Blinky Just Wants To Be Your Friend!

March 20, 2011 10:50 PM

"My name is Blinky, and I just want to be your friend!" A well-crafted short film by Ruairi Robinson (slightly gory CGI ending may be NSFW).
posted by killdevil (25 comments total)

Oh man. I want this to be a feature-length film. NO PROBLEM?
posted by bayani at 11:09 PM on March 20, 2011

I don't know what it was about that movie--the Blinky voice, the music, or your NSFW tag--but that thing creeped me out, beginning to end.

Thanks!
posted by dobbs at 11:18 PM on March 20, 2011

I'm fascinated by the idea of a job that would be totally okay with your watching videos at work -- but NOT THIS ONE.
posted by hermitosis at 11:40 PM on March 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

The beginning is great but the end turns into a Tales from the Darkside episode.

The underrated A.I. (and one of its inspirations, Supertoys Last All Summer Long) investigated the same themes of social obsolescence in a much more interesting way.

Why is the roomba making that
posted by benzenedream at 12:10 AM on March 21, 2011

The lesson? Never give children anything.
posted by Menthol at 12:19 AM on March 21, 2011 [3 favorites]

That Max kid is rather good at being cranky.
posted by Mizu at 12:20 AM on March 21, 2011 [1 favorite]

I liked the idea and the way it was implemented, but the story didn't work for me. We saw a lot of the parents' relationship problems, but they were just used as an excuse to make the kid angry. I thought the best moment of the film was when Blinky passed the more sophisticated model in the street - but the movie just showed this and didn't go anywhere with it! There were bits that weren't justified - were we told that Blinky was into recycling? Did he usually do the cooking? Finally, there's not much suspense when a robot follows instructions explicitly given by its owner.
posted by Joe in Australia at 12:30 AM on March 21, 2011 [7 favorites]

I thought the best moment of the film was when Blinky passed the more sophisticated model in the street - but the movie just showed this and didn't go anywhere with it!

BINKY 10₂: 0x3E9 ROBOSEXUAL NIGHTS
posted by zippy at 12:40 AM on March 21, 2011 [1 favorite]

I think there is something about the way that Max Records kid speaks, acts and looks that just makes me uncomfortable. It's like a feeling of angry depression that swirls between my ribs before settling through my chest as a vortex.
This first occurred while watching Where the Wild Things Are. Originally, I thought that I disliked that particular movie but I just had the same weird feeling happen while watching this Blinky short.
Nothing else has ever made me feel this way. So, in one way, I'm fascinated because it's like discovering a new flavor. In another way I feel deeply disturbed.

/MEATBALLS!
posted by zephyr_words at 12:54 AM on March 21, 2011

Blinky's voice is the Jar Jar Binks', isn't it
posted by Jofus at 12:55 AM on March 21, 2011 [3 favorites]

Meh.

Story's not so strong, but the effects and sentimentality are well-done. One first-class ticket to Hollywood for Mr. Robinson.
posted by CarlRossi at 1:00 AM on March 21, 2011

This isn't another ad for Myhrvold's fucking cookbook, is it?
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 2:37 AM on March 21, 2011 [2 favorites]

I really should pay attention. I first read this as "Death to Clippy".
posted by arcticseal at 6:04 AM on March 21, 2011

Good way to start my morning.
posted by Evernix at 6:21 AM on March 21, 2011

I like how in the future robots still run on Windows. Turn him off and turn him back on -- still the key to tech support.
posted by chavenet at 9:49 AM on March 21, 2011

I like how in the future robots still run on Windows.

RED SCREAM OF DEATH
posted by benzenedream at 10:19 AM on March 21, 2011 [2 favorites]

So, um, in this hipsterish film its the robot's inability to detect irony that ends up in disaster?
posted by The 10th Regiment of Foot at 10:33 AM on March 21, 2011

The underrated A.I. ...

That's the most terrifying part of this post.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 10:34 AM on March 21, 2011

So, um, in this hipsterish film its the robot's inability to detect irony that ends up in disaster?

<binky>MY HIPSTER IRONY DETECTOR IS CALIBRATED AGAINST A STANDARD THAT WAS WELL-DEFINED BEFORE STANDARDS WERE COOL</binky>
posted by zippy at 11:07 AM on March 21, 2011 [1 favorite]

A.I. IS A GREAT MOVIE. NO PROBLEM?

metric ton of caveats required
posted by benzenedream at 11:18 AM on March 21, 2011

What, tell me, what was the 8-mm home movie montage supposed to represent? Obviously, this kid's parents were not taking home movies of him, and if they were, it would not be with an 8-mm film camera. That's just lazy storytelling and stupid directing.
posted by rikschell at 5:06 PM on March 21, 2011 [1 favorite]

This is where Blinky went after finishing off Mr and Mrs Pacman.

I knew kids like this when growing up--neglected by parents, they never learned any morals or developed empathy and sometimes were the school bullies (the kid plays it really well). Maybe my imagination is reading more into it than is really there, but I could see how a robot programmed to intelligently interact, but not tested with irrational behavior, could pick up on the kids psychosis in ways the programmers didn't foresee. Which makes the commercial for military robots seem really ominous.
posted by eye of newt at 10:27 PM on March 21, 2011

From the same director, a series of hilarious milk commercials involving cavemen learning the perils of junk food: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
posted by gottabefunky at 8:37 PM on March 22, 2011

I liked it up until Blinky started going evil. The first half reminded me of the Grandaddy song Jed the Humanoid, which in itself would make a kickass short film.
posted by afx237vi at 4:07 PM on March 23, 2011

y

Oh, wait, wrong sort of blinky.
posted by LSK at 10:01 PM on March 24, 2011