the empty holster

So, right up front. I'm going to admit to being underwhelmed by Toy Story 3.

The short that precceeds it is puzzlingly retro-sexist, but so difficult to describe, I'll just say that it features a blobby cartoon character is drooling over a cartoon bikini girl. That set me down into a stew of righteous feminist indignation before the movie even started. Then in the first five minutes, there's a big fiery explosion, and a mushroom cloud (it's made of plastic monkeys, but still). I can't help but feel like I'm nitpicking here, but I come to a Pixar film looking for some shameless emotional exploitation, not action movie stuff. I guess it could be taken as a wink and a nudge to the usual summer-movie-mayhem, but it wasn't funny. It was a little funny. Looking forward to a big tearful catharsis, I remained dry-eyed until the final minutes. I guess nothing could push my buttons like montage of Jessie being loved and abandoned by Emily while Sara McLaghlan sings.

Toy Story is still about playing with toys the right way. It's a horror to be played with the wrong way. Being loved to death by young pre-schoolers is equivalent to dismemberment and reconfiguration at the hands of Sid, serial-killer -in-training. Though in the minds of some, he is creative, unbound by conventions and rules.

The most intriguing aspect of it all is, as always, the empty holster. There's always a little tension around Woody's removable hat being lost, but even Big Al, the heartless mercenary toy collector who is so excited to find a Woody complete with hat, never mentions what is missing from the holster. I always wonder how and when exactly these decisions get made, because nothing happens by accident in a Pixar movie. [Pixar provides a great argument that great (popular) art can be made by committee.] A TV cowboy of another era wouldn't be complete without a gun (or two), but by today's standards, it's unthinkable to provide a child with even a tiny six-shooter. So the compromise is an empty holster. What's the quote about a gun in the first act, having to go off? "One must not put a loaded rifle on the stage if no one is thinking of firing it." I pulled it from Wikipedia entry on Chekhov. So what does no gun mean? And who is Woody's original owner? I've always assumed he belonged to the missing and never mentioned father. (I did the math and it works out well enough.If Andy is 17 in 2010, and "Woody's Roundup" aired in the early 60's, that adds up.) The empty holster is the symbol of the lost father, that Woody can fill in for but never fully replace. As the father is never mentioned, neither is the gun.

Woody also fills the role of boss of the toys. He's the jovial manager that David Brent/Michael Scott (I love both US and UK versions of The Office) are always trying to be. Quick with a joke, trusted, admired, beloved. Able to muster his troops and calm the savages in a crisis. And he has a militaristic, buffoonish sidekick jockeying for power in Buzz Lightyear. Hmm, I may have to expand on this later. I wonder if I can make footnotes.

book trees

It's tree trunks with little cubbies filled with books to exchange. It's in Berlin. I want one. With magic book fairies.

From NY Times article on globalism by Michael Kimmelman.

Smudged Mascara

Maria Bamford! Last Friday night I got to see Maria Bamford. When comedians I like recommend other comedians, I pay attention, hence I became aware of Maria Bamford. As much as I love Sarah Silverman, Janeane Garofalo, and Kathy Griffin, now I love Maria Bamford. She makes me gasp, chuckle, screech, snort, and cry. Don't wear mascara to a comedy show.

My dear sister-in-law Renee met me at Comix on 14th St. (Does any comedy club not have a cringe-inducing name?) As a awesome surprise, we got a short set from Jim Florentine, who has one of the greatest speaking voices I've ever heard. It's abrasive yet hypnotic. I remember hearing him on Howard Stern and "Crank Yankers" and wondering, "Who is that guy?". And why do I love to listen to him? It's like Sweet-Tarts for your ears. Salt 'n vinegar chips. It kinda hurts but you can't stop eating. But in your ear. I looked him up and turns out that he's a co-host of "That Metal Show" on VH-1. Rock on, dude! (Did I ever mention that in high school I partied with the burnouts? Yes, I said "partied", what else ya gonna you call it?) Also, he torments telemarketers.

Opener Jackie Kashian was great, admitting that, yes, it turns out that seeing her husband in adult superhero underoos is not a turn-on. I see what she means, but Father's Day is right around the corner.

But more to the point, can I explain the magic of Maria Bamford? She does voices. It's "wacky". No! Mustn't analyze comedy! Don't love it to death! Don't squeeze it too hard! I know EVERYBODY watched "The Sarah Silverman Program". right? Maria guest starred as May Kadoody, new mayor of Valley Village. And she "killed", as the comics say, on John Oliver's New York Stand Up Show on Comedy Central. Just watch.

this really would be a 4:30 movie

We saw District 9 finally. It's like an empty-headed blockbuster in an indie cheap suit (and in reality, a mid-budget $30 mil.).
Aliens are shipwrecked on Earth, or more specifically, Johannesburg, South Africa. It begins as another mock documentary, about the government's attempt to move the "prawns" from their squalid shantytown to an internment camp. They know all about how do that in S.A. It's a parable about refugees, then it's a buddy action movie (and Planet of the Apes, The Fly, and Mad Max 2 ). The movie does contain this exact scene: (guy under fire yelling to other guy) "NO, YOU GO! YOU CAN MAKE IT! I'LL HOLD THEM OFF!" Also, as a bonus, criminally depraved Africans of all skin tones. The white Africans are stock evil corporate types who only want weapons systems and biotechnology and will dissect you alive to get it, but the black Africans want to EAT you to gain your power. There are also merciless, bloodthirsty mercenaries, whom good guys are allowed to kill. In District 9, bad guys aren't taken out by a bullet, they explode in chunky splatters. Over and over.
But the special affects were remarkable, maybe the most seamless CG creatures I've ever seen. And I just found out that leading man Sharlto Copley hadn't been an actor before this film, and that is just shocking. He's good, he's Murdock in "The A-Team", and I wonder what his real accent sounds like. I guess I can watch WWE Monday Night RAW tonight and find out. He does comedy in character in this clip from Funny or Die.

An Inexplicable Object

Michael and I spent a delightful Sunday morning at the Stormville Airport Flea Market. We can be found there most summer holiday weekends, covered in dust and sunscreen, happily rummaging through bins of LPs, 45s, vintage hankies and tablecloths. Guess who has their grubby little fingers in which bin?
There are always a few items which catch the eye, not because we must possess them, but just because they are inexplicable. For instance, an eight foot tall Captain America made of colored tape. It's not all tape, I suppose there is some kind of armature (took me ALL week to think of that word!) under there, but most of the visible surface seemed to be colored tape. There are crafty people out there making prom dresses and such with duct tape, but this is beyond. The shield is a disc sled. I looked up images of Captain America and all the details look correct.
God, I love a flea market. Is it goulish to be pawing through what, if you think about it, are most likely the former possessions of persons now deceased. Doesn't bother me. I just love an old assortment of random stuff, whether it's in a museum or spread out over an open field. Two weeks ago, my friend Jody and I made a field trip to a salvage yard in Barnegat, Recycling the Past. Joy! A garage filled with old tiles pulled put of old bathrooms! Old doors! Old sinks! Rusty stuff! Heaven!