I just watched an Indie movie on Netflix Instant Watch called “Ink”. It was written, directed and Produced by a couple people I’ve never heard of: Jamin and Kiowa Winans.
Although several scenes look as though they could have used a slightly bigger budget to pull off (most notably a couple action shots) I think that overall the movie played out pretty well. The movie features some interesting camera effects that worked for me, but might not work for someone who isn’t interested in watching something that, at times, comes off like a two-hour long Aphex Twin video.
I didn’t recognize a single face in the movie (which even for an Indie film is rare for me), but there are a few people I wouldn’t mind seeing again in the future, most notably the little girl, Emma (played by Quinn Hunchar) who is at the heart of the story. Accoording to IMDB she hasn’t been in anything before or since this film, but oddly enough she was the most consistent at playing the part without falling into a hammy/lifeless acting routine typical for lower budget stuff filled with unknowns.
Without going in to spoiler territory the story is roughly about the little girl, Emma, being kidnapped by some sort of bad guy that normally exists both inside, outside, and between different timelines/realities and the human dreamscape. There are some interesting concepts/themes explored in the movie, but most of them remind me of certain key elements of “Pan’s Labyrinth”, “What Dreams May Come” and “The Prophecy”.
Most of the movie worked for me, and I finished it liking a lot more of it than not, so it might be worth your time if you don’t mind lower budget stuff.
“A small budget movie with a big heart” is how a friend recommended it at me. I really enjoyed it. While there was definitely hamminess and odd line deliveries and whatnot on the acting side, the movie sort of worked because of them, reinforcing the whole dream-like atmosphere.
The biggest parallel I’d draw is to Sandman and related comics; I could see every single character appearing in them somewhere.
I watched this a couple weeks back too. It gives off some really strong Gaiman vibes in the storytelling and some pretty strong Gilliam vibes in the visuals. The movie has a lot of problems, for how small of a budget they must have had they it’s really impressive what they were able to accomplish. Very well worth watching.
I really liked the atmosphere and cinematography, not to mention the effects. The way the Storytellers popped into existence was pretty cool, and I -loved- the Incubi effects. I thought the acting was considerably shakier and the writing only so so, although the grand arc of the plot could have been cool in more capable hands - e.g., Gaiman.
Watched this last night and really liked it. You have to be ready to deal with the pacing, which is leisurely, and here and there the low budgetness shows. But overall a great sense of style. The comparison to Gaiman’s Sandman universe is very apt.
I was actually surprised that they did all of that with just 250,000 dollars, the budget mentioned on Wikipedia I believe. The effects especially the ones for the bad guys, are very nice, as is the fighting choreography, which looks somewhat dreamlike but with the blows packing punch. The story was a bit too heavy on the moral side but Ink has a good concept and pulls it off with limited resources.
Gah. Just got done watching this, as the above commentary piqued my interest.
1 out of 5 stars. Obviously some people like it, but for anyone else considering this I’d recommend watching it on Netflix over the web rather than having them mail it to you.
Saying the acting is hammy and the writing so-so… well, that’s a bit of understatement.
I thought they made a good movie and did it on a shoestring. The effects (particularly the incubi) were pretty well done, the story was pretty solid, and the one scene with the tracker (one, two, three, four) made me watch it a few times. I look forward to the next endeavor from this crew.
This is a strange movie that sticks with me. The Winans are from Colorado, so it’s really off-Hollywood. I forgive the movie for a lot because of its world building; it is very interesting. The Storytellers warping in, the Incubi, all are very neat effects. Even very simple things like reversing the tape during the action sequence to show a drawer assemble itself and fly back into place is a clever little effect and also explains something about the world. The color palette of the movie is… not pleasant to look at; personally I find it faded and monotonic. That could be the point, though.
Jesus christ, not only do I not remember creating this thread or writing a single word of that first post, I don’t remember anything about this movie, the little girl I mentioned, its title, or the fact it even existed.
So now I’m obviously interested in watching it again. Too bad I went so far out of my way to avoid posting spoilers, I’d like to know a little more about specific things I liked about it back then.
Oh, and since the link no longer works I have no idea what movie this is that several people here commented on, but now I want to see it too:
