IF I STAY (2014) – My rating: 6/10

I had reservations about “If I Stay” on many levels.  There’s a limit to how much control you have over living or dying when in a situation like “If I Stay”.  They made it look as though you have total control.  The victim, Mia Hall (Chloë Grace Moretz) of a car accident landed in a coma while her outer body walked around and gathered information regarding her family, friends, and boyfriend, Adam (Jamie Blackley) .  She was able to give profound thought into every aspect of her life.  While assessing her new situation, she decided what the outcome would be.  The saving grace for this movie is at the end, we got to see who was really in charge.

I found “If I Stay” a little slow and unrealistic.  It was nice that her story was told through her outer body but still unrealistic.  This is a particularly sad story that will leave you teary eyed and possibly depressed.  This is not a spoiler because I haven’t given away the punch line, at all!  Since “If I Stay” is on DVD, you might want to see it, if you’re okay with being melancholy due to a flick.  It wasn’t terrible but it was wasn’t great.  I was bored most of the time but kept watching because I wanted to see how this semi-quasi movie ended.  Overall, it was just okay.

FOREVER – My rating: 8/10

I really like this new series.  I’ve watched 2 episodes so far and I find myself quite intrigued.  The series opens with an explanation as to the condition of Dr. Henry Morgan played by Ioan Gruffudd.  200 years ago,  Dr. Morgan was employed on an African slave trade ship where he was asked to execute a black man for being sick.  Since the man was not really sick, he refused to execute him.  The captain of the ship raised his sword to execute Dr. Morgan but something unexplainable happened and Dr. Morgan woke up in a near by river with no clothes on, alive and well.  Unbeknownst to him, at that time, he would never die.  In the meanwhile he meets a beautiful woman named Abigail, played by Mackenzie Mauzy, whom he wedded and told his secret to.  It was during world war II when they found an orphaned baby in a German camp and raised him as their own.  At present Dr. Morgan is still 35 years old and his wife Abigail has passed.  It hasn’t been revealed how and why she died, but their child Abe, played by Judd Hirsch is now in his 60s and retrieves Dr. Morgan from the river every time he dies.  Currently, Dr. Morgan is a NY Chief Medical Examiner and is sharper than anyone he works with.  He has befriended a female detective named Jo Martinez, played by Alana De La Garza who he now helps with solving her police cases.  She doesn’t know his secret but is impressed by his keen observation skills.  Someone named Adam is claiming to be in the same dilemma as Dr. Morgan, but instead of 200 years, Adam is claiming 2,000 years and is calling Henry constantly with tidbits about his life.  There’s a lot to this plot — I hope Forever sticks around for a while, as I find it very entertaining and quite the thrill ride.  Forever airs on ABC.

[Despite fan and cast protest, FOREVER has been cancelled. I am truly sorry to see this series go.]

THE VOICE – My rating 9.5/10

The best reality singing competition on TV.  I can’t say enough about the set-up and comradery between the host and panel of judges.  Whether it’s Adam Levine, Blake Sheldon, Celo Green and Christina Aguilera, or Adam, Blake, Usher and Shakira, the chemistry is awesome.  There are 4 judges seated in luxury chairs that are facing opposite the stage.  In other words, the judges cannot see who’s singing, they can only hear the candidate’s voice.  That means color, appearance, shape, nor gender plays into the choosing of the singer.  It’s purely based on talented voices.  A judge can turn their chair if they want to choose the person singing, if not, their chair turns after the performance is over.  If more than 1 judge turns their chair for a singer, the singer gets to choose which  judge they want to have coach them.  Contestants are pitted against one another after each judge has picked 16 potential candidates.  Eventually the show goes live, allowing America to vote on their favorates.  Each contestant is coached by their judge and a mentor of the judge’s picking to help train them for the live rounds.  There are steals and lots of name calling and plotting between the judges, which makes for a delightful, fun show.  Check this one out, it’s better than XFactor or American Idol.  I’ve been watching since the show began and it always makes my day.  The Voice currently airs on NBC.