Movie Review: I Can Only Imagine 2

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Strong message of faith that will leave you uplifted

Cons: None

The Bottom Line:

Story behind song

Showing struggles, gratitude

And faith that supports

Walking with God “Even If” It Means Through Fire

Christian band MercyMe exploded on the scene with their first single, “I Can Only Imagine.”  And, eight years ago, we got a movie that told the story of lead singer Bart Millard and how he came to write that song.  Now we get I Can Only Imagine 2 which tells the story of their second biggest hit.

We pick up a number of years after MercyMe has really taken off.  While they haven’t reached the same level of success with their other singles, they are traveling a lot and have released several other projects.  On a personal front, Bart (once again played by John Michael Finley) is struggling with his relationship with his teenage son Sam (Sammy Dell) who is type 1 diabetic.  Because of his own relationship with his late father, Bart is struggling with how to parent his son.

He invites Sam to join MercyMe on their latest tour, their first time headlining.  Along as their opening act is Tim Timmons (Milo Ventimiglia).  Tim has a song he’s been struggling to write.  As he shares his own journey and his affinity for the hymn “It Is Well,” will that get through to Bart?  And Sam?

I’ve been a fan of “Even If” since the first time I heard it.  But I suspected that the story behind the song would include pain.  After all, it’s a song about trusting and following God through trial.  And yes, this movie is hard at times.  I was wiping tears as I watched parts.  Yet, it did not go where I expected and was ultimately uplifting.

Before we go further, I do feel the need to point out this is an “inspired by true events” movie.  Given one of the updates that popped up at the end, I doubt that this story really happened completely as presented here.  But what we get is perfectly dramatic.  And I am watching a movie, not a documentary.

While I did feel one storyline was wrapped up a little easily, overall, I really did like the story.  It is well told.  There are several different storylines that cross and intersect in ways that kept me fully engaged.  A couple of times I saw something coming right before it happened, but most of the time, I was just caught up in the story.

The actors get full credit for this.  Everyone in the cast did a great job of bringing their characters to life.  I don’t know the real people involved enough to know how close they are, but I don’t know that it matters.  I was enjoying watching the actors bring the story to life.

Which brings us to the climax.  As I said, one storyline seems a little quickly resolved.  But overall, it was a fantastic moment in so many ways as we watch the band (or the actors playing them) play “Even If.”  I was struggling not to cry as it played, and I’ve been a fan of the song since the first time I heard it back in 2017.  It still hits that hard, but in the best way possible.  Of course, having watched this story, it hit differently here in a good way

Again, I want to emphasize that this is, ultimately, an uplifting movie.  You have to go through quite a bit to get there, but that’s life.  It is worth it.  And it’s a great reminder to be grateful to God.  Even when it’s hard.

I’m so glad I went to see I Can Only Imagine 2.  If you need your faith strengthened, do yourself a favor and go see this film, too.

February 22nd's Sunday/Monday Post

Welcome to the weekend.  Time again for this week's Sunday/Monday Post.  I will be linking up to:

Sunday Post
Sunday Salon
Stacking the Shelves
Mailbox Monday
It's Monday, What Are You Reading?

It was cold this week.  Okay, I know most of you will laugh at me when you find out I'm talking about low 50's, but for me, that's cold.  And it came with rain.  Not complaining about the rain, especially Monday since I could just watch it from my windows.

But the worst part was the three days I had to be in the office this week.  I don't know if the heater wasn't working or was just set low, but it was cold all week.  Like leave my jacket on indoors all day cold.

Fortunately, it's is supposed to be in the 70's this coming week.

Yeah, this is how exciting my life is, that I'm talking about the weather.  Pretty much, it was work and then come home to watch as much Olympics as I could.  Which never felt like enough.

The cable company did come out and figure out the problem with the sound on my TV was actually one of the HDMI ports not working.  But when someone came out to look at that, it was working just fine.  So we will see if it acts up again.

And my cold is doing better.  Still have a bit of a cough hanging on, but everyone who has gotten a cold recently is experiencing that, so I'm not too surprised.  Still, I wish it would go away completely.

Punny Holiday of the Week:

February 23 – Keep your eyes peeled for any monkey business on Banana Bread Day.

This Past Week on the Blog:

Sunday - Sunday/Monday Post

Monday - Movie Review: Romantic Rewrite

Tuesday - Book Review: The Queen of Poison by Robert Thorogood

Wednesday - Movie Review: Kingsman - The Golden Circle

Thursday - Book Review: The Big Boat to Bye-Bye by Ellis Weiner

Friday - Friday Post featuring Buried in Shamrocks

Saturday - Weekly TV Thoughts

This Coming Week on the Blog:

Sunday - Sunday/Monday Post

Monday - Movie Review: I Can Only Imagine 2

Tuesday - Book Review: Buried in Shamrocks by Lisa Q. Matthews

Wednesday - Book Review: Locked in Pursuit by Ashley Weaver

Thursday - The Unkept Woman by Allison Montclair

Friday - Movie Review: Scream 7

Saturday - Weekly TV Thoughts

Book Haul:

Depending on how you count it, I have either three books or five books to tell you about this week.

What the heck am I talking about?  Well, the first entry on the list is a three ebook boxed set.  Does it count as one book?  Or three books?  Yeah, I think it counts as three books, too.  Anyway, I happened to catch the set of books 4 through 6 in the Travel Can Be Murder series for free.  Sadly, that isn't the case any more.  Do I have books 1 through 3?  Yes.  Have I read any of them?  Don't be silly!  But still, I couldn't pass up getting more.  Hopefully, I'll enjoy the series when I get to it since I now have over half of the published 10 books in the series.

Also this week, I got the newest Orphan X book, Antihero.  Hard to believe it's book eleven in this series from Gregg Hurwitz.  The last couple have been uneven for me, so we'll see what I think of this one.

Finally, Saturday morning, I spotted a deal on Murder at Arleigh by Alyssa Maxwell.  This is book thirteen in the Gilded Newport series, and I have quite a bit to go before I get there since I recently read book 5 (review to come first week of March).  But I know I will get there eventually because I am really enjoying this historical series.

That's the information on the three five books I got this week.

What I'm Currently Reading:

As I type this, I'm working on Vanished in the Crowd, book twenty-two in the Molly Murphy series from Rhys Bowen and Clare Broyles.  I just hit two thirds of the way into the book, and I'm hoping to finish it on Sunday.  As has often been the case with Rhys's books recently, it's uneven.  But I am curious to see how it will end.

If all goes according to plan, I will be starting Antihero by Gregg Hurwitz on Monday.  Yes, it's jumping over the books I was saying last week that I couldn't wait to read.  But the books in this series are longer than what I normally read, and I'm ahead of schedule right now.  So I'll be able to not rush a bit more as I read this one.  Seemed like a good time to pick it up to me.

Have a great week!

February 21st's Weekly TV Thoughts

Wild Cards – I’m glad at least one person is confronting the mom head on.  I get the complicated feelings everyone is going to have, so I hope that is explored a bit more.  And what if she is actually double crossing them and it’s all a lie?  Hadn’t thought of that before.  I liked that we changed our perspective of the victim in the case of the week.  Pretty well executed how we unraveled all of that.  And, I’ve got to say, I didn’t miss the other detective team.  If they wrote them out of the show, I think I’d like it more.

The Traitors – People are finally questioning Rob because of Candace.  I’m a little surprised they didn’t do it right away.  But it didn’t change how they voted at the round table.  And I’m glad because I kinda want Rob to win.  Normally, I’m on team Faithful, but not this season.  Natalie was so angry she was banished.  Granted, I’d probably feel the same way.

February 20th's Friday Post

Welcome to Friday!  I'll be celebrating with a Friday Post, where I'll be linking up to:

Book Beginnings
First Line Friday
Friday 56
Book Blogger Hop

The teasers for the first three will all be coming from Buried in Shamrocks by Lisa Q. Matthews.

This is the second in her series set in at a B & B in an Irish themed touristy town in Massachusetts.  Here's how the book begins:

“Saint Anthony, Saint Anthony, come around. Something’s lost and can’t be found.”
My seven-year-old daughter Bliz, occasionally known as Mary Elizabeth, squeezed her eyes shut in concentration, rocking in her green jelly sandals as she repeated her singsong chant.

What's missing?  Will it be found?  I'm not giving that away!

Meanwhile, we find this at 56% into the eARC I read:

For once Ian’s silence was a blessing. He knew I’d tell him when I was ready.
As soon as I found that note.
Maybe it had fallen out somewhere at the Buckley House. And hopefully no one would find it before I did. But I had Mass, dinner, and dance practice to get through first.

I've finished this one, and I enjoyed it.  It's coming out on Tuesday, and I will be reviewing it that day, so I hope you'll come back to see what I thought.

Let's move on to the Book Blogger Hop.  This week's question is:

When writing reviews, do you align your text to the left, center, right, or justify it?

I left justify.  Anything else just looks weird to read, at least to me, so I wouldn't do that to anyone else.

Hope you have a great weekend!

Book Review: The Big Boat to Bye-Bye by Ellis Weiner (Pete Ingalls, PI #2)

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Pete and an intriguing mystery

Cons: Some humor doesn’t work; a bit too much philosophizing 

The Bottom Line:

Blackmailing puppets

Pete is searching for villains

Different but it works

Blackmail and Murder in the World of Puppets

I have some books that have been in my condo for a long time unread. In the case of The Big Boat to Bye-Bye, it’s been decades. I got the book autographed when it came out in 2005, and I never quite got around to reading it. But I decided now was the time to fix that. 

This book is a little different. And it has none of the set up in it you’d need to fully appreciate the character. It’s the second book featuring Pete Ingalls, a PI of sorts. In reality, he’s a man who had an obsession with classic noir movies. After getting hit on the head, he wakes up as Pete, certain he’s a PI. He even dresses in period costumes and uses the slang. He’s got an office in New York City, and his secretary is an actress wannabe. At this point, I don’t remember how the setup was handled in the first book (Drop Dead, My Lovely) since the story is narrated from Pete’s first-person point of view. Heck, I might even have some details wrong. 

This second mystery finds Pete getting hired by the producers of a children’s TV show. The show uses puppets, and each season they have an outtake real they show during the wrap party of the puppeteers goofing off between takes. Some of the material is very raunchy, in a way that would get the show canceled if the reel got out. And that’s exactly what might happen. Someone is blackmailing the studio, and they want Pete to find out who. But when Pete’s investigation leads him to a dead body, can he find the killer?

Quite obviously, this isn’t one of my cozies. Yes, we get more details on what I mentioned in the teaser. And there’s language as well, although it doesn’t come from Pete, who is often telling people to watch their language. So keep that in mind before picking up the book. 

There’s also the theme, which finds Pete philosophizing on multiple personalities. Sort of. It’s hard to explain. I get it in the context of the set up for the series. But it could have been tone down, especially since it often slowed down the plot. 

But when the plot was front and center, it was good. We had quite a few twists, and I was intrigued, wondering where things would wind up. The ending, when we reached it, made sense, although it was a little convoluted. 

Pete, as you might have guessed, isn’t as bright as he thinks he is. And this is the basis of much of the humor in the book. That along with people’s reactions to Pete. At times the humor worked for me. Others, it didn’t. I think it would have worked better if this had been used sparingly. 

Overall, I did enjoy this book, and I’m glad I finally plucked it from my overflowing too be read mountain range. You’ll have to work to find a copy of The Big Boat to Bye-Bye today, but if the premise intrigues you, you’ll want to give both a shot. 

Movie Review: Kingsman - The Golden Circle

Stars: 3 out of 5

Pros: Fun, over the top action and laughs

Cons: Violence and sex goes further than necessary, even for laughs

The Bottom Line:

Over the top fun

Sex, violence to go too far

Still good for some laughs

“What’s the Doomsday Protocol?”  “We Go Shopping.”

The friend who originally suggested we watch the first Kingsman movie had already seen the second, Kingsman: The Golden Circle.  He warned me that it wasn’t at all good.  Still, I felt the need to watch it, if only to see how they brought back one character.  Honestly, I felt like it was pretty much as good as the first, which means it’s just middle of the road.

When we rejoin Eggys (Taron Egerton), life is good.  Yes, he’s still working for Kingsman, the super secret spy organization in England.  And that can mean he has unexpected attempts on his life, like an attack from Charlie (Edward Holcroft).  But he’s very happy with his girlfriend, Princess Tilde (Hanna Alström), and he has a good circle of friends.

However, all that changes when an attack comes on Kingsman, taking out almost the entire organization.  The attack is the work of Poppy (Julianna Moore), a drug dealer with an evil plan all her own.  Eggys’s attempts to figure out what to do next take him to America, where a huge surprise is waiting for him.  What will it mean?

As with the first one, this is a comedic take on the spy genre.  Emphasis on comedy.  Everything is over the top, but especially the villain and her plan.

That also includes the action sequences.  If you don’t go in expecting that, you’ll be thrown by the opening minutes which are out there.  But if you go in expecting it, you’ll enjoy it for what it is.

While you can’t take much of the movie seriously, it still manages to make you take it seriously.  Yes, you know how most things are going to turn out, but they still pull you in anyway.  It’s one of those things where you can’t help but get caught up in the plot even though you know it is ridiculous.

This is an R rated film, so take that seriously.  Even watching this one on TV, there was a fair amount of language, sex and violence.  Like the first one, the violence and sex was sometimes played for laughs, but that didn’t really help the movie, in my opinion.  I found those scenes to be among the most disgusting, in fact.  Fortunately, they weren’t dragged out, at least in the TV version I saw.

All told, Kingsman: The Golden Circle is a ridiculous movie, but a diverting way to spend almost two and a half hours.  No, it isn’t a great movie.  Yes, it has issues.  But I’ve seen much worse movies.

Book Review: The Queen of Poisons by Robert Thorogood (Marlow Murder Club #3)

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Characters in a strong puzzle with plenty of laughs

Cons: Ending is a little over the top

The Bottom Line:

Well-loved mayor dies

Who would want to poison him

Fun along the way

Who Poisoned the Mayor?

I’ve been starting the year reading books in series I’m trying to catch up on. The latest of these is The Queen of Poisons, the third Marlow Murder Club book from Robert Thorogood. As with the first two, I found it delightful. 

I’m sure it is no surprise when I say the series takes place on Marlow, England. It features three unlikely friends who have taken it upon themselves to solve the local murders. They get quite a bit of leeway from the local police in the form of recently promoted Tanika Malik. Even then, they tend to insert themselves much more than Tanika wants. 

This new case starts when Suzie Harris goes to a planning meeting. She just wants to get the lay of the land since she has a new side hustle she is going to need the board’s approval for before she can start. But, to everyone’s horror, the mayor keels over dead just as the meeting is starting. Suzie quickly calls her friends Judith Potts and Becks Starling. With Tanika’s grudging approval, the trio start trying to figure out just how the killer managed to poison the mayor. But everyone they talk to say he was a great guy. Who would want him dead?

I had to laugh at some of the inaccuracies in this book. Not only about Tanika pulling in our characters but how quickly they get forensic results. Even TV shows aren’t as fast as these results are. 

But most of what I was laughing at were the characters. I love our trio and how they interact with each other and the suspects. They truly are delightful. They each had a subplot of their own to give them some chances to shine and grow. 

The plot was very well constructed with strong suspects. I thought I had things figured out a time or two, but the ultimate solution made perfect sense. I do feel like the climax was a bit overly theatrical and a bit overly monologuing. But it did wrap up most of the questions we’d had over the course of the book. 

I’d bought the first book before we got the TV series here in the states, but I watched that first season first. As a result, I can’t help but picture how the actors portray our leads as I’m reading. It’s not normally my preference when reading, but the actresses have brought them to life so well on screen it does help the characters leap off the page as I read. 

I’ve got a couple more books to go to be up to date on the series. We will see if I can catch up this year or not. Either way, as The Queen of Poisons proves, I’m sure I’ll have fun trying. 

Enjoy the rest of the Marlow Murder Club Mysteries. 

Movie Review: Romantic Rewrite

Stars: 3 out of 5

Pros: The two leads and their characters

Cons: Writing could have been better, the rest of the characters suffer

The Bottom Line:

Editor’s romance

Main duo sweet together

Script needed polish

“I Try to Limit Myself to Wearing One Snow Cone a Day.”

I love to read.  (I know, that’s not exactly a news flash.)  As a result, the plot for the movie Romantic Rewrite caught my attention.  It sounded like something that could be fun when I was in the mood for a romantic movie.

Ivy Roberts (Kristina Cole) is an editor who specializes in romance.  But her boss has asked her to take a look at the latest book by mystery author Reed Shepherd (Russell Quinn).  His last couple of books haven’t stayed on the best seller list very long.  Ivy thinks that the romantic subplot in the book is weak, and Reed doesn’t take her suggestions well.

As fate would have it, Ivy and Reed wind up staying next to each other on the beach in Miami.  Reed is there to try to work on his novel and Ivy is there for a vacation culminating in a family wedding.  As the two get to talking, they also start to work on Reed’s book.  And Reed agrees to be Ivy’s fake date for the wedding.  What will happen next?

Actually, I’m pretty sure you have a good idea what will happen next.  This movie doesn’t break much new ground, although I did appreciate the occasional references to the tropes of the romance genre.  No, it wasn’t enough to call this self-aware or a parody, but it was a nice touch.

Now, I get that this was a low budget made for TV movie.  Even so, I feel like it could have been better written.  Like, who was it that was getting married?  The family was there and involved, but we meet Ivy’s sister early on.  Was this another sister?  A cousin?  How was Ivy’s ex connected enough to be the best man?  Likewise, some of the scenes involving the family were more cringe than funny.

However, any scene between Ivy and Reed was well done.  The lead actors have plenty of chemistry, and I really bought their growing relationship.  Yes, the romance was still a little light until the end, but even then, I bought it.  Fortunately, we get lots of scenes between them.  Ultimately, I found it sweet, which was what I was looking for.

If you are looking for a low budget TV romance movie, there are worse ones out there.  As long as your expectations are appropriate, you’ll enjoy Romantic Rewrite.

President's Day Weekend's Sunday/Monday Post

Welcome to this week's Sunday/Monday Post, where I will be linking up with:

Sunday Post
Sunday Salon
Stacking the Shelves
Mailbox Monday
It's Monday, What Are You Reading?

Had a fairly quiet week.  Nothing too exciting.  In fact, I got a cold this week, so I even worked from home more than I normally would have.  I did go in on Thursday.  Ironically, Thursday was the day I wound up feeling the worst.  I'm still congested today, but I'm definitely feeling better.  If this cough would go away, I'd be completely fine.

Fortunately, I have a long weekend this weekend.  My current company is the only place I've worked where we got President's Day off.  So I get to chill over the next few days and hopefully completely kick this thing.

My cable box decided to cut off the sound this morning, which makes watching the Olympics pretty silent.  Fortunately, other things are working, and my cable box in the bedroom is working.  The cable company will be out on Sunday to take a look at it.  I was happy I could get them out so quickly.

And, as become tradition, I spent the Friday early evening of President's Day Weekend doing my taxes.  Do I know how to party or what?

Pun of the Week:

A dad took his six-year-old son to his first football game.  Afterward, he asked the boy what he thought of the game.

“It was exciting,” he replied.  “But I don’t understand why they were killing each other for twenty-five cents.”

“What do you mean?” the dad asked.

“Well, everyone kept yelling, ‘Get the quarter back!’”

This Past Week on the Blog:

Sunday - Sunday/Monday Post

Monday - Book Review: Something Whiskered by Miranda James

Tuesday - Movie Review: Sharknado

Wednesday - Book Review: Burdened Bloodline by Sarah E. Burr

Thursday - Movie Review: Adam's Rib

Friday - Book Review: Murder by Invitation Only by Colleen Cambridge

Saturday - Weekly TV Thoughts

This Coming Week on the Blog:

Sunday - Sunday/Monday Post

Monday - Movie Review: Romantic Rewrite

Tuesday - Book Review: The Queen of Poison by Robert Thorogood

Wednesday - Movie Review: Kingsman - The Golden Circle

Thursday - Book Review: The Big Boat to Bye-Bye by Ellis Weiner

Friday - Friday Post

Saturday - Weekly TV Thoughts

Book Haul:

I've got another five books to tell you about today, and they are all physical books.  They're all books I'm very excited to read and are next books in series I already know I enjoy, so expect to hear more about them soon.  As in they all went directly to my nightstand.

Up first, Alyssa Maxwell was kind enough to send me Murder at Chateau sur Mer, which is book five in her Gilded Newport series.  I'm very anxious to get back to this series.

For these next three, I took advantage of Barnes and Noble's stamp promotion a couple of weeks ago and ordered next books in series.

Up first is Fatal Fried Rice by Vivien Chien.  It's book seven in her Noodle Shop Mysteries.  Yes, I'm only about half way through the series, but I need to work harder on catching up.

I'm also trying to make some progress on Liz Milliron's Laurel Highland's series, so I got Broken Trust, which is the third in that series.

Rounding out that order, I got The Ninja's Illusion by Gigi Pandian.  I'm hoping to catch up on this series this year.  After this one, I'll only have two more to go.  This is book five in her Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt series.

My final book of the week is Europa, the newest City Spies book from James Ponti.

What I'm Currently Reading:

You know how I said I couldn't wait to get to those books?  Well, currently, I'm about half way through Europa.  I'd hoped to get a little further into it than I am today, but either way, I suspect I'll be finishing it up on Sunday.  I'm enjoying it, and I can't wait to see how things are going to wrap up.

The next book I plan to read is one I talked about getting in last week's post.   Pompeii, Paccheri, and Panic by Traci Andrighetti is a novella being used to introduce a her new series.  I haven't read anything from her, but she's been on my radar for quite a while.  This is a free story available via her newsletter.

That's it for me.  Hope you have a good week.

Valentine's Day's Weekly TV Thoughts

I know this looks like I wasn't watching much this week, but that's not the case.  I've been watching lots of Olympics.  Not as much as I would like, but as much as I can.  But in terms of sharing my thoughts, there was only one show on to talk about.  It's like most things are slower because of the Olympics right now.

The Traitors – Not surprised that Eric joined Rob.  Also not surprised that he is giving himself away.  I mean, it would be hard to not change when you are recruited part way through the season, so I get it.  But he is acting so nervous all the time.  I’m surprised that Rob wasn’t the focus after Candace went out of her way to call him out twice.  I get they are running out of people, but the murder seemed a bit odd to me since she is just going along with whatever.  But I guess that was the appeal.  No way it would blow back on them.