Easter TV & Egg Rolls

Faith, Hope & Love was a nice movie on Up TV last night. A few familiar faces popped up in small roles, including (hard to catch until he has a moment later in the film) Michael Richards (from Seinfeld) and Ed Asner (in one of his last films; he pops up in a lot of Hallmark type films as grumpy old men). The movie was from a few years ago, but Richards is 72 (!) today. Doing the math, that works, but it is less blatant for the others who are younger.

The co-star does a good job in her first acting role, known particularly (fittingly given the plot) from her role on a dance program.  The guy behind the film plays a widow who is dealing with losing his wife in a car crash a few years ago.  The actor is a bit rough here and has had mostly small roles back to the 1980s.  

The film overall has Christian overtones, but they aren't overdone.  It is mixed with standard romance t.v. movie vibes, though the woman being a divorcee is a bit irregular in these films.  The film is basically a case study on how to do a film like this.  It has some rough edges, but good pacing overall, and I like the cast as a whole.  Nice to see some familiar faces too.

It shows the widow as someone with strong Christian faith, the woman open to it, but not in a heavy-handed way.  The older daughter being trusted to stay out late for her prom and coming home early when the party got too wild (showing his trust was warranted) is a nice touch of the family dynamics.  

The title is a sort of Bible pun (the Bible loves puns, many biblical names actually puns), since it is not only a familiar Pauline reference, but a mash-up of the name of two of the characters with a toss in.  The name drop comes late in the movie in an amusing way.  

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The Big V has made White House Easter Egg Rolls not a thing the last two years.  A sign of (modified) normalcy is having one this year, reportedly with 30K people (seems a lot) expected.  Of course, there is a theme:

The White House announced today the full program of activities for the 2022 White House Easter Egg Roll, a tradition dating back to 1878.  A teacher for more than 30 years, First Lady Jill Biden created this year’s event theme, “EGGucation!,” with the South Lawn to be transformed into a school community, full of fun educational activities for children to enjoy. 

1878?  Yup, a lot of history there.  I guess as a vegetarian leaning vegan, I am not a big fan of a egg hunt (or roll) with real eggs.  But, they do not here for practical reasons.  Which is good.  Things seem to have gone okay with people allowed to take part in groups.  Wooden eggs were used:

This year’s eggs featured the White House pets and the signatures of the president and the first lady. Each child received a commemorative wooden egg to take home.

Impressive.