shared hidden magical world”, “cozy romance”, “music and STEM”, “queer and diverse rep”, and “teenage shenanigans”. Under that and the cover in ebook form reads: “How good does this look? Get it here: jeneric-designs.ca/UBL-CrushingIt“
Cover art by @pinkpiggy93 on Tumblr and Instagram

Crushing It by Jen Desmarais is available now!

Physical from Canadian indie bookstores, physical from Indigo, electronic version

Shadowbox Ornaments: Crushing It

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I got the idea to make shadowbox out of the cover image of our books, and I thought it would be fun for you to have access as well!

Template Download

Materials:
Paper (or cardstock)
Colour printer
Scissors
Exacto knife
Cutting board
Tape (or glue)
Patience

Instructions:

  1. Print the template provided (PDF download above)
  2. Cut out the pieces using scissors
  3. Cut out the greyed out background with the Exacto knife
  4. Tape (or glue) the parts together.

Bookflix series: Crushing It

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A parody of Netflix, Bookflix is where you can find our books and more like them.

Cover art by @pinkpiggy93 on Tumblr and Instagram

Crushing It by Jen Desmarais is available now!

Physical from Canadian indie bookstores, physical from Indigo, electronic version

Simply Irresistible – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 1999 film Simply Irresistible.

Story

This story is a mess. The character’s motivations are weird, the plot is all over the place, and the magic is inconsistent. There’s a strange surreal atmosphere that makes me wonder if it was meant to be a romantic take on absurdist plays.

Score: 0

Characters

The characters are blandly written and despite a few moments of real romance, the only reason it’s not downright bad is the skill of the actors and how willing they are to lean into the ridiculous.

Score: 0.5

Dialogue

The dialogue when things get really weird is extremely relatable and often hilarious. There are some great banter exchanges but a lot of it is cringe worthy.

Score: 0.5

Visuals and Music

The cinematography is surprisingly well done with some absolutely fascinating camera angles and stagings.

The score is heavy handed but the songs are nice and nostalgic.

Score: 1

Fun

This was one of my favourite rom-coms when I was in my teens. I’m sure that says a lot about me but I still find it charming and entertaining.

My wife (the romance novelist) was annoyed with the a lot of the film and the rest of the family seemed confused or nervous throughout.

Score: 1

Overall

This movie is a mess but views well if treated as a surrealist commentary on romance and corporate waste. If you like cheese this is a good choice but if you prefer more rom in your com this isn’t for you.

Final Score: 3 Stars out of 5

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2003 film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.

Story

The story is a nice reversal of the kidnapped princess trope. It has a lot of back and forth travelling but never feels slow, despite being almost two and half hours long.

That being said, it’s not original and a lot of the plot relies on intelligent characters being idiots.

Score: 0.5

Characters

The characters feel jarringly cartoonish but they fit perfectly in the world. It’s impressive how much depth and understanding the audience gets from the character’s quips and actions.

Score: 1

Dialogue

The movie isn’t historically accurate and no one wanted it to be. The dialogue is quippy, irreverent, and funny.

Score: 1

Visuals and Music

The visuals are all absolutely stunning but suffer from the early 2000’s obsessions with quick-cuts and shaky-cam.

The music is spectacular and makes the movie worth it on it’s own.

Score: 0.5

Fun

Everyone seemed to enjoy the movie. I was worried because we’d watched it with a 2yo Dragon and she’d been bored. Not this time; she was riveted and loved it. Pegasus seemed indifferent. The rest of the family loved it.

I’ll be honest, I don’t like Johnny Depp. He normally has little charisma and plays only two characters. Cpt. Jack however is one of the characters he does extremely well.

Score: 1

Overall

A wonderful historical fantasy with amazing dialogue, music, and scenery.

Final Score: 4 Stars out of 5

The Little Mermaid (2023)– JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2023 film The Little Mermaid.

Story

Disney has been calling these “remakes” but they’re really just copies. That might sound disparaging, but I’ve watched and enjoyed more Cinderella, Musketeer, and Robin Hood movies than I can count.

The changes in this are understandable and it shows that the scriptwriters had a deep love for the animated version. I liked the slight change at the end.

Score: 0.5

Characters

Most of the cast made the roles their own. Ariel was amazing and thankfully less whiny. Triton felt more relatable and Eric was less bland.

The actress who played Vanessa was fantastic.

I’m not impressed with Ursula. I thought the actress might try something original, but instead she did a mediocre impersonation of Pat Carroll.

Score: 0.5

Dialogue

The dialogue is very similar but just different enough to sound wrong. It’s not normally a problem but sometimes it was frustrating. The modern updates were good, and again it was nice to see Eric have some more screen time and lines.

Score: 0.5

Visuals and Music

The visuals were good but the underwater stuff was a little uncanny valley. It was beautiful but felt wrong.

The music was fantastic and Ioved the extra songs.

Score: 0.5

Fun

The beginning was a little slow but after that it went fast. The kids loved it and the rest of the family enjoyed it. It was fun overall.

Score: 1

Overall

A faithful adaptation to the original that hits all the right notes. It’s unfortunate that Melissa McCarthy’s Ursula was only a poor copy of the original’s soul.

Final Score: 3 Stars out of 5

Fantasia 2000 – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2000 film Fantasia 2000.

Story

Like the first, this isn’t a regular movie and feels more like an anthology with various forms of storytelling. It’s creative and absolutely engrossing. Unlike the original, it’s extremely short; over an hour shorter then the first. The rhythm between the stories wasn’t as smooth.

Score: 0.5

Characters

Again, there aren’t many speaking roles in the stories themselves, but the characters were strong and interesting.

Score: 1

Dialogue

I liked that they re-used some of the original narration and added some celebrities. The part with Mickey looking for Donald was particularly funny. Most of the jokes hold up well for being almost 25.

Score: 1

Visuals and Music

The animation is pretty but there are places they used 3D animation and it didn’t age well. The whales at times looked plastic and poorly rendered. When the shorts were traditionally animated they looked fabulous.

The music is great. I recognized all the pieces and loved how they were put together.

Score: 0.5

Fun

It had enough of the feel of the original to be nostalgic and it was a lot of fun.

The kids liked this one better because they say it has less scary parts.

Score: 1

Overall

An attempt to recreate a classic that almost gets there but like it’s runtime, falls short. On its own it’s still a lot of fun to watch.

Final Score: 4 Stars out of 5