Tuesday, May 19, 2020

TOO MANY THOUGHTS

"A man believes the cliches he chooses to believe, Comrade."

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"Okay, men! Open fire on those evil people. Oh, there are good people in there too, so be careful."

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I dreamed I saw a 40s Noir picture with Ray Milland as a 'decent guy' whose book happened to be a runaway best seller on the lam on New York's city streets. He ducks into his apartment to grab a few essentials but is greeted by a loud surprise cocktail party organized to celebrate his new found success. A drink is shoved into his hand. As the attentions of his friends and hangers-on drift, he sits in a chair isolated amidst the revelry. The cocktail piano and murmur of the crowd dissolve into near-theremin tension music. The camera slowly zooms into his perspiring face, his staring eyes, as the music swells. He suddenly hurls his glass across the room, shattering it in a corner. The crowd gapes in silence. "Why, Steve old boy...?"

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Why is the male fantasy of "having your ass kicked by a girl" so wholly assumed and accepted (and, in fact, expected) in mainstream society while so many others are "sick and twisted"? I believe the violence makes it less threatening!! Social Distancing Rides Again!!

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"Just do a graphic novel and the world will beat a path to your door."

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A tip from a lesson I just gave:
"...the outline of her fist & face join together precisely together, forming what is called a TANGENT. Either keep sections clear of each other or make them overlap. Tangents remind us of what they are in reality: Lines on a flat sheet of paper."
Lessons are $35 per subject!

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Both SIMPSONS and TINY TOONS have "made fun" of animation slave labor practices. See? We can laugh at ourselves.

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People used to not believe me when I told them Disney sends work overseas. They still imagined the studio as the nurturing place where Walt Disney huddled over the Moviola with Bill Tytla. But I think the belief in that kind of "magic" wore out years ago, even for civilians.

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In the early 90s people would say "Why don't you just get a contract with FOX?" Oh, yeah, they were just tearin' off contracts like sheets of toilet paper.

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Yours truly about animation history before the book OF MICE & MAGIC by Leonard Maltin:
"Iwerks was only known as a Disney special effects whiz who had made the tragic mistake of straying from the flock at a moral low point.
All the 30s & 40s guys were mere bushwhackers that cleared the path for the Nine Old Men."

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Me on Jim Tyer's posthumous rockstar status: "Frankly, I think they're too glib about it now. It's hip to drop his name. Shallow and annoying. Bakshi complained that the vocal fans are going for only the sloppiest, most "retarded" stuff: "What they post and say is the *best* of Jim Tyer is da WOIST of Jim Tyer!!" I agree with him.

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50s rock 'n roll: "Yeah, I seen you last night with a Catholic priest/A'fingering his rosary like a wilderbeest."

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It was painful having to pretend to like popular music so I could get laid.

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