"Ink"

[Listener]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ink_%28film%29

I just watched this last night. It was really, really good. The lighting and production design made it look not at all like it was an independent or lower-budgeted film. The acting was, for the most part, quite good as well, especially among the dream-makers, and there was some cool work done during the fight scenes to really make them look like dreams to the child MC. Add to that an excellent soundtrack and some truly creepy villains (including a Final Boss who looked a little like a satanic Michael Buble) and you've got a complete film.

Plus, the filmmakers said they embraced people pirating the movie, so, y'know, that's tacit approval to get it via BitTorrent.

I bought the soundtrack after I watched it. Very ambient/trip-hop, and 22 tracks for $10 works out to be pretty cost-effective IMO.

[Talia]

Yep, I heard about this a while ago and got around to seeing it on Netflix a few months back (its available to watch instantly, for the interested).  Those bad guys genuinely creeped me out too.   How'd you like that little girl? She got the best lines & cracked me up.

[Scattercat]

Really?  I heard about it and was interested enough to watch it on Netflix, and I thought it was a really botched attempt at a good story.  Endless buckets of exposition, horrid acting, and a plotline that wanted really badly to be an introspective novel with lots of one-person-angsty viewpoint instead of a movie.  About the only thing it had going for it were the bad guys, who were pretty awesome visually.  (And if their motivation had had a teeny bit more time in the spotlight, they had potential for real depth instead of just kind of being awesome visual boogeymen, which was another disappointment for me.)

I particularly disliked the Storyteller and the Mad Prophet characters, who were both like thin parodies of stock characters.  I think the Mad Prophet was supposed to sound deep, but he mostly sounded embarrassed.

Basically, I'd have rather read the novel; I think a lot of their characterization would have fit a lot better on the page than in the endless monologues that filled that movie.  Cinema doesn't deal very well with long blocks o'text from characters.

[Talia]

Really?  I heard about it and was interested enough to watch it on Netflix, and I thought it was a really botched attempt at a good story.  Endless buckets of exposition, horrid acting, and a plotline that wanted really badly to be an introspective novel with lots of one-person-angsty viewpoint instead of a movie.  About the only thing it had going for it were the bad guys, who were pretty awesome visually.  (And if their motivation had had a teeny bit more time in the spotlight, they had potential for real depth instead of just kind of being awesome visual boogeymen, which was another disappointment for me.)

I particularly disliked the Storyteller and the Mad Prophet characters, who were both like thin parodies of stock characters.  I think the Mad Prophet was supposed to sound deep, but he mostly sounded embarrassed.

Basically, I'd have rather read the novel; I think a lot of their characterization would have fit a lot better on the page than in the endless monologues that filled that movie.  Cinema doesn't deal very well with long blocks o'text from characters.

Oh come on how could you not like the little girl. She was kickass.

[Listener]

Yep, I heard about this a while ago and got around to seeing it on Netflix a few months back (its available to watch instantly, for the interested).  Those bad guys genuinely creeped me out too.   How'd you like that little girl? She got the best lines & cracked me up.

She was okay. I liked the roaring. And yeah, the bad guys were disturbing, far more than their boss.

I particularly disliked the Storyteller and the Mad Prophet characters, who were both like thin parodies of stock characters.  I think the Mad Prophet was supposed to sound deep, but he mostly sounded embarrassed.

The Storyteller was kind of dropped in. SPOILER I get the feeling that she was a future Emma, and was trying to intimate that to Emma herself when they were talking about dying and the perception of time. Plus, remember, she died before Emma recovered. SPOILER

Basically, I'd have rather read the novel; I think a lot of their characterization would have fit a lot better on the page than in the endless monologues that filled that movie.  Cinema doesn't deal very well with long blocks o'text from characters.

Possibly. Was there a novel? I didn't see anything about it in the credits. But by the same token the visuals would definitely not translate so well on paper...

"And from the dark, they came: men in suits that creaked like leather, their faces obscured by screens, screens showing ugly men with uglier glasses and horrible, broken smiles."

Nah. The way the Incubi appeared in the beginning was much better.

I looked up some of the actors on IMDB. They've not been in a lot. It was, after all, an independent film.

[Ocicat]

This is free to watch (well, with commercials) on hulu.  I had some friends recommend it, and gave it a try.  Didn't actually work for me.  A lot of good visuals, but I never cared about any of it.  Got about half way through and stopped.  Might try again when I'm in the right frame of mind for a trippy outing.

[lowky]

watched this after your post showed up.  Seemed like a somewhat typical redemption story.  Though my first thought on seeing Ink was: Ooh look Edward Penisnose.  It was a little trippy but was ok, not sure I really liked it.  Like others have said I think it would work better as a story than a movie, but from what i can tell it was written by the director.  I was say that probably means it was never a story first.

[Listener]

Seemed like a somewhat typical redemption story.  Though my first thought on seeing Ink was: Ooh look Edward Penisnose.  It was a little trippy but was ok, not sure I really liked it.  Like others have said I think it would work better as a story than a movie, but from what i can tell it was written by the director.  I was say that probably means it was never a story first.

Heh, I didn't even think that at first, but I totally get it now.

I guess I like parental redemption stories because I am a parent and I write a lot of characters who are parents and have to redeem themselves in some way, even if it's not the main focus of the story. I also have a story in the EP slush pile where the parent doesn't have to be redeemed and ends up un-redeeming himself, just to try something new.

I suppose I was in the right place at the right time to watch this move -- I'd just spent an entire afternoon with my daughter, who'd gone through something like four total hours of tantrums before finally calming down and turning back into someone I actually recognized, and it may have resonated more with me for that reason.

[Scattercat]

There isn't a novel to my knowledge, but man oh man did that screenwriter want to write one.  I'm nowhere near the cinema buff some of my friends are, but that movie broke a lot of the 'rules' of cinematic storytelling (and not in a good way.)  And I didn't like the little girl because she was so blatantly written to be awesome.  I resent it when art crosses into pandering territory.  They wanted a badass little girl, and they wrote what they hoped were applause/laughter-bait lines for her.  If I can see the strings you're trying to pull, I think a lot less of your film/book/show/whatever.

I think if I were a parent and struggling with a child, the movie might have had more buttons to push for me.  However, I think a truly awesome film would make me *feel* the way the characters do without having to have experienced it myself.

---

(And just because I can...)

He stepped out of the shadows, smiling.  They were always smiling.

"Do you have it?"  Flicker.  Flicker.  The glow from his face, from his real face, lit the room.  It was like the opposite of a night-light; it sharpened edges, blackened shadows to pools, and brought the darkness to writhing life in the corners of your eyes.

"No." 

The harsh syllable didn't seem to make an impact.  He kept smiling.  They were always smiling.  "That's too bad.  Goodbye."

"Wait!"

He paused and cocked his head to the side.  You could almost see his false face when he did that; the one underneath, the one that wasn't smiling.  The one that never smiled.

"I... I can get it back.  Just give me some time."

"Midnight," he said.  His smile widened then, teeth flashing white in a burst of static across his real face.  "Don't be late."

[Talia]

I donno, I loved the little girl because of the way she was written.

I'm not a parent and probably won't ever be. I am, however, a loser. maybe that plays into it :p