Vital Signs Review

I caught this movie on TV and as I started watching it, quickly got pulled into the whole story. While not perfect, and not very much like the comedy "Scrubs", it still seemed to be a fun movie with believable acting in my opinion. Basically the story follows several med students as they compete to be the most promising student in med school and prove to their supervisor doctor that they are the most qualified to practice. Although this sounds somewhat boring, I found it entertaining and watchable. I've never actually been a practicing medical student, so that needs to be weighed in light of all that, but I think it was accurate enough that it didn't have me scoffing about the unbelievability of the whole storyline. It did come off a little like a soap opera, but it seemed to work in my opinion. Definitely don't rent this movie if you are looking for unpredictable endings or a movie that goes in new directions, but if you are content to have a semi-believable medical story - you may just enjoy "Vital Signs". Also, I dock this movie several points due to some inappropriate love scenes.

2 Fast 2 Furious Review

After watching the 4th movie in this series, I decided to go back and watch the in-between sequels that Hollywood has produced and see if they were worthy additions to the "Fast and the Furious" movie series. I really like the first one, and the 4th movie I consider one of the better sequels I have seen, so I gave the 2nd movie a shot. I have to say honestly that I thought this movie lacked some ingredients of the 4th. I don't know if it was the exclusion of Vin Diesel or just a storyline that seemed a little less involving and more far-fetched, but something just didn't deliver in this movie. The main actress in this movie was also in the movie "Hitch" so I recognized her from that. Paul Walker is back and I'm glad that he agreed to come back for this one, because I think his character is a pretty important part to the whole "Fast and the Furious" series. Although this movie had its good moments, it just didn't live up to how well the 4th in the series executed (in my opinion), and could easily have been skipped over in my opinion. Still, if you like fast car movies and want to see some, but not all, of the ingredients from the first movie, you may want to check this movie out. I would give it one out of two thumbs up.

State of Play

This movie caught my eye, and I decided to throw it onto the queue and see how it delivers. Surprise, surprise! I thought it was one of the best movies I have seen in a long time. First of all, the acting is phenomenal. Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, and Rachel McAdams all do exceptional at drawing you into an interesting story. Second of all, the story itself isn't too predictable. I like the fact that this movie kept me guessing all the way to the very end. Even when I thought I had figured it out, I learned new information until the credits rolled. Thirdly, this movie wrapped the mystery all up without feeling overly cute and predictable. It was an intelligent drama with a great storyline, and wonderful delivery. I highly recommend this movie, "State of Play".

The OC: Season 3, 4

I, Chrystal, was sick almost all of September. During this time, I was grateful for our many channels and embarrassed to admit hours of reluctantly watching SOAP network (what else is on during the day). Then I have to admit that I am hooked on season 3 of The OC. I think this show is a modern spin on Beverly Hills 90210. The show focuses on 4 designer clad teens and their parents. The main story line is about Ryan Atwood, a rough high school student from Chino, CA., that gets adopted by Sandy Cohen, an affluent Attorney General. Ryan has to adapt to his new environment and learn to mesh with the rich kids to make the most of the opportunity. Season 3 ended with the death of one of the main characters. Season 4 started with the young adults still processing the grief from losing a friend, but moving forward with their lives pursuing jobs and college. I love the witty humor between the characters and the great acting!