Though None Go With Me [and other weekend viewing]

There were various religiously themed movies on Up TV on Palm Sunday including the Mel Gibson Christianity porn film. This one was originally a Hallmark Channel movie.  It is basically an example of how you can have a faith based film that wider audiences can enjoy.  

As usual, "faith based" tends to mean "at least somewhat conservatively Christian/evangelical," but it can also have a more general Christian flavor to it. There are also liberal versions, where the film promotes some sort of message that includes faith and love in some fashion, including faith in basic ideas.  

Amy Grabow (who has by now been in many things, this film from 2006) plays Elizabeth, a young woman in a 1950s small town.  The setting is underlined by the Korean War (which comes into the plot) and various films that is playing at the local movie theater.   

Her mom has died and it seems at some point she got some teaching training.  Her dad is the local doctor.  She falls in love with the new minister though a childhood friend pines for her.  Elizabeth also rocks the red lipstick.  The friend eventually marries her, after taking her in when her father dies (in debt) while the minister is over in Korea.  His death was mistakenly reported, but she was married by the time she found out.

An older Elizabeth (Cheryl Ladd in dubious makeup) is telling this story to her granddaughter (given her luck, yes, her one son and his wife dies when the granddaughter is a baby) before she is going on the road with some dubious band person.  The film is largely about young Elizabeth, but then we skip to see the car crash and Elizabeth dealing with her husband having Alzheimer's.  He eventually dies.  At a celebration of her fifty years helping the church and town, hey, the minister is back. 

The granddaughter eventually comes home, being on the road to California enough to convince her small time life isn't that bad yet.  The title is based on a hymn and the film is based on a book.  The author of the book is something to be desired.  But, focusing on this film, it is pretty good.  This is so even if you do not buy all of the faith stuff. 

The framing pieces are okay as with older Elizabeth (a briefer part of the film), but the best part of the film is with the young Elizabeth, the lead actress key here.  

A Royal Runaway Romance was on over the weekend, one of the first of the new spring love movies.  It was basically a travelogue, a princess falling in love with her bodyguard on the way to a court artist who she thought would be "the one."  I was not paying full attention, but as a whole, it was a pleasant watch.  It probably was best on the road.

(The road trip ended with around 15 minutes left in film, so the usual complication part of the film didn't worry us too long.)  

These royalty themed Hallmark films tend to be about male royals, often at first not known to be royals to the women involved. A few films did involve women (the ones I know are about princesses), generally sticking with the "don't know" part.  This one was not only open (bodyguard) but the princess was eventually going to take over from the queen.  

One film -- the third in a series really -- involved a somewhat bratty prince (open) but the couple eventually had a daughter.  A plot point in the third film (which overall was about the American doctor having the baby) was the rule that only males became heirs to the throne.  

She did some research and that wasn't the literal requirement.  The somewhat traditional based monarch (Mr. Sheffield from The Nanny, who has multiple European royals roles these days) eventually went along.  It was a nice touch.  I saw the first and third film; both were pleasant trifles.

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Nick had an award show on Saturday night as well and Miranda Cosgrove (on two Nick shows) co-hosted.  Nick (as it did with the first episode) offered a regular viewing option to see the season two premiere of the iCarly reboot. Like the first episode, it just felt off, including how Freddy and Carly even look. 

Spencer looks fairly normal (just older, especially since the actor himself is notably older than his character), but didn't really act as his character would have here.  Lewbert (now looking normal and with a law degree) comes back to sue Carly for damages (yeah -- she was a teen back then ... not realistic) and her brother (he had three days of law school and hated it) offers himself as her lawyer.  

He wouldn't do something so stupid (especially given the stakes) on the old show.  Even worse, the whole thing comes off as forced and not funny.  I guess it is popular enough for the platform it is on, being the second season and all.  Still, like various other shows, such as Murphy Brown, the return is dubious.