2021 JenEric Movie Reviews

Hello Movie Lovers,

This year I seem to have watched, and reviewed, 53 films. Not bad. 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 Star out of 5

Week 22 – Soul Results

I let Dragon have a bit more independence during virtual school this week, to try to get her to ask her questions to the teachers instead of to me. I’m not sure it worked very well.

They had a guest speaker again, with a puppet, that taught them about organizing their space to be able to focus. It was cute, but Dragon wasn’t able to tell me what they were saying. She did enjoy the drawing that they asked her to do.

A tree with 2 yellow apples and 3 red apples, and a purple worm in a hole in the trunk. At the base of the tree are 4 orange pumpkins and Pegasus before he was born. At the top, to the left of the tree is a blue bird. The stack of people is our family standing on each other’s heads so that we can reach the apples to pick them.

Math was working on subtraction. Dragon used crayons to demonstrate the answer to the question that was asked of her.

She presented her doll of Valkyrie that was given to her for Christmas by a friend.

We had parent-teacher interviews on Wednesday, and they told us that she’s doing very well in math and she’s very polite and friendly, but that she needs to work on her French, which we’re fully aware of. How do you get someone stubborn to speak something she doesn’t want to speak? We’re working on it.

Homeschool was interesting this week. A lot of thinking about stuff and how we feel.

Dance

She did ballet 2 times this week, and practiced doing the spilts.

Music

Piano: First we reviewed her homework, which she did very well, so she obviously had practiced. And then she did it on the piano, right hand, and then left hand, and then both hands together. So she has new homework for this week; triads (1, 3, 5) on each hand. Then they did the clapping and counting (after the first note; the first one always seems to give her problems). They skipped lesson 1 and started at lesson 2, which she did perfectly without needing to repeat anything. They worked up to adding the fifth note on each hand, and that’s when it all fell apart a bit, so they ended the lesson. Chopsticks went very well.

We have a new French playlist that I can play through the Google, with a variety of artists.

Crochet

She did several stitches this week.

Basic Information

We are working on yesterday (hier) and tomorrow (demain) around any given day. The months of the year is going well. We’re working on the month before and after any given month. That’s coming slowly.

The saisons de l’année are all memorized. We’re working on how each of them feel and the types of things we can do during each of them.

When I ask her “combien” for any of the above, she now responds in complete sentences.

Printing words

Printing went very well this week. I’m quite impressed with her letters, tbh.

Counting objects/math-type activities

She had no problems with the counting worksheet. She has been counting to 40 out loud (three days in a row she has remembered 16 without prompting!) 

Math – after a meltdown because she couldn’t draw a star, both math worksheets were completed very quickly. We also played a math game that the teacher sent along last week with subtractions, and she had absolutely zero trouble playing it. It was a lot of fun to play it with her.

Storytime

We read stories from the teacher’s outline that was sent to us on Monday. She enjoyed that, and we will continue to do it next week.

We watched Vampirina in French on Disney Plus, one episode a day. Dragon is enjoying it immensely, and is even recognizing some words!

Activity

Music blues and jazz – I put on Youtube videos for each of blues and jazz, and then talked about their sound and influences (blues, jazz) while we listened to them. Dragon danced to the jazz.

Learn to meditate – She sat cross-legged on the floor, back straight, hands relaxed. I had her breathe slowly and imagine an object in her mind. I had her flip it around and look at it from every angle, keeping her breathing even and body relaxed.

Make a personality mood board – We looked at the five main personality traits, and decided which fit her best. Then she cut out images that she felt represented each word.

Week 22 – Soul

This one is probably the newest movie in the list – it came out December 25, 2020! In this week, we’re going to be talking a lot about music, especially jazz and blues!

Here is the link for the downloadable materials. (Please let me know if you have any problems so I can fix it!)

MondayTuesdayWednesdayThursdayFriday
Watch moviemusic blues and jazzLearn to meditateMake a personality mood boardFlex

Summary of the week

Daily details:

Dance

Ballet and martial arts on alternate days

Music

Singing, listening to different pieces, learning piano

Crochet

The project she is working on (currently she is making herself a poncho)

Basic Information

We talk about the days of the week and play games with the cutouts of the names. We do the same thing with the names of the months of the year. You can find the print-outs here.

Printing words

In download materials

Counting objects/math-type activities

Practice counting objects and writing how many of each type –in download materials

Addition and pattern – worksheet

Storytime

Activity

Music blues and jazz

Learn to meditate

Make a personality mood board

Next week: Zootopia

Soul – JenEric Movie Review

How This Works – Read Other Reviews

Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2020 film Soul.

Story

What does it mean to be human? Do we have a fated purpose? What is life? Do cats have souls? This movie answers and philosophizes left, right, and centre. All while pulling us along a body swap adventure. It’s funny, fun, and has lots to think about.

Despite the trailers making it look it it would, I’m glad the movie didn’t fall into the “Transformed POC” trope.

Story: 1

Characters

The main character is written in such a way that we sympathize with him immediately. There’s no doubting his dream. Then as we see his life through the eyes of another character we start to see his obsession with making it has hurt his ability to live in the moment. It’s a subtle transition that was so well done.

Score: 1

Dialogue

The dialogue was mostly okay but in some parts was amazing. The conversation with his mom, the barber, and the double meanings of so many bits of dialogue between him and 22 are extremely well done.

Score: 1

Visuals and Music

This movie wasn’t about grand vistas and fantasy landscapes like Onward but instead was a lot more about details and abstract concepts. This movie was beautiful. The wood grain on the mother’s tailor shop to the minimalist interpretation of the great beyond’s light. This was breath taking.

The music was fantastic. I love how the pieces he plays are representative of his character growth. I look forward to buying this album.

Score: 1

Fun

This movie was beautiful and fun. My mind still races at the world building. My daughter (4yo) loved it but my 18 month old didn’t sit through it. I’m not sure why. Either way, it’s not a knock on the film but it certainly isn’t the best for small kids.

Score: 1

Overall

The writing and music alone had me enthralled with their complexity and subtly. This movie is smart, funny, beautiful and certainly full of Soul.

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.