I’ve been touting Ink ever since I watched it last year (read my review here), its a fabulous throwback to the kind of sci-fi/fantasy films that were everywhere in the 80’s yet have seemingly gone out of fashion in the decades since. Its a terrific little film from some of the nicest people I have had the pleasure of meeting. If you haven’t checked out the movie yet, let me once again urge you to do so.
Now, I’ve been not so secretly hoping that writer/director Jamin Winans would return to the proverbial well and make another film that would involve the Ink universe, and while his latest short film doesn’t do that exactly, it certainly involves a lot of elements that made Ink such an enjoyable film to watch. Most of the actors in Uncle Jack were involved with Ink (note to self, watch anything with Jeremy Make in it), the plot certainly cribs some elements from Ink and of course Winan’s visual style and flair exists in both films. So sit back and watch this great little short film, and perhaps it will finally convince you to give Ink a try.
Thanks to the guys over at Film Junk I came across the trailer for the new mumblecore science fiction film Mars that will be debuting at the 2010 SXSW Film Festival. Combining its eye catching visual presentation with its misanthropic tone hopefully will result in an interesting romantic comedy, though the trailer certainly reminds me at times of Dark Star.
But what I might be most interested in for the film, is the involvement of James Kochalka, who is one of the best American independent comic creators currently working. I wouldn’t be surprised if he helped with some of the background animation, but that he is acting in this film gives me hope that some of his outstanding writing talent might be used to help sharpen up the dialogue. Please let it be true.
Now Indie film making isn’t exactly all that interesting to most people, that is, not until the next Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind comes out and blows people away. Most people are content to simply ignore Indie films until the bandwagon no longer allows them to. Suffering a similar, if even more ignominious fate is Indie publishing, specifically comic book publishing. The mainstream couldn’t care less what the virginal, pimple-faced nerds are reading. So it comes as little of a surprise that barely anyone is covering the announcement that Top Shelf Productions, arguably the best Indie comic publisher currently in operation, has made a deal with the Indie film company Likely Story for partial interest in Top Shelf Productions. The reason for this? To start putting Top Shelf comics into film production.
Top Shelf co-founders Chris Staros and Brett Warnock still have controlling interest in the company, but now entrepreneur John S. Johnson and independent film producer Anthony Bregman (owners of Likely Story) now have the option to hand select which Top Shelf products they’d like to produce for film or television, essentially granting them exclusive rights to hand select from the Top Shelf catalog, whereas before Top Shelf simply allowed Hollywood to come to them for adaptations like Surrogates.
And word has it that the first project has already been selected, a film adaptation of Alex Robinson’sToo Cool To Be Forgotten (recently named one of Amazon.com’s Top Ten Graphic Novels of the Year), a story of a man who tries to battle his cigarette addiction by traveling back in time to the first time he ever smoked, High School. Its a great comic and one that should translate rather easily to the silver screen which only excites me at the possibilities of Top Shelf finally getting the mainstream recognition and acclaim that it so richly deserves.
Their are few films I am more excited to see next year than Kick-Ass. The film has already got an interesting backstory, as its violent comic book origins made it one that studios immediately shied away from. Yet, oddly enough, the comic had already sold its film rights before the first issue ever hit stands. So while I’m excited to see the film, I just as equally excited to see if an independent, ultra-violent comic book film can actually be a hit with audiences. We know they like the PG-13 films, but will they flock to see a hard R?
Actually, I don’t really care. I just want to see a kick ass movie.
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