Forky's Week of 'Ween

2009 has been on the fast track to being the least spooky Halloween since 2008. No scary games released this month (last year's "Dead Space" on PC, coupled with a slightly opened window, a chill wind, and a set of Bose headphones salvaged last year's Month de Mort for me).

And it's pretty late in the season to start scrounging around for one of yesteryear's catalog of ghoulish games.

So it's time to go back to the movies.

This year on Forky's Week of 'Ween we have:

The latter-day Blair Witch Project that's got America's kids sleeping with the lights on, Paranormal Activity

Sam Raimi's hilarious horror hootenanny, Drag Me to Hell

The infamous Roman Polanski's 1965 disturb-a-thon Repulsion (movie snobs say it's the second most terrifying movie of all time--this particular "Scariest Movies of all Time" list DARED me to watch it by myself with the lights turned off. I accept the challenge)

And one other film.

But which will it be? Right now there are two candidates, the original Night of the Living Dead and arguably the most disturbing movie on Earth, Eraserhead. I've not seen either, but I've heard plenty about them.

Now's your chance. Cast your vote or write in a candidate. Hope! Change! Yes we can!

Spooky, idn' it?

Back

Back from Disney. Fun times. A bit crankier this time around. Everything felt more expensive somehow. I think we were all dehydrated the entire weekend. Still. Fun times. It's not quite as "magical" when you go back so soon.

Oh noes! Modeling gig isn't 9-12. It's 9-3!! And here I was scheduled to be somewhere else at 12:30. Time to do some shuffling.


-- Post From My iPhork

I'm at Disney World!

-- Post From My iPhork

Toy Story Double Feature - Mini Forkish Review

Suspicions were confirmed last night in the previews before the Toy Story 3D double feature.

Toy Story 3 is about Andy going to college. And Woody, Buzz, and the gang are given away.

I mean, we all figured it would be something like that once Disney's own "Buzz Lightyear gets recalled to Taiwan and wacky rescue adventure 2.0 ensues" plotline was thrown in the garbage can from whence it came. Hey, the last line in part 2 even hints at it. But now that it's confirmed, watching Toy Story 2 just sort of pissed me off.

Because Jesse is right. Eventually all toys are thrown away and forgotten.

Or in the case of the trailer for Toy Story 3, donated to a preschool where they are destroyed.

And THIS is why Toy Story 2 pisses me off. Because I really feel like Woody should have just gone to freakin' JAPAN!

I'm going to call this one right now: Toy Story 3 ends with the gang narrowly making it back to Andy's room after a series of misadventures that result in even more Buzz Lightyear-thinking-he's-a-real-space-ranger silliness. Fast forward a few years, and now Andy has a kid. The toys take comfort in knowing they will be played with again. The End. Three-picture deal with Disney complete. No more rumors of nightmarish direct-to-video sequels.

But in keeping with Pixar's current trend of "They DIDN'T just do that! THEY DID!" plot surprises, one of the toys is going to be "killed" in the process. My money is on Slinky Dog. :^(

That said, watching the films back-to-back completely changes my mind about the two. Everyone says Toy Story 2 is better.

I used to think so as well, but now I think the first one is superior. It's simple. It's compact. And the line readings in part 1 are so much more interesting and chuckle-worthy than in 2. First one that comes immediately to mind: Woody's "(pleading) He's not a space rang--(anger)--errrrrrr!"

Granted, the animation for Utility-Belt Buzz in 2 is truly inspired.

In a funny way, I almost feel as though it's wrong to look at them as two seperate movies. Thanks to the merciful lack of exposition, most people think of 2 as picking up immediately where the first one left off. It doesn't feel so much like a sequel as an extension of the first film.

But as the story kicks in, the differences between the two films can be more distinctly felt.

Maybe it's because they really took their time with the first one (plotwise) and weren't dealing with cramming in two storylines and showing off the power of their fancy new computers bestowed upon them by the Mouse.

2 is still good, but when watched back-to-back instead of with those vital nostalgia-forming years in between (which imo, is why people love the second one--it's like the ultimate fan-service sequel--seeing an old friend after years apart and picking up right where you left things), it feels a little bit like what it really was: Pixar trying desperately to fix the HORRIBLE direct-to-video sequel Disney was about to shovel out.

As pretty as it is, it's a little half-baked in places. Motivations aren't as clear. Andy's about to grow up and throw the toys away. Everybody's talking about it. Everybody knows it's going to happen.

But we HAVE to get back to Andy's room!...so...we can be thrown away together?

It's similar to the conundrum J.M. Barrie presents us with in Peter Pan. Wendy isnt a child anymore. Soon she will be a young woman and must leave the nursery. She's growing up. But Barrie comforts us in the notion that, while the dread inevitability of growing older is something we all must accept, it's also beautiful and part of the awfully big adventure that is simply LIVING.

Toy Story 2 offers us no such consolation. Emily throws Jesse away. Andy will throw Woody and the gang away. But that's okay...because in the end...they'll all be in the landfill together. Yeah. Thanks Pixar. All we need now is a dialogue-free montage of a young couple falling in love, growing old, and the wife dying of cancer.

Oh yeah, and the 3D is great. The dated CGI in 1 (Andy still looks a bit freakish in both films. Thanks for teaching us how to do it right, Final Fantasy people) can be excused thanks to the marvelous sense of depth...the toys feel REALLY small now. Or maybe the world is just REALLY big.

Still great. Still better than every single one of Pixar's subsequent films (I just wasn't a 'Monster's Inc.' person and I still think 'Wall-E' is well-intentioned but ultimately unfocused and terrible. Sorry, guys). Good times. Go see it. Worth the cash, if only to see the first one again in 3D-o-vision.

But Jesse is still right. And Woody should have gone to Japan.

Peace Prize

So apparently you don't have to do anything except not be George Bush.

At the Universe Diner. Exhausted from yesterday. 6 hour modeling job for a talented group at the Nyah Nyah Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants. It's always a pleasure to work with students who show great promise and instructors who work with you to create a good pose.

See? I can be positive. I like my job. I just don't like hippies.

So six hours of standing on one foot with a twist and a bend. Had to keep my eyes wiiiide open the whole time due to balance issues.

Then came the Toy Story double feature. Three hours of 3D.

By the time I got home, I could not WAIT to close my eyes.

Gym today, sculpture afterwards.

So that's teh update. My omelet is here.





-- Post From My iPhork

"Blog-a-Boomerang" or "Some People Are So Touchy"

It's happened again! DAMMIT!

That's the second time in ONE YEAR! First Nutty MacDonald (who still hasn't paid me one red cent) and now the School For Art School People Club!

I didn't think anybody read this thing anymore! Dear LORD.

Come to think of it, nobody DOES. Except my family and cyber-stalkers who leave anonymous comments and attempt to ruin the personal lives of people they don't even KNOW! It was a JOKE, people! Read a couple of these posts before you reveal your nasty selves as artists who harbor secret disdain for models because you ASSUME we're all divas!

Man. Blogs are like...boomerangs. What goes around... Say nothing interesting and nobody reads em. One false word and the cowardly cyber-stalkers are on you like hounds. Maybe I should have paid more attention when I was going through my ABBA phase.

I'm not saying any more than that for now. There may be more later should we find ourselves unable to reconcile this little misunderstanding as I will most DEFINITELY want to set the record straight.

Not that it really matters. It's not as though this blog gets a whole lot of traffic anyway. This ain't the New York Times website people. Let's get a little perspective here. Oh, AND a sense of humor.

Every entry you're posting...
Is a boom-er-ang you're throw...sting...?

It I swear. As much as I hate to draw the comparison...it feels EXACTLY like...THIS.

The money is at 1.27

Welcome to October!

It's here. Woke up this morning and had to reach over and pull on another blanket. New York always does these things in a timely fashion.

I feel like I never stop working these days. Going to the gym this morning, then it's Narcissus time, teach a gym class, then over to keep modeling for this book.

Yes, a book. On drawing the figure with/out clothing. So it takes twice as long because every pose has to be done twice--once with, once without.

The nice thing about Narcissus is the painter is only doing piece by piece. So yesterday she was working in my leg which meant I could do whatever I wanted with the rest of my body as long as the leg stayed still. So you can imagine all the stuff I tried to get away with.


Nah. I just read a book.

And I finished it just in time. Because October is Agatha Christie month! And this year is all about Miss Marple!

In other news, everyone keeps asking me about gym stuff and training and that sort of thing. Seriously, y'all. I don't know. You just go and lift stuff till it hurts. I dunno.

Okay. Time to get on with this chilly day! Looks like I'll have to dress warmly...uhh. Or...un-dress warmly?


-- Post From My iPhork