Comments on: Impossible Dreams

Impossible Dreams

homunculus — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 13:35:31 -0800

Impossible Dreams וידאו קסם "A sci-fi romance. Based on the Hugo award winning story 'Impossible Dreams' by Tim Pratt. Hebrew with English subtitles." [Via]

By: koeselitz

koeselitz — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 13:45:51 -0800

Oh wow, I remember this awesome story now. Fantastic. Thanks, homunculus.

By: Zed

Zed — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 13:52:12 -0800

Pratt's currently kickstarting a new story collection.

By: koeselitz

koeselitz — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 14:22:44 -0800

"Miss Congeniality," starring the fabulous (just post-operation) Nicole Cage. Brilliant!

By: stevil

stevil — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 14:30:36 -0800

Isn't there a very similar story about a disappearing book store that has all sorts of previously undiscovered master works by famous authors through the ages; the protagonist is a failing author who gives up their life at the end in order to end up in print, in the store only, escorted by the creepy proprietor? I may have any of these details wrong. Anyway, lovely film. But what was the meaning of the final shot, after the kiss?

By: Zed

Zed — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 14:59:01 -0800

Isn't there a very similar story about a disappearing book store that has all sorts of previously undiscovered master works by famous authors through the ages "Books" by Peni Griffin has a similar premise to Impossible Dreams with a mysterious bookstore containing all the fictitious books mentioned in other books, so it hits a couple of those notes.

By: Isadorady

Isadorady — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 15:21:48 -0800

Thanks,homunculus. A pleasant 20 minutes just spent watching this.

By: pdxpogo

pdxpogo — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 15:50:12 -0800

This certainly makes me miss the Original Twilight Zone. The story, sets, and acting are all spot on all that is missing is the opening monologue from Rod Sterling... Tonight presented for your perusal a tale of love began in the Twilight Zone.

By: vasi

vasi — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 20:44:29 -0800

The Hebrew title is more like "Video Magic", wonder why they chose that?

By: captainsohler

captainsohler — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 23:49:47 -0800

@vasi. Because this it's magical.

By: ocschwar

ocschwar — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 05:29:42 -0800

The Hebrew title is more like "Video Magic", wonder why they chose that? Has the right cadence and usage to be a plausible store name in Hebrew.

By: timpratt

timpratt — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 09:17:21 -0800

Nice to hear the kind words about the film (and my story). The director took my basic premise and very much made it his own thing, specific to Tel Aviv. The fact that it's not a slavishly faithful adaptation is probably why I can watch it with pleasure -- it seems wholly separate from my story. I love all those little magic shop and magic bookshop stories -- the Griffin story mentioned above, the library of unwritten books in Neil Gaiman's Sandman series, and so on -- and wanted to do my own take on the form, but slightly different. Reading some of Kim Newman's alternate histories of Hollywood prompted me to start collecting Hollywood apocrypha and tales of near-misses in the world of film. Stir in a little romance and I had my story.

By: koeselitz

koeselitz — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 09:41:51 -0800

Wow – welcome, Tim! I've loved your story since I first read it a few years ago. I totally agree that this new version had enough very personal details added that I enjoyed it very much even though I had an idea of where it was headed. I can say it seems to work the other way round, too: I have a few Israeli friends I shared this with who absolutely loved it, and wanted to read the story too; when they did, they were happy to find that it was different enough that they could enjoy it as a separate thing.

By: Sangermaine

Sangermaine — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 09:54:53 -0800

Tim, I really loved your story. I first encountered it as an episode of the EscapePod podcast. Thanks so much for writing it, and I look forward to seeing your new work!

By: Submiqent

Submiqent — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 11:05:22 -0800

Where did she come from? I have to know! Was she leaving her family behind? For this guy? Is this something I need to read the book for, if the book is similar enough? Does the book have some more exploration of the conflicts of this other dimension?

By: koeselitz

koeselitz — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 12:39:22 -0800

It's a short story - you can read it pretty quickly, I think. Get thee to a library!

By: timpratt

timpratt — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 13:20:43 -0800

While of course I'm always happy when people pick up my books, the story's actually up free online at Wired at the moment. And, yeah, I go into a bit more of how the other universe differs, and her motivations for the decision she makes at the end. The story's not quite as out-and-out romantic as the film, either.

By: gamera

gamera — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 00:47:31 -0800

Finally got around to watching this. Thanks, homunculus. And thanks Tim for writing the original story and popping up on metafilter. This also reminded me of another, less happy story about a movie buff's encounter with an alternate world, which of course I had to look up again and reread.

By: Joe in Australia

Joe in Australia — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 02:50:42 -0800

The Hebrew title is more like "Video Magic", wonder why they chose that? It's a play on words. "Video Magic" is "video kasem", which sounds like "video cassette". It's cute, and it really shows that they made the story their own.

By: vasi

vasi — Sat, 11 Aug 2012 03:23:51 -0800

I thought קסם was "kesem", but I guess that still sounds like certain pronunciations of "cassette". Thanks for the punsplanation, Joe!

By: Joe in Australia

Joe in Australia — Sat, 11 Aug 2012 05:35:22 -0800

You're right, I should have checked it. There's still a problem, though - does the name actually mean anything? If the word "video" is being used as an adjective then shouldn't it come last?

By: Kattullus

Kattullus — Sat, 11 Aug 2012 18:57:56 -0800

I'm a sucker for parallel reality stories (reading Why I Left Harry's All-Night Hamburgers was fairly instrumental to me deciding to be a writer) and awkward love-stories, so this couldn't possibly be any more up my alley.

By: homunculus

homunculus — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 17:49:39 -0800

Impossible Cities

By: vasi

vasi — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 04:59:34 -0800

Yeah, I think "video" is the noun, maybe "Magic Video" would be a better translation.

By: whatzit

whatzit — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 13:38:55 -0800

What a nice story and a nice film. Indeed they seem like two separate enough stories, separate enough to enjoy one after the other. Thanks, timpratt, for writing it, and thanks, homunculus, for putting them together on MeFi.