Identity Crisis (2023)

Identity Crisis tells the story of Madison, a brilliant but shy college student, who has no confidence dealing with classmates or or her own abilities as a future scientist. When she discovers how to clone herself, adding the character traits she wants, Madison thinks she has found the perfect solution. Will she be content to watch Clone live Life on her behalf?
 

MY REVIEW: Identity Crisis is such a fun film to watch and is great choice for a Family Movie Night [pre-teen and up]. Twins Scout and Sophia Tayui-Lepore play their roles to perfection as Madison and Clone. I laughed at their crazy antics while also feeling a bit sad for Madison when she would hide to watch Clone live the life that she was afraid to live herself, including dating Trevor (Finn Roberts), the guy Madison has had a crush on the entire school year. Instead of finding courage and confidence, she lost more of herself while using Clone to do the things that she feared...despite learning she was capable of more than she realized. The journey to discovering her identity in Christ is entertaining, but also thought-provoking.

The movie was written by the Boylan Sisters (Alexandra Boylan and Andrea Polnaszek) and I am looking forward to seeing other films by them. Identity Crisis is a fantastic combo of entertainment and faith-building and I want to see more like this. Director Shari Rigby is to be highly commended as well. I also loved Maria Canals-Barrera as Professor Harris, joke-telling, advise-giving librarian, Henry (Elester Latham), and Laura Leigh Turner as Madison's roommate, Harper.

I definitely recommend you add this to your Watch List and see it soon. Check links below to stream Identity Crisis!

LINKS:

Watch on Amazon Prime 

Watch on VUDU 

Apple TV+ 

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IMDb

Divine Influencer

 When an entitled influencer (Lara Silva) loses everything, she must humbly trust God
to understand what the meaning of true influence is. Desperate, she takes a job at a homeless shelter only so she has a place to lay her head and quickly realizes the joy and purpose that comes from serving others.

“Divine Influencer” is such a timely movie as the world of social media expands at a rapid pace. The message of this film is a reflection on how easy it is to live for the likes, the shares and the comments instead of living our lives for God or to serve others.

Watch Divine Influencer exclusively on Great American Pure Flix starting Sept 15th! Not a subscriber? Scroll down to find out how to enter to win a free 3-month subscription to PureFlix.com
 

My Review: Both a quirky comedy and a heart-warming message on what is most important, Divine Influencer is a charming movie that is relevant to today's social media mania and how easily we can lose our focus. Liv (Silva) has lost her job, her home, allowance from her wealthy parents...and her IG Followers!! Then she runs into Ryan (Jason Burkey) who runs a local homeless shelter. 

 

When the job of women's RA at the shelter suddenly becomes available, Olivia grabs the chance to have a place to live. Over time, she grows to love the people and find satisfaction with her job.

I loved Stephanie Parker in the role of Karla! And the gruff but compassionate Flora (Rebecca Koon) was perfect in the role and a delight to watch. The entire cast was outstanding. The film was well-written (Susannah Eldridge, Claire Yorita Lee, and Suzanne Niles) and directed (Shari Rigby).

Giveaway: 3-month subscription to Pure Flix!
(Note: This is limited to US winners only, and only to those who have NOT won a subscription in the last 6 months.

DEADLINE to Enter is 9/23/2023

Use #DivineInfluencerMIN in a comment (on this blog or a social media post to enter.

Disclosure: Many thanks to Great American Pure Flix for providing a sample of the product for this review. Opinions are 100% my own.

The Least of These

As the social fabric of life in rural India disintegrates in the late 1990s, journalist Manav Banerjee (Sharman Joshi) moves with his pregnant wife to the town of Orissa in hope of a better life and the promise of a lucrative career. When speculation mounts that local Australian missionary Graham Staines (Stephen Baldwin) is illegally proselytizing leprosy patients, Manav agrees to investigate undercover for the newspaper. What he finds is a series of revelations that are difficult to fathom and even harder to explain, and Manav is forced to make a choice between his own ambition and the truth. In the end, his actions spark a tragic event that is felt around the world.

Based on a true story and shot on location in India, Staines beautifully illustrates the power of love, hope and forgiveness to overcome hate. Aneesh Daniel directs the film, featuring Stephen Baldwin, Shari Rigby, and Bollywood star Sharman Joshi.

My Review: "The Least of These: The Graham Staines Story" uses a (fictional) journalist to unfold the story of what is happening in India in the late 1990s as the backdrop leading up to the ultimate death of Graham Staines and his two sons. It's a very good storytelling device that introduces us to all of the characters and gives a connection with each. Filmed in India, the scenes present both the beautiful and bleakness of India, but my deepest recollection is the stunning beauty shown. The story does tell us about Graham Staines, but he is seen as part of God's plan rather than this being a biography of his entire life. He is clearly portrayed as a man of courage and humor while being determined to fulfill God's purpose in his life through his love for God, his family, and the people of India, especially the lepers.

Many of the actors were unknown to me, but all impressed me with their talent. I loved Sharman Joshi as the ambitious journalist who is sincere in seeking the truth, yet open to seeing the truth as it unfolds throughout his investigation. Stephen Baldwin was excellent as Staines. His accent bothered me a bit, but considering Staines had lived in India for over 30 years, it made sense that the accent would not be as strong. Shari Rigby was perfect was the quiet yet strong wife of Graham. The actual Gladys Staines both forgave the people who murdered her sons and husband and remained in India with daughter Esther until 2004.

The original soundtrack of the film was outstanding and included award-winning musical artists such as Michael W. Smith, Nicole C Mullen and Toby Mac.
TheLeastOfThese.movie
Graham and Gladys Staines - Missionaries to Orrisa  

See "The Heart of the Movie" for more background info on the making of the film:

Get tickets!! Theaters and Tickets

Extraordinary dvd

Extraordinary is the incredible story of ultra-marathon runner Professor David Horton, his wife, Nancy, and their goal to finish their marriage race well. David's extraordinary athletic ability and the influence he provides for his students is a source of tremendous pride, yet the price paid in time away from his family is high. Nancy believes it's time to put away the shoes and focus on their family after Dave's open-heart surgery plus the irreparable damage to his knees, but Dave believes God has called him to one final act of inspiraton for others. So he begins a 2,900-mile race across America.

Based on a true story, Extraordinary is coming to DVD, Digital and On Demand on January 16, 2018, from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. An impactful and perfect story for the entire family, the inspirational film stars Shari Rigby (October Baby), Leland Klassen (Altar Egos), Karen Abercrombie (War Room) and Kirk Cameron (Fireproof). The story follows Horton as his dream of tackling a nearly 3,000-mile run takes its toll on his body, and brings his marriage to the breaking point. The film is directed by Scotty Curlee. Executive Producers are Bill Reeves and Eric Weir and produced by Scotty Curlee and Stephan Schultze. 

BONUS FEATURES on DVD & DIGITAL:

• The David Horton Story
• The Extraordinary Woman Featurette
• Filmmakers of Extraordinary 
• Keys to an Extraordinary Marriage 

SOCIAL MEDIA:

Extraordinarymovie.com - Website

UPHE/Extraordinarymovie   

Facebook: Extraordinary movie 
Twitter@runtomarriage
Instagram: Extraordinarymovie

 

GIVEAWAY: UPHE & Icon Media are providing a DVD of Extraordinary for one of my readers (USA only). Deadline to enter (on blog or Facebook post) is end-of-day, December 30, 2017. Use #Extraordinary. Winner will be announced Dec. 31st.

 

About Universal Pictures Home Entertainment

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (UPHE – www.uphe.com) is a unit of Universal Pictures, a division of Universal Studios. Universal Studios is a part of NBCUniversal, one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience. NBCUniversal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment television networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group, world-renowned theme parks, and a suite of leading Internet-based businesses. NBCUniversal is a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation.

 

October Baby

As the curtain rises, Hannah hesitantly steps onto the stage for her theatrical debut in college. Yet before she can utter her first lines, Hannah—unscripted—collapses in front of the stunned audience.
After countless medical tests, all signs point to one underlying factor: Hannah’s difficult birth. This revelation is nothing compared to what she then learns from her parents: she was actually adopted … after a failed abortion attempt.
Bewildered, angered, and confused, Hannah turns for support to Jason, her oldest friend. Encouraged by his adventurous spirit, Hannah joins his group of friends on a Spring Break road trip, embarking on a journey to discover her hidden past … and find hope for her unknown future.
In the midst of her incredible journey, Hannah finds that life can be so much more than what you have planned. (Jon Erwin)

October Baby (directed by Andy and Jon Erwin) is an interesting film from several viewpoints. I got stuck more on the element of it being a surprise to Hannah (Rachel Hendrix) that she was adopted. I can't imagine with-holding that type of information. So, I can understand why Hannah would feel that her life was based on a lie and be angry with her parents (John Schneider, Jennifer Price) . As secrets are unveiled, the lives of each of the people involved in this film do appear to be happier and more fulfillment found...when they were forgiven by others or by themselves.


I am pro-life and I believe life begins at conception. I am appalled at people who can wait further along in a pregnancy to abort a child. I cannot begin to imagine how Hannah felt when she learned that her mom (Shari Rigby) tried to abort her, and then abandoned her after she survived. The trauma of the nurse (Jasmine Guy) when she realized that she had fallen for the lie that a fetus is merely a blob of tissue shows that abortion affects more than just mother and child, but others involved in the process.

Another element of the film I liked was the endearing and enduring friendship Hannah had with Jason (Jason Burkey). I appreciated that that there was not a forced romantic relationship feel to the film, but that we did see the friendship slowly becoming a romance. I thought the elements of friendship, faith, and forgiveness combined well together to make a film that sent out a powerful message.