for very long, but ever since I first saw the trailer for it I knew this was a film that I had to watch. By hook or by crook if need be. Sure the trailer doesn’t explain single thing, or seem coherent in the slightest, but the visuals are so compelling that I knew at the very least it would be a visual marvel. Then when you toss in the fact that this is an Independent film, and clearly a low budget one as well, makes the effects even more stunning.
Now lets focus on the effects for a paragraph or 100 words, whichever comes first. They most certainly are eye catching, what makes them even more spectacular is that they are so obviously working with limited means. But rather then use that fact to limit the creativity of the special effects, director Jamin Winans has turned it into a creative boon that is fascinating to witness. The fight sequences in particular are stunningly impressive as Winans uses darkened hallways and spotlights to cover the potential weaknesses of the choreography by simultaneously highlighting the visual stylization.
But Winans doesn’t stop there. The visual look of the film is hard wired into the story, thus providing an easy explanation for the seemingly odd look. These characters exist in a dream world that parallels our own, so it makes perfect sense that the world these dream warriors live in would be slightly off center from our own. Because of this brilliant story point, any visual flaws or quirks that might be caught by the viewer during the course of the film are easily accounted for by this story element.
But before you start thinking that the visual effects don’t hold up well outside of the three minute trailers, let me make some thing clear, the visuals in this film are truly outstanding and gloriously innovative. In particular I’d like to highlight the Incubus, who are truly one of the most disturbingly inventive villains ever captured on film. You’ll be hard pressed to scrape them out of your brain anytime soon. And just when you think they can’t get any creepier, Winans cranks them up to eleven in an all out effort to scare the socks off his audience. And to bring this whole thing full circle, the Incubus are bringers of darkness, which explains why the fight sequences are in total darkness, except for the glowing eyes of the Incubus. All this simply reinforces the fact that Ink is brilliant not for how complicated or technically innovative it is, but because of its relative simplicity.
But while the visuals are so eloquently connected, the story is a vastly different matter. Normally I do a short summary of the films I review but have decided to slightly alter from that because Ink is a difficult film to sum up. But if you really want it I’ll do my best. Ahem! A young girl is kidnapped from the really real world by what appears to be a human Skeksie called Ink who has plans to sell the girl to a group called the Incubus, who are the bringers of nightmares, for the return of his soul. The forces of good, powerless to prevent the kidnapping, are hurriedly tracking Ink in the hopes of saving Ink from his own demons, and the girl from the clutches of the Incubus.
That actually turned out much more coherent than I thought it would.
But what does complicate the narrative is that there are multiple stories being told that exist in multiple timelines. It doesn’t so much complicate the story as it attempts to confuse the viewer, and not nearly to the effect that Winans is probably hoping for. The true narrative is fairly obvious, and while this form of trickeration doesn’t harm the film, it doesn’t help it either. There is enough story elements in the film that it doesn’t need to rely on an overly complicated narrative flow to keep the audiences interest.
But while I my not like the flourishes in the narrative, I have nothing but praise for the world that Winans has created. This world is compelling, fascinating and aching for more stories to be told about it due to its rich atmosphere. I want to know more about the Incubus, the storytellers and the souls they are fighting over. These creatures are fascinating and I know I would be in Heaven if this world is revisited by Winans at another date. While the trailers for Ink wet my appetite, the film itself is both a meal and a first course in a singular expressive and beautiful package.
Ink will play as the Opening Night film for the upcoming Flyway Film Festival on October 23rd. Tickets are available for purchase here.
Growing up in the Midwest I never had much exposure to Chinese food, authentic or otherwise. Their may have been a Chinese restaurant in Cedar Rapids but I don’t remember us ever going. In contrast I do remember at least a half dozens different trips to Godfather’s Pizza which involved me gagging on cheese. While my mother would attempt the occasional Chinese dish, she simply didn’t have access to very many quality ingredients, making those meals some of my least anticipated so even once we moved to Wisconsin I rarely, if ever, attempted to seek out any Asian cousine. But once I headed up to the University of Minnesota my world would drastically change.
Take Out is a surprisingly simple film, yet powerfully compelling. It opens with two thugs barging into an overcrowded apartment, searching for Ming Ding (Charles Jang), an illegal immigrant who borrowed money from a loan shark to finance his journey to the United States. But Ming has fallen behind on his payments and the loan shark has sent a very clear message, “I need $800 tonight or your debt doubles!” And just in case that isn’t clear enough the thugs leave a calling card courtesy of a hammer to his back.
Ming quickly sets out to call in the few financial favors he has, and even after that he is still $200 short, with only a single days works as a delivery boy for a local Chinese restaurant as his only chance at scratching out enough in tips. Luckily for Ming it has started to rain, leaving him with a few extra delivery chances while his colleague has promised to bow out for the day, giving Ming a legitimate chance to break even, provided that he works his ass off.
There have been several artists who have changed me over the years. The Clash taught me to be cool. The Dead Milkmen taught me to be snarky. Nerf Herder taught me how to be me. But Girl Talk has taught me something far different, how to be free.
Girl Talk is Gregg Gillis, a bio-medical engineer be weekday, world renowned DJ by weekend. Girl Talk is what is known as a mashup artist. He samples small parts of other artist’s works, and then mixes them together to create a wholly new work of music. But not only are they wholly unique songs, but they also openly pay homage to the works they were birthed from. And because of that, Girl Talk is considered by several corporations to be a criminal.
Mashups and remixing bring about many complicated question on proprietary rights. Unfortunately, this dilemma is typically discussed in a very one sided fashion, with corporations wantonly labeling any one who downloads, samples or remixes a proprietary work as an illegal file-sharer, copyright criminal, or if you prefer your allegations more flowery, a “pirate”. For the past decade the corporations have dominated this discussion, and for some time even convinced multiple artists to join their cause. Downloading was illegal. Case closed. Remixing was copyright infringement. Case closed. Mashups are piracy. Case closed. But director Brett Gaylor has come along with his documentary Rip! A Remix Manifesto in an attempt to provoke not only a dialogue, but a fundamental change in the way the United States views intellectual property. And he isn’t alone. (more…)
Perhaps you remember those ads a few months back about something called The Neverything. I know I sort of do. They featured a writer who was struggling to finish her book because she was convinced that one of her characters knew she was writing about them. But what I remember best about them is that these short films were also used as car commercials, which always made me a little upset that what otherwise looked like a promising film was really just a way of selling cars. That is until I found out that the short film that was turned into a car commercial had been turned into a feature length film.
Marian (Carrie Preston) is struggling to overcome writer’s block. So when she consults with her mentor Jackson (Austin Pendleton) on how to rectify this, he comes up with the suggestion that she should kill off one of her characters. And while Marian initially balks at such an idea, when she eventually acquiesces it sets off a chain of events that leave her struggling not only to finish her book, but on the brink of insanity.
Entries (RSS)