Crushing It was sent out for reviews in May, and I’ve received some in return. Here’s one from author S.M. Carriere:
Crushing It by Jen Desmarais is available now!
Physical from Canadian indie bookstores, physical from Indigo, electronic version
Reviews
“Crushing It” Review 5
Crushing It was sent out for reviews in May, and I’ve received some in return. Here’s one from bookstagrammer JourneytoBiscovery:
Crushing It by Jen Desmarais is available now!
Physical from Canadian indie bookstores, physical from Indigo, electronic version
“Crushing It” Review 4
Crushing It was sent out for reviews in May, and I’ve received some in return. Here’s one from Éric Desmarais:
Crushing It by Jen Desmarais is available now!
Physical from Canadian indie bookstores, physical from Indigo, electronic version
The Mystery of the Dancing Lights Reviews
The Mystery of the Dancing Lights was sent out for reviews in May, and here are the responses:
The Mystery of the Dancing Lights by Éric Desmarais is available now!
Physical from Canadian indie bookstores, physical from Indigo, electronic version
“Crushing It” Review 3
Crushing It was sent out for reviews in May, and I’ve received some in return. Here’s one from bookstagrammer @JourneytoBiscovery:
Crushing It by Jen Desmarais is available now!
Physical from Canadian indie bookstores, physical from Indigo, electronic version
“Crushing It” Review 2
Crushing It was sent out for reviews in May, and I’ve received some in return. Here’s one from best-selling author Jamieson Wolf:
Crushing It by Jen Desmarais is available now!
Physical from Canadian indie bookstores, physical from Indigo, electronic version
“Crushing It” Review 1
Crushing It was sent out for reviews in May, and I’ve received some in return. Here’s one:
Crushing It by Jen Desmarais is available now!
Physical from Canadian indie bookstores, physical from Indigo, electronic version
The House with a Clock in Its Walls – JenEric Movie Review
How This Works – Read Other Reviews
Hello Cinephiles,
Today we’re talking about the 2018 film The House with a Clock in Its Walls.
Story
I was very impressed. The movie had the right level of intrigue and excitement and the pace was a great balance between Gothic horror and kids horror. The plot was relatively simple and gave space for the characters’ backstories and the world building.
Score: 1
Characters
A lot of times, stories like this will neglect character development for the adults or the kids, but this one did a great job balancing it. The villain was surprisingly sympathetic for a corpse.
Cate Blanchett was amazing in her role and really made me feel for the character.
Jack Black managed to do what he does best and make a loud, arrogant, character who is both sympathetic and likeable.
Owen Vaccaro was wonderful as the quirky kid. I am a little sad they cut the fat-phobia story, but it’s probably for the best.
Score: 1
Dialogue
Quirky, weird, and definitely memorable. The skills of the writer (who wrote for the first five seasons of Supernatural) were definitely well used.
Score: 1
Visuals and Music
The visuals were beautiful and creepy. I wasn’t a fan of the abundant poop jokes however.
The music was atmospheric and fun.
Score: 0.5
Fun
I watched this with my 2 year old and he loved it. Kept saying “scary… fun!” In the actually scary parts he hugged me. I think my 4 year old would have yelled at the screen when the cabinet was opened and flailed like an angry octopus.
Its exactly the kind of kid’s horror that I grew up with and it felt like something I would have watched in the 90’s, but better in almost every way.
Score: 1
Overall
Fun, exciting, and scary with more heart and better acting then expected. This is a movie made by horror fans for future fans. It’s a great introduction for those kids that can handle and enjoy the scary moments. It’s also a great nostalgic feel for those of us that grew up with this style of storytelling.
Final Score: 4.5 Stars out of 5
Resolution Review 2020
Hello my Imaginary Friends,
What a year this has been. I’ve been extremely lucky overall, but it’s been an emotional rollercoaster.
I made 13 resolutions last year and then this summer I checked in to see how I was doing.
Writing
1. Finish Writing The Dancing Lights (Failed)
Well this failed completely. I’ve had a really hard time writing this year. I need to find a way to force myself.
2. Finish Writing Paragenesis (Failed)
I’ve decided to rename this one… again. Other than that, I haven’t touched this since early in the year.
3. Write a Monthly Serial Story (Success)
Yay I did it. and I think it’s pretty good: Read this year’s serial story
JenEric Designs and Coffee
4. Ensure there’s content 5 days a week on JenEric Designs (Success)
It’s a year of change and there will be more in the new year.
5. Design and Produce 2 new coffee flavours (Success)
We released Apple Pie and a new branding for our unflavoured medium coffee. I’ll take that as a win.
6. Print, Package, and Sell Oneshot – The Simplest RPG (Fail)
I really think this will sell better at conventions if I can keep the price down. It’s on hold until the world is more vaccinated.
Editing and Marketing
7. Finish Playtesting the higher levels of Fadds (Success)
We tested the higher levels and it was great. I have a really good group at the moment and they’re finding all the loopholes and issues. I’ll hopefully keep going in the new year.
8. Figure out how to market my books better (Fail)
This is a great goal and a great idea… I wish I had something beyond this… I’m not great at pushing my stuff.
Personal
9. Read 20 books (Failed)
I managed 11 books this year. It’s not as much as I’d like, but like writing, I’ve had a hard time finding time to read.
10. Don’t Burnout (Success)
November almost killed me after some health issues. I came very close to a total burnout.
11. Be More Patient (Partial Success)
I’ve lost my temper a lot more than I should. I hate yelling. I hate that sometimes it’s the only way either child listens to me. I think I’ll say I half succeeded.
12. Play Some Video games with Dragon (Success)
It’s been ridiculously busy but we’ve played a few times. It’s fun and I hope we can manage it more in the new year.
13. Play Some Board Games with Dragon (Success)
We’ve played a few times and the holidays will hopefully lend themselves to some more games.
Looks like 7.5 successes out of 13… That’s 58%. For 2020, I’ll take it.
Here’s to hoping 2021 is a better year, for everyone.
Éric
Scoob! – JenEric Movie Review
How This Works – Read Other Reviews
Hello Cinephiles,
Today we’re talking about the 2020 film Scoob!
Story
The movie was a fun adventure with a lot of the fun of traditional Scooby-Doo stories but completely lacks in the mystery department. There’s not question as to who the villain is after the first ten minutes.
Score: 0.5
Characters
This had a lot of the 70’s Hanna-Barbera characters. Some felt like great additions to the story like Dee-Dee Skyes as the Blue Falcon’s pilot (she was awesome), others felt a little forced like Captain-Caveman.
The main five characters were all there and shown in much better light than previous movies. They were extremely well cast and well acted. The major problem was that by splitting the group up immediately there was less character interactions between them. It also meant that Fred, Velma, and Daphne all have less screen time and almost no arc.
Score: 0.5
Dialogue
Scooby-Doo usually contains puns, self-referential humour, and breaking of the 4th wall. This movie didn’t disappoint in that. It was great hearing all the little jokes and will take multiple viewings to catch them all.
Score: 1
Visuals and Music
The animation was colourful and flashy. It lacked the depth of the older animations or of the big 3D animation studios. I was never caught up in the beauty or in the little background details. The background details being something that I’ve always loved about Scooby-Doo.
The music was good but not memorable. It did its job but didn’t go beyond that.
Score: 0.5
Fun
There were very few dull moments and the movie was entertaining. I enjoyed what was there but missed what wasn’t. It kept my interest and my daughter’s the whole time and even my 1 year old watched it for a while.
Score: 1
Overall
This had all the elements of Scooby-Doo but lacked the mystery and the background details to make it truly authentic. It was a fun movie but lacked depth.
I hope they can make a second movie with the same cast and truly dive into a good mystery.
Alternately I’d love to see a young Mystery Inc. movie.
Final Score: 3.5 Stars