Music

Crushing It Book Mood Board

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I had fun looking for pictures that made me think of the book Crushing It.

And I thought, why not share it with you?

Mood board of Crushing It. Pictures of a DIY vaccum, Ishihara plates, a bridge, the Toronto skyline, a robot labelled Door Tech, a promo image of the dinner theatre “Knights of Everdome”, a street sign indicating Westmeath to the right, a drawing of DNA, and a maze surround the image of the book Crushing It in various formats.

Summary

After an epic grounding for some bad decisions with even worse friends, Tommy is lucky to even go to the Door Tech March Break camp. There, he crosses paths with Carter Batudev, and chemistry isn’t just for the classroom. With love and a renewed interest in STEM, Tommy returns home to Parry Sound, where, to the relief of his parents, he makes better friends, and joins the STEM club.

When the club goes to the province-wide competition in Toronto, he’s reunited with Carter, whose team is also competing. Thus ensues a wild long weekend full of romance, hijinks, STEM, and singing.

Includes a novelette from Carter’s POV at the dinner theatre show Knights of Everdome.

The first book in the Lucky in Love series.

Cover art by @pinkpiggy93 on Tumblr and @flowerraven93 on Instagram

Pre-order Crushing It by Jen Desmarais now!

Physical version, electronic version (Coming Soon)

Carter Mood Board

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I had fun looking for pictures that made me think of the secondary protagonist of Crushing It, Carter Batudev.

And I thought, why not share it with you?

Mood board of Carter Batudev. Pictures of bread, a target, a throwing knife, a sillhouette of a martial artist, a rock, STEM image, a lightbulb outside of a box, and a heart in the bisexual flag colours surround a drawn image of a brown haired boy.

Carter Batudev

Age: 15

Date of Birth: March 5, 1988

Appearance: Curly brown hair, grey eyes, tall, bronze skin

Grade: 9

Favourite class: Science

Parents: Sam and William Batudev own a bakery in Westmeath, Ontario

Siblings: None

Cover art by @pinkpiggy93 on Tumblr and @flowerraven93 on Instagram

Pre-order Crushing It by Jen Desmarais now!

Physical version, electronic version (Coming Soon)

Introducing Protagonists

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The two protagonists of Crushing It are Tommy Fairfield and Carter Batudev.

Tommy Fairfield

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Maxwell-Jenkins-as-Tommy-1-1024x819.jpg
Appearance inspired by Maxwell Jenkins
Appearance inspired by Maxwell Jenkins

Age: 14

Date of Birth: May 11, 1988

Appearance: Short blond hair, green eyes, tall, white

Grade: 9

Favourite class: Math or Science or Music

Parents: Lilah and Gerard Fairfield live on a farm in Parry Sound, Ontario

Siblings: Older brother Phillip, married and has one son (15 months old). Twin older sisters Eliza and MacKenzie. Older sister Kennedy, engaged to Jason Johnson and lives in Westmeath (seen here).

Carter Batudev

Appearance inspired by Max Torina

Age: 15

Date of Birth: March 5, 1988

Appearance: Curly brown hair, grey eyes, tall, bronze skin

Grade: 9

Favourite class: Science

Parents: Sam and William Batudev own a bakery in Westmeath, Ontario

Siblings: None

Cover art by @pinkpiggy93 on Tumblr and @flowerraven93 on Instagram

Pre-order Crushing It by Jen Desmarais now!

Physical version, electronic version (Coming Soon)

Tommy Mood Board

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If you missed the cover reveal video post last Friday, due to the email mess up, you can go see it here!

I had fun looking for pictures that made me think of the main protagonist of Crushing It, Tommy Fairfield.

And I thought, why not share it with you?

Mood board of Tommy Fairfield. Pictures of a guitar, torn pieces of sheet music, STEM image, a rainbow heart, an icon reading ‘Best Leader’, and the interior of a bedroom surround a drawn image of a young blond boy. Art of the bedroom and boy are drawn by pinkpiggy93.

Tommy Fairfield

Age: 14

Date of Birth: May 11, 1988

Appearance: Short blond hair, green eyes, tall, white

Grade: 9

Favourite class: Math or Science or Music

Parents: Lilah and Gerard Fairfield live on a farm in Parry Sound, Ontario

Siblings: Older brother Phillip (who lives in Parry Sound), married and has one son (15 months old). Twin older sisters Eliza (who lives in Toronto) and MacKenzie (who lives in Ottawa). Older sister Kennedy, engaged to Jason Johnson and lives in Westmeath (seen here).

Cover art by @pinkpiggy93 on Tumblr and @flowerraven93 on Instagram

Pre-order Crushing It by Jen Desmarais now!

Physical version, electronic version (Coming Soon)

Crushing It cover reveal video

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OMG I CAN FINALLY SHARE THIS!

Seriously, the first time I saw this cover was in SEPTEMBER.

On to the cover reveal:

The actors in this film are Dragon and Dragon’s friend. Pegasus attempted to assist.

They were given the task of completing an obstacle course similar to the one in the book. (Simplified, obviously, as these are not 14-15 year olds.)

The music was written by me (with heavy assistance from Bruce Gordon for the chords! I was so lost as to how to put chords to the tune in my head!), sung by me, and recorded by Éric.

Cover art by @pinkpiggy93 on Tumblr and @flowerraven93 on Instagram

Pre-order Crushing It by Jen Desmarais now!

Physical version, electronic version (Coming Soon)

Christmas With You – JenEric Movie Review

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How This Works – Read Other Reviews

Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2022 film Christmas With You.

Story

This falls into the category of “Rich out of touch city person” is shown the joys of a modest Christmas category of movies. That being said, there’s a little more heart to it with the way the main character has missed out on a lot of Latinx traditions. So it feels less like she’s learning about the joys of being middle class and more like she’s re-learning her culture and how to have a family.

There’s also a wonderful level of respect and collaboration between the two leads. Made me think of writing with my wife.

Score: 1

Characters

The two mains were great. I loved the amount of emotion in their expressions. I liked the solid, priorities in the right place, dad. I also liked the vulnerable and genuinely nice pop star.

The main girl was great for the early hook, but sort of fell back after that.

The manager / best friend was amazing.

Score: 1

Dialogue

There’s a lot of cheese in this movie, but most of it is the right kind. The Abuela’s thirsty comments are hilarious and the small snarky comments throughout are great.

My only gripe was the teens. What little dialogue they had felt forced, like the movie was written by someone who’s only seen teens in the movies.

Score: 0.5

Visuals and Music

The visuals were good. The cinematography was acceptable and the sets were awesomely Christmas.

The music was mostly great, but I didn’t really like the final song. It was nice, but missing something.

Score: 0.5

Fun

It could have been very awkward and angsty, but the movie is a lot of fun. Mostly everyone enjoyed it. The three year old was restless, though.

Score: 1

Overall

A sweet and adorable Christmas romance. The leads are solid, but what makes the movie is the warmth of a loving family Christmas.

Final Score: 4 Stars out of 5

Secret Headquarters – JenEric Movie Review

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How This Works – Read Other Reviews

Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2022 film Secret Headquarters.

Story

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.

Final Score: 4.5 Stars out of 5

Spotify Music Playlist

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Assassins! Accidental Matchmakers has some pretty great music in it, so I made a spotify playlist of all the songs, in the order they appear within the book.

Do you think you can figure out what happens during each song?

Songs in order of appearance

  • “Ordinary Day” by Vanessa Carlton
  • “Lapdance” by N.E.R.D.
  • “Lovers in a Dangerous Time” by Barenaked Ladies
  • “I Want You” by Savage Garden
  • “Let me Entertain You” by Robbie Williams
  • “The Nearness of You” by Norah Jones
  • “Bumblebee” by Aqua
  • “Beautiful” by Christina Aguilera
  • “Ballroom Blitz” by Sweet
  • “Cartoon Heroes” by Aqua
  • “Deep Enough” by Live
  • “A New Day Has Come” by Celine Dion
  • “If The World Crashes Down” by Enrique Iglesias

One of the first things we did when writing this book was build a 2002 playlist.

I had already started writing my first chapter, and Kennedy had entered a bakery. I thought, shouldn’t there be music playing? What music would have been popular in September 2002?

Cue a post on Facebook asking about our friends’ favourite artists from twenty years ago. (Twenty? What?)

We bought a bunch of CDs to supplement what we already owned, and built an epic playlist to listen to while we wrote to add atmosphere. An entire scene in chapter 5 wouldn’t have been there without this playlist.

Pre-order Assassins! Accidental Matchmakers now!

Spin – JenEric Movie Review

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How This Works – Read Other Reviews

Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2021 film Spin.

Story

This is a pretty standard Disney formula teen music/sports movie. What’s different here is the lack of the usual tropes associated with this genre. There’s no mean girl, not much friends angst, no racism, and no parents yelling about what is appropriate.

The girl also doesn’t change herself for the boy, which is great.

There is a little bit more parental angst than I’d like and it was handled awkwardly in the story.

Score: 0.5

Characters

The friends and classmates were fantastic. It’s great to see that dynamic. The grandmother was amazing, she stole the show. The brother felt a little superfluous.

The love interest was perfectly annoying, as he should be.

The only character that bothered me was the dad. He had reasons for what he did but they were terribly shown and you really had to read between the lines. It made him seem like he went from supportive to ass without provocation.

Score: 0.5

Dialogue

The dialogue was quipy and felt appropriate, if a little extra clean, for the age and characters. I liked the nerdy talk and the pun on tikka masala tacos (tik-taco)

Score: 1

Visuals and Music

The scenery and camera work are really well done and perfectly colourful. Perfect for the style of the story.

The music is excellent and had the whole family wanting to dance.

Score: 1

Fun

The entire family was bopping to the music and loving the story. It was really nice to see some of the most frustrating tropes in kids movies were turned upside down or discarded.

Score: 1

Overall

This is the teen movie I wish I’d had as a kid. The supportive friends, family, and teacher are awesome, the music fun, and the grandmother is amazing. If you enjoyed the music based movies from Disney in the early two thousands you’ll love everything about this.

I can’t wait to see it again.

Final Score: 4 Stars out of 5

Vivo – JenEric Movie Review

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How This Works – Read Other Reviews

Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2021 film Vivo.

Story

The beginning was a little predictable in its “Pixar” style twist. The rest was a usual road trip buddy story. It was a fun story.

Score: 0.5

Characters

We don’t see a lot of Cuban or Cuban-American culture in animation. It was nice to see the art, music, and accents take centre stage. The characters were all motivated by relatable emotions.

The character of Vivo is sassy, funny, and filled with heart.

Score: 1

Dialogue

The running commentary by Vivo is both adorable and refreshingly funny. I appreciated the music, situational, word, and absurd humour.

I liked that they treated parts of the dialogue like motifs in music. They repeated or altered certain phrases to create more of an emotional impact and to pull the various parts of the movie together.

Score: 1

Visuals and Music

The movie was absolutely beautiful. It might not have been up to Pixar or Disney quality but they captured the Cuban art and colour style fantastically. There are a few times that the face and perspective in that art style didn’t translate well to a 3D animation, but over all, it was great.

The music was Broadway with the Lin-Manuel Miranda twist and a large dollop of Cuban influence. It’s a little reminiscent of his other work, but that doesn’t detract from how good it was.

Score: 1

Fun

The movie was colourful, never wallowed too much, and had multiple levels of humour. It was poignant and had a pretty good message, plus both kids loved it.

Score: 1

Overall

It takes a lot of elements that we’re familiar with in animated and musical movies and mixes them together with a Cuban-American influence making it feel fresh and vibrant. The visuals, music, comedy, and heart warming story make for a wonderful film.

Final Score: 4.5 stars out of 5