alanpgini

With every documentary on her, you get a different viewpoint on who she was. And you have to wonder, which was the real Natalie Wood? This offered no more than the others. Like, where was Robert Blake in this Doc? He was a very close friend of hers. Maybe there's a good reason he wasn't in it. Considering that it was her family who did this Doc, you would think I'd be convinced that this is the real definitive story of who she was.. But i'm not convinced, not by a long shot. Wagner admits smashing that bottle on that boat, but that he calmed down shortly thereafter. To me, that anger shows that he WAS physically capable of an angry shove that thew her overboard. His genuine outpouring of grief could also be in equal parts guilt as well as sadness. I don't say that he did it, Just that it was possible. But the family is too close to see or believe it. One of my top 5 favorite films is Brainstorm, which was her last. Which has given me my interest in her. But one thing is for certain. Just like the mystery of her death, who she really was will remain just as mysterious, based on too many myriad documentary viewpoints. And I don't think any further documentary (and considering how many there are, there will no doubt be more) will answer that question.

What if an American descendant of Norse lineage visited the old country? What if that descendant, moved through the modern day world, without comic book movie overtones wondering what was wrong with him? What if he collided with a Norse mythology based on fact, where gods were mortal and left some stuff for him to find? And what if all hell broke loose in his journey? You would have this unique "Mortal" movie. André Øvredal decided to write and direct this, taking his ball home with him to Norway, and gave us a well thought out and well written script where the Modern day and mythology collide. The acting is great. The effects are as well. And the plot moves along and keeps us wondering and guessing about Eric is as we anticipate and came to a satisfying climactic ending. It's definitely worth the watch and we can only hope for a sequel.

This movie barely keeps your interest through the first 45 minutes. If the first half was anything like the rest, were talking a great gem here. The last half makes up for it though. And the last 20 minutes will knock your socks off. The acting is surprisingly good for an independent film. Lexy Kolker as Chloe is the obvious star and gets all the attention and rightly so,with a convincing performance at such a young age, but Emile Hirsche and the obviously great character actor Bruce Dern are also extremely convincing in their roles. The effects were credible as they blended with the story, whereas many extraordinary abilities genre films, tend to overpower the story instead of serving it. They also allow you to suspend your disbelief far better than many of its kind. The producer and writer credibly illustrates the age old human reactions towards differences within humanity. Is it worthy of a sequel? Yes and no. Bigger budgets and the awards that they garner, seem to result in a lesser product on sequel. Especially in sci fi. Unless the producer and writer really has a handle on the story and suspense, with the effects that serve the story, and can rigidly hold to it, then the answer is no. It would diminish the original film. This had a great ending. Lets leave it that way.